[PRP] a garden like no other (Zac&Isobel)

[Ephebe]

It'd come suddenly, or more accurately, slowly-suddenly - they'd been walking, Isobel trying to find the words to describe the weirdness that had been life lately, scenery passing by only to suddenly feel the cold drips of rain on her skin.

"Åh-" she looked around, blinking incredulously, before looking to Zac- "is this 'other Ashdown'?" The people on the streets around them seemed to have vanished, a fine mist rolling in. "That's... ironic, considering, you know," she gestured wildly, making sure not to hit Madam Nibbs sitting in her over-the-shoulder bag. Said kitty only yawned, surveying her surroundings with a calm disinterest. "Considering what I wanted to talk about," she finally finished lamely. There was a lovely, tantalizing scent on the air - it smelt like flowers and wet soil and somehow, home and all things comforting.

endejester

 

[endejester]

“I… oh… yes.” He said sounding like he was rather surprised to find them-selves there as well. “Yes, yes it is.” He worried at his lower lip. No surprise perhaps that this place put him ill at ease.
He reached into his over the shoulder bag and fished out an umbrella, popping it open and holding it over them both to keep off the worst of the rain.

“We, should be careful, ah, what was it you wanted to speak about though?” He asked trying to sound less anxious than he felt.
True, not all the things here wanted human throats cut or hearts ripped out, but it was very much feeling like more of them DID than did not.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

She scooted closer so his umbrella covered better and wrinkled her brow as she thought on how best to formulate her thoughts. "I wanted, well, to ask about all this?" Gesturing with a hand to her surroundings. "The magic and-" she stopped, sniffed audibly and then looked at him; "do you smell that? Like flowers and earth and, and home?"

Sitting in her bag Nibbs was sniffing around too, trying to identify the origin of the scent. Once in a little while she let out a questioning 'mrow', baffled.

endejester

I imagine Nibb is probably smelling tuna or something lol

 

[endejester]

He laughed softly and shook his head.
“I swear sometimes, this place knows.” He shook his head again marveling at the fact that they had found themselves here right when she wanted to ask about it.
“I’ll tell you what I can? I’m not sure how much will be any good though, I’m still learning.”

He hesitated though when she mentioned the smell, pausing and tipping his chin up slightly to try and catch a whiff on the air.

“I… maybe?” He said cautiously. “I, I think someone mentioned there was a garden here? I’m not sure, maybe I’m just thinking of a book I read. We can look, if we’re careful?”


It smelled less of flowers to him, more of... old books, cinnamon, and warm tea with aged wood and leather.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Maybe, but I bet you still know more than me!" Her smile was bashful, hands coming together to hold the strap to her bag as she shifted on her feet. The little Madam was still sniffing to her heart's content, sitting up and alert in the bag - a smell this good was almost enough to get her on her feet. Or at least it would have been if today wasn't a cat-declared Lazy Day. Alas.

"A garden!" Isobel perked up, almost bouncing on her feet at the prospect, much to Nibbs' disgruntlement. "I saw a little park with Temp, but an actual garden? Åh, that'd be lovely!"

Being careful wasn't the first thing on her mind, but "yes, please! I really want to see it! Er-" catching herself, she blushed and ducked her head a bit, watching him from out under her lashes- "if it's alright with you, of course?"

endejester

 

[endejester]

“Um… Y-Eeeahh, ok, yeah, better to do this as a pair than to solo it right?” He said trying to smile away his nervousness. He at least had some idea how to do magic here even if it was exhausting. Jeremiah had compared it to building muscles, though Zac thought it was a little unfair that his pre-existing imagination didn’t feel like it counted for anything.

Then again, he’d never believed anything into ‘real’ before this place.

“Maybe if it’s safe I can… teach you the spell my Guardian taught to me as an introduction, sound good?”

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Yeah!" Her excitement was getting toned down by his nervousness, but it was still there. "What could be better than a magic garden? Other than maybe like... magic cats."

Or the offer of being taught actual magic. Isobel gasped softly, said "rea-" and then caught herself - Zac wouldn't say it if he didn't mean it, right? She didn't need to doubt him, he was her friend. "I mean, yes, that sounds utterly amazing! What kind of spell is it?" Her crown of flower buds were nearly in full bloom; right now, there was no thoughts of murders or tithes or creepy ball guests - it was just her, her best friends and the wonders of magic being real. This was what things pertaining to it should be like, not- not all those bad things. But she wasn't thinking about that, not now. Now was for happiness.

Sniffing discretely, she tried to identify the direction the scintillating scents were coming from; "I think the garden's... this way?"

endejester

 

[endejester]

"Have you, read Harry Potter?" Zac said with a small smile. "If you have its just a spell to make a small light, basally it's a good way to learn the idea behind doing magic here. Like I said at that... 'Ball', it um, it can wear you out." He nodded.

