[PM to Join] Over My Head

[Madeleine Gosselin]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720
Physical Conversation Classroom, Brunnhold

Welcome, class, to Principles of Physical Conversation II,” Professor Duplantier said, firmly, looking out over the room. He turned back to the board, writing with short, sharp strokes: Physical Conversation.

“In this year’s course,” Duplantier added, turning back to the class and setting one chalky hand down on his desk, “we’ll work from Professor Cathasaigh’s Physical Conversation. We will start today from the first chapter; I expect you all to have a copy of the book already, as the syllabus was sent to your dormitories several days ago.”

It wasn’t her fault, Madeleine wanted to say. She’d seen the syllabus – of course she’d seen the syllabus – but she had been so busy the first few days of classes. Her confisalto class was putting on a showcase for new members, and there had been rehearsals every night – and Madeleine was so tired; sometimes she fell asleep when she went to her room to change before dinner, and didn’t wake up until the morning.

She had meant to get the book, but she hadn’t really thought they would need it, not for the first class! It wasn’t fair, Madeleine decided, swallowing.

“Those of you without a book,” Professor Duplantier went on, “stand up.”

Madeleine felt heat burning in her cheeks and behind her eyes. She shut them, tightly, sniffled, and then pushed her chair back and rose. She heard the scrape of a few other chairs around the room, but she didn’t dare to look around, her gaze fixed on the words physical conversation on the board. Like all the rest of the students, she wore her Brunnhold uniform; the dark green skirt was already creased, folded over itself from sitting in class earlier in the morning. Madeleine tried to smooth it with her hand, but she didn’t think it helped.

Her hair was pulled up and back in a bun; a few strands had already come loose, dangling from the back and sides. She’d meant to fix it before class – she really had – but -

Professor Duplantier frowned, looking down at his seating chart. He tapped the table sharply with his fingers; Madeleine flinched. “Luckily,” Professor Duplantier went on, sharply, “some of your classmates came better prepared than you did, clearly." He called the names of the five other textbookless students one by one, assigning them partners who were sitting nearby.

“Miss Gosselin,” he said.

Madeleine swallowed, hard. “Yes Professor,” she pulled her shoulders back, standing as straight as she could manage. She could hear whispers and giggling from behind her, and she didn’t look.

Professor Duplantier glanced down at the seating chart once more. “Pair up with Mr. Orthosophos, to your left.” He said, evenly.

Madeleine sat, glancing briefly left and then back down at her desk; there were tears glimmering in her eyes now, she knew by the blurriness of them. It wasn’t fair! She thought, desperately.

“Now,” Professor Duplantier went on, sharply, addressing the class once more, “I want you all to read the introduction to Cathasaigh’s book now, as clearly many of you can’t have done it before, and I have little hope the rest would have. When you have finished, discuss your thoughts with your nearest classmate. I shall call on you at my leisure to share whatever you've come up with, so do your best not to be tedious.”

Madeleine tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She sniffled, very quietly; she pulled her bookbag on her lap, looking through it, but she couldn’t find any handkerchiefs. She glanced quickly sideways at Orthosophos, next to her, but that only made the blurring worse. Madeleine sniffled; a single tear rolled down the inside of her cheek. She pressed the edge of her sleeve to her face, sniffling again, and couldn’t quite bring herself to look at her new book partner.

[Theodore Orthosophos]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720

Physical Conversation Classroom, Brunnhold

Physical Conversation was Theodore's favourite subject. He could remember the day he learned the first sentences in Monite as one of the happiest in his life. Contrary to the Estuan language, so full of ambiguities, the language of magic allowed him to speak in a more structured manner with more precise terms to express exactly what he wanted to say. Of course, it required a deeper analysis before speaking; which was an advantage compared to human tongues that people often spoke without thinking, causing so many misunderstandings and even unintended offenses. In addition to the formal beauty of the language, Physical Conversation had many uses in the everyday life... and more than once it had meant the difference between life and death for the adventurers Theodore had read about.

So when the teacher introduced himself and the subject he was going to impart, the red-haired student felt as though he were listening to the prelude of a sublime symphony.

