Closed Mind Reading for Idiots and Beginners

[Madeira Dusk]

72nd of Fall, 519

Madeira was learning to enjoy her new profession as a magic teacher. There was something rewarding about imparting all the lessons she had learned in her adventures into the wild art of Spiritism, and being respected for them. Her skills in public speaking and crisis management made wrangling teenagers, if not easy, at least possible. And her extensive mastery of the subject matter nearly made up for the fact that she had no idea how to teach it. Unfortunately she was stuck with the youngest students, and endless lessons in soulmist production and how to spot a lurking spirit. But Ald'gare promised to give her an older, more experienced class soon. One where the patriarch himself would be a student. The thought purred through her mind like a satisfied cat.

Until then, she was stuck with the teenagers fresh out of the Academy. Even out of her classroom there was no escaping them.

"Then what does an evocation look like?" one ambitious girl with bright eyes demanded from between the stack of students circled around a harried Madeira's desk. The novice Auristics classroom was slowly filling with students as the appointed lesson time drew closer. But the usual chatter was subdued, as questions of if there was going to be a class at all floated through the air, skipping over the dark reality of the question. A few of these students there were also in her Spiritism class. She suspected they found it amusing that their teacher was a novice student too.

"It starts with this, a sixteen-point star" Madeira sighed, scribbling the lopsided rune in an empty page of her red notebook and turned it towards the crush of students. "It needs to be written in blood for a ghost still among the living, but for beings in the Ukalas it can be written in anything, as long as you have a pint of your own blood in the middle. Can't this wait until class?"

"Have you ever summoned a ghost from the Ukalas?" another boy plowed on, ignoring her harried plea.

"First of all, they're not ghosts, they're more like..." she waved her hands impatiently, like she was trying to bat a more accurate description out of the air. "Like bodiless, ascended souls. The god's personal servants. They're not on this plane but certainly not dead. And no, I have not summoned one."

"What?" more than one mouth fell open in astonishment of this complete waste of potential badassery. "Why not?"

"Because if you're going to be knocking on gods back door you better have a good petching reason. Now sit down before class starts."

The finality in her voice was clear, and hastily obeyed. They slunked off to their own desks and became just more low voices in the swell of circling rumours. Madeira tapped her inkstick against her notebook, doodling a rough Malediction circle in the center of her star as she eavesdropped on the conversations around her.

"Who's going to teach the class?..."

"Chiona usually does...."

"....heard he was opened up, like she was looking for something"

"...acting strange, you know, before. They say Lheili Dawn took her away."

In the star Madeira found herself writing the common word for loyalty, with a passable representation of a human heart in the middle. A ring of canine teeth teeth surrounded it on the inside of the star, facing outward. With a start she realized she was designing a malediction circle for Allister. But now that she had started she couldn't stop. The symbolism represented loyalty, but that savage kind of loyalty she had only ever seen in the hyena kelvic. She would carve the symbol into each vertebrae in his back, she decided. And with his hair or perhaps his leather, she would make it into a windchime that would hand outside the entrance to someone's home. He always loved to sing, and that way he could make music forever. And in the fetish would live the charm that whoever resided in that house would be protective of each other and their happiness. And god forbid whoever crossed them.

Had anybody else had access to her thoughts they might think she was insane, or plotting the death of her beloved, but it wasn't true. This was a thought game she had played with nearly everyone she had ever loved. She saw the creation of the circles as a way to test how much she really knew them.

She glanced towards the door and blew out her cheeks. Where was Allister, anyway? She had told him to be there. While she was required by terms of the alliance between the Craven and Dusk family to learn Auristics and return with the knowledge, Ald'gare offered to open the class to her bonded as well. An offer they were both excited about. But now the time was ticking on and the kelvic was nowhere to be found. Where was he?

[Allister]

“Isn’t he so soft?” The young woman with brown hair cooed at her friend. The dainty fingers were laced deeply along the thick striped mane that ran down the spine of a hyena. The wild looking dog was arched and pressed against the bent legs which reminded him of a cross between the deviant Dynasty brats who ran around in masks and lingerie and the party goers who skipped about Alvadas high on gods only knew. Allister was loving the affection and made sure to show it by keeping his warmth pressed to the flesh of the barely adult student who giggled ceaselessly while being tickled at the whim of the kelvic’s every shiver.

“I mean- he’s a furry dog. Nothing special.” The friend replied. Black eyes turned and shot a dagger filled stare to the doubtful youth. In his canine form, he said nothing but the words of sharpest retort filled his mind. The maliciously witty mind was never at a loss for things to say which might land the former slave in a peck of trouble but being a kelvic did have its advantages. Gaining an automatic filter was certainly one -at least in Allister’s case- and the gratitude he felt towards his race was revealed in a jaw which slacked open into a very lazy grin.

“Awww. He’s smiling!” The kinder of the two friends engaged both hands into the hyena’s neck fur in furious scratches with bent fingers and manicured nails. Allister felt sensation shoot all through his body and across his skin like scorpions crawling and stinging him with bliss. His weight sank down onto his haunches and the animal’s spine twisted so that the right rear leg could come up and scratch at the tickle spot the attractive brunette had found. The girl laughed genuinely at the hyena’s antics.

