7956/Is it magic

Is it magic
Date of Scene:	19 June 2019
Location:	Sanctum Santorum - Third Floor
Synopsis:	... and Felicia got a kitten, somehow. (I don't know.)
Cast of Characters:	Loki, Black Cat
Tinyplot:	Weather Spheres

---

Loki has posed:
The large library was recently in use, but now, the occupant has wandered out to one of the smaller, more comfortable study rooms. The apprentice mage, J. Larkin, generally is overlookable, most of the time. He's a little on the short side, a kid of maybe fourteen or fifteen, dressed casually in jeans and a tan zipper hoodie, his satchel near him, headphones in, while he lays on one of the decadent couches. By all appearances there isn't anything magical to the brown haired teen, not really.

Larkin did take his shoes off, so as not to dirty the furniture, but is resting on his belly, one of the ancient tomes in front of him, arms crossed neatly between it and himself. He stretches some, flipping through some pages, then goes back a chapter, keeping his fingers in the spot where he was, to reference something else.

A view from the door will just see his raised socked feet, and some of the top of his head -- and the shoes/satchel on the floor.

Black Cat has posed:
A new face -- at least to the Cat -- is cause enough for curiosity. At first, it's simply lingering at the study room's door, tucked to one side, her jade-green eyes narrowed in inevitable mild suspicion. Felicia leans against the wall just shy of the doorframe itself and twirls a loose length of her platinum-blonde hair around her finger as she thinks, biting at her lip. Her teeth don't remove that red-red lipstick, not one bit: it's the strong stuff.

Nope, she doesn't remember this kid, not of all the faces she's seen traipse through the Sanctum over the weeks she's been pseudo-living within it.

"Are you one of Stephen's apprentices then?" She can't help but ask this as she properly appears in the doorway now. In a summer dress of hunter-green trimmed in gold with matching sandals and cream-colored light sweater overtop, Felicia lingers, smiling to herself at something only she knows.

Loki has posed:
"I even have my own library card, complete with a lack of late fees," Larkin's voice chimes from the couch area. Then he lifts his head some to peek over it, and eyes widen a little bit, as he takes her in. There's a /stare/ that is perhaps very common for a fourteen year old boy confronted with a Felicia. The acting is, of course, supurb and flawless.

The snark appears to die, maybe due to her legs. "I'm Jeremy. Larkin. Hello," he says, sitting up, pulling his legs under him to kneel where he is on the couch. The book in front of him is shimmering with a variety of symbols, a flux of beautiful autumn leaves rotating slowly around the pages on the left.

Black Cat has posed:
"Nice to meet you, Jeremy. I'm Felicia." She doesn't even think twice about introducing herself to the young man. The ease of her continued entry into the room is proof of confidence in her own skin around teenagers. She meanders over to the end of the couch and leans in a little to get a better look at the book he was reading through.

"What are you reading about? Something the Doc's put you up to? Let me guess: you have to write a ten-page essay on the influence of the full moon on the craziness factor of the interstate." The blonde winks at him.

Loki has posed:
The young man watches her come around, and moves to clear a little space, if she wanted to sit. Politeness, or an eagerness, or both. He looks down at the book when she references it, but doesn't miss the wink, he laughs softly. Some of the initial reaction might be toning back.

"He doesn't teach; there's never any homework," answers the young mage. "Nah, I'm trying to help out. Showing initiative. That sort of thing." He turns to drop his feet to the floor, sitting next to the book, now, and drawing it towards his lap. "I've seen you around here. But I don't get a magic vibe from you," he asks, curious, but it isn't pushy. "Hoping to start?"

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia does up sitting primly on the arm of the couch. A long leg lifts, toe pointed towards the ground, to cross at the knee. She interlaces her fingers around its rounding, which means a subtle arch to her back -- shameless, this one. She tilts her head slightly to listen to Jeremy, still with the mysterious smile hiding at the corners of her lips.

"He told me that I might be able to do some magic, but I've got magic of my own." She inhales, drawing her shoulders up as she does so, and lets them drop on the exhale, her eyes falling to the book on his lap again. "I thought I'd stop by and say hi to him, but he's not home, I guess. Did you see him recently, like in the last fifteen minutes?" There's a hint of insistence to her tone in the questioning, as if a pout is impending if the answer is to the negative.