"You have to believe it will work too, things like that. Because that -works- here. It's really kind of amazing if you circle around the idea of how dangerous that could be. But, basically we're stretching your imagination muscles."

He followed her carefully as she, discretely sniffed her way towards the garden.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Åh!" She nodded, immediately understanding what he was getting at - was there someone her age who was interested in magic and hadn't read Harry Potter? "It sounds easy but, I believe you!" Imagining was what she did every day - and finally it was coming in handy for something!

"So I just have to believe really hard and that's it? There's no words or anything?" He'd said it was hard but really, it was sounding very, very easy to her.

endejester

don't worry she's not going to be a pro or anything she's just... a bit overconfident xDDD

 

[endejester]

"Honestly..." He said after a moment's thought. "I think you could use words if you want, I used Luminous to make the light. That's how it was taught to me, but..." He looked thoughtful. "You could probably use anything that made it easier for you to visualize. Almost like muscle memory.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Hmm..." She hummed, looking contemplatively at her hands. "Maybe like in Harry Potter? But I have no wand.." Wrinkling her nose, she thought for a second before shaking her head, "no, I'll just go for it! Okay, here goes!"

And then she imagined very hard that there was a little fairy light above her hands, eyes squinting and face scrunched in concentration. Nibbs was watching with interest, occasionally diverting to lick a paw.

But absolutely nothing was happening. Finally, after about a minute or two of hard thinking, she looked to Zac, frustrated; "I can't do it! Why can't I do it?" It was just imagination, right? She had plenty of that! Except, he'd said it was like muscles... did that mean that her imagination up till now hadn't been muscles? This was confusing.

"Maybe if I keep practicing...?" Her voice and look was hopeful, one hand going to scratch the little Madam behind her ear for comfort. "But what if I'm not suited for magic at all?" Åh, that was a miserable thought!

endejester

 

[endejester]

"Umm... here."He said and fished in his shoulder bag. 'It's just a ... temporary wand." He said and pulled out a sizable glowstick, which he then cracked and shook to make it glow a soft blue.

Much more magical that way, right?

"Here... Try... try wanting the light and waving the wand...or even try saying Luminos." Because you know Potter can do it, so you certainly can!'  

[Ephebe]

She followed his instructions, focusing all her will on wanting the light and waving the softly glowing wand in a flourish; "Luminos!"

And, to her great surprise, something actually happened; there was a brief, small flash of light, so tiny it might have been missed had she not been watching very carefully. "I - I did it! Sort of? Kind of - there was a flash there, just for a moment!" Excited, she was grinning widely and her crown of flowers was blooming prettily.

Then she tried to repeat her actions, only to come up short once again. "Åh, it's not working now." A small frown as she stared contemplatively at the wand before looking to Zac; "but if it's just practice... can I practice at home too? In, um, 'normal' Ashdown, I mean."

endejester

 

[endejester]

He shook his head no. "This..." he waved his hands around them, the rain the grey, that faint pleasant smell that they were following. "This is where the magic is, I think it just sort of leaks into our world, changes us."

He worried at his lower lip, thoughtful for a moment before glancing back more directly at her.

"You can only do this kind of thing here, I mean, if you can do it on the other side that -can- happen, but it seems to be sort of, spontaneous small effects that show up. Like um... " He rolled his shoulders and looked embarassed. "I can uh, I can pinch people without touching them in, normal ashdown. I can't do anything else, not poke or tap, just pinch, and nothing harder than that, and I have to be able to see kind of what I'm pinching. I can't hold it either. Stuff like that. Some people do cooler things like, I guess America, she can put little enchantments on things. Stuff like that. But here..." he waved his hands again. "For better or for worse it seems more limited by practice and imagination."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"That makes sense," she nodded, thinking she understood what he was getting at. "This is the home of magic and then it leaks. Right! Okay." Throwing him a wide smile, she scuffed a boot on the ground and said, "thank you for telling me all of this stuff - there's so much to know! I thought magic would be like in the books but it's, it's completely different. But fun! Except for the bad bits. But the good bits, like flowers in my hair and being able to make lights, I like that."

Which reminded her, she wasn't used to seeing a tall stone wall in this part of town. "Is that something magic too?" She gestured to the wall they seemed to have come up on at some point - engrossed in the conversation and attempting magic for the first time, she couldn't say exactly when it'd happened though. It'd sort of snuck up on her, like other Ashdown tended to do. "I don't remember seeing it here before - well, in our Ashdown, anyway."

endejester