>>6059074Table sits down cross-legged with you. "They did let us pick whatever begginer spell we wanted, what if some student just picked all the wrong spell to mix it with? Do they just fail the assignment?" she asks.
"I don't know, but it's not like it hurts to try, does it? Worst case scenario we find new cool mixed spells! It's exciting, isn't it?"
"It's all magic in that little head of yours, isn't it?"
"Yup! What about it?"
"I don't know, you just have these huge eyebags and it feels like you're about to collapse at any moment, but the moment magic is mentioned it's like you just come back to life like a golem. I know you love magic, but do remember to take care of yourself, okay?"
It's true that you're tired, and that you really want to sleep, but you also really want to practice magic, and you know what you want more between these two things. "Magic! I can only do as much magic when I'm with you, and the clarity is still active! It's now or never."
"We have like three school years, it's okay to slow down."
"But I don't want to! Come on! I'm out of mana, pleaaaase," you beg a little more pathetically than you intended.
"Okay, I'll give you mana, on one condition," she motions for you to get closer to her.
"Okay, what do you- mgfg-" she grabs your upper body and lays your head down against her lap.
"Take a nap, I don't trust you not to study yourself to death in your dorm, so I'll make sure you close your eyes right here and there."
You want to whine more, but you realize you just cannot practice without her help unless you bother Dill more, who has way less mana, so you close your eyes and think about the spells you should mix instead.
Her lap is also squishy, in a good way. It's like a water bed of some kind. Despite your best efforts to only pretend to sleep, you end up falling into a deep sleep, dreaming about the human city, your parents, the familiar places, the stores, the eerie and constant droning sound of the machinery surrounding the building blocks.
You wake up well rested, on the same squishy bed. "How long was I out?" You ask without bothering getting your head out of her lap.
"A few hours. It wasn't so hard to take a little rest now, was it? Isn't it so much easier to focus?"
You're not sure if that's true since the clarity spell wore off, but you have to admit you do feel better overall. "I dreamt of home."
"Do you miss it?" She ruffles your hair, it doesn't feel as weird as before for some reason.
"I don't know, it hasn't been long enough for me to miss it. I guess it's just hitting me now I'll never be able to truly come back home the same way as before. Store price will be higher for me, and I'll be seen as a tourist instead of a citizen. Lots of places I won't be able to come back to, I just won't be welcome anymore."
