XOqNI

[tongueamok]

Hello, this is Carlisle. I mean, it's not Carlisle as in I'm actually answering you right now, so if you're trying to reply to me at the second, you should probably save your breath because I'm not really here. This is some kind of a recording of my voice, but this is my communicator. I'm going to assume these devices are as common here as they are in other places — not my world, but others, ones more technologically advanced than where I come from— so if you'd like to leave me a message, then you may do so here, or er... Right. Here is fine. So just leave yo— [beep]

Comments

[hasitsthorns]

I'm surprised you know the definition.

[ Shots fired. ]

[tongueamok]

I beg your pardon?

[Said with the exact tone of someone who knows what he heard.]

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael's not sure how to answer that, exactly.]

I don't think I'd be bad at it, necessarily? [A glowing review.] I'm pretty good at memorizing stuff.

[And he has attracted at least one (1) ghost, so that probably means something, right?]

[tongueamok]

Memorization is good for some crafts.

[Carlisle looks down to his hands, trying to figure out how to explain the magical ins and outs of his world to someone from a completely different one.]

I didn't realize I'd have any true proclivity for magic until I was a teenager. I already knew well by that age that adventuring, like my father, was not for me.

[hasitsthorns]

I said I'm surprised you know the definition of recreational.

C'mon, man, you're the resident cave grump. When I think of Carlisle, I don't think of the word 'fun.'

[tongueamok]

You hardly know me!

[Not that she's wrong.]

[hasitsthorns]

Yeah, and? That's still my impression of you from what I do know.

Nothing wrong with it, mind you. We can't all be wild and fun.

[tongueamok]

I don't need to be wild and fun, but I'm not a grump.

[hasitsthorns]

That sounds exactly like what a grump would say.

Alright, so. Maybe not a grump. Maybe just a stick in the mud?

[tongueamok]

Can one not be a serious person without being called such childish things?

[hasitsthorns]

Sure. I get called dumb and ridiculous all the time though. It don't bother me. [ But only because those are much better things for people to think of her than know what she actually is. ] Why let being called a grump or stick in the mud ruffle your feathers, dude?

[tongueamok]

Because I've had enough slander thrown at me from complete strangers to last a lifetime.

[And a lifetime for him is short enough as it is.]

[aroundthecoroner]

Yeah... Adventuring doesn't sound like it'd be for me, either. I met someone here who does that for a living. Seems like a high-risk occupation.

[Which is not actually the part he takes issue with.]

Did you figure out your talent like Emily did? Like you just picked it up really easily?

[tongueamok]

Ah, no, um. [His hands twitch, eyes darting away.] I was... injured quite badly once, when I was younger.

[Understatements: they have been made.]

It was grievous enough that my father called for healers to attend me. They found through their work that my own energies adapted well to theirs, and suggested I be properly trained.

[hasitsthorns]

... You do realize there are way more slanderous things to call somebody than a grump, right? Where I'm from, it's kind of like. An affectionate thing, almost. To insult your friends. Not, like, really insult them. Just playful jabs.

It's what I'm trying to do now, by the way.

[tongueamok]

We aren't friends! I don't even know you, aside from that you make charts that no one asked for!

[Oh, she hit a nerve. Either that, or he just likes yelling at people over the phone.]

[hasitsthorns]

We could be, is what I was trying to get at.

[ In the most vague, roundabout way possible. Maybe she would've even tried to apologize, too, if given the opportunity. She's come a ways since the chart. ]

But, hey, that's cool. I get it. You've met your friend quota.

[tongueamok]

It's not a quota. It's that you're calling me things I'm not, and I'm not interested in being anything with someone who can't maintain even the barest sense of decency.

[hasitsthorns]

Well, then, let me know what you're not. I'm sure you think a lot of things about me too that might not be true, so. We're probably even there.

But we'll never know if we don't, like. Talk. Try to be friendly, maybe. Though I guess maybe my way of being friendly isn't... something you appreciate, so. Y'know. I'll work on that too.

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael catches that evasive body language, but he doesn't pry. He wouldn't want anyone prying into his past, so he'll extend the same courtesy to Carlisle.]

Oh. [Hmm.] I'm guessing that's not exactly an easy test.

[tongueamok]

Healing is not an easy craft to learn at all. It requires a certain degree of control the other schools lack, lest you hurt yourself and the person you're attempting to heal.

[And that would be one of the many reasons he doesn't trust other healers.]

I'm sorry about him. :(

[tongueamok]

Right. You do that, and perhaps when you have mastered it, I will be interested in speaking with you further. Or at all.

Until then, good day.

[And that last bit is said with all the warmth of someone who hopes she rots in a hole. Mr. Not-a-Grump is hanging up now. Click.]

[aroundthecoroner]

So, what, you're actually moving stuff around inside the body? I can see how that could, uh, go awry pretty easily.

[Sort of like surgery, except it's hard to hurt yourself performing surgery.]

How long did it take you to learn?

[tongueamok]

Years. That is one reason I only teach basic mending through glyphcrafting to any students I would have here. More complicated crafts could drain them so much that I might run out of students.

[So... like surgery, but the doctor also might die if something goes wrong.]

[aroundthecoroner]

Oh, so that's what happens? They... use too much energy? Is that what magic is made out of?

[This does sound considerably more dangerous, yes. He doesn't sound put off by it, though.]