Loki has posed:
"Recently, naw." There's not even a pause, he's already trying to distract her, it looks like, from pouting.

"Don't hold your breath about him teaching ANYTHING. BUT, I enjoy tutoring new people," Larkin gives. He leaves the book in his lap, and lifts both hands. A flash of a smile shows. His teeth aren't completely straight, but it gives him a friendly, earthy smile. He draws his hands together, with a soft murmer of words that aren't English. There's a flutter of green shimmer in his hands, and he cups them dramatically. A green light shows through his fingers, though he holds the clasp closed, and watches her with a victorious, playful quality. He's waiting for her to anticipate, really, what he's doing. It's very 'magician' in manner, how he turns his wrists.

The motions also read of the style of a pickpocket or sleight-of-hand magician, there's a lot of dexterity there on quiet, subtle display.

Black Cat has posed:
Behold, the pout, if only briefly. Felicia even pufts out a sigh upwards, hard enough to make a lock of her pale hair flip further to the side of her face. She shifts into a winsome slouch with her jaw on her palm to frown at the far side of the study room. But still -- all briefly.

The comment about teaching her instead has her glancing over. She straightens in her sit, silently watching him manipulate the mystical green force as her hand slowly falls to her thigh. His expression is enough to make her grin and dimple her plush bottom lip with bright teeth.

"So am I supposed to pick a card or something at this point?" she asks, teasing at the young practitioner. She still slips down from her perch to sit beside him on the couch, her eyes flickering from his closed, cupped hands and to his face. "...can I learn this trick?"

Loki has posed:
The boy splays his hands open with a florish of left hand. It's an elegant creation: it's a flower, similar to a lotus, but it's made of angular glass or gemstone. It's a deep hunter green, the tips frosted with a shine of liquid of pure gold along each tip of each petal. The green swirls to a creamy yellow at the base of the flower, and seems to adjust based on the small motions of the mage's palm.

"It can burst into life, and back again. I will teach you the words, if you want. Magical objects are the best way to get into magic: you get a 'vibe' from them, and familiar with how magic responds to the words and meaning you hold in them," he says. While he talks, some age leaks into his tone, that causes the teenager thing to take a slight back seat. For a moment, he's young, but also older, like a youthful elf. But then the teen is back, but with a small, almost humble smile, he offers it to her. "But only if you wouldn't mind just telling Dr. Strange something. It's easy -- I just want him to know I think I have an idea on Spring. Just that. He'll know what that means."

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia can't help herself: the revelation of the delicately-beautiful lotus-like flower is enough to make her gasp and pull back in surprise. A hand rises to rest against her sternum, her lips curling into an awed smile as she glances up at Jeremy's face.

"That's it? Just tell Cop -- the Doctor that you have an idea about Spring...?" the thief asks, a hint of confusion found in the slight quirk of her pale brows. "See, he explained to me that there's this system about quid-pro-quo or something. Like, you always have to keep things balanced because magic costs you something."

Loki has posed:
"I didn't make this just now," the young mage 'admits' while leaning in, to quietly cough, as if somewhat embarrassed, but trusting her to laugh along with him about it. "Just summoned it out of my bag," he says, smiling. "But still impressive, I think. The 'cost' for that item was paid; the world is in balance. But I think that's the first time I've heard a new person care about that." He's impressed, and it's not put on.

"Anyway: it does respond to magic commands." He offers it to her to hold. "Put your hand over it, hold in your mind a feeling of calm, and say, 'Flu-etah.'"

What Larkin failed to mention is that the flower would react to her mood quite a bit, but if she can manage calm, it should adjust into quite a pretty flower, and not bite her in the face.

Black Cat has posed:
The delight at the flower's creation potentially having been prior to their meeting doesn't dim, not even a lumen's worth. Felicia even seems to preen a little at the compliment. When offered the flower, she does still appear to grow a touch cautious. She reaches out and barely brushes a finger along one petal's gilded edging, pleased that the color scheme matches her dress on some subconscious level. However, she doesn't take it from Larkin just yet.

