warm front

[cumulonimbus]

After Mathilde has left (and Stormy has her schedule for the next few days all written down), Stormy goes aprowl through the house again to make sure she's clear on the layout and see if anybody else wants to talk to her while she is still novel.

Comments

[cumulonimbus]

"Why does spinning it work, do you know? Why doesn't it unspin or just pull apart anyway?"

[whipstitch]

"Mmm... I can feel why, I'm not sure I can explain why," he says. "There's times when it unspins, and you can unspin some thread yourself just by taking a little bit and rolling it the wrong way until it gives up. But once it's spun, all the little bits of fluff grab onto each other that way, so unless they're the ones right on the end, they can't come apart because their neighbour fluffs are holding onto them in the twirled-up shape. And even the ones right on the ends get used to it. But that's why thread frays at the ends and not in the middle unless something catches on them and breaks some. Does that make sense?"

[cumulonimbus]

"Kind of. They'd have to - cooperate to unspin all at once, they can't do it by themselves, and they aren't cooperating things, so they don't. Are you doing magic or just regular spinning right now?"

[whipstitch]

"I'm not especially doing magic. I still don't know if it's magic when I just spin or cook and don't do anything special with it."

[cumulonimbus]

"I guess I don't necessarily know if I'm technically doing magic when I - I don't know, breathe."

[whipstitch]

"Maybe you are," he says. "That would be weird."

[cumulonimbus]

"It would be really weird! They'd probably want me to spend literally all of my time in a magic circle thing, or something."

[whipstitch]

"I don't think so. I don't need a magic circle when I spin."

[cumulonimbus]

"Okay, maybe not. Which is good. I am supposed to have one every time I go up to be the sky for a while and that's going to be kind of annoying all by itself."

[whipstitch]

"What's it like being the sky?"

[cumulonimbus]

"It's... big. And all warm and cold at the same time and it's like I imagine it would be like if I could dance."

[whipstitch]

"You can't dance?"

[cumulonimbus]

"Nah, I fall over. I can't run or climb things either. Sometimes I don't even do great with walking, but most of the time I can manage that."

[whipstitch]

"That sounds hard. But you get to be the sky, that's nice."

[cumulonimbus]

"It is nice! Do you have anything like that, do you get to be thread or anything?"

[whipstitch]

"Not exactly. Sort of, I guess. I like making things. It feels nice. I think that might be sort of the same kind of thing."

[cumulonimbus]

"Maybe. I don't necessarily have to do anything to the sky to go up to it, though."

[whipstitch]

"I think that part's different because both of mine are craft magics. Almost all my magic is doing things to things somehow or other."

[cumulonimbus]

"That makes sense. What do you make with the thread magic besides... thread?"

[whipstitch]

"Thread's kind of the first piece, but anything else you can spin or weave or braid or things like that is all part of the same magic too. Dedicate Finch is teaching me how to knit, that's fun."

[cumulonimbus]

"I mean more like - did you make anything you're wearing right now or whatever."

[whipstitch]

"Nothing I'm wearing right now, but I did make some of my clothes. That's fun too."

[cumulonimbus]

"What sorta magic are you going to be able to eventually do with it? Is it more about making the things faster and better at being fabric, or will they do other things on top of being fabric?"

[whipstitch]

"I can make things faster with magic, but it's not always better to do it that way. It's only good for when you really need things done fast. And some of it's making things better at being fabric, but some of it's making things better at doing other stuff. Like I'm learning how to make clothes that don't hardly get dirty, but I'm also learning how to make bandages that make people heal faster and ward off disease."

[cumulonimbus]

"Oooh, magic bandages, that sounds useful. I want to do useful things, but apparently the weather is terribly complicated and I shouldn't just make sure it rains regularly where I am."