A Familiar sort of Apocalypse (Nivansrywyllian, Feltipped)

Lavyne let his own mug cool on it's own, soaking the heat of the liquid into his palms rather than blowing on it to cool it. He wasn't in any rush. Not yet. "Before I felt the pull, I was a warrior for my tribe." He said, pleasantly. "Familiars tend to live together until they feel the call. Some never do. Sometimes, whole villages will feel the pull, all in the same year. Most of us are nomads. Always moving from place to place, until our bondsman comes into his power." He rolled a shoulder in a shrug. "I half thought that someone would try to conscript the men of my village before we even felt the call."

His face was serene, but a low-burning anger began to simmer beneath the surface of his thoughts. Even so, his voice remained light, and pleasant. "It was a hard life, but a good one. Training when I wasn't patrolling. Hunting when I had spare time. I was doing some tracking when the call came." He'd come to the portal straight away, without so much as a 'goodbye' for his village. That was the nature of familiars, though.

"It's all pretty basic. What about you? What do you do here? And for that matter, where IS here?"
 
The anger in him surprised her, but she let it pass for the same reason that he didn't let it seep into his voice. Both hands wrapped around her mug, flexing and stroking along the warm surface. Though she had studied a few nomadic groups in college anthropology classes, she had never met a real nomad. She took in the band t-shirt and the pants that were too large for his waistline, not for the first time realizing that something was off about the ensemble.

"That's weird," she admitted, but quickly added, "not in a bad way. It's just really unusual. There aren't many tribes left in our world." He had been coming for her long before she'd ever known that he existed. Someone had been dedicated to her when she was still here, living on her own, content to take on the world by herself. It made her smile, though the idea was still alien.

"Me? Ah, well. I work two jobs here, one to pay the bills and one so that I can live without worrying about bills one day." As soon as she finished saying it, she realized that her mind was still not processing that those things didn't matter anymore. "Well, not anymore, I guess. What's money versus magic?" She glanced up at him then and laughed just as a hint of amusement was lit inside of her. Did he even know what she was talking about? Probably not. "Ah, here is.. well. It's a district within a city. It's called Belleview, I think it was a smaller town once."
 
"Bellview," He said, testing the name on his tongue. "Strange. I didn't see any bells on my way here. Not that I was looking, I suppose." He finally lifted his mint tea to his lips, sipping quietly as he considered the world he had come to. After a moment's silence, Levyne turned his eyes up to his bondsman. "Magic has it's uses, I'll grant. It does not solve all problems however. A man with magic is no better, or worse off than a man with out. He just is."

Another sip, and the familiar closed his eyes. "What about family? Do you have sisters? Brothers? Parents?" He asked, eyes still closed. "Children?" He added, after a moment. The apartment didn't look like it was meant for a family. Though spacious, it looked organized for a single occupant. "Anyone to tie you here? Anyone that needs to leave when we do?" He suspected that he knew the answer. Sana was too ready to pick up and leave. That didn't speak of attachments within the city, familial or otherwise.
 
The way he interpreted the name made her smile, but she did not bother to explain that it wasn't named for bells. Maybe it had been, once, or perhaps someone just thought it sounded pretty. Instead, she brought her tea to her lips again and took a sip, letting it rest on her tongue for a moment so that she could soak in the flavor.

Then he began the serious questions and she uncurled one hand from her mug, rubbing the slick, warm palm against the fabric of her shorts. "A mother, and an older brother, that's it. They aren't here, though, they're very far away." Her shoulders rolled in a shrug. She had put a lot of distance between herself and her roots after she graduated high school. They lived out in the country, far from any real established cities, and she had to hope that was enough to keep them safe.

"Did you have any family, before you came to find me?" The hand that had abandoned her mug came up to trace a finger around the brim now, giving her eyes a path to follow as she asked. It hadn't occurred to her that he might have made sacrifices, until now.
 
Levyne's bond reported a pang of guilt mixed with sorrow at the question, although it too, he kept out of his voice. It seemed that Familiars were taught to carefully guard their emotions. "A father, and two sisters. One older, one younger." He said, swirling the tea in it's cup. "They will know that I've been Called. Most Familiars can tell when it's drawing near." He paused to drain the last of the tea, setting it on the counter beside him.

Looking to change the subject from family that he missed dearly, he pushed off of the counter, and moved into the center of the apartment. "We should begin practicing your magic. It will soon be very important for you to begin finding the extent of your abilities, and pushing them." Without further ado, he crossed his legs, and sat on the floor. He patted the carpet in front of him.

"We'll begin with some elemental magic. It's fairly common. I'd suggest that you refrain from experimenting with it unless I'm present to help." Of course, he'd almost always be present to help. He was her familiar.
 
