Bishop Mingle!

[everydayhero]

Who: Everyone on the Bishop!
Broadcast: none!
Action: Bishop!
When: Anywhere from 3/15 til the end of the month!

[Welcome to the Bishop. We have rave lights.]

Comments

[everydayhero]

[eyebrows up. oh. okay. well. that happened.]

Uhhh, alright then. I'm... Hiro Hamada? I'm the Engineer here.

[arcanepower]

[Slowly, deliberately, he swallows the pudding as he stares Hiro down. The silence stretches on for like, twenty seconds. And then he speaks.

His voice is not deep or commanding, it's about... the same as Hiro's, sadly. Kid's the same age (in elf years), at least, but there's a sharp edge to his tone.]

My name is Belthazar. I'm a cook, but do not expect me to be your servant. I am an apprentice and I expect to reach full magister rank within the year, and that requires long periods of practice, research, and deep concentration.

I can and will set you on fire if you bother me, human. Is that clear?

[everydayhero]

[ooookay. yeah, he's gonna put his hands up, all good here, no need to get violent.]

Hey, no need for the hostilities. We're a team, nobody's gonna give anybody orders, alright? Our captain's really cool, she'd never tell you what to do.

[don't set me on fire i haven't figured out any way to stop that from being a thing]

[arcanepower]

[To Hiro's credit, he's good at being small and non-threatening. Even if Belth is like. The same height. Belthazar is the type to say completely contrary shit just to rile people up so Hiro's in no real danger of being set on fire... probably... but he doesn't need to know that!

He does seem to relax somewhat, though.]

Do you build things, then?

[everydayhero]

Uhh... yeah. I try to keep it quiet when people are sleeping, but during the day it can get a little loud.

[gonna rub the back of his neck here a bit.]

We have a library, though. It's pretty much always quiet in there.

[please don't set me on fire i am completely believing that you can and would]

[arcanepower]

[Whatever nasty thing Belth is about to say is completely bowled over by that word. LIBRARY. Yes, he remembers now. Kaneis had mentioned a library on the Bishop.

His green eyes widen with excitement. Without warning, he reaches out to grab Hiro by the shoulders. They are, sadly, around the same height (not counting the ears).]

The library! Where is it? SHOW ME.

[everydayhero]

[hiro tenses up, and his eyes widen at being grabbed, but he's kind of... laughing a bit.]

Alright, alright, chill. Follow me, it's this way.

[and he... pulls away?? and starts leading him down the hall to the room.]

[arcanepower]

[He lets Hiro pull away and follows him closely.]

I had a few books before I came here. I had twenty-seven, though most were borrowed. Arcane textbooks, magical textbooks from other worlds, fairy tales, historic battles, a book on chemistry, another book on herbs, alchemy, five different varieties of exotic recipe books--

Are they organized? Does someone need to organize them? I can do that.

[everydayhero]

Y'know, I bet Krista would really appreciate it if you helped with that. Plus whatever books you find on the planets we visit would go pretty well in the collection.

[look i found something he likes!!!]

[arcanepower]

[Part of him acknowledges Hiro is trying to be friendly and part of him just doesn't care. Because books.]

... We can take books from the planets we visit? They will not want them back?

[THIS IS BRAND NEW INFORMATION.]

[everydayhero]

You can buy them, yeah. You're gonna get paid just by being around, and there are usually jobs you can take. If that's your kind of thing, anyway.

[look we're here!!]

[arcanepower]

Right, right--

[He could just... purloin them other ways. With his cute looks. But he doesn't say that. He just shoots RIGHT PAST HIRO and furiously grabs the first five books he sees. He doesn't even look at the titles. He just.

Books.

Books, man.

This is probably the happiest he's been since he arrived.]

[everydayhero]

[crossing his arms and smirking.]

You love books, huh.

[he sounds sarcastic as fuck.]

[arcanepower]

[Belthazar neatly stacks the books in his arms, then turns back to his tour guide.]

Books are better than people.

[everydayhero]

Hey, no judging.

[hands up]

I prefer robots most days.

[arcanepower]

I have never met a robot I liked, but perhaps that's because they are all so poorly made.

[He shrugs.]

You build things out of metal and wire. I build things out of magic.

[everydayhero]

You build things with it?

[oh look you have his interest.]

Like what?

[arcanepower]

[Belth will never pass up a chance to brag about how cool magic is.]

Magic can do just about everything. You can use it to make food, build a house, make a shield, craft a spell...

I have a creation that carries books.

[everydayhero]

[hey science can do those things too]

Really? Did it come here with you, or...?

[he wants to see it. brag at him. do it.]

[arcanepower]

[Okay but everything the goblins and gnomes do blows up.]

I summon it when I need to.

[Hiro obviously wants a demonstration, and who is Belth to turn him down? All the better if this human child understands his limitless power. HA. Well, okay, maybe not limitless.

His eyes glow fiercely for a moment, burning with green fire. He murmurs a few vaguely Latin-sounding words and holds out his hand. His aura turns visibly blue as he channels. At first there's only a puddle on the floor, but it doesn't seep into anything, doesn't soak the books.

It forms into a somewhat... cute-looking??? water elemental with little beady watery eyes. It's only about five feet tall, but it bows to Hiro, then looks to Belthazar for further orders.]

This is Celsius. [Belth sets the books in the water elemental's arms.] He is enchanted so that he will not make anything wet-- unless you try to stick your hand through him.

[everydayhero]

[whaaat. WHAAAAAAT.

[hiro's jaw is pretty much to the floor in the best way possible. he watches this display of power, much flashier than any other magic he's seen thus far, and the elemental has his utmost attention as soon as it's rising.

[he makes sure to bow in awe right back, and the grin is breaking out on his face by the time he straightens. belth's explanation has him even more interested, thinking of ways that could be applied to things in a practical sense for science.

[by the time he's done talking, hiro looks like he might explode.]

That is sick!

[his voice gets a little high. he's absolutely wowed.]

[arcanepower]

[That's not slang he's familiar with, so he kinda stares for a moment before he figures out the context. He glances from the elemental to Hiro, and he's... not sure how to react. Hiro's not turned off by his snobbishness enough to really matter, so Belth stands there uncertainly with his ears pinned back.

... Not as planned.]

The-- the enchantment was my doing, but it isn't a very uncommon spell, all things considered. The summoning, that is.

[everydayhero]

[you are the only one who has just not questioned that slang, belth. our captain is the only person who knew what i was saying.]

So you took what was there and improved on it. Sounds like science to me.

[shrug! magic is just... a different kind of science.]

I guess that makes you kind of a cut above the rest.

[look at me i'm practically made of butter]

[arcanepower]

[He's spent time on modern earth. He figures it's along the same lines as 'COOL' or 'WICKED' or 'RAD', the latter of which doesn't even make sense to him.

He huffs a bit, but Hiro can tell he's blushing.]

Science and magic aren't the same thing. Not if you think science is taping things together and hoping they don't explode.

Arcane magic has a life of its own. The backlash from a failed spell can kill you, and certain kinds can even unmake you.

[everydayhero]

[hung out with a lot of stoners, didn't you??]

They're not the same thing, but they're not too unalike. Science might not ever try to unmake someone, but... there's life in science, too.