That was until Professor Duplantier decided to publicly humiliate the unfortunate students who had forgotten to bring the book to class. What was the point of that? Some teachers seemed to believe that chastising lackadaisical students would help them focus on their studies, but Theodore doubted that. The best way to learn was, no doubt, to enjoy while acquiring the precious lore.

Theodore would have offered his classmate to share the book even if the teacher had not told him to. But in this situation the tears in her eyes would not let her see the letters.

Fortunately, he always carried a handkerchief with him. He pulled the silk piece of cloth from his chest pocket and slightly raised his eyebrows in the middle, while trying to display something resembling a compassionate smile.

"There, there", he whispered with a soft voice, "you can use this..."

[Madeleine Gosselin]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720
Physical Conversation Classroom, Brunnhold

Crying in class was possibly the most awful thing that had ever happened to anyone. Madeleine didn’t want to be crying; she hadn’t wanted to start and she hadn’t meant to. How awful it was only made it worse and harder to stop; more tears were sliding down her cheeks now.

There was soft blue colorshift swirling through her field, a dismal colorful trickling into the air around her. Madeleine heard a giggle from her other side; she took a deep breath and exhaled out and the blue drained away. It helped, a little bit, although there were still tears trickling down her cheeks, although her chest was still tight as though she had clenched a fist in it.

Orthosophos whispered to her, and extended a handkerchief. Madeleine looked down at it, surprised, and then back up at him. She waited; she wasn’t sure for what.

She wanted to know, Madeleine thought, if he seemed like he would start laughing or snatch it away or - she couldn’t have said. After a moment, tentatively, Madeleine took the handkerchief. He didn’t snatch it away or laugh.

“Thank you,” Madeleine whispered, her voice almost as soft as his had been. The rest of the class was either reading or talking low-voiced, and their voices blended in well to the overall sound. She dabbed at her eyes.

Using someone else’s handkerchief was really tricky and awful. Her nose felt like it was going to run at any moment but she didn’t think she could possibly bear to wipe her nose on the little square of silk, not in front of everyone. Madeleine sniffled in, sharply, instead, even though it was a very indelicate noise and really kind of hurt.

Madeleine took a deep, steadying sort of breath, like if she were dancing. She straightened up a little in her seat. More than anything, she had wanted to curl up, to set her feet in the chair and tuck her face into her knees and cry against them. She knew she could do it while keeping her skirt over her knees, but she knew too that it was very, very inappropriate to sit that way in class, and that she really couldn’t, no matter how badly she wanted to.

Madeleine mopped at damp eyes once more. She lowered the handkerchief to the desk, still held in one hand, and offered a faint, trembling smile in Orthosophos’s direction. She thought maybe she had seen him in other classes, but she really wasn’t sure.

“I’m Madeleine,” Madeleine whispered, after a moment, sniffling one last time. “Madeleine Gosselin,” she added. She looked down at his book, smile fading as a little frown pinched her face - it wasn’t her fault and it wasn’t fair - and then back up at Orthosophos, still a little solemn in her expression.

[Theodore Orthosophos]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720

Physical Conversation Classroom, Brunnhold

Theodore nodded in a mute reply to Madeleine's whisper of thankfulness. He was feeling eager to do whatever he could to ease her affliction.

The red-haired student sighed as he awaited for her to dispose all the contents of her nose into the handkerchief he had given her. He would be happy to give up on his piece of silk as long as it made her feel better. Of course, he would not accept it back after having been used; so it was a present. However, he was gladly surprised to see that she delicately used his handkerchief to mop the tears from her eyes, sniffling in instead of blowing them out. His handkerchief would be pleased to let her cry on its shoulder.

"I'm Theodore Orthosophos", he replied to her introduction with a smile before casting a sideways look at Professor Duplantier and aiming down to read the book as he had told them.

[Madeleine Gosselin]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720
Physical Conversation Classroom, Brunnhold

Madeleine read intently. It was a bit awkward really sharing a book, but she was glad at least Professor Duplantier hadn’t made her go stand in the hall, and that Orthosophos hadn’t been in the least mean about letting Madeleine share his book.

