[Seidaku's Cottage] Lessons on Nothing (Seidaku

[Yanessavhanet]

Vhanet gave a slow nod as she listened to Seidaku's explanation, doing her best to not let the first hints of boredom show through, but her eyes were starting to wander over the various contents of the cottage around Seidaku. Once he finished talking she returned her gaze to him and gave a soft smile, "I believe I know what you mean. What do I need to do now, teacher?"

Maybe she wouldn't eat Seidaku after all... this was starting to sound like a lot of work, and it would possibly be easier, not to mention more fun, to just get Seidaku to do the work for her. With his averted eyes and embarrassed coughing it seemed she was well into his thoughts, and if it was anything like her turning of Nasilia the process would be both fun and pleasurable. Still, the thought of relying on someone else for that much was a little unpleasant, and so she would wait just a little bit longer.

[Seidaku]

About halfway through his explanation, he noticed Vhanet's attention start to wander. It was an easy thing to forget that she already had experience with magic, albeit of a remarkably different sort. His long winded description had probably bored her. It was polite of her not to say anything, though.

Seidaku returned her smile, "The next step is just more of the same, unfortunately. Meditation and concentration until your mind makes that link that allows it to comprehend perfect Nothingness. It took me days of deprivation and focusing, but I have seen it all come together as quickly as a single afternoon."

Leaning forward intently, he asked, "Was it much different trying to learn Reimancy?"

[Yanessavhanet]

Seidaku's explanation of the rest of the process of learning Voiding was not encouraging to Vhanet. Days of deprivation and focus!? As amusing as it would be to be able to create Voids for herself she certainly did not want to spend that long learning. Seidaku's question about Reimancy only made the situation worse. This game was quickly losing its fun, and that meant it was time to change the game.

Dropping her head at Seidaku's intent gaze Vhanet's voice took on a shameful tone, "I... I have to tell you the truth. I do not know Reimancy, or any other form of magic. I lied to you the day we met... I wanted to find a way to talk to you finally and I could think of nothing different."

Bringing her hands up to cover her eyes she gave a soft sob as she subtly jabbed her fingernails into her eyes to draw out some tears, "Forgive me... I did not want to deceive you..." she gave another sob as she squeezed her eyelids shut to push some tears out to roll down her cheeks.

[Seidaku]

Leaning forward as he had been, Seidaku was treated to an up close show of Vhanet's face collapsing into sorrow. He just stared, confused as to what had brought this on.

When she explained her deception, he reached out to take her in a hug that was less comforting embrace and more awkwardly patting her on the back while saying, "Umm... there, there?"

He blinked in surprise, she had made up a lie because she wanted to talk to him? Seidaku broke into an unconscious flattered smile that she had actually wanted to talk to him. And really, the lie was utterly harmless, if you thought about it.

Seidaku stepped back until he was at arm's length with his hands on Vhanet's shoulders, he looked into her eyes and smiled reassuringly, "It's okay, really. You were new to the city and did not know anyone. I cannot imagine how hard that must be. There is nothing to forgive, the lie was harmless."

[Yanessavhanet]

The barest curve upwards of Vhanet's lips was all that showed of her delight as Seidaku fell completely for her deception. As he awkwardly hugged her she turned her gaze up to him, turning her faint show of a smile into a distraught frown that was slowly recovering.

As he looked down into her eyes and reassured her it was alright, and that there was nothing to forgive Vhanet gave a sigh of relief. Focusing on using Ionu's mark to disguise her voice once again she cried out, "Oh Seidaku, thank you!" and then threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself up to give him a passionate kiss.

Lightly pressing the curves of her body against Seidaku's taller form Vhanet held the kiss for about a chime before she quickly pulled away, and shifted her illusionary focus from her voice to her face as she created the illusion of a bright blush on her cheeks. Looking up at Seidaku she waited for his response, and hoped that this would be enough to keep him from asking how she had done her demonstration with no skill in magic. That was a secret she was not wanting to reveal yet.

[Seidaku]

The suddenness of the unexpected kiss left Seidaku paralyzed with shock. Then, with his higher brain function still trying to sort out what was happening, his arms moved of their own volition to Vhanet's waist and he kissed her back.

Vhanet breaking the kiss was the cue that the rest of his mind had been waiting for, and the world snapped back into focus with him blushing furiously and breathing hard from the momentary exertion. He stammered out the beginnings of several attempts at a sentence before he finally managed, "Did, umm, do you still want to- that is, did you still want to learn how to Void?"

Through it all, he was completely unaware of the lopsided grin plastered across his face, or the way that he periodically half-reached up toward lips that still tingled pleasantly from the kiss.

[Yanessavhanet]

It took every last shred of control to keep from grinning in delight at the success of her distraction. She briefly considered using her skill over illusion to help her mask it, but as fun as Ionu's gift was she didn't want to rely on it too much. At least, not until she could do more with it.