"So I say, 'Flu-etah' and it'll do what, bloom? And thanks," she adds belatedly, giving Jeremy a charming little grin. "The Doctor was very serious when he explained that to me. I'd be no help to him at all if I ignored it."

That, and she's seen the outcome of unbalanced magic. It was Chthulu-esque and still haunts her nightmares.

Loki has posed:
Larkin notices her worry, and draws it back just out of her reach. "It can do a few things. If you're afraid, I'll show you," he says, generously. And manipulatively, really: if she's a scaredy-cat. But there's no actual judgement, he doesn't /mind/ if she's a scaredycat.

"Flu-etah," he says, with a relaxed, focused manner.

The petals rotate, shifting into a rose-like arrangement, and harden, into pure emerald looking faceted gemstones, the gold turning more liquidy, like the petals were dipped in molten gold. It's definitely not glass, now.

"I also have a magical bookmark that remembers where I was, but this seemed more your speed."

Black Cat has posed:
"Oh...wow," Felicia breathes, definitely enchanted by the manipulation of the magical material and shift in floral species. Biting her lip again, she then holds out her hand for the construct. It appears that she's trusting Jeremy to place it there himself. Her feet are twined at the ankles now, tucked up to the couch's edging, and she does seem almost breathless.

"Flu-etah," she whispers to herself as if attempting to have the little magical code words memorized perfectly.

Loki has posed:
"Like that, but try to breathe and relax your voice before you say it. Or you'll get some thorns," Larkin warns her, holding it for another moment, and then moving it over to place it in on her hands. "Embrace your inner Harry Potter," he says, with a half-grin. And then draws his hands back, nods for her to go ahead.

"I'm a healer, by the way. So don't worry too much about it," he adds. Because the thing that relaxes someone is to be told right before they ride a bike that there's a surgeon at the ready for broken legs.

Black Cat has posed:
With the crystalline construct in her palm, Felicia gives it a look equal parts thrilled and dubious -- many folks wear this as the roller coaster is slowly ascending the first rise with impending drop to follow. Her jade-green eyes flick from it to Jeremy and linger. A stitch of a frown appears before she makes her face smooth out and she sighs slowly.

"F -- " Nerves get her. A little frown down at the flower and she tries again, sounding as if she were to be ordering caviar at the finest restaurant, confident in her ability to make this magical stuff work.

"Flu-etah."

Loki has posed:
In a way, this is one of the safest possible places to practice magic: the Sanctum of the Sorceror Supreme. And also the most dangerous, being as she's a foot away from Loki.

"Doing fine," Larkin soothes as she stumbles, reaching out to pass his hand near the flower, to restabilize it. Seems it doesn't need just spoken words to react. He gestures a little to prompt her along.

Her words cause the flower to burst, little gems of reflective glitter poofing out from it like a mini eruption, scattered in a swirl of air around the object, and turning to mist in the air.

It trembles, shimmers settle onto both of them, the couch. It lands here and there, showing the entirely not illusory edges of Larkin's sleeves, hers, all over. What is left behind is a living white rose, with growing dark green leaves around the base. The gold seems to melt, and begin to pool down each petal, in zebra-like streaks.

The young mage just smiles at her, as if he knew she could do it. He then offers a high-five.

Black Cat has posed:
A little 'eep!' of surprise leaves Felicia at the sudden explosion of the closed bloom. She flinches without losing the extended platform of her palm and blinks rapidly at the sudden fine dusting of mica. It's like -- auroral stardust in the air -- how beautiful, but --

"Oh...!" The hovering rose, classically beautiful in its form and mystically enchanting in its sudden revelation, has her absolutely charmed now. She gives Jeremy a bright-eyed quirk of lips and then hazards to giggle. The high-five is returned with her spare hand. "Can I...keep this?" she asks of the young mage, almost breathlessly.

Loki has posed:
"Not /forever/," Jeremy Larkin answers, tapping the side of his nose. "But you can practice with it, try different intonation, and different emotions. Think of it like a mood-flower," he suggests. He draws back from it, and her, and looks at his book. The flower doesn't really interest him much: no doubt he's had it a while, so it's lost the newness to him. Or he made it, so he can make more?