Physical conversation is the purest and perhaps the most difficult of the arcane arts. Physical conversation is at its essence about balance: balance between the opposing forces of the world, balance between the caster and the mona, balance within the clauses of a spell. This textbook is meant to give you a general grounding in physical conversation, and covers a variety of topics. It is suitable for a student with some knowledge of the basics, who nonetheless is open to discovering, exploring and, above all else, seeking balance.

The heart of learning is experimentation. All casters fail; all casters backlash. The spells which are written within cannot simply be spoken, even by one who has read all the text. They must be understood, and cast with intent; they must be tempered according to the conditions in which the caster finds himself. The same light spell in a well lit and dim room will have very different results; the same sound spell in a busy room full of conversation and a quiet plot will be expressed in distinct ways through the mona.

As a start, think about Mosfante’s spell to suspend gravity.

That was as far as Madeleine got. There was an enormous thump from the back of the room, followed by a crack which seemed to split the whole of it in class. By seventh form, each of them knew the feeling of backlash, the tense rubber band tightness in the air which snapped outwards. A wave of runoff lapped over them.

Madeleine shrieked; she was far from the only one, as a chorus of them rippled through the room.

In the last row, one of the classroom’s desks had split in two. Hedgewood, sitting behind it, was wide-eyed, a thin trickle of blood seeping from his nose and ears.

“Mr. Hedgewood!” Professor Duplantier snapped.

Hedgewood shook his head; he pressed his hands to his ears and pulled them away.

“He was only trying the spell from the end of the chapter, sir,” the boy sitting next to him said, wide-eyed. He too looked dizzy, wobbling slightly.

Professor Duplantier grimaced. “Sloppy,” he remarked. He sighed. “Take him to the infirmary. Can he hear?”

The boy glanced at Hedgewood. “Don’t think so, sir. Come on, Hedgey, let’s - oh!” He leapt back, wobbling, as Hedgewood emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

Professor Duplantier grimaced. “I shall take him myself,” he said, firmly. Murmurs erupted around the classroom. “Backlash is never an excuse to slack in your work,” Professor Duplantier went on, voice raised. “I expect five hundred words each on your reflections on the introduction, due at the start of class tomorrow. I shall call upon two students randomly to read theirs aloud. Dismissed!”

Madeleine looked up at Orthosophos, wide-eyed. Students were getting up around them; Hedgewood was slumped over in his chair at the back of the room.

“Is it all right if I - can I keep using your book? Maybe we could study together?” Madeleine asked, hopefully. “I have dance practice this afternoon - I meant to go get the book first thing tomorrow but I won’t have time for the essay if...” she trailed off, looking down.

[Theodore Orthosophos]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720

Physical Conversation Classroom, Brunnhold

Theodore read the introduction to Cathasaigh’s book on Physical Conversation. It was not the first time he had laid his eyes on it; eager to know, Orthosophos had enjoyed the first pages of the syllabus as soon as it had been delivered to his dormitory. The first paragraphs perfectly did their job to engage the reader, challenging him to see for himself if the results of a light spell were different depending on the illumination of the environment or, analogically, the results of a sound spell were affected by the background voices.

Then it jumped to gravity. Was a gravity spell affected by the arrangement of the moons in the sky the same as the tides? The answer to that question was the same to the previous ones: try yourself.

THUMP!

Startled by the sudden noise from the back of the room, Theodore abruptly turned back to find its source.

It was Hedgewood, who apparently shared Orthosophos' interest on the subject. Moreover, the bleeding student seemed to have ignored the dictates of his prudence and tried one of the advanced spells, as the boy next to him explained.

Focused as he was in what he had just read, the red-haired student considered casting a gravity spell to free the blood from Hedgewood's nose from the downward pull; however, Professor Duplantier was faster and told the boy to take the backlashed classmate to the infirmary. Needless to say, Theodore would appreciate that interruption later, when Hedgewood vomited onto the floor; it would have been unpleasant to erroneously cancel gravity on a substance that was better stuck to the floor than floating around.

The matter was the class could not go on; which meant the teacher would not explain anything else, but the students would have homework to do.

