Patience. But gods, it felt like pulling teeth. He placed his hand over his pocket to ground himself.
"As I mentioned before, it's not that simple. There are protocols and customs and tests and--," he interrupted his droning and looked her in the eyes, "you see, the matriculation process isn't quite so direct as--"
He looked down and shook his head lightly. When his gaze returned to her, he was again smiling, more at ease.
"I'm sorry, never mind all that for now. This whole situation is...er...unorthodox. And so, with so little precedent, you see, where we end up depends entirely on how we communicate with one another. If you were my apprentice, the first lesson I would give you is in clarity. The equations and symbols of arcanima are clear, they circumvent the rigid verbal formulae of other magicks and serve to directly express the will of the arcanist to the aether in and around him and, if there is correspondence," he paused for effect, "the aether responds." In conversation, Lolo had the habit of losing himself in his own words, letting technicality bleed into informality in a way which provoked either of two equally uncomfortable reactions in his interlocutors: those who attempted to meet him on that technical level, and so made fools of themselves, and those who laughed and exaggerated their own simplicity for the sake of their discomfort, mollifying him. Lolo, red-faced, had ruined many a perfectly serviceable interaction in just this way before.Â
But how would Joz respond?
When he first began to study, his reaction to just such a discourse would be one of limited awe and attempted engagement leading to an exhausting, though endearing, line of seemingly interminable inquiry. He hoped that she would react in just such a way.
If not, he expected she would become much more direct. That was what he had observed and so that was what he expected.
"And so, let us be clear with one another, Miss Joz. What was it you were saying upstairs?"
"As I mentioned before, it's not that simple. There are protocols and customs and tests and--," he interrupted his droning and looked her in the eyes, "you see, the matriculation process isn't quite so direct as--"
He looked down and shook his head lightly. When his gaze returned to her, he was again smiling, more at ease.
"I'm sorry, never mind all that for now. This whole situation is...er...unorthodox. And so, with so little precedent, you see, where we end up depends entirely on how we communicate with one another. If you were my apprentice, the first lesson I would give you is in clarity. The equations and symbols of arcanima are clear, they circumvent the rigid verbal formulae of other magicks and serve to directly express the will of the arcanist to the aether in and around him and, if there is correspondence," he paused for effect, "the aether responds." In conversation, Lolo had the habit of losing himself in his own words, letting technicality bleed into informality in a way which provoked either of two equally uncomfortable reactions in his interlocutors: those who attempted to meet him on that technical level, and so made fools of themselves, and those who laughed and exaggerated their own simplicity for the sake of their discomfort, mollifying him. Lolo, red-faced, had ruined many a perfectly serviceable interaction in just this way before.Â
But how would Joz respond?
When he first began to study, his reaction to just such a discourse would be one of limited awe and attempted engagement leading to an exhausting, though endearing, line of seemingly interminable inquiry. He hoped that she would react in just such a way.
If not, he expected she would become much more direct. That was what he had observed and so that was what he expected.
"And so, let us be clear with one another, Miss Joz. What was it you were saying upstairs?"