Sana frowned slightly into her mug as the bond let her feel what he was hiding, and a small pang of guilt answered his. She wasn't good at hiding her emotions, clearly, but she said nothing else on the matter. It was enough to know that he'd abandoned a lot to come to her. Even as he moved past her into the apartment, she stared down into her cup.

Then he spoke, and her sullen, guilty mind broke into nervousness once again, laced with a hint of thrill.

"Already?" Her voice broke over the word and she cleared her throat with a small, amused smile. Her slender fingers deposited the tea cup on the counter next to where she sat and she turned to look at him over his shoulder, where he'd taken a seat and beckoned her to join him. Her lips pursed as she blew out a long, shaky breath but eventually she slipped down off the counter and made her way out to him. If he had abandoned his family, she owed it to him to try her best. With that new resolve in mind, she folded her legs and sat cross-legged in front of him, a small, pale mirror of her familiar.

"Don't worry, I won't. I've seen enough movies to know that's a bad idea." Her smile surfaced again, then, to hide the way her heart was racing against her chest.
 
Levyne's brow arched quizzically. He hadn't a clue as to what a movie was. Chalking the comment up to unfamiliar customs, he held out his hands, palm up. "Time is of the essence. I don't know when we'll have the chance to practice on the road. Lay you hands in mine, palm upwards, and focus on the Bond. The first time, I will guide you through the spell. Afterwards, I will be with you, but I will only serve to protect you from harm."

He smiled reassuringly. "We will begin with conjuring a flame. It will not burn you. It is your own magic, and you have no need to fear it." After a moment, he added. "You shouldn't feel guilty. Familiars know what it is to place duty before comfort. I will miss my family, but it is no fault of yours that your magic awakened to call me, and I hold no resentment in me for you. You would feel it, if I did."

His bond also tingled with anticipation. He was eager to find out more about his bondsman, and the curiosity was practically glowing. "Hold the image of fire in your mind. Do not be discouraged if nothing happens, but be prepared for when it comes to life in your hands."
 
A soft laugh escaped her lips at the way he arched his brow at her words. She was starting to realize a lot of her references weren't going to make much sense to him. As he began to explain things, however, she did her best to school her face back to focus and and listened to the instructions he was giving her.

"Okay, okay," she repeated the words, like a soft chant to convince herself that this was a completely normal part of growing up. Her fingers rose halfway to his palms and flexed a few times, curling into fists and then relaxing again and again. After a moment or two of working up her courage, she settled her hands into the flat of his palms, then let her fingers unfurl to reveal her own. She was trying not to react to the anticipation from the little bundle of Levyne in her brain, but instead ignored it in favor of staring into his eyes while he spoke. She managed a nod in acknowledgement, as if speaking might break whatever spell she was trying to work on.

For a moment, she had a hard time deciding on what her picture of fire looked like. Her brain scrambled through a half-formed image of a lit match, then a wildfire billowing toxic smoke, before it finally came to rest on the idea of a single candle and a steady, burning wick. She struggled for a moment to maintain it against the onslaught of her nervous nature, but after a moment it became clear. Her gaze dropped to her hands and she tried her best to tune out what she was seeing through her eyes in favor of the flame she had finally conjured in her mind. The flame danced, small and steady, inside her thoughts.

Nothing happened, at first. Then, as she stared at the palm of her hands, a small orange glow flashed to life and disappeared with a small fizzle like a match going out. It happened so quickly that she could have missed it if she'd blinked, but instead of being upset by how little she'd managed, the thrill in her mind pulsed a little stronger. Even if it wasn't much, she'd done something.

"That's weird." Her words were soft and nervous, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips again.
 
Levyne focused on the girl's hands, feeling the rush of magic being drawn through him. A small piece of his attention remained upon the wondrous sensation that was the bond, and all the emotional reports that it had to deliver. It was almost exhausting, the sudden influx of information. At the same time, it was fantastic. The magic swelled, pulsed, and he could feel it's flow steadily. It was strange however, when the conjured flame only fizzled.

"Elemental magic is not your natural school. In time, you might learn to master some of the basic abilities, but it will take a long, time to master even one." He said. He paused, considering the next test. "But there are similar schools. Focus on your hands again. Rather than picturing a flame, imagine that you're drawing warmth from the air around you, to a focal point between your palms. Do not draw from yourself, or from me." He turned his gaze up from the girl's hands, to her eyes. He tried letting confidence and surety flow through the bond. He had trained for this, and he would let no harm come to his bondsman.

"You are doing well." he added, after a moment.
 