A third girl walked up with a small pile of clothes all balled together in her thin arms. The short hair was black as night but her eyes were a bright blue. The color matched the icy stare of Madeira and it drew Allister’s attention for several moments. He started to compare and contrast the young student to the goddess who reigned over his soul. It was during this phase of silently picking apart the innocent girl’s beauty that he noticed how much the clothes looked like his clothes. Why, the bundle even held an anchor bracelet like the one he wore. He inhaled deeply and found his own scent wafting about as well as the unmistakable smell of soulmist which radiated from the garments. Those were his clothes!

Without moving away from the wonderfully nice scratching that was being doted upon him, the kelvic shifted from beast to man (the two forms were closer for him than most). He was squatted down, naked as the day he was born, and his leanly muscles form was pressed up against the soft flesh of an unknowing pupil at the Dusk Tower. Long, calloused fingers dug and pawed at the tenderness just above her knees until the girl with gossamer locks realized something hand changed and looked down to find her fingers buried into the scalp of some strange, ghastly man. Black eyes, pale skin and covered in tattoos, she hardly noticed he was naked and could only suck in her breath sharply then withdrew her hands.

“Sorry to interrupt your magical hands, you dear, sweet thing- but your friend is holding my belongings.” Allister grinned widely and slowly rotated his neck towards the raven-haired young woman. His body’s tense muscle related his lack of social awareness since its weight continued to lean against the paralyzed girl- her fear and shock having left her immobilized. The girl holding the kelvic’s clothes had her mouth hanging open and as she watched the situation. The third girl, a dirty blonde, was holding in some very cruel laughter. With one pale hand, the entertainer reached for his possessions while he stood to his full height. His body loomed over the brunette girl and all three of them took in the full value of his insanely marked flesh as well as the weapon of his sex that he so unabashedly displayed. “I’ll take those if you don’t mind.”

The trio of friends didn’t move aside from a very slow gravitation of their bodies which brought them all shoulder to shoulder on the small bench as the man got dressed in his worn granidile pants, rough boots and faded purple duster. He shook out his coat and turned to find that the three of them were still dumbfounded. Allister bent down into a squat that seemed to span them all, his hands falling upon the outside knees of the girls who sat on the ends. This allowed him to pull them in and focus their attention solely upon himself. “Which one of you wants to know a secret?” His eyes danced from one to the other and soaked in their posture, expressions and general moods. The brunette still seemed a bit confused and shocked by it all. She had been cuddling up to a kelvic all this time. The girl with short black hair looked rather uncomfortable at the touch that was forced upon her by the odd man and she vehemently avoided the black stare.

The girl in the middle with dirty blonde hair was fidgeting but not out of nervousness. Her teeth pinched her lower lip at the corner and her eyes were filled with rage -the kind born of jealousy. She longed to be fawned over and paid in attention or affection. The transparency of her needs were reflected in pools of ink that narrowed while a smooth grin dragged itself from one side of the former slave’s face to the other. Allister ignored the other two girls as he leaned forward and extended his body by engaging his abdomen and thighs in an exercise of stamina to maintain his looming posture. Hands found their way to either side of the girl’s face as he took her by the jaw and neck. Her skin was smooth as his long fingers swallowed her demure features. “You do.” He whispered. The girl blushed. Allister leaned in further and further until his mouth was very near to the young woman’s.

“Leana, don’t.” The brunette chimed.

“Mind your manners, child.” Allister rumbled like thunder a thousand miles away. His eyes never left Leana’s deep brown gaze. She was filled with wonder at this strange beast who held her and also teeming with desire to be spoiled. The hyena moved sharply and tilted the girl’s head back and to the side. His mouth dove against the risen tendon beneath her smooth skin as teeth and tongue flashed against her flesh. The blonde moaned and wrapped her arms around the broad shoulders for a moment before the embrace was shattered by the kelvic who abruptly stood and released his soon to be meal.

The bond fluttered with uncertainty. Madeira might be looking for him or she might be trying to decide what to wear to their class. Allister’s eyes popped wide. “Shyke!” He was going to be late. Without another word, he took off towards the tower’s entrance at a full sprint. His boots thudded quickly as he churns his long limbs. Once awkward in his gait, practice and a higher rate of muscle on his body had helped turn him into more of an athlete. He covered ground quickly as sweat began to form over the ‘Damaged’ script that spanned his forehead. By the time he made it to the building, itself, he was breathing somewhat heavily but it took very little time for him to access where he needed to go. Madeira had shown him where to go several days ago when she explained what they were to be doing.

Allister’s beady black eyes could see the door but a body stood in his way. Rather than plow the poor, book laden lad over, the kelvic planted his left foot and pushed his inertia sideways towards the wall. He sprang enough and was moving fast enough that he was able to land two more steps along the wall before he pushed off and curled his body into a ball. He landed in a crouch then rolled to the other side of the hallway. He sprang to his base, hands and feet, and half ran- half crawled to the open doorway and slipped in then immediately brought his body to a firm and tall stance while he searched for his beloved.

It didn’t take him long to spot the neatly bunned blonde hair and blue eyes littered with frustration. The terrifying grin tore his mouth asunder and the kelvic made four strides to eliminate the distance between them. He bowed and kissed Madeira on her forehead then bent even lower and kissed the bump on her belly before he took a seat beside her. “I remembered!” He was proud that he had remembered all on his own-- but that wasn’t entirely true. It was Madeira’s wondering that had stirred him. Allister wrestled with gratitude and guilt in the bond as he waited for his first ever class to begin.

