Sarah Reiter
An Early Start
Arc 2, day 1
Time: 6:10 am to about 9:00 pm
Steam clung to the ceiling, clouding the bright light above. Sarah thought about Icarus as she turned off the shower, and grabbed the towel to dry herself off. "It's a bit of a stretch," She mused in her head, "to compare steam to Icarus." It was cold outside the shower, which prompted Sarah to hurry. The towel did it's job wonderfully, though her hair was still wet after the rest of her body was dry. She was tempted to generate hot air to dry it, just to hurry the process along, but she opted for the hairdryer instead. Besides, what would her guest think? She opened a nearby drawer, and removed it, plugging it into the outlet next to the sink. Sarah looked around idly as she dried her hair, taking in a now familiar scene. The room wasn't excessive, much like her entire apartment, but completely unlike where she had been raised. The sink wasn't marble, but a simple metal design. The floor was a cheap tile, that if treated too poorly could sustain serious water damage. These things didn't draw Sarah's eye as much as the smaller things. The small amount of dust on top of the toilet's basin, the dirt accumulating at the edges of the floor. Little annoyances that didn't occur when you had hired help.
Belatedly, Sarah realized her hair was dry. She unplugged the hairdryer and stored it away, before removing her brush from the medicine cabinet behind the mirror; she started straightening out the knots. She watched herself in the mirror, studying her Prae features. It was something her parents would want her to do, know who she was. What she was. The next step would be unthinkable to most Prae. She set down the brush, and centered herself. Draped over the empty spot on the towel rack was her jacket. She touched the sleeve gingerly, and drew a bit of energy for the catalyst. It always felt strange no matter the regularity of the action. Pushing energy through the jacket, she found the gate she was looking for. The levy broke with the smallest interference from her vis. A ward formed quickly, pushing out around her body, centered on her belly button. The next spell was cast immediately after the first, her cheekbones growing dull, her gem disappearing, and the markings on her legs fading into her fair skin. She walked back over to the mirror, studying her own body. Same as always, a beautiful mask. Being 'alone' in public as a Prae was so very hard, but with this she was just another human. The ward didn't block out all vis, but instead painted the picture of a normal human.
Her hand fumbled a bit as she reached without looking for the clothes folded on the counter beside the sink. She glanced down, and picked up the pieces one by one. Layer by layer, various underwear, skirt, tank top, and then her precious precious jacket. Admittedly Sarah felt the tiniest bit more drained than usual at the minute. She had to make use of a full body illusion spell last night because of him. Sarah opened the door slowly, pulling it into the bathroom, and entering her bedroom from the side. He was laying on the bed on the side farthest from the shower. He rolled over as she took her first step from tile to carpet, looking her up and down. Brown hair, brown eyes, and skin that spoke of foreign lands. It was the eyes that had convinced her both times, though she had played it coyly. He was shy, or had been at first. He was almost naive enough to miss the looks she had been giving and the flirting she had done.
"Damn. Twice I don't get to wake up with you beside me." He said, his voice just loud enough to be heard, “worse yet, you’re already dressed.” Sarah had the slight suspicion he had been practicing that sentence, though her face colored despite herself.
”It’s so much easier to talk when my lips have been loosened by those silly drinks.” She thought, moving gracefully around the bed towards the door on the other side of the room. She kept her eyes on his. Attempting to seem cool as she ignored her own red cheeks. She sat down next to him on the bed, and moved her lips to the side of his head. ”You better be ready to leave by 8:00.” She said, the tone of her voice making it clear she was only half teasing. The carpet caressed her feet as she walked out of the open bedroom door, straight to the kitchen.
The creaking of the bed springs alerted Sarah to his presence. As she opened the fridge he leaned his head over the door, looking down at her. ”Your room is rather sparsely decorated. Judging by that, and the fact that I’ve only seen you at the club twice, I’m guessing you’re new in town. That, or a recovering chronic shut-in.” His voice hadn’t changed, still quiet. Just quiet enough that you had to strain to hear it, but not low enough that you would actually misunderstand. It wasn’t how he talked at the club, he had to shout to be heard there. It was a nice contrast, and piqued her interest more than a little.
”Not new in-town, kind of a shut-in, and kind of offended” She said, smiling momentarily, before poorly hiding it. She removed the butter and eggs, and used her foot to close the fridge door. He stood straight up before his perch was removed from under him. He leaned against the counter next to the stove, expecting this part of the routine. Sarah obliged, setting the eggs and butter next to the stove, and removing a skillet from a nearby cupboard.
