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

[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."

[whipstitch]

"I guess that makes sense," says Mercy. "Because the sky is the same sky everywhere, so if you pull on part of it then other parts might go out of shape? Is that why?"

[cumulonimbus]

"Sort of. I can't just make water start existing, so if I want rain I have to find the water it's made of from somewhere, and they might have wanted it. So I want to learn enough and get enough range that I can tow clouds over floods to places where there are droughts."

[whipstitch]

"Yeah." He nods. "That does make sense. Good luck."

[cumulonimbus]

"Thanks!"

[whipstitch]

He smiles. He has a very happy smile.

[cumulonimbus]

"Before Mathilde gets me a big stack of books about the sky and before I have worked out how to make tiny weather for the tiny trees, what's there to do around here?" wonders Stormy.

[whipstitch]

"Well, if you like to cook you can help me and if you like to clean you can help Rahi and if you like plants you can help Rook and if you like languages you can learn some from me or Rook or Sedge. And you can talk to people. And there's books. Elyth and Rahi each have a bunch and they share if you ask nice, and you can get more from other places if you ask the adults."

[cumulonimbus]

"I can cook a little bit, enough to make sure Charlie doesn't burn things, but I don't know if I'd be much help to you. What languages do you know?"

[whipstitch]

"I speak Tradertalk and I'm learning Namornese from Sedge and Rook speaks about a million things and he teaches me bits and pieces sometimes. And I can curse in way more languages than I can speak properly, and sometimes I teach that stuff to Rook because he doesn't always know it all."

[cumulonimbus]

"Are you a Trader?" wonders Stormy. "Or do you just know the language?"

[whipstitch]

"I was born one," he says. "But then I ran away. So I can cook the food and I can speak the language but what I am is just - me."

[cumulonimbus]

"Oh."

[whipstitch]

He shrugs slightly. The spinning wheel continues to spin, slurping up fluff from his lap and turning it into thread.