Holy Avalis, the Etheafal could prattle. Thomas hardly listened, although he wasn't surprised with how easily Alses preached and lectured; she had admitted she'd spent time here as a professor. He smiled broadly at her suggestion, however, his magic rippling as he forced control against his own instinct, the threads slowly drawing away until the spell flowed into a single ribbon, twirling delicately along her gold shimmer-stained aura.
It was then, for a tick, the whole of her steeled, rebuffing instead of redirecting his magic. A reaction.
"Of course, you know," Thomas rolled his eyes, his expression perfectly adolescent. "You all but declared yourself a Tower-trained Aurist. I only wanted to see how long you'd pretend ignorance for the sake of civility," he shrugged, disappointed as her aura melted back to soft honey. For a moment, she seemed all the sorceress she'd claimed to be -- in response, Thomas recoiled his spell in defeat, feeding it only enough of himself to keep it barely awake. He was far too hazed to be in immediate control, as much as he would like to believe otherwise, but he could at least try to keep his spell focus on his immediate surroundings.
"Oh, well, thank the gods! Avalis herself couldn't foresee the destruction an overgiven aurist could manage," Thomas snorted, his sarcasm palpable. The wizard found Auristics an incredibly useful and adaptable discipline, but he'd certainly never considered it capable of much damage. It wasn't hypnotism or reimancy, surely. "And even so, I would hardly be so proud of Lhavit's apparent lack of overgiving," Thomas began, his own spell lazing about a wildflower. He was, as best he could, distracting himself from the pretty challenge that was Alses' aura. She was right, no matter how hard he pushed, stabbed, or beat, she had easily deflected and detoured him. At least now, it wasn't worth the effort. "It seems a very mainland ideology, that overgiving always means a certain end to mages. I would argue though, at least what I saw back on Sahova, those who overcame overgiving, well, I doubt you've seen any magic like theirs," he said, adding, "Definitely not here, at any rate," Thomas shrugged, trying his best to mirror Alses nonchalance. "Although to be fair, Lhavit is much more prettier than Sahova is, everything here is just so...shiny," he smiled, his tone whipping his words pointedly at the Ethaefal.
"I don't dislike teaching," he admitted, pausing in reflection. Just how much should he reveal about his conversation with Ald'gare? His gaze sharpened in sudden suspicious, wondering if she'd been sent by the Dusk patriarch. Had she been? Would Ald'gare do such a thing? And to what end -- the man had seemed to know everything about Thomas and Laria. Hai, he'd found Thomas at the bottoms of Kalinor, and the animator still hadn't figured out why he was here. "But I did owe Ald'gare a favor -- I was perhaps more surprised than you were that he collected his debt with me as an Auristics teacher, of all things. As you so quaintly put it, I'm not exactly Tower-trained," he said, the pink hues of embarrassment playing his voice softer than before; Sahova had made him many things, but it hadn't made him an Aurist. "I do detest the idea of sharing what I've learned with any dimwit with enough money in their purse. I hate the idea of wasting time, Alses, and I would abhor any student who came into my classroom simply because they liked the idea of seeing pretty colors," he scoffed at the idea, his pitch colored in disgust. "So few can comprehend the theory of Djed, let along gather enough willpower to bumble through their first spells! I would expect every student of mine to force and push themselves to their very limits, to discover their own potential, and ride their magics to greatness! But is that realistic? In this day and age? I would say not," Thomas complained, his annoyance obvious. Magic wasn't for everyone, not unless every person understood and accepted the risks for that power. And if they weren't willing to devote their time to becoming great, than why bother seeking power at all?
Thomas nodded at her assessment, "I am dedicated to the Seer, so it would make sense," he realized only then that his gnosis only ever revealed picture memories; anything else had to come from a direct intervention on his part. His Auristics too, was completely sight orientated, unless he made choose to open his other sensory canals. The animator had never considered this, not until Alses had spoken this obvious truth, but it was something he would consider later. "And what a impressive spiritual pedigree, Alses? I wonder if you knew any of my old masters. They were around in ancient Alahea, too; although, they just decided not to die."
He wondered if even pretending civility would have any effect on their negotiations. Obviously, he'd been crude and obvious, so why bother hiding anything now? It wasn't like Alses wouldn't be able to snake out his attentions anyhow, the talent she was at her magic. Thomas would remember to actively find out anything he could about her later; information was always good leverage to have, at any rate.
"I was suppose compensation would depend on how much I needed your consultation, or expertise, versus how badly you wanted to examine my golem?" Thomas stated, obviously, the going-ons of his mind painfully obvious to the Aurist, he was sure. No point in hiding his thoughts if she could so effectively guess them. "We both know what I'm offering: a time spent examining Stranger, and," he paused, for dramatic effect, "My own knowledge on his animation and his body, if you can afford it. I would be extremely surprised if you would find anyone even close to my ability in animation. Hai, if you make it worth my while, I would even considering tutoring you in the basics of Alahean animation," he stressed the word, an easy addition, considering how much he liked to talk about himself, in the positive anyway.
The question was now, what would she offer in return?