He glanced down at the stove, as she turned it on and placed some butter on it. ”Do I get to learn your name this time? Or is the third time the charm?” He moved away from the counter, circling around her and giving her an inquisitive look. ”He’s definitely thinking of these in advance.” Sarah thought, refraining from answering his question. She cracked an egg carefully, dropping it in the skillet to cook, while acting very focused. He responded by throwing his hands into the air, and sighing melodramatically; he walked back to the bedroom. Out of the corner of her eye Sarah saw him walk around the bed, before entering the restroom.
”How did I not notice he was naked?” She wondered idly.
The food on Sarah’s plate was half gone before he had finished showering and drying off. He walked out, and she could hear him putting his clothes on from the various quiet rustling noises. He walked out while buttoning up his pants, the wrinkles telling a story of being left on the floor all night.
His unbuttoned white dress shirt helped to reaffirm that narrative. She spoke up as their eyes met, a smile trying to make an appearance and showing at the edges of her lips. ”Sorry about not getting you breakfast this time. Stuff to be done, and in the rush I forgot to get more eggs.” She gestured at the empty carton peeking out of the almost full trashcan.
He glanced over at it, before shrugging, and sitting down at the opposite side of the small wooden dining table. ”I’m not accustomed to eating this early anyways, so don’t worry about it. Besides I ate plenty last-” He started grinning, cutting himself off from saying it; Sarah looked away, trying and failing to hide her face. ”No but seriously, I understand. I’m going to head out now. Have a nice day, no name.” Sarah recovered while he spoke, nodding in agreement. Sarah was soon alone with her thoughts, as he made his way out of the apartment.
She meditated on the night as she ate. Every so often she glanced up at the clock, slightly worried she’d be late. At around 7:30 she got up, and walked over to a locked door. She set her hand on the handle, pushing vis into it. The rune within responded, unlocking itself and Sarah entered the room quickly. There was a workbench centered on the wall opposite the door, with various drawings scattered around its surface. The workbench had a bulletin board on top of it, leaning on the wall behind it. There, detailed very extensively was a drawing of her coat. It had taken six months to diagram the thing out, and more than two years to actually start the enchanting process. She had tested it out on a couple electric circuit simulators online, making sure it returned true values and false values when needed. Even a single mistake could’ve set her back months, more if found late enough.
Sarah’s attention detail and commitment to the project made sure it was perfect the first time. The left side of the room had various pedestals, meant purely to separate the runes lying there visually. The system, when given a supply of vis, would generate runes in designated places, according to template runes she made personally. It wasn’t that complicated in execution, but more a mental puzzle. Trying to figure out how to get the expected result without making the entire act of undertaking the process useless.
The efforts had paid off, however, and now she was barely indistinguishable from human even when it came to casting magic. She could throw a fireball or ice spear like the best of them, real physical things that hurt-or so she was told. She was still working at better understanding how humans appeared when casting magic, as the process seemed so alien. Her best disguise was still a human with no magical tendencies, though that was also one of the safest disguises in her experience.
Her halberd lay in the corner, its position making it out to be an unused relic. Honestly the act of keeping it on hand was a pain, but safety was important. She could fight well without it, but even better with it. She lay her hand on the large handle, lifting it casually before spinning it so the blade was facing upward. Again she focused, the vis targeting specific runes throughout her coat. The weapon disappeared into a pocket dimension, and her stores of vis suffered for it. :No clubbing tonight, I need to keep myself topped off on vis,” She noted idly, moving out of her workshop, and letting the door close behind her. Its lock clicked into place as Sarah picked up her small black bag, and opened the front door.
It was overcast, and the oppressive sameness of it was something that still bothered Sarah. ”It couldn’t be a bright cheerful day, no, it has to look like a funeral is about to start every damn day” She thought, annoyed. The walk to class was consistently uneventful, which was nice. No one kept their eyes on her for long enough to make her feel uncomfortable, it felt like there was a bigger bubble outside the literal bubble that was the ward. She was just another human schoolgirl, she wasn’t special or better than anyone.
It was 8:56 when she arrived on campus, and three minutes later she arrived at her first class of the day. It was her only early class in the week, though she did have a night class later in the day. The advertisement for said class was very vague, but she went out on a limb. With her luck it’d turn out be about philosophy of magic, or worse religions and magic. God she hated that class; the textbook was very poorly written. It wasn’t just dry, though it’d make better kindling than reading, it was also poorly sourced. Bias shone through really heavily, and it felt more like a sermon than an educational text.
The seat she took was one of the empty ones near the front. The class she was currently attending was a History of the races III which she tested into. Truthfully Sarah didn’t have too high a hopes for it, but the textbook was actually pretty interesting. She settled in, listening attentively to the professor and taking extensive notes the entire time. She could already tell that she wouldn’t have to study for the test. The act of note taking guaranteed that, as she knew she’d remember the material better after writing it down.
