Mikoto

Yes, she's fearfully ignorant, little Mage! She doesn't mind appearing so, when it just astonishes people. "You can show me some other time. I'd love that - they must be way bigger than any birds I've seen."

Well. Certain Nexus persons excepted. And that thought has Telrim stifling laughter as she adds, "And I know our big ones don't take people for rides..."

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Luca nods a lot. They're very big and fluffy and most are yellow. Bobby is yellow. Betty's a white chocobo and very special. Rydia brought her to us. And some come in other colors too and sometimes they change color. Maybe we'll see some in Alexandria."

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"Maybe." This world seems more curious by the hour. She glances at Regulus, happy with his view, obviously unafraid of heights. Likely he doesn't have to worry about them any more than the Mages here...

She considers Luca again. "Um, one of you mentioned a 'Synthesis Shop' in your village. What do they sell there?"

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"That's Mr. 288's shop. And it depends on what someone brings. Synthesis is taking different items with spells on them and stuff and combining them."

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There's just the slight cant of her head and her utterly focused attention to indicate how interesting this is to the Yeerk. "So... if you have a magic hat and a magic spoon, you get a magic spoon-hat? Can you split them up again afterwards?"

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"I don't think you can take them apart again. It doesn't really make a spoon-hat from a spoon and a hat, just that... um... if the hat was velvet, and the spoon was silver, you might get a velvet scarf with silver thread and stuff on it. It's very compili..compy.. very hard stuff. You'd have to ask Mr. 288, I think."

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"I'll do that, then. But you explained it well, I think." She gives him a smile and asks, "So, why is he called Mr. 288? That's kind of... an unusual name."

((Also, apologies for the delay on tags - RL and projects have been slowing me down. I'm hoping to get back up to speed shortly! :) ))

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"Is it?" says Luca. "It's like all the other bigger Mages' names."

"Serial numbers from the factory in Dali," Mikoto comments quietly.

"Cereal has numbers?" asks a confused magelet.

"I like the kind with the raisins in it," another adds.

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"Ah." Telrim looks seriously at Mikoto for a minute. Then smiles at the Magelets again. A subject change would be tactful now, yes? "Where do you get cereal from, all the way out in the village?"

Curious thought, though - give the older Mages a brood-name and you could almost introduce them like normal people, she thinks, making Natasha want to know what's wrong with human names.

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"Oh, we trade for things!" says Juro. About three Magelets nod.

"Sometimes we trade in the Nexus," adds Luca. "And sometimes we trade with the Dwarves in Condie Petie."

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"I see. Maybe we can do some trading someday." She's only smirking a little! Although on that thought- she looks over at Regulus speculatively. What does he plan to do with his life, in this world?

Well, she realises, he possibly doesn't. It's the first thing a Yeerk would think of - what their place, their purpose and duties are in a strange new situation. But humans are different, and Regulus is only young, getting used to being yanked away from everything he knew.

She mulls over that. It might offer opportunities along the line.

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"Ok!" chirp the Magelets, only too happy to agree to trade. They like to trade for things.

Regulus is still by the railing, watching the landscape zip past and letting the wind mess with his hair. He doesn't look like he's been listening in... but he has been.

It's true that he hasn't decided what to do with himself yet, though he has at least determined that this is far too elaborate to be a hoax.

Right now, he feels he has insufficient information - and, disturbing to him, insufficient resources - for any kind of major decision, so he's doing what he feels any sensible Slytherin would do... Keeping his head down, being civil, gathering information... and biding his time.

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It doesn't really occur to Telrim that Regulus might have his own talent for watching and waiting. Valuable and fascinating as his abilities are, to the Controller's mind he doesn't really register as a factor in his own right. She's impressed with how well he's adapted so far, but most humans the Yeerks abduct into their alien and dangerous world hide their reactions about as well as a new grub. She rather expects him to be the same, and any differences she absently puts down to shock.

