meadowlarklogs

Weird. So you're not just from different worlds, there's some major differences in the worlds themselves.

[Which is fascinating, honestly.]

I guess so. We don't have elves where I'm from at all. What else do you think is different?

It's kind of hard to guess.

[He thinks about it another few moments, before guessing--]

Do you have a brother, and does he have a huge dog?

[Priorities here.]

[It's... weird. Weird that he knows, even though she knows why.]

Um. Yeah. Nico. And the dog's Lando.

Lando's awesome.

[And that said--]

Um, was the Kyna in Hadriel used evocation magic, mostly; is that the same?

[God, this is so weird.]

Uh... Yeah, sometimes. Wait, what does that mean to you? Evocation?

I feel like this question is a trap to make me sound even more like an idiot about magic than I already do.

[But that said--]

It was like... Conjuring energy or something? There was a lot of fire and electricity.

Sorry, I'm not trying to make you sound dumb. I'm just curious.

[Weird, though.]

I can control electricity, but evocation is like... calling forth a spirit. Usually to make it do something for you.

Huh. I think that's either a difference or I totally misunderstood something.

[Either is possible.]

Uh, maybe. Controlling electricity is just... the way my ability manifests, you know? Anyone who knows magic can communicate with spirits.

So knowing magic means you can communicate with spirits, but do the spirits have to do with magic themselves?

They're magical entities all on their own, basically, and they can be a lot more powerful than humans. We can sense them, and they can sense us. It's like a... like attracts like thing. It's the same with some monsters, too.

Huh. I think there were things like spirits in the world of the Kyna from Hadriel, but I don't remember them being mentioned very often.

[He's pretty lost on this topic in general.]

Oh. Weird.

[She picks at the bandages on her right hand absently.]

Do I look cooler with elf ears?

[That gets a quiet huff of laughter.]

I mean, I can't lie, elf ears are pretty cool. I did get used to them after awhile and they lost some of the cool factor though.

[That gets a hesitant little smile out of her. She's trying not to think of the more frightening parts of this, like that he might know things about her and her family she's not sure she's ready to share with anyone yet. Or that she must seem so useless compared to a version of herself that could still use magic.]

Okay, so what's cooler about me?

[It's a difficult question because there's nothing light, like on the subject of having elf ears, to mention. But he can offer something almost joking, even if he means it--]

Um, it's pretty cool that you're not super angry with me about this. I don't think Kyna in Hadriel would've taken something like this so well.

[Not in this early a phase of knowing her, anyway.]

[She bites her lip, going quiet again as she considers that.]

It's... kind of weird. And I guess there's still stuff I'm worried about.

It's mega weird.

[And he's not surprised she's still worried either.]

What kind of stuff?

[She wrinkles her nose, hesitating.]

Like... I don't know. I don't know how to explain it.

[There's that old Kyna deflection.]

And it's probably going to sound stupid anyway.

[He might've been inclined to believe she genuinely didn't know how to explain if not for that next comment.]

It isn't going to sound stupid. I mean, this is kind of a situation that no one ever gets prepared for.

[Whatever she feels would've been valid no matter what, but in with something like this where it's completely uncharted territory there isn't even a metric for 'stupid' reactions anyway.]

[She makes a soft, frustrated sound, weighing her options. It is going to sound stupid, she has no doubt about that, but Lance has always been gentle and patient with her.

So. Okay.]

I guess I'm... I don't know. Afraid you're always going to compare us. Or maybe that I'll just be like... a replacement.

That's definitely not stupid, and it's the same thing I would worry about if this situation were flipped.

[And he'd been expecting it from the beginning, so on one hand he'd love if she didn't feel that way, but at the same time he's partially glad this is something he's prepared to deal with.

So he's quiet a moment longer, even though he'd already decided he'd be honest if this came up, trying to decide exactly how to put his words.]

I can't... I can't promise you that I'm not going to make comparisons, because that's something that just happens even between people who are nothing alike. But you're not a replacement. You're different people who share some personality aspects and a history that's not even the same, just similar in some ways.

[It would've been a lot more difficult if they'd been exactly the same except for the memory of Hadriel, but that's clearly not the case and he'd been pretty sure of that even before now.]

You're not a replacement for her and she wouldn't be a replacement for you, just like neither of you is a replacement for my friend Angela, who you both remind me a lot of and I think you'd like.

[And whose words about people moving in and out of your life, but the love you feel for them being no less real or important than the love in relationships that last forever, have been coming to mind a lot recently.]

[She eases up a bit. It helps, even if she knows it'll take time for that anxiety to fully dissipate. And now for the next part that's bothering her—]

I don't know how much about my past you know. Or how much... matches.

I really don't either. I mean, I can tell you what I do know, if that helps?

[It's... Not a long list, because he and Kyna in Hadriel hadn't really pried too much; they knew enough about each other that it wasn't like their pasts were complete mysteries, but there weren't that many details involved either aside for a subject here and there.]

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