Though the brief spark had been her first real taste of magic, Levyne obviously felt as if she could do better. He was telling her she was not very good, but she had her first real hope that it was something she was capable of doing. Magic wasn't natural in her world and knowing not only that it was possible, but that she was capable of it, had begun to overcome her perpetual nervousness with a deeply rooted thrill. Despite the fact that she wasn't well versed in magic jargon, she knew enough from pop culture to understand the gist of what he was getting at now. She wasn't good at elemental magic because she was good at something else. In theory, anyway.

"Thank you," Sana said gently, not only for his words but for the confidence he was feeding her through the bond. She answered it with a budding fondness for his support. She let herself use the feeling he was projecting as an anchor, filling her core with the comfort of his own faith in her, and then let her senses branch out to the world around her. Picturing warmth was a lot more abstract than trying to picture something like a flame. She started by becoming familiar with the sensation of the warmth of his hands, the way it felt against her skin, then forced her focus outside of their bodies to the air that touched her skin. Though not as steady as the warmth in his fingers, she could feel it against her cheeks. It was a long few moments before she could bridge the gap between feeling the warmth and imagining it as a force, but when she had it grasped in her thoughts, she imagined pulling it inward, funneling it all down into a focused point above her hands.

At first, she could have been imagining it. As her senses spiraled outward, the air above her fingers started to heat like she had set them above a small flame. She wasn't sure if she was truly feeling the heat of the air or imagining that she could, but the stronger the heat above her fingers became, the cooler the air against her cheeks felt. Her lips had parted by now, slack in her focus on the sensations of the changing temperatures. A web of awareness branched out farther and farther, pouring ever more heat and energy into the space above her fingers. It was only as she felt a strong, waning energy on the edges of her senses, and latched onto it, that the space above her hands began to shimmer in a haze like the air above asphalt in the dead of summer.

Then, suddenly, that haze rippled into fire. It wasn't the small, quick flame she produced with elemental magic, but a crackling ball that licked at the air around her hands. It didn't burn to hold, though it felt similar to holding her hands against an October bonfire, surrounded by chill. After a moment of shocked silence, a trickle of panic started to leak through her bond back to Lavyne.

"I.. how do I stop it?" Working up the energy to speak had stopped her from branching out farther and from continuing to funnel energy down, but the ability to dispel what she'd created eluded her. She didn't want to move her hands for fear of dropping it, or worse.
 
It took Levyne barely a moment's focus to tell that this was his partner's natural talent. Simply put, the way that she drew the magic felt right. More proof came in spades however, when a sizable ball of flame appeared between her upturn palms. The bond showed pleased surprise, and approval. "Very good," He said. "Very good indeed. Now most times, we will have a campsite to cast the flame into harmlessly. As there are other people in this building however, lighting a fire without a place for it would be ill-advised. Instead, I want you to try and feel the air around you. Infuse it with the heat between your hands, and expel the fire in a trickle. Do it slowly, and be patient."

She was already quite powerful for a fledgling magus, and she'd be formidable with some training. "Draw the fire into the air, just like you drew it between your hands. Rather than focusing it, let it relax. Let it release. Slowly, carefully. There are two sides to this style of magic, Sana. The warmth, and the chill. You can manipulate both. In manipulating one, you will find that you often create the other."
 
Sana listened to his words carefully, letting herself do little more than breath now that she had a live fireball resting above her palms. Though exciting, it was also terrifying. No one was supposed to play with fire in the house, especially not someone that had just discovered that magic was real. She focused on drawing her breaths through her nose and letting them expel through her mouth while his instructions settled over her. He was here to protect her, she had to remember that.

Without so much as an acknowledgement that she'd heard him, she let her web of senses spiral out into the world around her again. Where she had first reached for the warmth against her skin, now she tried to imagine the lack of it, a vast well that she had drawn from and left dry. Where there was little warmth, there was chill left behind, and she felt for the cold that represented that lacking. Slowly she tried to revert what she had done but instead of funneling it into a focus point, she expanded the boundary holding the heat above her palms. It leaked away like mist on her senses, merging into the chilled, open air around her. First it was just the tips of the flame growing smaller and less active, then the ball began to shrink until finally, the fire disappeared and left the hazy air behind. Sana didn't stop until that haze had also expanded and grown less dense, dissipating as it merged back into a more room temperature space around their bodies.

When it had officially disappeared, a relieved sigh escaped her lips. Instantly, a rush of emotions were reported through the bond and the serenity she had used to perform the magic was all but broken. That same thrill returned, mixed with pride and a bit of panic. It was a new feeling and it was kind of scary, but there was a brilliant smile splitting her lips as she looked back up into Lavyne's eyes.

