Hellflower's Bells

Still kinda sunny? Well, it was morning. He imagined if that was going to stop, clouds would have to have appeared somewhere overnight. Still, he let it drop without a comment and headed out after the girl.

The tap to his shoulder yanked him from his thoughts, and he followed her finger to the bus stop. Instead of wandering ahead, he remained near her, watching as she used magic to turn the pots. A flicker of envy appeared on his face, but passed quickly.

He should have expected that. He'd seen her able to actually use her cell phone.

He glared down at the ground and used his peripheral vision to watch for her to start walking, and then followed a step to the side and behind her, so he wouldn't lose track of her.

After a few moments' walking, he spoke up suddenly.

"Sigils on the pots?"

They sure weren't on the window. Without a sigil, it was supposedly very difficult to make magic work how a person wanted exactly. If she could do that, she was very gifted.

Phones had sigils inside them, so many it was a wonder they'd become so small. Everything was sigils on the inside, and large appliances? They had backup power as a rule.

He absently grabbed a clump of his bangs and began to run the hair between his lips as he squinted downward.
 
"Ah, well... Yes and no!" Jess smiled, pulling her hand away from the glass. She gave K's shoulder yet another nudge, beginning to walk with him down the street. "There are a few sigils on the pot, all painted over, and a few planted in the soil. Pretty useful, and simple. Perfect for me, then," she frowned a moment, sighing softly.

It wasn't too out of place to have sigils, and magic was commonplace, but anything more complicated might've confused the lime haired girl. She had an average sized 'well' to tap into, just lacking in practice and application.

With a quick shake of her head, she managed to default to her usual warm, smiley self. She walked a little faster and stopped at the end of the sidewalk, crossing the road at a quiet moment diagonally into the desert beyond. The building still loomed nearby and the chipped tarmac roads carried on endlessly into the distance, and soon the world around them grew a little quieter. She took a deep breath, breathing in through her nose, looking back over her shoulder to check for her stowaway.

"Heh, might've been an idea to tell you 'bout the pots, huh? I don't like using magic when I don't need to. Getting your hands dirty is healthier for the soul," she babbled, stretching as they approached the bus stop and the stone bench besides. There she took a seat, crossing her legs as best she could, relaxing somewhat. Still a little time to wait.
 
"Sounds useful, regardless. I assume a rotation sigil on the bottom of the pots, at least. Maybe condensation in the soil to encourage water in the air to feed the plants." It was the single longest statement he'd said the entire time she'd known him, and it wasn't a struggle to hear him for once—he spoke it at a 'normal' volume.

He stood by the seat a few moments, looking down at it before he wiped it and sat.

"Clever hiding under the paint."

He just wished he could use such things. He could make sigils himself, but he couldn't power them. He could even read them.

Once, he even made a functional walky-talky, though he had to have someone else test it for him.
 
"I mean... Yeah, that's pretty much it," Jess shrugged, sitting down beside him and crossing her legs, resting her backpack in her lap. "There's a bit more to do with it, but it's... kinda dumb."

She sighed lightly, resting her arms upon her bag and resting back, content. As she sank into the wooden seat behind, she peered up at the near cloudless sky, nodding as she listened to the boy.

"Eh, that's not even the clever thing about it. The plants in those pots have quite thick roots, and I... can kind of control them? Have the longest ones twist and push in a direction whilst the other sigils spin the pottery." she explained as plainly as possible, letting her chin drop, turning to K with a smirk.

"If I could find some hanging vines, I could demonstrate better. Least you won't call me names for it." she added.
 
"It isn't dumb," he said several moments after she mentioned hanging vines and a demonstration. "Not dumb at all."

Blue eyes turned to look at Jess, staring at her for a moment.

"And if you can manipulate something with magic that isn't channeled through runes, I want to see."

He looked away again, down toward his lap, where his hands gripped his knees. "Magic is fascinating. Moreso when people actually utilize it for more than mere function of technology."

Through it all, he spoke in a monotone. His voice remained quiet, simply because that was his natural volume.