"That's perfectly fine for me", he replied to Madeleine's request to share the book. "Shall we go to the library?", he proposed. The library was quiet enough to think and the tables were clean enough to lay his book on, just the opposite of the cafeteria, so noisy and dirty.

[Madeleine Gosselin]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720
On the way to the library

Madeleine waited. She was sure Orthosophos would - would laugh at her probably or say that he was busy or - she wasn’t even sure what she thought he might do. He had been nice so far but people were nice sometimes. It didn’t mean it would last. Madeleine had learned that very well, even if she wished she hadn’t.

Orthosophos agreed, and suggested they go to the library now.

“Oh,” Madeleine said, eyes slightly wide. “Yes, sure - that sounds good.” She shifted; she put her things away in her bag and slung the strap of it across her chest as she got up. There was quite a lot of time left in class, and Madeleine had her lunch period right afterwards, so she definitely had time. Maybe, she thought hopefully, she could even get the whole essay done.

Professor Duplantier was at the back of the room now, examining Hedgewood. The whole room still felt funny with his lingering backlash. Madeleine felt it all over her skin, like a prickle; everyone was leaving quickly, and she did the same.

As they reached the hallway, Madeleine held the strap of her bag tight. She glanced around. It was pretty rare really that she was out in the hallway during the middle of class like this; she did have to go to the lavatory sometimes, but she always hurried very quickly so she shouldn’t miss class. Unless she had to cry; then she would hurry there but she couldn’t seem to rush it, once she started. It was very hard to do it quietly, too; that was always the worst.

Madeleine smiled hopefully as Orthosophos. Since class was basically over, really, even if they had to do work, they didn’t really need to rush. But she set out promptly for the library anyway; Madeleine loved the library. She loved the books and the chairs and the smell; she loved being alone in it with nothing to do but study and read. She loved the quiet peacefulness of it and the way it was always there whenever you wanted it to be.

It wasn’t much of a walk, luckily; the library wasn’t so far from the sciences wing. There were other classes still going on all around; Madeleine could hear the echoes of voices through the doorways.

As they walked through the hall, curiously, she caprised Orthosophos. She had greeted him with her field in class, as they all did, but this was another faint nudge, tentative. Madeleine’s field was largely physical mona, burgeoning heavy, with the faintest heat of static. There was a sense of weight to it common to gravity casters, and something else - a lightness or a swirling, subtle but there, if Orthosophos returned the caprise. There was the faintest trace of something like embarrassment amidst the mona, if he was sensitive to such things; she could not have been called indectal, but it was not overwhelming.

“I still have your handkerchief,” Madeleine said suddenly as they came outside. She had tucked it into her pocket because she wasn’t sure what to do with it. It was very cold outside and snow was flaking down in big white gusts; Madeleine shivered a little, pulling her uniform coat tighter and scarf around herself and settling a hat on her head. Her small bare hands settled back on the strap of her bag and held tight; she had forgotten her gloves. Madeleine knew she ought to put her hands in her pockets, but she liked holding the strap of her bag better.

“I can wash it and give it back to you?” Madeleine’s voice lifted at the end of the question; she peeled up at Orthosophos again. White flakes of snow were settling in the thick braid of her hair. “If you like?”

They kept on, boots crunching through the snow that had already settled on the ground.

[Theodore Orthosophos]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720

On the way to the library, Brunnhold

Theodore followed Madeleine out of the classroom, repressing the insistent compulsion to hurry her up but allowing himself to cover his nose with the sleeve of his left arm in order to endure the smell coming from the stinking substance Hedgewood had thrown on the floor. When they got out of the room, he took a deep breath and exhaled the air slowly.

They strode through the hallway at a fast pace. Apparently, Madeleine was not a girl who wasted her time idly; but she caught Theodore by surprise when she caressed him with her field. Looking to the side to conceal his blush, he hesitated for a few seconds before carefully replying with a similar caprice. Physical and quantitative, his field awkwardly touched her, his mona pushing and feeling hers. Then he suddenly removed his field and briefly covered his mouth with his forefinger, as though he were lost in deep thoughts.

It was then that she proposed to wash the handkerchief and return it. That could not be better.

