Xii was getting annoyed. She didn't know if it was because Sullins seemed to outmatch her when it came to this kind of thinking, or if it was because his explanations made it seem that he did not truly want to change the contract in any way. The original contract, in Xii's eyes, was a trap, plain and simple. Why was he fighting so hard to keep it that way? His promise to act in good faith was meaningless to the girl. They were just words. It wasn't like she could read his intentions. So what, exactly, was she supposed to do? She wouldn't simply agree to this because he wanted her to. Hadn't he been the one to tell her to be wary of magics she didn't understand? His arguments were well-crafted, but if anything that made her dislike them more. How did he know so much? How did he think so much all the time, about everything? Still, the Zithling would not give up. This was a challenge unlike anything she'd approached before. She struggled to push against the weight of the words, trying to figure out a way to worm her way through them. "Fine... so we won't put in the word 'easily'. We could limit the word 'endeavors' then. What do you want from this contract, exactly?" She paused to let him know it was an actual question, not one that she didn't expect him to answer. "As I understand it you want an assistant, right? Someone to help you with your magic stuff, or your career stuff, or whatever it is you do. We could limit 'endeavors' to that then. Say something like ' Endeavors related to the um, advancement of your magics and your career. ' We could define 'advancement' if you really thought it was necessary. But otherwise would that work? Saying something like that would exclude dumb things like getting you food or washing your clothes, you know, slave stuff. But it wouldn't exclude the simple tasks related to your work that I might have to help with... the leaves-counting thing, stuff like that. So would that work?" At this point she was expecting him to debate her suggestions, and so she set her chin, ready for his answer. "As for the education stuff, um..." She trailed off. He was asking what sort of instruction she thought was reasonable, but she had hardly ever been to a school at all. She didn't know what to expect, she didn't know what she should want. If she could have it her way ~which obviously she couldn't~ she would wring the knowledge out of Sullins in a season or two and have it all for herself. But that wouldn't work for more reasons than one. So what should she ask for? "We could do it bigger. Uh. You're counting by seasons. We could do it by years, I guess. Or half-years." She paused. "I don't really know what 'independent study' is, so I don't know how that fits in. But lessons... what about like, you promise to answer a certain number of questions that I have ~related to magic~ per year or half-year. I don't know what number it would be. Ten? Twenty? More? Less?" That would be tricky to do right, but she thought it might work, maybe. If she only had a certain number of questions to be answered, then she would think more about the ones she asked, and end up asking better questions. Plus, if he was feeling generous, he could answer more than just the ones he was required to. Not that she expected him to be generous, but maybe it could happen. "Answering a question could be done in many different ways. You could simply hand me a book to read, or give a practical lesson, or answer in a lecture, or designate another teacher. Or anything else you could think of." She nodded. "Plus, if we had to be separated, maybe we could figure out other ways. You could assign a different teacher, like I said before, or you could write the answers and send them to me in a letter and I could send any other questions back. What do you think?" She rather liked this solution she'd come up with. It appealed to her inquisitive nature. She hoped it would fit with the rest of the contract. Sullins' problems, he had said, were with being too specific. Well, this was a flexible answer, wasn't it? There were many ways a question might be answered, and so many ways of being taught. |