Once he would have tensed as Remi spoke of being marked. Not a slave, but not exactly free either, was it? And to be assumed to be lesser because of a talent for changing one's shape... No, the man who had been a kitsune did not particularly like hearing such things. It danced dangerously close to being personal. But the alchemist did not need his pity. He didn't even need his empathy, not really. They had been down that road once before, and so Jigano simply took a slow breath and nodded carefully, grateful for the information shared, but locking his rash words tightly behind his teeth this time, trying not to repeat the mistakes of Leafchange and Deepfrost.
The geodes provided a lighter distraction, and talk of more general magic was safer by far than dark pasts that they could not change. He tilted his head at Remi's description of his creation magic, a thoughtful expression stealing over his face as he tapped out a distracted rhythm on the tabletop. "Most of my powers related to sound," he revealed. "Or the mind. Or changing luck... I never had the ability to create things, even at the height of my abilities. I can't imagine how it must feel to simply wish something into being. My world was rife with magic, and still that is a talent that would have been seen as incredible," he admitted with a wry smile. "But you certainly seem adept at it!" 'Like that patch you made for Sam,' he almost said, before biting his tongue back against the memory of Remi's earlier discomfort on the topic of the bookmaker.
He bowed his head in acknowledgment of his younger self's shenanigans. Clever and stupid, all at once. A bit of an on-the-nose description of his teenage self. And sometimes his adult self, in spite of his best intentions. They were actually playing with the rocks now, though, and he was eager to see what Remi could do with them, and whether the tentative ideas spun from 'what-if's and 'maybes' would hold water. He leaned forward eagerly now that the initial breaking was past, and watched in wide-eyed delight as the inner crystals seemed to overtake the whole of the piece, a chunk of glittering crystal.
"Magnificent," he said, openly admiring the work - the piece of art - that the alchemist mage had made. For a moment a beam of sunlight piercing through the window seemed to catch it and light it with a soft fire from within. "If you could find a way to make that glow even without the sunlight in it, you'd have Amalia's eternal gratitude. A light source without a flame? We could save ourselves a great deal of worry in the Guild if we could use those to light our Hall instead of lanterns in the chandelier!"
The geodes provided a lighter distraction, and talk of more general magic was safer by far than dark pasts that they could not change. He tilted his head at Remi's description of his creation magic, a thoughtful expression stealing over his face as he tapped out a distracted rhythm on the tabletop. "Most of my powers related to sound," he revealed. "Or the mind. Or changing luck... I never had the ability to create things, even at the height of my abilities. I can't imagine how it must feel to simply wish something into being. My world was rife with magic, and still that is a talent that would have been seen as incredible," he admitted with a wry smile. "But you certainly seem adept at it!" 'Like that patch you made for Sam,' he almost said, before biting his tongue back against the memory of Remi's earlier discomfort on the topic of the bookmaker.
He bowed his head in acknowledgment of his younger self's shenanigans. Clever and stupid, all at once. A bit of an on-the-nose description of his teenage self. And sometimes his adult self, in spite of his best intentions. They were actually playing with the rocks now, though, and he was eager to see what Remi could do with them, and whether the tentative ideas spun from 'what-if's and 'maybes' would hold water. He leaned forward eagerly now that the initial breaking was past, and watched in wide-eyed delight as the inner crystals seemed to overtake the whole of the piece, a chunk of glittering crystal.
"Magnificent," he said, openly admiring the work - the piece of art - that the alchemist mage had made. For a moment a beam of sunlight piercing through the window seemed to catch it and light it with a soft fire from within. "If you could find a way to make that glow even without the sunlight in it, you'd have Amalia's eternal gratitude. A light source without a flame? We could save ourselves a great deal of worry in the Guild if we could use those to light our Hall instead of lanterns in the chandelier!"
