Research Time
Open books overlap one another on just about every open surface, with many partially consumed cups of tea interspersed among them. Even as he emerges from the bathroom, his nose is in a book. As he makes his way back to his couch, Caleb’s eyes never even leave the page until the whistling of boiling water catches his ears.
He goes through the motions of preparing tea, but his mind is still in those books, and the enchantment concealing Crystal Strong. She’s out there, he just can’t find her, and that … That’s just frustrating. He fidgets with his fingers in his hair for a few seconds while rolling the problem around in his mind. It’s nothing so obvious as a normal non-detection ward. Could it have been something specifically designed to hide from a certain person? He could always ask another mage to perform the spell. It’d have to be someone whose name wouldn’t come up if one were to look into the Outsiders. It’s not like one of those would be hard to find. Or expensive, really.
The tea is as satisfying as the aroma, and just persuasive enough to convince him to take a break. Another sip, slowly this time to savor the taste. Something physical to focus on while he clears his mind.
It takes some focus to stop thinking about the case, but it’s a blissful mental calm once he does. Soothing. Relaxing. I’ve been at this all day. I should call it a night, go cook some supper, and throw on a Monty Python DVD.
There’s one thing he wants to check on before he starts cooking, though, so he takes a detour to the hall mirror. Caleb gets right up to the glass to get a good look at his eyes. There’s some more green in there-- noticeably more than that morning, too.
Visible progress, and yet I don’t feel any different. Magic feels simplistic, I can tolerate quite a bit more magic, and people feel like...
“Right.” Another sip of tea, and he decides that he’d rather return to his books. Keep his mind busy. Keep it from wandering. Stay on topic, old boy. “Back to the books.”
He goes through the motions of preparing tea, but his mind is still in those books, and the enchantment concealing Crystal Strong. She’s out there, he just can’t find her, and that … That’s just frustrating. He fidgets with his fingers in his hair for a few seconds while rolling the problem around in his mind. It’s nothing so obvious as a normal non-detection ward. Could it have been something specifically designed to hide from a certain person? He could always ask another mage to perform the spell. It’d have to be someone whose name wouldn’t come up if one were to look into the Outsiders. It’s not like one of those would be hard to find. Or expensive, really.
The tea is as satisfying as the aroma, and just persuasive enough to convince him to take a break. Another sip, slowly this time to savor the taste. Something physical to focus on while he clears his mind.
It takes some focus to stop thinking about the case, but it’s a blissful mental calm once he does. Soothing. Relaxing. I’ve been at this all day. I should call it a night, go cook some supper, and throw on a Monty Python DVD.
There’s one thing he wants to check on before he starts cooking, though, so he takes a detour to the hall mirror. Caleb gets right up to the glass to get a good look at his eyes. There’s some more green in there-- noticeably more than that morning, too.
Visible progress, and yet I don’t feel any different. Magic feels simplistic, I can tolerate quite a bit more magic, and people feel like...
“Right.” Another sip of tea, and he decides that he’d rather return to his books. Keep his mind busy. Keep it from wandering. Stay on topic, old boy. “Back to the books.”