xp_logs | Topaz and Frank || Magic

Topaz and Frank have another meeting in the library and actually talk this time. It gets...interesting.

Topaz was curled up in her chair, tucked away in the library (as usual), scribbling away in a small, leather-bound book. She paused for a moment, tapping her pen against the book and pressing her lips together. Hmn.

About three feet away was Frank, similarly engaged in scribbling. His was a notepad, the pages now desecrated by his spider-like scrawl, and a dead coffee-cup. He went to take a sip without looking at it, then winced when he tasted it. Eugh. Cold. Okay, that was intolerable. He rose, quietly, and headed to the door. Then a thought struck him. He paused, and turned to look over his shoulder at Topaz.

"I'm getting some coffee," he said, without preamble. "Want some?"

The pen stopped, and Topaz looked up, blinking. "Sure," she replied after a moment. She didn't drink coffee often, but sleep had been hard coming as of late. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. Taste it first," said Frank, smiling crookedly. He left, then, returning a little later with two steaming mugs. He put one down in front of Topaz and sat back down at his table. "I'm Frank, by the way."

She picked up the cup, taking a tentative sip. She was definitely a tea person, but it was still good. "Tastes fine to me," she said, looking back. "Yeah, I saw you on the journals." She paused before adding, "I'm Topaz."

"Nice to meet you. For the third time." He smiled to take the sting out of it, and dropped some sugar sachets on the table next to her, and then went back to his table.

"And you," Topaz murmured, playing with one of the packets for a moment, returning her eyes to her journal. After a moment she began writing again.

They continued like that in silence for a while until Frank's brain finally flipped him a card. Topaz. Topaz. Hadn't she been mentioned on the journals? Yeah. Yeah, something about...

He paused. Put his pencil down. Looked up at her. "I'm really sorry to interrupt," he said, eventually, "but I heard you had something to do with..." there was a swell of discomfort. If this was a prank, he was going to die of embarrassment. "...With magic?"

"Hmn?" Topaz looked up again. "Oh. Yeah. I'm one of the magic users here. Me and Billy."

Frank raised an eyebrow. That was not the reaction he'd expected. "...Like... real magic? Or religious stuff?"

"Well I don't worship the devil if that's what you're asking." She paused for a moment. "Okay I might depending on who you're asking. Also depends on what you mean by real magic. I don't have a wand and it's nothing like Harry Potter. There's spell casting, though. And potions and charms."

He smirked at the satanism comment. Sarky, huh? He could appreciate sarky. "So... it's real? Not, like, a filter on your mutation or something?"

"No, it's real. I was practicing magic long before my mutation developed." Topaz trapped her pen between the pages of the journal and closed it to save her spot. "Most magic users aren't mutants, that's actually pretty rare." She hadn't even known there were others until Amanda had brought her here.

Frank stared at her for a moment, and then closed his notepad. She was serious. "So... you're telling me that magic exists," he said, carefully, "and that it's widely used? Enough that people notice mutants who do it?"

"Which is also fucked up, because you'd think if anyone could deal with sexy genetics and superpowers, it'd be wizards."

"Yes, magic exists," Topaz replied in the same tone. "I don't know much about widely used, magic users tend to stay underground. I definitely don't know much about in America, in London though there's a community, but they're set off from the rest of the world. And I think I misspoke before, I meant most magic users don't have mutations that are tied to their use of magic. Magic isn't a mutation, it's a separate thing. Usually."

"Okay. Okay." Frank sat back, opened the notepad, scribbled something. He considered it for a moment, before scribbling something else and closing it again. "I think I may need a demonstration. Should this not be something you are cool with, I will bribe you with more coffee, tea, and if necessary the only store in the country that sells Kimberly Mikados. I know for a fact that shit's crack to a brit."

"...You want me to cast a spell for you?" Topaz asked, raising an eyebrow. Okay, the allure of Kimberly Mikados was tempting, but really? "I'm not a side-show, you know."

"I know. Sideshows don't have reading histories quite as awesome as yours." Frank did not consider himself above flattery. Not even slightly. "I'm not looking for anything flashy," he continued. "Or tiring. But right now you're turning my entire understanding of natural laws, physics, and... well, the whole of causality upside down. And that is equal parts awesome and headfuckery of the highest order. Throw me a bone here, man, and there are mikados in it for you."

Topaz raised an eyebrow, shaking her head as she set her journal aside. "Well I do enjoy turning worldviews upside down," she murmured, closing her eyes for a moment and falling back on the easiest spell she had. After a moment three little balls of light sparked to life in the air between them, dancing around themselves.

Frank watched the lights gliding through the air, his face unreadable. After a long moment, he sighed. "God damnit. That's equal parts awesome and infuriating. My whole cosmological understanding of the universe fucked, and me out a box of mikados. If this prompts a religious experience," he added, turning back to face her, "I'm blaming you."

A long pause. Then a grin.

"On the other hand, that's seriously bitching." He pointed up at the lightshow.

"Glad you like it." Topaz leaned back in her chair, surprisingly relaxed, as she watched the lights dance around. "It's not that impressive, though, really. And I'm only taking responsibility for religious experiences if you decide to turn to satanism. Just sayin'." A small smirk was pulling at her lips. "Just don't start sacrificing small animals. I'm the first one they'll look at for that and I don't need the trouble."

"Yes ma'am. What about large animals? Because I'm pretty sure dread Abbadon would be so down with me if I used horsemeat." Beat. "And maybe I could sign someone else's signature on it. You know, to keep the heat of you."

"Well that's quite sweet of you," Topaz returned, pressing her lips together. "Tell you what, if you can find a horse that isn't claimed by anyone in the mansion, go for it." Not that she supported the sacrificing of animals or anything.

"Works for me." He sipped his coffee again, and then stretched. "Okay. I'm not gonna get anything worth writing out after that. I'm gonna get started on looking for that horse." He rose, and started for the door, his things around him. Again, he paused at the door. Again he looked back. "Enjoy the coffee."

Topaz waved a hand, and the lights extinguished. "Good luck on the horse front." She met his gaze when he looked back, a small, genuine smile pulling at her lips. "Thanks."