datadiving | this is fun and we have fun here

[Avery hates these get-togethers. They're long and boring and mostly consist of him sitting around listening to adults talk about a bunch of things he doesn't care about but is told he should. Everyone coos at him and tells him how big he's getting and acts like they care about him for a whole half a second before immediately trying to suck up to his parents.

It's annoying, but at least he has his mask on so he doesn't have to smile for them all.

They've started talking politics and economics and all sorts of other "ics" that don't involve magic are thus completely boring to him when he catches sight of a boy his age over by one of the trees on the grounds. He's not doing anything special, and that alone has managed to catch his attention. Usually people are throwing other kids at him, telling them to become friends, but this kid isn't even pretending to care.

Avery makes sure that the adults around him are caught up in their boring conversation before he slips away and heads to the tree, his shadow falling over the open book as he leans over the other boy.]

Whatcha reading?

Edited 2019-03-17 17:06 (UTC)

[ He doesn't expect anyone to come bother him, and so he looks up when someone's shadow blocks the light falling on his book.

...

He doesn't really recognise this child (more accurately he doesn't recognise the mask), so he must be new around here. Ekkehardt resorts to his usual tactics when meeting strangers, which is politeness. ]

It's a book about healing magic. [ Most children who grew up in this kingdom had some kind of magical aptitude; it's not an uncommon thing to know what form their power takes, even at a young age. ] The big spells are kind of complicated, but I think if I read it more I'll get it.

Woah, you can heal? That's so cool! You wouldn't need anyone's help if you fell or anything!

[And, most importantly, this kid would never ever have to sit through a lecture on not doing anything fun or cool like Avery had. He's a little jealous. More than a little.]

Yeah! I wanna be a doctor when I grow up.

[ He's had his fair share of lectures, in an absentminded way, but he's always been a quiet child. It fools most adults into thinking he's well-behaved, so he can get away with more things than usual, sometimes. ]

What do you wanna be when you grow up?

[This kid doesn't know him? That's... kind of nice, actually.]

Um... I don't know if I have much of a choice. But astrology sounds cool. Oh! Or being a lawyer! They get to have arguments all the time and no one tells them to knock it off.

You don't have a choice? That's... [ He fishes around for an appropriate word. ] ...mean.

[ Nailed it. ]

Being a lawyer sounds neat, though. I think you get to read a lot of books that way, too.

[He nods eagerly.]

Yeah! That's the other thing I was thinking. I could read whatever I want and it would be "research" for a case!

[Avery no that's not how it works]

Are you gonna be a doctor because of your magic? Or did you want to be one before you knew what your magic was?

[ Ekkehardt thinks that sounds weird but doesn't know enough about law to dispute it so SURE WHY NOT THAT MIGHT AS WELL BE IT ]

That sounds like it'd be fun...reading whatever you want.

Oh! I didn't want to be a doctor at first. I wanted to be a... [ Pauses while he struggles to recall the word properly. ] ...a mortician! My adoptive father's one, so I wanted to help him so when he gets really old he doesn't have to work as much.

[ He's old enough to recognise that the person who cares for him isn't related to him by blood, but he doesn't mind at all. His father loves him all the same, so it doesn't matter. ]

But he said I should use my magic to help people, so it's less work for him! So I guess it works out.

Mor... tician?

[His brows knit together behind the mask. That word sounds familiar. He knows he's read something about them before.]

Ohhhhh, the guys who work with dead people. That makes sense. I'd probably want more doctors if I was him too. It's kind of like a team.

[He takes a seat next to Ekkehardt. He's only talked with the other boy for a little while, but he's already decided Ekkehardt meets with his arrival. Someone who likes to read is already A+ in his book (ha).]

I'm Avery! What's your name?

Edited 2019-03-18 14:44 (UTC)

[ He just nods. This other kid understands, which he's pleased by.