WC1537

[Madeira Dusk]

As the Kelvic dispensed his affectionate ministrations and sat, Madeira watched the tremble of gratitude and guilt washing through their bond and smiled wryly.

“Liar”, she accused fondly, strangely proud of the attempt. Her bondmate, being as close to the polar opposite of herself as she had ever seen, was too blunt and erratic to be an accomplished deceiver. The fact that he tried made her think she was starting to rub off on him.

The tide of chatter in the class had stuttered and fallen strangely quiet as Allister had burst into the room, but like scar tissue around the wound to sanity that was the kelvic the conversation mended itself around him. Confused glances were thrown his way, and his obviously familiar relationship with a professor threw quite a few glances her way as well. She could almost hear the strain of her students in particular listening for juicy gossip about their straight-laced teacher and the deranged company she keeps. If they learned the child was his she suspected their jaws might drop hard enough to cause an earthquake.

Lowering her voice to dissuade eavesdroppers she pushed her notebook towards him.

“What do you think? This one would be for you.” She traced the lines around the teeth and the sixteen-point star. “This means ‘loyalty’”, she explained carefully, breaking down the meaning in an effort to teach him the symbolism. “Loy-al-ty”, she sounded the word out, attaching sound to each syllable and following with her nail. “Then there is a human heart for emotion, because your loyalty doesn’t come from a place of logic, but instinct. Then dog teeth, facing outward, to represent protection from threats to that heart and loyalty.” Pride simmered low in the bond as she reviewed her work, only becoming more certain that this would be perfect for his corpse. “You would make a lovely fetish”, she sighed dreamily, shooting the Kelvic a smile.

At that moment there was a tapping of shoes outside the door, and a man strode into class. Old but standing tall in high heeled boots, he had paper thin skin and blue veins that made him look marbled. A long, waxed black beard shot with grey hung to the collar of his sweeping blue robes. His equally blue eyes blinked at them impassively, and the milky film over top made Madeira suspect he was nearly blind. Over all the impression was that of an old river come to life to bestow its wisdom. The class immediately fell silent.

“Welcome to Auristics.” he rasped with a voice as worn as a water stone. “Please take your seats.” He waited until the rumbled of feet and chairs died down, then wrote ‘Auristics’ on the board with a white nub of chalk. “Books away, this will be a practical lesson. But first of all, who can tell me about personal magic and how it works? You, the pale young man in the back. What can you tell me about the practise?”

WC: 504

[Allister]

Allister was aware of the stares and the whispers but he cared not what any of these lesser imps thought or felt about him. The boldly returned gestures of power and crassness fell with mixed reactions from his classmates. Most hid away from his black stare, wretched tattoos and malicious smile but a few were curious or even eager to glimpse more. That was the effect held by the kelvic. He could draw a crowd, hold their attention but it was slightly different for each individual. There were those who judged and those who mocked but most held a balance of fear and wonder- a powerful combination when wielded properly. By observing Madeira and feeling the way she took charge of situations, the former slave was learning to seize moments like this. However, the flame which burned in his soul turned her icy stare upon him and all else faded into smoke.

The lanky, pale-skinned man was absolutely absorbed by Madeira. Like a scrap of parchment flooded by a spilt font, the ink of the spiritist was her massive presence. Small in stature, the blonde woman could fill a room with her intellect, wit and ambitions. The desires of her heart and plans of her mind were endless. Sometimes, she would take Allister on great journeys of speech that let his imagination wander in ways he never could accomplish on his own. To ascertain the breadth of that type of thought took training and required a great deal more brains than those which resided behind the thick skull of the hyena. Still, he admired and appreciated the patient manner in which his lover coddled his ignorant mind.

Black eyes soaked in the drawing. Her vision of his usefulness beyond his death was something that made his lower lip quiver against his slightly pointed teeth. To dream, to dare to serve beyond life- what a wondrous gift! Madeira could do it, too. He could be a weapon for his bonded even after he’d served his purpose as a companion. While the thought of being separated from her saddened him and weighted down the bond like baggy clothes in a rushing river, the prospect of a second life in this way sent chills up his spine. Flesh prickled and rose as water gathered in the corners of his eyes. He mouthed the word she spoke. Only broken down, could he form the sounds and softly, he whispered them back to her. On the third hushed attempt, long fingers with dirty nails touched the word as if to show where he was dividing the letters. It was just as she had done and the bond suddenly filled with his own pride to match hers. Maybe he could do this! Maybe he could be a good example for his child. Certainly, Madeira would be the one to educate the little thing but Allister could and would do what he has done so far for the young woman- be a source of strength and shelter from the world.

It was in the midst of these positive vibes that a sound broke Allister’s concentration. The smell of aged skin and sour wax rousted his senses in an assault that was unwelcomed. The shock drew his head up moments before the old man broke into the room. Allister wrinkled his nose. “Death is not far behind that man.” He muttered without thinking. Only Madeira and a few others would be able to hear it. The hyena was not trying to be mean but simply observing the almost preserved state of their professor. Such things were simple observances for a man whose greatest mental ability was a lack of preconceived notions.

When he was called upon, Allister wasn’t sure what to do. Clearly and pointedly, he had been chosen to explain something. No such answered lay in wait within the recesses of his shadowy skull. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped. This was not his play. Madeira made it very clear that he was not to take actions so he looked quickly from the corner of his eyes at her though he was clawing at his side of the bond for a bail out. His mouth twitched with the inclination to retort in an inappropriate way with something along the lines of petchall, a term the sailors used for being useless. He trembled beneath that weight but held his body still as he sought her guidance; her sweet wisdom. Black eyes lined up with blue and created a beautiful bruise amidst the silence as it lengthened.