"It isn't a vital relic or anything, but try not to lose it." There's a smile in his tone.

Black Cat has posed:
"Me, lose a gift? I don't think you know me very well," the cat-burglar demures as she dares to gently touch one of the variegated leaves with a fingertip. It feels both lifelike and abnormally smooth, cooler on the striping in the golden pseudo-metal. She turns on the couch and pulls in her legs to rest on one hip, the flow of her dress's skirt now completely hiding all but her toes.

"I've never had a mood flower before. I bet Stephen will be very impressed," she muses to herself, smiling down at the ivory-petaled rose. "I'll let him know that you made it for me. You're a sweet thing." Jeremy gets the high-wattage curl of red lips now and a flutter of her lashes almost coy at him.

Loki has posed:
"You're making me blush. Keep that flower away from me, it'll end up pink," laughs the young mage. "Sure, show him, if you want to. But remember, it wasn't really a gift. A trade, for carrying a message." He turns some, more outwards towards her, and slowly closes his book, since he's not concentrating on it anyway, but leaves the edge of his finger in the pages, still holding where he was.

Black Cat has posed:
Jeremy has her laughing again. It makes her eyes twinkle in delight, even if he's humoring her.

"Yes, the message -- your clever idea about Spring." By the subtle inflection on the word, she's at least cued in that he's referencing the season. That the apprentice practitioner could be referencing the Orbs? Felicia doesn't allow herself to come to that conclusion without feedback from the Sorcerer Supreme first. He doesn't need any extra stress right now with hasty conclusions.

"What's your idea, if you don't mind my asking?"

Loki has posed:
The mage judgementally watches her, as if weighing. And boy, is he concealing how much he's already weighed, and watched her. Loki loves to play with people, to adjust things, figure out what people want, and to turn those into gold, or inside out. Daydream or Nightmare.

"Okay. Maybe you can give me your opinion, if it's even really worth bothering the Supreme about. So."

"---Think of two magnets, with opposing ends," Larkin begins, as if it were relevant. "When you come near a repelling force, you sense it. Even from great distance, if you know how to feel it. Magic can well up in the same way. A certain element. Another. They can repel. Well, if you were looking for it's opposite, I found a ritual that could expand the zone of one... and you could deduce a path to find what you were looking for. Based on a natural repulsion. Like, for a wild example, a season - Spring, versus Autumn."

Black Cat has posed:
"Ooh. That's not a half-bad idea." A manicured fingernail taps on her own lip as she glances off to one side and considers it again. "I mean, I like the logic of it. It makes sense, especially with the opposite seasons. It would probably work with Summer and Winter too. I think you should tell him. Or wait, no, I can tell him that you want to talk to him about it. I'll make sure I use the same words as before, that you have an idea about Spring."

She shifts on the couch again to tuck herself more into its corner and considers Jeremy from behind lazy dark lashes. "I wonder if you know about this person. I've heard his name tossed around a few times in conversation here, but I haven't met him myself. He sounds interesting though, this Loki guy. I guess he's some super sneaky magician?"

Loki has posed:
"I'm not sure I'm at liberty to talk about Summer," Larkin says, in a way that suggests he does know something about summer and is a pretty crappy liar. But he's trying to be honest and up front about how he can't talk about it. Oh, the tangled webs.

"Loki, god of chaos? Better to leave that one alone," Jeremy says, with some discomfort. "I mean, it's safe in here to talk, but that's really ancient magic. Like, he can /create/ mages, kind of magic. I know a little bit, but like."

Black Cat has posed:
"God of chaos?" That has Felicia's interest piqued. "Ooh." Jeremy gets gestured at with the white rose. "If it's safe in here, you can talk about him. Ancient magic though? I bet he's old...like, really old. He's probably got a really long beard. If he's the god of chaos, I bet it has things in it too, but useful things. Or maybe not," she amends, looking down at the rose once more. She pets the velvety softness of the pale petals again, smiling to herself.

"If he's chaotic, he might have birds nesting in part of it -- or maybe his hair. Is it true, that movie? The Lord of the Rings one? I saw a little bit of it and the wizard had birds nesting in his hair, under his hat. Wizards don't //really// do that, right?" She wrinkles her nose at Jeremy.