"Calling you names for using magic is retarded."
 
Jess stayed quiet and didn't interrupt K as he finally begin to speak in longer sentences, looking back into those piercing, though tired eyes. Still quiet in tone and monotonic, but she appreciated any conversation at this point.

As a child, Jess wasn't good at the application of magic, and struggled for ages until... well, she wasn't sure when it all changed, but by the time her peers knew all sorts of sigils, she managed to wrangle the vines of plants.

She was brought back to the conversation as K berated her bullies, and couldn't help but chuckle at his delivery. Not exactly the phrase she expected.

"I mean, yeah, guess they are kinda um, retarded. But don't worry about them, I'm good!" she smiled, sighing as she looked around to see if there were any plants nearby. Trees were way in the distance, and the lack of grass or other such plants discouraged her. But once they were back home, she did have a few potted plants, especially one unruly spider plant in her bathroom. It'd suffice.

"Eh, kinda dry and dusty 'round here, but I have more plants at home. I... don't really know much else, magic wise. Kinda out of practice."
 
"I wanna see." K nodded as he stared forward, toward the road. He opened his mouth to say more, only to close it again with a sigh. He turned his face away from Jess before he spoke again.

"I've studied a lot of magic. If you really can manipulate plants without needing runes, that's rare. If I could do that..."

His quiet voice trailed away into silence before he forced a weighty sigh and tried to hide it with a yawn.

An engine's sound drew his eyes toward and then past Jess.

Just a car.

It went past, but the sound didn't fade entirely once it was gone.

Was another coming? K craned his neck, trying to see through the shimmering illusions brought on by temperature differences between pavement and air. K seemed to have forgotten his brief melancholy, though his eyes seemed moist.
 
"I'm sure with practise, you can do anything you set your mind to. It's not like..." Jess trailed off, sinking into her seat as her optimism met realisation. Sometimes, there were people who really couldn't do a whole lot with magic, her included, but at least she had something. Come to think of it, K hadn't attempted any magic since they met. No summoning soapy water, no other small, convenient spells or anything like that.

She swallowed. Poor kid. Either they had some, or none, but she didn't want to baby him any more than she needed. As he trailed off and stared off into the distance, she gently patted his shoulder again, but said not a word. Just watching cars go by together in this shared silence seemed like the best thing to do.

A few more cars came and went, with the boy craning his neck each time to see. Jess couldn't see his face but asking to see it seemed... strange, and completely out-of-nowhere. At least it wasn't exhaustingly warm out, and after checking her phone once or twice, she stood to wait for the bus.

And sure enough, obscured by the heat shimmers dancing across the tattered tarmac, came a bus. On the surface, it was ordinary and even dull, but the great engine whirring beneath the chassis worked on magic, a hell of a lot of runes pasted all along the complicated machinery. But again, that was as dull as the bus itself.

With a smile, she whistled, trying to get K's attention. "Hey, K? Bus! Just stick close by and I'll pay for us both," she nodded, sticking her hand out and stepping closer to the road. It'd pull up in a few moments, helping them towards their destination.
 
K kept silent through her suggestion of practice of all things and pretended he didn't hear her. Her pat brought his attention back to her briefly before he returned his attention to the cars passing irregularly.

He started to doze as Jess stood to wait, only to jerk awake at the sound of the whistle.

The androgyne bristled inwardly, and his eyes narrowed slightly at the annoying sound, but he stood and stepped closer to Jess regardless as the bus came to a stop.

He followed after her, glancing briefly at the driver with the most awkward smile of greeting the worker likely saw the whole month. It lasted only a moment before the tide of expected movement drew him to follow Jess to their seat. His eyes darted around, and after a moment, he directed his attention to his fingernails and began to pick some dirt from underneath as he stared intently at them.

Don't think about the people.

He couldn't even look at Jess as he tried not to think about how much worse it would be if he hadn't just washed his hair and if it wasn't hanging in front of his face, hiding it from view. His eyes and cheeks burned, and he blinked rapidly at tears he hoped were imaginary.
 
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