WC762

[Madeira Dusk]

Death is not far behind him, indeed. Madeira hummed her assent, though a few people around the Kelvic did not seem to take that comment as the casual observation that it was. There was a scrapping sound as at least one chair shuffled away from the creepy, black eyed man. Though when those old, milky eyes at the front of the class found him, probably due to his offensively loud tattoos contrasting so hard with his chalky white skin and purple coat, it was suddenly Allister that looked ready to flee. His side of the bond was alight with a kind of stale panic, caught between his natural inclination to respond with inappropriate glibness and his obedience to his bondmate. Madeira quickly stepped in to answer on his behalf.

"Excuse me, sir. Personal magic is utilizing your own dijed to manipulate oneself or the environment."

The old man squinted at her, this young thing at the back of his class who was definitely not who he had called upon.

"...A very simplistic explanation, but yes, you are correct, Miss?..."

"Ah, Craven, sir. We work together."

"Raven? Oh yes... yes forgive me." he turned back to the class, absently twirling a tighter curl into his heavily waxed mustachios. "Personal magic means using personal dijed, which is a product of the soul. It is... the most dangerous type of magic, even more so than world magics such as summoning." his voice was smooth and quiet and half asleep, but his warning reverberated in every corner of the room. Nobody spoke. "An overexertion of the soul, known as Overgiving, has killed many mages of varying skills and practises throughout the ages. Even those who do not die of such misuse of this power have gone mad, blind, disfigured... and have suffer diseases of the body and mind."

He let this intense introduction sizzle away in the young minds before him as he poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on his desk. He reminded Madeira of her mad Uncle Frode, her once Spiritism teacher who was a great and ardent believer in fear being the best caution and motivation. He had similar dire views of the personal magic that had made him frail in his old age, and like to inspire similar fear in his lessons with his niece by putting a knife in both her hands before setting aggressive possession skilled spirits on her. The memory made her smile now, though gods knew she had some very risky close calls back then.

"Auristics... is perhaps the safest of the personal magics", their teacher admitted in a whisper of a voice that the water didn't seem to help strengthen at all. "But a personal magic just the same. We must approach it with... caution. Pair up... please, and we will begin with your initiation."

Madeira slid her chair over to Allister's immediately, her eyes staring expressionlessly ahead, though in her peripheral vision she saw a nearby teenage girl's face fall in disappointment and snarled internally. She took his hand to hold in her lap possessively as the class noisily paired up with their friends.

"Auristics concerns itself with... the aura. Everything has an aura. It is a natural phenomenon that everything in this world affects the world itself, and leaves impressions on the the things around it. The sentient soul by far has the most complex... and beautiful... aura. Thus it is easier to see. Turn to your partner now."

Madeira scooted her chair around so she was touching Allister knee to knee. Something inside her bubbled with excitement to breach this new form of magic, and something else was curious to know what her bond mates aura would even look like. Knowing him and his colourful mind and golden heart, it was bound to be beautiful.

"You must look at your partner, and you must see. Find that dijed... lurking in your soul and let it drift and augment your eyes. You must see more. You must see beyond. The aura will look like colours and patters that radiate outward from the body. Find it, hold it and look as long and hard as you can... I will give you thirty chimes to attempt to see this phenomenon. I do not expect all of you to achieve this on the first attempt, though those with... prior personal magic experience will find the exercise easier. Come to me if you have questions. At the end of the attempt I will ask what you few who have succeeded have seen, and we will discuss what the colours and movements mean and what we can glean from it... Begin."

Eager to start, Madeira breathed out in a long, meditative sigh. Her eyes drifted closed and she tried to find that place within herself where hypnotism came from. Finding the dijed was easy, and letting it flow like water into her eyes was easy, but once it was there she didn't know how to move it beyond herself. This was not something that could be taught, it was a process that one had to figure out on their own. Every attempt she tried reached outward with false feelings of hypnotism towards the partner of her life. It was a comfortable groove she had dug for herself, but she had to change tactics drastically. This was not an act to change Allister and his thoughts but observe him in a new way. Her dijed had to be passive, observant. She had to look at him and see more.

Madeira opened her eyes and simply looked at her beloved. She followed the curve of his jaw and space between his eyes and the slant of his brows. She had memorized everything about it, the sweep of his brindle hair and the ink tears around his eyes and the faded black words on his forehead; his eyes were a liquid black that cut like a knife, the shoulders under his jacket were ropey and she remembered how hard they feel under her hands. She studied him intensely, unabashed as her pale eyes roamed him from head to heel. He belonged to her, after all. What kind of shame could they be in looking at what was yours?

She knew him, every part of him, now she had to look for something she and never seen before: the trailing edges of his soul, that extended outside his body. Her focus was dragging a headache from behind her eyes. Her entire face was set and hard and looked angry with the effort. She had to look beyond. She had to see past him, into him, and see him truly.