Avery has always been talked about, to him, in fairly vague terms, and not really by name. His father had never taken a lot of interest in what could be described as politics of that nature, and so Ekkehardt had grown up with the concept that the royal family existed and was important, but not much beyond that. ]

I'm Ekkehardt. It's nice to meet you, Avery. [ He glances at his book, and thinks about what else to ask. ]

What's your magic like? If you have any, I mean. [ There's a chance that he might not, after all! Best to cover his bases. ]

I do! I can make fire. See?

[He holds out his hand and a blue flame flickers to life above it.]

I accidentally set some curtains on fire once when I was messing around.

[Why does he sound like he's bragging about that?]

[ Why does he sound like he's bragging about that..but also Ekkehardt, quiet and generally well-behaved as he is, is still a kid, and he's easily impressed. He applauds with a fair amount of enthusiasm. ]

It's so bright... I wish I could do something that looks like that. [ He sounds a bit wistful. Healing powers are hard to show off, after all. ]

Can you do other stuff too? Or is it all fire?

Just the fire. But I bet I'll be able to do more when I grow up.

[He dismisses the flame, hops to his feet and, on a whim, decides to start trying to climb the tree]

And when I'm a lawyer...

[He strains, reaching for a branch, and then managed to grab on, hanging from it and swinging back and forth]

... I'll have the power to put bad guys in jail, too!

Cool.

[ He watches with interest as Avery starts climbing. He has no particular investment in joining him right now, but it's still more interesting than his book at the moment.

Books are any time! This new social interaction is worth more. ]

Is that what you do when you're a lawyer? Put people in jail?

Yeah. You stand in front of a bunch of people and tell them what the bad guy did so that they all know to put the bad guy in jail.

[And there was something else, he thinks... Oh, that's right.]

And you write up contacts! Not like daemon ones but regular ones. For grown up things like taxes and work.

That sounds neat! But it kinda sounds like you wouldn't get to do as much reading, since you'd be filling out lots of forms and putting bad guys in jail and all.

[ Yes the books are the most important part here.

...

Wait. ]

Do you think daemons have lawyers too?

[He thinks on that for a moment, dropping down from the tree branch]

Maybe they're all lawyers?

[They all make contracts, right?]

Maybe...

But daemons are bad guys, right? So does that mean they put good guys in jail? Or is it badder daemons?

[ The mere concept of even badder daemons appears to be the slightest bit unsettling to him. ]

Do you think they have daemon trials and courts and stuff?

I think... I think if you're a daemon, you don't have to go to court. So all of the trials are for humans and fae and other not-demons.

[He has nothing to base this information on, but it makes sense to him.]

[ He thinks for a moment. The amount of information he knows about Daemon Court (if such a thing even exists) is approximately.........zero. So that might as well be correct! ]

That makes sense.

[ IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM. ] Daemons probably beat each other up a lot. Like they do with humans, except they probably don't kill them as much. So they probably don't need to go to court.

[ He's seen a lot of bodies okay ]

Edited 2019-03-19 13:04 (UTC)

Yeah. And some of them can't touch salt, so they can't go to trial for that either.

[Avery no that's not what assault means]

...Daemons are weird.

[He says it with all the solemnity of a boy who has just learned the secrets of the universe]

[ He nods, just as solemnly. That's true. Daemons are weird. ]

I wonder why they hate salt so much. A lot of books say it repels them, but they don't really say why...

[ Ekkehardt technically isn't..........wrong...in some ways because salt is an effective way of keeping some daemons out but. This is a weird way to jump onto that topic. ]

Someone probably switched around the salt and sugar when they were making cookies. Or unscrewed the cap on the salt shaker so when they went to salt their food they got a whole pile of it.

I'd hate it too if it happened to me.

I guess. But we use salt all the time for purifying stuff, so maybe only some daemons hate it cos of cooking...?

[ Look at this itty bitty brains trust going on here. ]

Oh. Right.

[That makes way more sense, actually.]

So does that mean you could purify a daemon with a salty cookie?

[gasp!]

We should totally try that! It'd be awesome!

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