"Wonderful!" Telrim doesn't hide how pleased she is with the Magelets' answer. There are all kinds of advantages to a trading arrangement: having a reason to carry things in and out of the dimension...

She looks up from them and calls over, "Are you enjoying the flight, Regulus?"

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The Magelets are quite pleased themselves, simply because someone else is.

Regulus straightens a bit from where he's leaning against the railing. "Yes, I am. I've always been rather fond of flying... though I have to admit this makes me miss having a broom."

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"A broom?" Her tone is light, a little incredulous, as if she'd had no idea. "You really use brooms?"

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Which sends Regulus into a brief fit of blinking as if someone had just asked if he wore underwear. Bloody hell, he didn't think he'd ever get used to all the differences. "Ah, yes. To fly on. I suppose mentioning Quidditch would only confuse matters." He sighs.

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"Yes. But that's not such a bad thing," she adds, encouraging even as she feigns sympathy. "So... what is Quidditch?" Apart from a very entertaining word to say!

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"Well, it's a sport, played on broomsticks..," and then Regulus has his wand out, using it to 'sketch' a glowing 3-D scribble of a Quidditch Pitch in midair.

This soon attracts Magelets, who crowd around to watch.

"There are seven players on a team - three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper, and a Seeker, and four balls - a Quaffle, two Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch..." He trails off briefly as he notes that there are seven Magelets. If he could just find sport equipment and get them up on brooms... they'd still be lacking an opposing team. Oh well.

"Now, each end of the field has three hoops at different heights, from thirty to fifty feet up in the air. The Keeper's job is to protect the hoops. The Chasers pass the Quaffle and try to get it through the opposing team's hoops..." He watches to make sure the Magelets, and Telrim, are following so far.

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Telrim's a little startled when he draws his wand. She relaxes swiftly and leans forward to study his diagram.

I like that, Natasha says, as they watch the drawing. I mean, it'd make explanations much easier, wouldn't it? she adds, trying to be practical.

I'm sure it would... if we were planning to explain anything. But when all is going well, the aliens give the intel, and the Yeerks are happy to devour it.

"That seems pretty straightforward..." Telrim murmurs, giving a nod. Quidditch is comparable to other human sports, then. Those don't usually interest her, but if it's significant to Regulus and his people, that's what matters.

Wizards playing sports... kind of weird to imagine, her headmate remarks.

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And since the Magelets seem to get it so far as well, Regulus continues. "Now, the Bludgers are smaller, and very hard. And they're enchanted to knock players off their brooms." He'd drawn a soccer-sized ball in the air with the word 'Quaffle' under it, and now draws a roughly softball sized one with the word 'Bludger' underneath.

"That's not very nice of them," says Juro.

Regulus just chuckles. "Well, that's what the Beaters on each team are for. They have bats, you see, and it's their job to knock the Bludgers away from their own team and towards the other team."

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Telrim blinks and looks up at Regulus, clearly - and genuinely - surprised. This game just got much more intriguing. "Really? So you're... flying under fire." There's an amused twitch at the corners of her mouth as she adds, "Your Beaters would need to be extremely good at their job, then."

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"Of course," says Regulus. "And it's especially important that the Seeker not be distracted, as it's their job to find and catch..," he draws a very small, winged ball - roughly the size of a golf-ball - in the air with his wand, "the Golden Snitch."

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This feels like it deserves an 'ooooh'. Or so Natasha thinks. Her more dignity-minded Yeerk doesn't supply one, but she does focus on this smallest ball intently. "Is that really how big it is?"

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Fortunately, some of the Magelets provide any requisite 'Oooohs'.

Regulus nods, still smiling. "Yes, and it's fast and has an erratic flight pattern." He mutters something in what sounds like oddly mangled pseudo-Latin, and gives the sketched Snitch a poke, making the drawing mimic a real one and zip around the immediate area.

The Magelets are fascinated by this. And it seems that while the species in general has trouble reading anything smaller than extra large print, small moving objects are much easier for them to follow.

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