"This is perfect", he replied, smiling at her. He only gave up looking into her eyes when a chill on his back made him shake.

"I think we'll be warmer in the library", he prompted, rubbing his arms with his hands.

[Madeleine Gosselin]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720
Grand Library

Madeleine found the caprise all right. She thought she was getting better at it, at caprising. She had been scared of it for a long time because of course she had known what other people felt in her field even when she wasn’t caprising them and she had always thought that a deeper caprise would mean they’d feel it more. It wasn’t that she hadn’t known; it was just that she couldn’t do anything about it. She still couldn’t do much but it was better than it used to be - it was - and Orthosophos had a nice sort of field, not as heavy as some of her classmates. She could make out the quantitative mona alongside the physical ones, although belike always mingled more easily.

“Oh! Yes,” she’d slowed down a bit, Madeleine realized. That was silly. They went together over the grounds, uniform boots crunching in the snow. It was only morning of course but there wasn’t very much light; it was sort of gray and weak slanting through the clouds, and more and more snow tumbled down. Madeleine held her bookbag strap very tightly.

It was warmer in the library, warm enough that her fingers hurt, especially at the tips, and her cheeks and nose too. Madeleine shivered, stamping her feet off on the floor, and glanced away as she sniffled, hoping her nose wasn’t dripping too awfully. It was just as gray outside still, but the lanterns shone warm light through the library.

The tables weren’t too full, and Madeleine hurried to a nearby one and set her bag down opposite the other student. She cupped her hands together and blew in them, lightly, still shivering a little. She had told the nurse that it was colder this year and they had said it only felt that way because of - it didn’t matter. It wasn’t really colder, and Madeleine oughtn’t have forgotten her gloves again. She needed to put them in her back or something.

Madeleine smiled across the table at Orthosophos. “Oh,” she said, suddenly. “Sorry, I guess - it’s easier to share the book if I sit next to you?” Her voice wavered you at the end, tentative.

Madeleine got up; the snow in her hair was drying now, but it had thoroughly disarranged her braid; bits stuck out damply here and there. Madeleine came around and took the seat next to Orthosophos instead, sitting back straight and shoulders back on the edge of it. She smiled at him, waiting for him to take the book out.

She still felt rather awful about everything in the classroom; if she thought about it too much, she knew she would start to cry again. It was really hard not to think about things that upset you, and even worse to try and just think about not crying. But it was easier in the library; even with her nose a little stuffy it smelled really nice - like books - and Orthosophos had been really nice too, and Madeleine found she wasn’t crying, not yet.

They’d sat next to each other in class so it really wasn’t any different, sitting on the same side of the table. Madeleine decided it was fine, really; she didn’t think it was inappropriate. It was very hard to tell, sometimes, but it was really the only way they could both look at the book.

[Theodore Orthosophos]

Late Morning, Intas 8, 2720

Grand Library, Brunnhold

Warmth and tranquility welcomed Theodore and Madeleine to the library. It was not as empty as in the unusual hours, but the two physic conversators had no trouble finding a suitable table to sit and share the book.

"Oh", he heard. Raising his green eyes from the book, he met a smiling face. "Sorry, I guess - it’s easier to share the book if I sit next to you?", she proposed.

"Of course", he agreed, smiling back. It made sense that she sat beside him rather than opposite, provided that they were going to read the same text.

So he put the book in the middle when she sat next to him and deployed his writing utils on the other side of the table. Then he rested his elbow on his side of the table and his head on his hand. His grandmother had told him once that he had better sit down with his back straight, otherwise he would end up with as many backaches as her... but he had always found that stance uncomfortable for reading and preferred relaxing his back and keeping his eyes close to the letters.

After a quick glance to check if she was fine with the position of the book, he started reading.

First of all, he wanted to take notes on possible topics he might include in his essay. He wrote them down on the sheet he had put on the table:


- Explain purity and difficulty. Compare to Quantitative Conversation.
- Examples about balance. Static balance and dynamic balance in physical objects.
- Experimentation as a source of lore.
- Backlash. Comment the accident in the classroom.
- Propose experiments to prove the impact of environmental conditions on the effects of a spell.