Loki has posed:
"He was on the news a lot, I don't remember a big beard. I hope it's not a requirement, or I won't be a strong wizard for years," Jeremy says, flushing, and still looking uncomfortable. Perhaps talking about a powerful evil wizard has gotten him somewhat tense.

"Well, let's check my hat," Jeremy says, though, after having to stare at her about the whole Lord of the Rings comment. He bends and opens his satchel, draws out a hat. He turns it over and yelps, and flicks it at her.

"PEEEEP PEEEP," says the hat.

A little baby chick is there, fluffy and yellow.

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia 'eeeps!' again in surprise at the sudden Frisbee toss of the hat in her direction. She's about to brush it away from her lap where it landed when the occupant makes itself known. She stifles a startled laugh behind her hand and then can't help it at all.

"Awwwwwwwww!"

Of course, it's about the same pitch as the chick's own peeping. Leaning in, the cat-burglar reaches out and very gently pets the top of the little bird's head.

"I knew I liked you," she asides to Jeremy, giving him another bright grin. "It's a normal chick, right? Not, like, a phoenix chick or anything? I mean, I can't keep it." Placing aside the rose on the arm of the chair, she cradles the hat in her hands and offers it back to Jeremy, chick and all.

Loki has posed:
Jeremy watches her 'distrustfully' with the hat, as if he wasn't sure where it came from. When she offers it back over, he accepts the hat and promptly upends it in a rotation, dumping the kitten inside on her lap. No chick; it's an orange kitten now.

"Guess I'm not a wizard," says Jeremy in dismay. "No birds after all." He puts his hat on.

Black Cat has posed:
"Oh my GOD! No, you're NOT!"

She means it based off the following statement by the young practitioner. Indeed, no birds after all.

The wee bundle of fur on her lap has the biggest green eyes she's ever seen in her life, not including her own, and the whitest whiskers to match the white toes to boot. Felicia puts //both// hands over her mouth now and looks at Jeremy, very much taken in by the continuous display of magical showmanship and adorable creature conjuration.

"...um...I don't know if I can keep this little one either though, it's not my house," she says. It seems to have been forced from her, this edict of responsibility. She attempts to pet the kitten's head as gently as possible regardless.

Loki has posed:
"Wizards get familiars," Jeremy replies, reaching out to scoop her up, and put her on Felicia's shoulder helpfully. The kitten stands, tiny razor claws digging into the shoulder if allowed, and saunters across to the opposite one-- putting her tail right into her face, by Felicia's nose. So catlike. So tiny and precious and fuzzy. What charm.

"Such as they are. It's a perk. But obviously if you're a wizard here, you get one."

Black Cat has posed:
The cat-burglar stays very still as the kitten does its repositioning to her opposite shoulder. Little winces here and there are proof of teeny talons making their way through the weave of her sweater. She wiggles her nose at the tail wending snake-like beneath it and tries not to sneeze as her eyes water. It tickles!

"I mean, I'm not a wizard, but you've got magic. You sure you don't want to keep her? It might be better if you did. Like you said, she's a familiar. I'm not magical." She gives the white rose a look though as if its very existence countered her claim. "It'd be nice though..."

What a winsome little sigh.

"I could get a lot done."

And steal soooooooooo many things.

Loki has posed:
"Well, maybe she'll help you focus. Hang onto her, try the rose again," suggests the young looking mage, with a gesture of open hand from the little kitten to the woman.

"Behave," he says, as well, to the little kitten. The kitten who stares at him, and makes an attempt to try to sneak in under Felicia's hair like a wiggly little noodle, dragging kitten-whisker brushes on her cheek and neck. Slightly distracting. And of course, intentional by the master of kitten-direction, Larkin.

Black Cat has posed:
"Oh geez, I -- "

-- can't help but giggle madly at the way the tiny creature tries to insert herself under the warm, perfume-scented fall of Felicia's hair. She stoops in her sit, angling her shoulder to keep the kitten from risk of falling off its perch. "If this is a test about focusing through distraction, I don't know if I can do it," the cat-burglar says, the last word breaking into another spate of titters. That small nose is cold on her neck!