"Is that a different kind of fire?" Her first question was blurted out in a wave of nerves and she covered her mouth in apology, though she laughed at herself. She felt like a child that had just learned to ride a bike, so thrilled by her own accomplishment. "What is -" she paused, then waved her hand at the air around her, "it?"
 
Levyne found himself grinning at his bondsman as she dispersed the fire into the air. He'd seen fledgling thermomancers try the same thing, with the explosive results. She'd done quite well for herself, and he was proud of her. Strange, he thought to himself, that he could feel such fierce pride for a woman he'd met less than an hour before. He was sure that it was partly a result of the bond, and the intimate familiarity that came with it, but he didn't mind.

At her question, he dipped his head in a nod, and let his hands rest back on his own knees. That lasted a bare moment, before one rose to stroke his braided goatee. "Indeed. The first fire was conjured fire. Birthed of your magic, and bound through your will. This fire was normal, worldly fire. Or more specifically, heat, that you manipulated into fire. There are easier ways to find ignition, and it might be wise for you to find some flint to allow you to ignite the air more easily, but this will suffice for now. You're a natural thermomancer, Sana. Not many beginners have the ability to disperse a fireball that size. It is not easy."

He gave another mental pulse of pride. "We will have much to learn, and I'll have plenty of time to teach you in the days to come. For now, you should think on the way that the world felt through your magic. If you experiment on your own, don't go any farther than we did, and do it outdoors, away from people. And remember, never draw warmth from yourself."
 
A pink tinge blossomed across Sana's cheeks at the amount of pride that she could feel from her familiar, though she was just as pleased to have caused it. Her eyes dropped and her hands settled in her lap, examining her palms. If she hadn't seen it herself, she never would have believed she had just held fire. Yet there was that bundle of Levyne's awareness tucked into her mind, an ever-present reminder that it was real. It made him familiar at the same time that the sight of him sitting across from her was alien. He was already a trusted mentor and if his words were true, which she had no doubt of, then he would be so much more soon.

"It felt natural once I realized what to.. feel for." Her brows drew together at the word choice, as if she should have had a better way to describe it, but she couldn't put it together. She looked back up at him then, studying the strange man that had just walked into her life and the one that was about to turn it upside down in the days to come. The waitress had never expected to end her day like this.

"I'll be careful, that was a little more than I was bargaining for at the end." As she remembered something on the edge of her senses, hotter and stronger than the air itself, she glanced over her shoulder. The bond between them filled with curiosity. She was on her feet in a moment, examining the apartment in that direction for anything, hovering above him where he sat seated on the floor. The mug of her tea, forgotten on the counter, was what reminded her. She rounded the bar again and, much like he had done earlier, reached out to touch the coil with a quick tap of her fingers. It was as cool as if it had never been on.
 
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Levyne grinned at the blush mantling his bondsman's cheeks. He was relieved that his companion intended to take care with her experimentation. When she rose to meander about the apartment, he simply leaned back on his arms, and watched her go about it. He was going to spend the rest of his life by her side. He wasn't sure how to feel about that just yet. She was trusting, but for all that she now had a space in his head, she was still a stranger. He'd come to know her over time.

Again, his brows flicked upwards when she moved to the stove, testing the coil with her finger. So that's where she had gotten the surplus heat. He didn't know if the girl could tell, but the apartment was a few degrees warmer than it had been before they'd started. It would return to a regular temperature shortly enough. His eyes flicked to the sink.

"I have had a long journey." He said, pushing himself to his feet. "May I wash?"
 
Sana was still staring at the stove with wonder when he asked if he could wash and missed the way he glanced at the sink entirely. She just nodded from where she stood, confident that he would realize the bathroom was down the only hallway on the opposite side of the apartment.

"Of course, make yourself at home." For as long as this was still home, she realized. It was only then that her eyes dropped away from the stove to linger on the small counter-top television she had forgotten at his arrival. They were replaying the same story, the same scenes of the sky, and she was quick to press the little red power button to shut it off. She didn't need to see the news anymore, they didn't know what was happening. Not like Lavyne.

It occurred to her that she really did owe him, no matter if he was acting like it was only natural. It probably was, for him, but to her it might mean saving her life if the world was about to explode with a magical war from another reality. She had little to offer that he might understand or accept but she felt compelled to show her growing appreciation to her familiar. He was a stranger, but she couldn't help feeling that he was going to be extremely important to her soon.

"Are you hungry? I have a lot of food here that we probably can't take with us." She'd already begun to open and look through her pantry, skimming labels where she stood half in the doorway.
 
