bewitched armor

[thaumobabble]

There are plenty of things to do. Bella orders a carpet to enchant so she can commute to and from Reformist Wizards efficiently and move house. She starts combing through the castle library to find background material on her Minor Technical Issue.

Sometimes she watches Sherlock cook.

Sometimes she watches Tony forge. (Nnnnf.)

Comments

[allthebrightest]

"The tail is cute," says Tony. "Actually, the ears aren't bad either."

[thaumobabble]

"The ears itch," explains Kanim, scratching one. "I haven't had a chance to examine their aesthetic properties."

"I've never seen you without them so I can't judge," Bella says, taking her seat on the flying carpet. Kanim sits behind her.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock and Tony also climb on.

"If they itch, then by all means get rid of them," says Sherlock. "Does the tail not itch also?"

[thaumobabble]

"Not so far!" says Kanim. "It twitches by itself, a bit, which was, shall we say, unpleasantly surprising, but it doesn't itch. I'll work on the ears first and then see how I feel about the tail."

Bella commands up the carpet and turns back the way she and Sherlock came.

[calendarofcrime]

"This seems like a reasonable plan," says Sherlock.

[thaumobabble]

"I'm good at those except when I wind up planning things like 'approach the Cave of Unpleasant Surprises right when six wizards are arguing about who has to be bait'," says Kanim.

[allthebrightest]

Tony snorts.

[thaumobabble]

"So, we were looking for Tony - you were just looking for the cave?" Bella asks Kanim.

"Of course. I'm fascinated by cave magic in general. Locational effect-magic in general, really. My interest in this particular cave has been quite cured, though."

"I'm surprised you don't live in the Enchanted Forest if you like locational magic. Actually, I don't really understand why there are any magicians who don't live in the Enchanted Forest."

"Perhaps I will like it very much and choose to stay. I went looking for Unpleasant Surprises after a lengthy camp-out in and subsequent dissertation on the Caves of Irregular Dimensions that ate two years of my life. You can read the dissertation if you like. It's very long and dry and I ultimately come to no worthwhile conclusions whatsoever. Damn uncooperative Caves."

[calendarofcrime]

"Perhaps Tony will show you the Skyvault," says Sherlock.

[thaumobabble]

"The Skyvault isn't exactly locational in that way," says Bella. "More my area than Kanim's. Kanim will be poking at the forest magic itself, figuring out the moss and interrogating squirrels and following trees around while they try to escape."

"Of course I'd like to see the Skyvault for more standard tourist reasons, though," says Kanim earnestly.

[allthebrightest]

"It's not like the Skyvault and the forest magic are that separate," says Tony. "I mean, in one sense it's just a big magical windmill making everything else go round, but it does other stuff too."

[thaumobabble]

"Yes, but it's not a natural component of the forest magic, is it? I'll pay attention to how they interact, but it's not the part that I'm likely to write a thesis on."

[allthebrightest]

"Neither are the squirrels," Tony points out.

[thaumobabble]

"The squirrels are experts to be consulted," Bella explains, "not themselves the objects of study."

"I do not know nearly enough about the Enchanted Forest to comment on the squirrels," says Kanim.

[allthebrightest]

"I think you could say the Skyvault is kind of an expert too," says Tony.

[thaumobabble]

"Is it? Does it talk?" asks Kanim.

[allthebrightest]

"No, it just - is," says Tony. "I dunno, maybe you have to be me to get anything useful out of it."

[thaumobabble]

"Royal magic is a huge advantage there," says Bella. "My specs helped. I need to reconstruct those, I feel really weird without them, I shouldn't have put them on, I just felt like I had to know what was going on... Anyway, I don't think Kanim, not being a member of the royal family, will find the Skyvault's expertise directly helpful."

"Oh, is that why," Kanim starts and does not finish.

"No. It's gonna be a perk, though," says Bella. The carpet is flying in a straight line at this point; she can lean over and peck Sherlock on the cheek. "We're not sure if I will get more than standard courtesy access if I marry them both, anyway, and standard courtesy access would be lovely but not very practically helpful."

[allthebrightest]

"And, you know, my dad built the thing and I'm the one who maintains it," says Tony.

[thaumobabble]

"Yes, that too," says Bella.

"I will enjoy having a look! Honest! I just am not so much specialized in made things," says Kanim.

[allthebrightest]

Tony snorts.

[thaumobabble]

"I do made things," Bella says. "Especially glass, I'm good with glass."

"Explains the specs."

"How do you find your way around unfamiliar magic?"

"I try not to trust specific solutions like that for anything. I work with a lot of freeform and intuitive stuff. You can probably - well, when you have your spectacles - see more detail than I can, but," he adds archly, "my finely honed magical senses will not explode in the Cave of Unpleasant Surprises."

"Ha."

[allthebrightest]

"It would be kind of horrible if they did!" says Tony.

[thaumobabble]

"Yes! It would be - well, it would be unpleasantly surprising," says Kanim, "but not in a way the cave was disposed to exploit."

"I also lost a window, looking for Tony when we noticed she'd been missing," Bella says.

"Oh dear."

"The window's easier to replace than the specs," says Bella, shaking her head.

[allthebrightest]

"How long are the specs gonna take?" wonders Tony. "Can I help?"