First it was no more than a flicker in her peripheral vision. A little spark of light that would disappear if she looked at it directly. But as she brought her dijed forward, and let it coax out that little vision, something started to take shape. The magic in her eyes was sitting back, observant and pliant as she roamed over his form, as colour started to bloom in the trailing edges. This was colour as she had never seen it. It was only wisps, and it was barely there, but they were flames and they were wind and they were dancing. It moved and breathed and was so familiar she could have sworn she would have known it was Allister's even if she was blind, deaf and numb. She had been right, his aura was beautiful.

It took effort to focus for as long as she did, but she needed to see more and dared not look away less she never find it again. As the chimes passes new pieces of his aura became clearer to her, and if pressed she might have even guessed what they meant. But all too soon there was a fluttering, rasping cough, and the professor called for attention. The voice and the movement around them broke her attention, and the colours of his aura vanished.

"Very good... very good. Has anyone managed to... see their partners aura? Describe me what you saw... so we may break down the meanings and deepen your knowledge of this... incredible magic."

WC: 1368

[Allister]

Mercy.

The goddess of blue eyes and sharp fingernails had stepped in to save her lowly servant from his ignorance. A smile that could have been compared to the step of an autopsy when the skin is peeled away from the sternum to the armpits ripped the pale face into a bright display of admiration towards the parturient woman. Despite being errant in his reasoning or oblivious in his dealings, Madeira never laid that guilt upon the kelvic’s shoulders. Allister could not have asked for such a token of love as he did not understand forgiveness and absolution; such concepts were beyond his inadequate faculties.

Still, he did his best to listen to the dialogue and absorb the concept that his magic was part of his soul. It wasn’t overly abstract since the hyena already knew projection. He felt the physical phase of this everytime he detached a piece of his astral form though he never knew its name until now- the soul. As the lecture rolled on and the statement of doom, gloom, and evidence was laid upon the crowd of young folk, Allister found himself rather unaffected by the explanation of outcomes. After all, didn’t everything have life-altering consequences? Such theatrics brought a curl to the corners of the performer’s mouth. Sure, choosing your clothes for the day might not result in blindness but it could cost the wearer his life if he chose poorly and then got stuck out in harsh weather. Deformity seemed a high price to cast a spell but if one takes a path never before used and falls down the side of a mountain- well… again, choice is risk. Sometimes, life as a slave was easier because the property was protected to the extent of investment. People were often not so cautious with their own lives.

Allister was languid in his actions; the antithesis of the crisp movements displayed by his spiritist master. His hand in hers, the tiny fingers were swollen but still dainty against the calloused and bony snakes that he possessed. He could believe her excitement through the bond and it was instantly contagious; the residue warmed his appearance and his smile widened with closed lips so the grin looked like a raised scar that ran from under both eyes and met just above his chin. That was quick to pass, however. The hyena broke into a half pant with bared teeth and a slightly lolled tongue pointed straight at the giddiness her blue eyes held.

It was intimidating for the kelvic. The intensity that the spiritist bore with her stare was beyond what he could have anticipated. Never had he faced such scrutiny before; not even on the night when they met. Madeira had been hunting a ghost and he had played a trick on her with his projection. She had studied him them. The aristocratic enigma of a woman had melted him with her gaze on many occasions and most were when he was wounded. Such was the life of a blessed fool; make a poor decision, get hurt and then watch a goddess put the pieces back together. Even when they had bestowed intimate moments where their skin was slicked in lust and love, she had investigated his form like only one of her intellect could. This was equally as unnerving but perhaps more so since Allister hadn’t the same distraction as before.

Ticks turned into chimes before Allister had begun the exercise. It was only fitting that his feeble brain took longer to grasp what the assignment entailed. Stare at your partner. See the colors that surround them. A pffft ripped past his lips when the epiphany came like a premature orgasm. The obsidian eyes flexed widely in their sockets and then settled in as the kelvic prepared to do something that he was exceptionally good at it anyway. So he stared at Madeira. He watched and he gazed and he thought he saw colors but then again- he always saw color when he looked at her. She was his goddess; his sun, his moon. Madeira was always more vivid than the world around her but that didn’t seem to be anything different which was what the old goat had insinuated.

More chimes went by and the lack of an aura began to frustrate Allister. The hyena closed his midnight orbs for a moment as the dry air caused them to itch. Hands covered his face and it was in this interval that it happened. Smells flooded his nostrils -like never before. The former slave opened the ebony inkwells and stared at the golden empress of his life in all of her swollen bellied splendor. Nothing seemed changed but there was a peculiar scent coming from her like the way fragrances waft from an open kitchen window. It was a combination of things but it spoke to his soul the same way projection tickled his astral body. There were visceral smells, majestic odors and tantalizing aromas that all blended into a recipe for identifying the mortal who would join the gods and goddesses some day. A tear trickled down the pallid cheek as the twisted smile turned into something reverent.

Allister reached out with his hands and took Madeira’s gently as the professor spoke. He felt exhausted from the drill and wondered if that was part of the risk that had been previously addressed. The kelvic couldn’t give two jiggles of a jack rabbit’s ass about sharing his experience with the class but he was certainly going to tell his beloved. In a whisper, he leaned in and began to recall his first encounter. “Lady, I didn’t see a thing.” The smile would not fade, however, as he seemingly conceded defeat. “Your beauty is far too bright to allow some hidden aura to show itself and steal the attention that’s rightfully yours.” He caressed her fingers with his lips and continued, his voice a rushed tone that was raspy and weakened in volume. “But… your aura! Love, it’s a smell!” A second tear fell from the first eye while the other eye joined the party. “I adore your scent, baby-” His gaze shifted to something more ornery. “You know I crave you but this...this was something else!” He slid forward on his chair’s front two legs and nearly landed in her lap. His eyes closed slowly. “Madeira, I’ve never inhaled anything so perfectly indescribable in my life.” Allister inhaled deeply and slid his feet apart for stability. Then, the long man gently set his chair back down. “Even though I’m too simple to put it to words, I will always remember it and I’ll always be able to tell when you’re near because of it.”