Levyne nodded gratefully, and moved over to the kitchen sink. Off he peeled that band-shirt again, and he pulled the handles on the faucet around, running the water. "Thank you," He said, dipping his hands under the stream. "It will be good to eat what we can while we're here. Any perishables that we won't be taking with us. We can take a few perishables along, but they won't last more than a day. I don't know how far we'll go, but if we mean to be out of a city this size by the end of tomorrow, we will have to set out early."

He sluiced water over his head with his hands, and it plastered his curly brown hair to his scalp. He began to scrub at his shoulders, and torso with the water. He was making a bit of a mess, oblivious to the bathroom.

"It will be a long day, but we'll keep an easy pace. I don't think anything that will be coming through in the next few days will be able to cause much trouble, but I want to get you clear of the danger zone."
 
As soon as he had agreed to eating, she pulled a few things out of the pantry and set them on the counter next to the stove. It hadn't occurred to her why the sink was running until she turned around and realized what he'd meant by washing.

"Oh, that's not where-" she cut off her words and did her best to hide a smile, though she couldn't shield the amusement in the bond. As oblivious as she was to magic, he seemed to be equally so with the ways of a modern world. "There's a better way to do that here." In lieu of talking about the best way to get out of the city, she motioned at the sink. "Turn off the water and follow me, I'll show you where the bathroom is." Not only would it be a lot easier to cook without him taking a bird bath at the kitchen sink, but he might get a little relaxation from an actual shower. She, for one, intended to spend a lot of time enjoying it before she was subjected to the world beyond modern living.

The young woman rounded the bar again and headed for the first door in the hallway across the living space, opening it to reveal a closet full of towels and toiletries. She selected a pleasant, light-scented bar of soap and a towel before shutting it again and pushed open the larger, partially ajar door to her left. When the light flipped on, it revealed a modest sized bathroom and a shower curtain detailed with sprawling rose vines. She stood there a moment, considering how much she should do for him, before she finally pulled the curtain back and turned the shower on to a lukewarm stream.
 
Levyne looked up from the sink quizzically, still damp. "Oh." Was all he said. A twinge of embarrassment came, and was gone again in a flash. He didn't seem like the sort of fellow to ruffle easily, or for long. He gathered his stolen shirt from the ground, and turned off the sink. He quickened his steps to follow his bondsman to her bathroom. He was curious when she lead him to a shower, and turned on the water.

He held a hand into the stream, and was surprised to find it lukewarm. "Interesting." He mused retrieving his hand from the stream of water, before tossing his shirt to the bathroom floor. "This is going to be new. Thank you, Sana." He said. Though it seemed that he didn't have much stock in modesty, he didn't appear to be ready to drop trow with his bondsman still in the room. "If we have any meat, it would make a good start for food. You never know when you'll get more of it on the road."
 
Pleased that he had enough decency to stay clothed while she was in the room, Sana set the bar of soap on the inner corner of the bathtub and hung the towel up on the drying rack. She pointed at it with one finger once he'd finished inspecting the flow of water, and offered him a little smile. "This is here when you're done."

She took a few steps until she was standing outside of the threshold to the bathroom once more with one pale hand balanced on the door knob, ready to pull it closed after her. "I'll get started, whenever you're done in here you know where to find me." She nodded at him and pulled the door shut, leaving him to get cleaned up. She was glad he seemed adept enough to figure out how things worked, even if he'd never seen them before. A quick learner was probably more than she could have hoped for in this world.

As she made her way back to the kitchen, she became more aware of the link to him in her head. When he was nearby, it wasn't quite as strange to have a sense of him, but now that he was out of sight behind a closed door she was becoming more aware of how strange it was. It was like he was still in the room with her and still influencing her in tiny ways. The idea was perplexing, more so than she wanted to deal with, so she turned the bartop TV back on and flipped the channel with the side buttons until she found a rerun of some mediocre prime time comedy. It was good, with one-liners and a laugh track, just the type of thing she needed. It was a lot less depressing than the news.

She spent a moment fishing around in the freezer for meat that could be defrosted quickly and eventually settled for ground beef. She popped it into the microwave, set the time, and flipped her oven on. From there it was easy to set out all the necessities for cheeseburgers and fries. Instead of bothering with frozen, premade nonsense, she pulled out a few potatoes and began washing and cutting them at the sink. It was a good distraction, repeating the same slicing motion over and over, until the beep of a TV alert drew her eyes to the TV. Chopping off the top of the co-stars' heads was a flashing, red banner that warned about unpredictable weather and advised everyone to stay inside until further notice.

She sighed, and the bond between them filled with annoyance. Now that she had Levyne here, she realized how truly clueless the news was.
 
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