Giving a shy smile up at Seidaku, as she continued to press her body lightly against him, she spoke softly, "You think I could learn, even though I do not know magic already? I would like to try, but I would hate to make a problem for you if I cannot do it."

He had said that one person had gained the knowledge in a single day, and if she grew bored she could always just declare herself unable to do it. Besides, Seidaku's reaction had been amusing enough that she certainly would enjoy putting him through it again. It seemed she had found herself a naive little man that she could have some great fun with.

[Seidaku]

"Nonsense," he said with a lopsided grin, "It would be no bother at all. Your company is, umm, delightful." The pressure of her body against him was... distracting, and he continued to blush as he answered.

He made no move to pull away though, nor did he remove his hands from her waist, "Once you get past that first hurdle and are able to envision what you are attempting, the rest is not as hard."

Even if she was unable to learn even the basics of Voiding, her presence would be no problem. Vhanet was a welcome distraction from his rather cloistered lifestyle. Not for the first time, he counted his blessings at the random encounter in the Sunken Conundrum that had blossomed into an unexpected friendship with a beautiful woman.

[Yanessavhanet]

"Then I will work hard to learn what you teach," Vhanet said with a warm smile as she continued to hold her body close to him for a few moments longer.

Finally she gave an embarrassed smile, "It would probably be better if I gave my full attention to the meditation, wouldn't it?" as she spoke she made a show of reluctantly removing her arms from around Seidaku's neck, and then taking a couple hesitant steps back, "Now... to think on nothing."

Finding a place to sit down on the floor Vhanet shut her eyes, and honestly set about doing what Seidaku had instructed her to. It almost felt strange to do something so straightforward and, for lack of a better word, dull, but she could work for a good result. The ability to create portals to the void was certainly something worth some work.

There was much in Vhanet's mind though, and none of it was quiet. Memories, desires, possibilities, and plans all drifted about inside the darkness of her mind, and many of them had such delightful sensations tied to them. As hidden as she kept her goals and desires Vhanet was one who spent much of her time outside of her mind, and so focusing inwards was a rather new situation. At first she delighted in the focus on her thoughts, and drew upon some very pleasant images that caused her body to shiver lightly with pleasure. She wasn't distracted for too long though, and then began the process of trying to find a way to gain some silence.

She couldn't just ignore the dreams and thoughts, as they still remained nearby tempting her, and she had never been very good at suppressing her thoughts. After a few chimes struggling to come up with a solution one finally came to her. She could use the Void to help her out.

In her mind she imagined a portal to the void, like what Seidaku had shown her, focusing on the darkness and utter emptiness of it. Slowly she created pictures around this void portal, each one representing her thoughts, and slowly began to feed them to the void portal. Each one that vanished into the darkness increased the size of the portal a little, and slowly her mind began to grow a little quieter.

[Seidaku]

"Oh, umm, yes," Seidaku stammered as Vhanet slipped easily out of his embrace. After a nervous cough, he managed, "Yes, it can, umm, require a bit of focus. Especially, umm, when you are first starting out."

"Don't worry, though," he said with an encouraging smile, taking a step back to give her the space to settle in, "After the first time, it gets easier." His eyes popped wide and he blushed crimson as he realized what he had said, "The Voiding, that is. The Voiding will get easier... after the first time, umm, when you create a portal. It is not as, well, not as hard as when you first start. It, umm, it gets easier."

As Vhanet sank lithely to the ground and made herself comfortable, Seidaku gave a soft, embarassed sigh and made his way the short distance across the room to his work desk. Arranging the chair to keep an eye on Vhanet's progress - his lesson with Wrenmae had taught him that progress could happen shockingly quickly - he sat down and pulled a sheet of parchment and his quill and ink nearer to him so he could write.

For over a chime, he just stared at the parchment, unable to focus as he berated himself for making a fool out of himself. Vhanet was a stranger in the city and here he was, all but forcing himself on her. He shook his head, amazed anew at the fact that she had seen him in the library and wanted to approach him.

At that last thought, his anxiety receded and his pen began to scratch across the parchment.

Natural Nothingness: Non-Magical Void Portals in Mizahar

The art of Voiding allows a mage to use their Djed to manipulate the matter of the world, pushing matter away from a point until a natural Void is achieved. When this is accomplished, a portal into the Void forms. Therefore, it stands to reason that, if one could-

The work was slower going than normal, due in large part to the fact that more than once he had found himself idly contemplating Vhanet as she meditated. She really was quite beautiful, sun-kissed skin and exotically formed features. Every time he found himself staring, he would give himself a shake and return his focus to his writing, only to find himself a few chimes later, watching Vhanet breathe, the rise and fall of her chest, the flare of her nostrils, the way her lips parted slightly when she- he gave himself another shake and turned back to his writing.