Thanks to Lani Stranger for the beautiful boxcode!!

[Madeira Dusk]

Madeira was about to turn towards the professor, blinking the redness from her irritated, overtaxed eyes, when Allister took her hands. The look on his face made her stop in her tracks. Water was dripping from his equally red eyes, and he was smiling that smile that was half delight and half devotion. His voice was all cinder and smoke, used and burnt and weak. It rasped from his chest and lingered about them.

“Lady, I didn’t see a thing. Your beauty is far too bright to allow some hidden aura to show itself and steal the attention that’s rightfully yours.”

Such devotions might have made a girl blush, but embarrassment had long since written itself out of their relationship. Madeira opened to the worship like a flower to the sun, and let it warm the deepest parts of her. She listened with awe as he went on to explain that he did not see her aura, and she had his, but smelt it. Of course, a canine would rely on his nose over his sight, she considered logically. But they had not even broached the subject of filtering the magic through different senses yet. Did he truly stumble upon something the rest of the class had not yet considered? She smiled with pride, to see another example of his strange, intrinsic talents.

He used his more acrobatic talents to lean over her on two legs of his chair and inhale deeply. She thought for sure he was about to kiss her, and in a fit of bond induced madness she would have let him; in the middle of class, in full view of her students and her professor and coworker. But perhaps he did have more sense than her, for his chair fell back to earth with a clatter, leaving Madeira blinking and dazed in the wake of his words and presence.

"...Miss Raven?"

Every eye in class was looking at them, and Madeira realized belatedly that a question must have been posed to either herself or her bonded without either of them realizing. She quickly scooted to face the front and smoothed down her skirt over her knees to give her time to recuperate her rattled nerves.

"I'm sorry, yes?" she cleared her throat.

"I was asking... if you and your partner would be so kind as to... recount your experiences for us. The aura of... a kelvic would be quite a valuable learning tool. As would... that of a pregnant woman."

Madeira paused for a moment, looking from their ailing and weary teacher to the fresh and eager faces around them, and spoke.

"Actually, sir, I'm not feeling very well. The baby..." she trailed off delicately and stood, pulling Allister up by the arm with her. "If I could be excused, I'd feel better with some fresh air."

Aura's were anything but private affairs, but the thought of breaking apart and dissecting and analyzing this piece of her bonded was nauseating. As was the thought of herself and her child being under the same scrutiny. She was too private a creature and too possessive to allow it. She smiled apologetically for the professor as she passed his desk, pushing the Kelvic before her.

"Well... if you must..." the old man was sighing in his slow voice, but at that point they were already out the door.

The airy corridors of the Dusk Tower were alive with birdsong and the tapping of boots as people rushed here and there carrying beads or books, nails or armfuls of scrolls. Sunlight was filtering between the pillars of the hall that looked across to the open grassy courtyard where Allister had first met the girls from before. The place was dotted with chatting pupils or the occasional loner bent studying over a tombe. Madeira waited, walking arm in arm with her kelvic, until they were well out of earshot of the classroom before letting out a bubbling laugh.

"I'm sorry for cutting your first formal lesson short! Gods help me, but I couldn't stand it another tick. I figured we could have a private lesson out here just as well anyway." she motioned to the open and lively space before them. "Choose one. What can you smell about them? Anything you can ascertain?"

[Allister]

Allister followed the startled gaze of Madeira’s icy blue tombstones. Their tired grave sites settled upon the professor, widened in some kind of realization then flattened to her normal stoic stance of power. The woman simply oozed with set determination and it was easy to fall into line with such a potent persona in the lead. When the pregnant woman reached for her kelvic’s arm, the hyena shot up from his desk, a bony hip caught on the edge of the chair but it did not phase him. In his sickly form of seasons’ past, the former slave might have been tripped by the clunky piece of wood and hardware.

However, the adventures of the Lady Craven had honed the somewhat unsettled man of ashen skin and filthy ink was hardened by manual labor, salty sea spray and the unforgiving combination of sun and wind. His overwrought actions the flung the desk on a small hook back and away from his body -the tail of his leather jacket whipped purple in the light of the room. He didn’t pay it any mind other than to look over his shoulder and past the hair of gold. A dancing snicker ran over his wide grin as he allowed her to escort him from the classroom and into the hallway where their shoes clicked and clunked like a poor ensemble on some lonely corner. Their tune was danceable but wouldn’t return any coin for supper, that much was certain.

The feeling of electricity built like static over a thick rug on a cold day as each pillar blocked the light of the sun goddess. All the better, Allister thought. The selfish bitch in the sky would one day bow to her better if the hyena had anything to say about it. Black eyes leeched the glow from his beloved and it amazed him that her radiance seemed to linger regardless of her presence in light or shadow. A tear was shed for her beauty in silent reverence as they marched along. Thoughts of nail dragging, neck biting scenes flooded his mind and the former slave felt his knees threaten to buckle. What he could not ascertain was the cause- be it gratitude for such mercy as she’d allowed him or as he relived the ecstasy and elation would simply be left unknown.

