Calan
"Can you show us?" Calan asks at once, his eyebrows lifting so high they almost disappear into his curls. Real magic is one of those things that still sounds very grand in stories, but it’s much better when it belongs to someone sitting right there in the sand beside you, especially if it can be turned into ice and aimed at a suspected crab tunnel. Still, because Erebos is new and therefore should not be cornered too aggressively before ice cream has happened, Calan adds, 'or if you can’t, that’s totally fine too."
He says this with the generous air of someone who would absolutely like a demonstration, but can also pretend not to if manners require it. The mention of enemies, though, brings his attention gleaming right back into focus. "We do sort of have one enemy," he admits proudly of Finch, then pauses to consider whether their list has grown. "Two, if you count the man in the market who wouldn’t sell us ice cream for free."
Looking down at Carlo’s sand sandwiches, Calan nods as though the entire plan is settling beautifully into place. A magic friend, a frost fox, a dragon employee, and a possible criminal crab headquarters are all excellent ingredients for an afternoon. "Yep. We take it over," he agrees, then looks back to Erebos with a grin. "And you can be the new leader if you want, since you have magic." This feels fair to him. It also feels like the sort of offer that might make Erebos more likely to freeze something useful later, which is not the only reason for it, but it does help.
Over Erebos’s shoulder, something bright catches his eye, and Calan squints past him toward the stretch of coast where Flora appears to be running from a veritable wall of fire. For a second, his expression goes thoughtfully still, measuring whether this is the sort of thing an adult would expect him to report or the sort of thing that is probably being handled by someone much taller and more flame-proof. "Huh," he says mildly. "I think our sister is about to get burnt up." He watches for another moment, then shrugs and turns back to the hole with renewed purpose. Flora has been about to do lots of dramatic things before and has mostly survived them, whereas the crab is actively escaping. "Anyway, if we’re going to be in charge of the headquarters, we need to know if it has guards."
He says this with the generous air of someone who would absolutely like a demonstration, but can also pretend not to if manners require it. The mention of enemies, though, brings his attention gleaming right back into focus. "We do sort of have one enemy," he admits proudly of Finch, then pauses to consider whether their list has grown. "Two, if you count the man in the market who wouldn’t sell us ice cream for free."
Looking down at Carlo’s sand sandwiches, Calan nods as though the entire plan is settling beautifully into place. A magic friend, a frost fox, a dragon employee, and a possible criminal crab headquarters are all excellent ingredients for an afternoon. "Yep. We take it over," he agrees, then looks back to Erebos with a grin. "And you can be the new leader if you want, since you have magic." This feels fair to him. It also feels like the sort of offer that might make Erebos more likely to freeze something useful later, which is not the only reason for it, but it does help.
Over Erebos’s shoulder, something bright catches his eye, and Calan squints past him toward the stretch of coast where Flora appears to be running from a veritable wall of fire. For a second, his expression goes thoughtfully still, measuring whether this is the sort of thing an adult would expect him to report or the sort of thing that is probably being handled by someone much taller and more flame-proof. "Huh," he says mildly. "I think our sister is about to get burnt up." He watches for another moment, then shrugs and turns back to the hole with renewed purpose. Flora has been about to do lots of dramatic things before and has mostly survived them, whereas the crab is actively escaping. "Anyway, if we’re going to be in charge of the headquarters, we need to know if it has guards."
you are a victim of the rules you live by
Code stolen from Queen Sky
