V5 Incline 23: Osibindah Nin

"I am surprised by just how much magic there is in everything here..." I mumble to myself as I look at walls of all things. It's like there's a gift of homely nostalgia for me right now. Haven't looked this intently at walls since my last shift as a wall-engraver. The skills the job gave me are certainly... Odd in how they come out.

Frihdeicalkbr has made me quite privy to how much of this building alone uses these magic circuits. Rather, the Academy as a whole uses so many of these things to do even the most menial of tasks. Well, he didn't call them circuits specifically. He mentioned something called 'runing' and brought up how they have lectures and resources on it.

He even left me a tablet that I can't read which no doubt explains it all...

"Still." I go, getting my initial thought out into the open as I blankly look over the tablet. My later education was near entirely in the engineering trades. I don't get it at all, given what magic is, but, looking at it and having heard some of the details, it all just sounds like fancy electrical circuits. And that is something I am familiar with.

Even if it otherwise does not exist here, apparently. Not even the lightbulbs are proper lightbulbs as I am used to them. In some ways, this building is like a bad painting where all the little details are replaced with something else entirely. Everything I'm used to back home is gone, replaced with pieces of metal with concentrated streams of magic going through them. Always with the same pale blue glow.

Even the foreign materials that Frihdeicalkbr put a lot of stipulation on...

However, if the magic is explicitly focused on something, that glow is not there. Like the lights above me. Apparently, there's some kind of equilibrium going on inside of the devices up there. Pieces of runed metal conflicting with each other to produce light and darkness. All determined through the one constant in life: a light switch.

What really gets me laughing about this, though, is how turning the lights off works. You don't stop them from glowing, you don't cut off the flow of electricity... You invert the lights. You make them darks!

I don't put myself in natural darkness, I've just let the darkness magic stuff inside the machine... Glow brighter...?

Whatever. It's confusingly fun as is. Certainly enough so to keep my attention off of everything else. Measly, but good enough when regarding my current issues-

Steps disrupt the dark quiet I have going on.

"Who's there?" I call out, knowing full well Frihdeicalkbr left the building a while ago. Other people live here, he's made that more than clear, and everyone who lives here are the only people allowed in. No exceptions.

Frihdeicalkbr did mention something about trying to meet and greet the others. Well, greet in a very greatly diminished sense of the word. It's more so they'll be made aware of the fact I now live here... But, who could this be because these footsteps sound awfully... Light?

"Someone has a pet?" I mutter, looking around for any signs of fur, feathers or shed scales.

There's a lot of movement with sharp noises to it, so I'm not really able to put my foot on it. Guess someone has a scampering little nuisance? Could be fun if it's a playful thing... No, scratch that, I should just be glad I can't quite put my foot on the answer.

Turns out, all the noise coming into the room has heralded my answer. It's that aelenvari- aelenvar child I was informed about. One that has just wandered in front of me, and is now staring at me... Can... He. Can he even tell what I am that young?

I shake my head a little, moving back a half-step as the very, very young child waddles closer to me. It's slightly impressive it can move around so much, what, given it has no tubes or pads or caps of any kind. It's bare pointed. Still... I'm not allowed near the childcare places, and this child being near me is...

Does the rule not extend to children of the students as a whole? Do I need to walk away? I can't exactly takes chances with this kid testing my patience and... Uh...

"No, no, no... Go over there." I hush, flicking my claws away from me as the little guy drives me into the corner. His unrelenting assault of curiosity smacks against me quite literally. I freeze up, the little child's deformed arms patting against me. He opens up tiny mouth, blabbering away with noises as his equally deformed head bulbs light up.

Mmm... I really need to ask Rose-sweerui at some point about this if I haven't already. All the male... Aelenvari. All the male aelenvari I've seen up until this point have been deformed. It really starts this young? I don't recall asking her anything about that kind of stuff.

I can't for the life of me remember-

"Little one..." a someone with a very wounded, raspy voice calls out from down the hallway. Panic shoots through me, washing me clean of any reasonable doubts and actions. The only light in this room is the dim light's of this baby's head bulbs and-

The owner of the voice stops at the entrance to the room, making the panic in me a shared commodity. All she can see from where she stands is her son down below... The outline of me so high above...

The bolts for her child, snatching them up and rushing out the way she came in by.

"Dandel'lhia..." I realise, knowing those scars from any angle.

She snaps my way, tears in her eyes as my words do more to hurt her than anything Rose-sweerui did to her. She's locked in place, staring me down as she knows full well she never told me her name. At least, not the osibindah me... All she has for me is fear, a kind of fear she never even showed towards Rose when she was near her.

"I'll... I'll go..." I let out, knowing full well there's no point in me staying here. I don't even bother to turn on the lights just to spare her my visage. I just leave through another door. Carefully planning my route so I can go on ahead to my room...

A shaky breath escapes me as my eyes feel awfully heavy... And a sigh escapes me...