When the slender arm found its way around his elbow’s crook like a snake possessing its vine, the pride of the lumbering servant swelled enough that he feared a strong wind might hoist him from the earth. He could not look away from her -not for a tick. Faces passed, boots thumped and some even sighed or scoffed as they were pushed aside by a gaudy display of low breeding and rough facades. Such a lack of style was certainly a whispered affair but the stark impression of a limestone spearhead amidst a sea of jewels was enough to intimidate most into silence.

The giggle, a burst of impish laughter, from the normally sarcastic and dark woman was so pure that it caught Allister off guard. He hadn’t heard Madeira in such a wholesome tone since she had burst out laughing after Emma had nearly interrupted the second round of folly upon the ship that brought them to Lhavit. The spiritist apologized. Allister’s jaw fell open. He had yet to notice anyone other than to note those in closest proximity. He shook his head furiously -so much that his normally tame hair disheveled into tufts of wild brindle. “No, lady.” He took one of her hands into his own and covered it with his other. “Wherever you go, I’ll be.” He pressed her hand to his lips then reformed side by side as they had been moments before; a statue of blessed ivory pressed against a tree of sallow bark gnarled by scars of time and cruelty.

The wave of her delicate hand was enough for Madeira to lead Allister into engaging the entire square with his gaze of curiosity, malice and innocence. All were weighed and found wanting to be in the presence of the goddess but none so much as cast a baleful glance that he had seen and so the inner bristle of his nature settled and the order he’d been given was allowed to set its anchor. Madeira had her mind to continue the lesson out here and the former slave would acquiesce despite feeling tired in his mind from the earlier exertion. “Yes, lady.” He bowed his head slightly and allowed the black eyes to close.

A sharp intake and exhale cleared his lungs and so, too, his mind. Allister instantly found the familiar scent of Madeira. His bonded overwhelmed him and he knew he wouldn’t be able to separate her for some time and without more practice so he opened his eyes and guided her to a bench. “You sit and rest, mistress. I will walk and-” Allister paused and tilted his head. “What is asser- ascertain?” In Kenash and even since being in the service of Madeira, the hyena had often sluffed through words that he did not understand. With a constantly low expectation on his behaviors and services, it was easy to breeze over the things that made no sense or to simply apply context. Recently, Allister had asked his lover and caretaker to help him become more educated. She deserved so much that he could never give but a moderately studied avatar was within his reach. In a billow of aubergine leather, the bonded kelvic knelt down at Madeira’s knee and looked with his obsidian stare full of awe and wonder as he readied his feeble mind for yet another lesson.

Thanks to Lani for this beautiful boxcode!

[Madeira Dusk]

Allister did as she asked, and his chest expanded and pressed into her shoulder as he sampled the air around them. Madeira tried as well, closing her eyes to the press of bustling students to try and sense the auras around her without sight. She breathed deep through her nose, tasting the crispness of the autumn air, the dryness of dusty paper, and most overwhelmingly the smell of blood and leather that was unique to Allister. But nowhere was that illusive spark of an aura.

The kelvic seemed to be having trouble too, for he led her to a low stone bench and sat her down, so that he could walk alone.

But first he had a question. Tilting his head like the canine he was, stumbling a bit over the word, he asked what 'ascertain' meant. She sighed, and smiled guiltily. It was easy to forget the grown man in front of her was only four years old.

"It means..." she twirled her hand, like the she might poke the right definition out of the air. "It means to find something out. Or to make certain of. For example..."

She took Allister by the chin, holding him still while she looked him in the eye. For the second time that day she moved her dijed. Not to reach out towards him, like she would with hypnotism, but with a newly learned skill of patience and observation. It took a long moment, with her holding him by the face at an angle that made the cords of his neck taut. But tick by tick, she was starting to see the wisping edges of his aura. A collision of colour, licking outward like tongues of flame. The contact of her hand was distorting his aura somewhat, like she was leaving a handprint on his soul. She studied the colour and the movement, and supplemented what she couldn't quite figure out with what she knew from his movement in their bond.

"I have ascertained that..." she smiled. "That you're curious and wary of everyone here. I can see it prickling along the edge, that colour. My guard dog to the end... I can also see the residual auristics around your nose... And I have ascertained that... I'm hurting you, by holding you like this. And I know you don't care." She pulled his face closer, extending his posture to the limit, and placed a quick, chaste kiss on his mouth.

Then she let him go, and leaned back, one hand braced on the bench and the other resting on her swollen belly. The sight left her slowly as the dijed drained away, and she blinked the unnatural wash of colour from her eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot with the effort of learning, but the glow around them was self satisfied. They were learning a new magic! In a school, of all places. For the first time since arriving she felt lucky to be in this city.

"That's what ascertain means", she continued her impromptu lesson. She would have to learn to be a proper teacher soon, but with Allister it was impossible not to inject that kind of wicked, joyful energy he carried everywhere. Perhaps that was the mirroring of their souls at work. "Take that walk, and see what you can smell in all these auras around us. It'll be good practice. Then come back and tell me everything." There was pride in her voice, for her partner was proving talented at something they had barely touched. She wanted to know just what he could suss out with that nose.