Still, Felicia clears her throat and tries to appear serene. "F -- " She giggles again and gives Jeremy a look both guilty and amused. "I'm trying!" Clearing her throat, she sighs hard and looks at the rose. In a calm, composed tone, she repeats the words.

"Flu-etah." The last vowel breaks just the tiniest, like a hairline fracture in a glass pane, as the kitten proves to be proper distraction.

Loki has posed:
"Careful---" Jeremy Larkin suddenly says, as if sensing something bad, and lunges towards the magical rose, as if he were going to toss something onto it. If he did, it's invisible, but it seems things are all right: the rose melts, churns, the surface of it turning more opaque, instead of like a gemstone. The surface stops being smooth, but puckers, and flutters....

And the thing shakes off a bit of golden dust, much like before, and then sits there, tail twitching.

It is a little kitten, much like the one in her hair, except where orange is, it is shades of green, with soft golden tips.

"That's new," Jeremy says, staring at it. "Huh."

The kitten ignores them, and bats at some of Felicia's hair.

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia's expression remains openly shocked, even as she watches the new kitten with its verdant fur reach for the nearest strand of hair. Glancing back at the orange tabby and then at the Jolly Green Not-So-Ginger feline, she finally does find the wherewithal to stare outright at Jeremy.

"...I can keep this one, right?" she asks of him, sounding as if an answer to the negative really might break her heart into a thousand tiny pieces on the floor and how DARE HE. She does accentuate the query with a fetching little bite at the corner of her lip and tuck of chin.

Loki has posed:
"Uh," Jeremy says, clearly out of his depth, and not even a little bit laughing on the inside. His face hurts a little from not laughing. So he finally just grins. It's a real, honest grin: since he is actually amused. Truth sells all kinds of lies.

"One of them," he gives, as if it really were killing him to let her have one. "Which one goes back into the hat?"

Black Cat has posed:
A squeak of happiness leaves the cat-burglar. With care does she set the wiggling, pawsy green kitten on her lap in order to extricate the little orange tabby from within her hair. Some strands come with the munchkin, but so be it. Carefully, she offers the orange kitten back to Jeremy.

"She can be your familiar. You've got the magic, after all." Her free hand returns to gently scritch at the base of the green kitten's ear. "This one was the gift. I'll keep him. Her? Oh, it doesn't matter, you're the cutest little thing. Aren't you? Yes, you are. Sho cute. Sho cuuuuuuuuuuuute!"

Loki has posed:
"He or she? It's what you chose, of course. It's a reflection of what /you/ felt," says Jeremy, in a warm, charismatic way - the way he often uses to smoothly soothe others about things: in this case, about the 'mood rose' kitten, as he takes the orange one back. He settles it next to his side, where it curls up there in a little orangey ball.

His phone, in his bag, gives a buzz, and he jumps a little, leaning down to look at the technology. It probably breaks the magic a bit, to have technology come in. He can't possibly be THAT great of a mage, using tech, can he?

"Well, free time's up; I need to go," he says, thumbing over the message there.

Black Cat has posed:
The teeny tiny nose on this green kitten is just as cold and soft. Felicia pauses in giving the kitten nose-boops to glance over at Jeremy's satchel when she hears the buzz of his phone hailing him. She tucks her own verdant furball, gold-tips and all, to her side, and leans over to try and nosily see what the message is.

Of course, she fails, but that brings her more than close enough to flutter her lashes at Jeremy. There's that red-red curl of lips again. "You're a gentleman, Jeremy, pausing your studies to talk to me." She presses a shameless, harmless kiss to his cheek and then rises to her feet, cuddling her purring gift. "I'll be sure to tell Stephen about your idea. It's a good one! See you again," she says by way of farewell, twiddling her fingers as she goes.

Loki has posed:
"'Stephen', yeah," echoes Jeremy, as if half stunned by what just occurred. He can tell when she's turned away, because he smiles some, dispelling the extra kitten with a small distracted flick of hand, as she exits. Chaos in the house of Strange? Decent fun.

The mage extends one hand, pulling a green thread of magic out of the air that remained from the 'kitten', and wrapping it into a knot. He folds his other hand over the knot, and puts it away in his bag as he packs up his other things.

Saved for later.