[Allister]

Allister was awed by the grace that flowed from his matron. She relaxed in a wide glow that seemed to crest like the bristle of morning glory when the sun flashed across a pristine lake of ice. Ascertain- to discover without any doubt; that is what he was to do within the courtyard. It’s high pillars, dainty trees and lavish denizens all drifted along like broken jewels swirling in a bowl of champagne.

The kelvic drifted away from his anchor, his love and his life’s mission. It was a practice of loyalty that the hyena accepted though he felt the pang of Madeira’s precious warmth leave him. One thud then another carted the lanky fellow about the stone pavers and as he freed his mind and nostrils of the spiritist’s scent and aura. It was so hard to try and ignore her- to try and put her aside. She was a part of him...no! The thought hit him like a wet rag from an angry barkeep. Allister stopped dead in his tracks and pulled a twisted grimace from his face. Madeira was bigger than the former slave. She was too big to be just a piece of a nobody- the Useless.

Allister was a tile of the great mosaic that was the Lady Craven. He hoped that he was her favorite piece, naturally, but even if he was the one fragment that she loathed it wouldn’t matter. She allowed him to exist in her world and that was enough.

With a slap across his own face, the wicked sneer replaced the slacked-jawed expression of being lost. Black orbs swirled around and centered in on a pair of young men who were in a heated exchange of whispers that seemed to center around a scroll clenched in a vice-like fist held behind one’s back. Allister shook out his hands and inhaled slowly; deeply. Pale nostrils flared as the sweet mixture of blooms and leaves mingled with pheromones and sweat. There it was- the human condition at its finest. People could smile and swear to words of fallacy but the bodies don’t lie. Attraction, repulsion, indifference and anger were all there between breaths and stares. The former slave drew it all in.

Drenched in the area’s darkest secrets, he felt that tingle rising through his lungs as his nose began to filter one scent from another. The young men held rage but it was masked by something -a tension that begged to be kept in the dark. In truth, the normal eyes of one could not see and so the dirty little secret would be safe. Yet the nosy scavenger followed his instincts and chased that which would flee. The stress which brought their words to a peak of hushed intensity was carried by something else. It smelled like shameful sex -the kind carried out behind a tavern’s shadow. Allister smirked. He exhaled slowly and gave them both a knowing look which brought a brief moment of silence. The one holding the scroll crinkled it closer to his back as if he could make it vanish from the strange man’s memory. In passing, the kelvic uttered a simple bit of advice regarding the use of a well-timed apology then continued on his path.

A younger woman ushering an aged man reeked of salty sadness while two children smelled of sunshine on clean linen. The wee ones gave Allister a reason to stop his languid stroll and soak in the scene. They laughed and chased bugs that buzzed about the flowering bush which tilted against a bronze fountain, greened by the water’s moisture. That sound brought tears into crescent swells that rested upon his purple and black eyelids. Would he be able to give the lives that Madeira fostered in her womb such joy? Would they be embarrassed by such a man as he? Would they love him as unconditionally as he loved their mother? A strange thought stopped the easy smile that had planted its roots upon his pallid cheeks. Should they even know that the broken and disheveled visage of a slave was half of their lineage? Idly, calloused fingertips stroked the anchor charm around his wrist and then moved up the thick strands of forearm muscle to the raised skin of his brand.

The boy gargled a belly laugh and doubled over in its aftershock but tumbled his female cohort in the process. Allister was too far away to react with his body aside from a gasp for the child’s well-being but the oddest thing happened instead. The novice mage’s astral arms ripped away from his core and sailed over the distance between their bodies. Like an invisible angel watching over the little life so full of promise, the projected limbs curled underneath the curly hair and thin spin then righted her without any prompting at all. The two children scarcely knew what had taken place but the hyena felt the tingling in his arms so suddenly bereft of any control. He had witnessed with his own black eyes as his magic had kept the young maiden from dashing her skull against the fountain.

Out of place, electric sensations reverberated up and down his arms as he weaved the invisible representations of them back to his form. When Allister rejoined them, he felt the pain and he caused him to swoon. Dark, thick blood oozed from his nose and the kelvic shook his head quickly as if he could shrug off the effects of his folly. The blood stretched in a unique sort of zig across his cheek and the oily gaze found the stones beneath his feet. In the bond, Allister limped up against Madeira’s presence. His feet followed suit and soon he was back next to her. He sank down on both knees and laid himself across her lap. His arms burned at the shoulders while the rest felt as if they’d gone numb from cold. His head spun and his nose throbbed but this was new to the former slave so he entertained no theories as to why. He knew the abrupt detachment had overburdened his arms. Madison had always told him to go slow but to aid that child, he had not heeded this wisdom.

With a sidelong gaze up at the sky where the cold blue eyes regarded him in curious pity and wonder, he smiled weakly while fingers pawed until they disappeared within the frill of her skirts. The contact of Madeira’s smooth skin with his palms gave him comfort so he pawed at her muscles in a way that would allow him to massage the tight knots of muscles in her calves and lower hamstrings. “Those two men arguing by the flowering tree are fighting.” He licked his chapped lips and continued softly. “I think the one without the scroll loves the one with the scroll but the paper holder had an affair and so they’re arguing.” He exhaled then inhaled the wealth of his woman. Her pregnancy, her power and her perfume flooded his senses and he felt the world shifting into a black warmth that only she could give. “I would never petch another if you asked it of me.”

Mads :

Sorry for the mistakes-- I dinna proofread anything. Xp