Rowan nodded as she watched him deal the cards out. She figured since he didn't ask any questions about the rules, he knew them already. For a moment she had almost forgotten that he promised to explain it to her but was glad he was going to. She let him deal them out before she signed, "Yes, I would like you to."
"Ok. To start..magic is really weird, and I haven't even figured all of it out yet," He started, also beginning the game as he talked, "It has some rules that it follows to a T, and then others that are more of a suggestions." Soren glanced up at her as they played, "It has a few different parts, along with the need for at least one person to be able to control and channel it."
Rowan started playing when he did. She nodded along as she heard what he said, though it brought more questions than answers. Her playing paused for a moment not flipping over her next card as she signed over to him, "So a person who can't control and channel it could do magic as long as one person can? Like in rituals or something like that? Also what type of rules are there?"
"A person who can't channel their magic but has it inside of them could let their power be used through someone who knew how to control it yes, though it wouldn't take a ritual unless it was a large amount of magic needed." Talking about magic could get very confusing and he was trying to keep it as simple as possible as he explained, knowing he could always go into more detail if she asked. "Magic likes to find loopholes, but the major rules that can never be broken as far as I've heard are: Once someone finds their magic and harnesses it, nothing can strip it away from that person, it's always theirs and connected to them in some way. It also always has to be paid back in some way, either in physical damage to the controller, or things like getting tired or sore. However it's paid back though, it always has to be paid for. Other than those two rules, there's only one more, but that just focuses on when magic is most powerful and when its not."
Rowan nodded along making the connections in her head. She found the concept much easier to understand once he put it that way. More questions popped into her head each one burning to be asked. She pulled out her notebook and pen before writing the six that burned brightest down. It took her a moment or two but she finished writing and showed the sheet to him, How can someone have magic and not control it? How does one do magic? Do you have to be touching in order to channel magic? What’s the final rule about power? The last two questions on the sheet was in much shakier handwriting than the others, but they still stood out bold and bright, Would becoming mute be a physical consequence of using magic? Do you think you could try channeling magic from me?
(Lol I'm having wayyy too much fun deciding how magic works XD)
Soren scanned over the questions quickly, fingers drumming against the table. He was in no way an expert of his magic or magic in general, but as he thought over the questions, he did find ways to explain them. "Most people have magic inside them, though its no more than a little spark that has to be kindled and used to be able to grow stronger, almost like a muscle. Magic is all internal, it's no more than figuring out how to make it do what you want, saying things or using your hands just helps the process go faster and leaves the user less tired." He paused after the first two questions were answered, knowing he was leaving out a lot of information but wanting to answer all of her questions. "Channeling magic does need physical contact, as well as a willingness from both the user and the person offering their magic since both of them will bear the payback of magic use. Without any of those, it won't work." Once again he paused to look up at her, curious as to if she had the spark but leaving his own questions out of the question.
(I can tell. XD)
Rowan nodded along absorbing every bit of information he gave to her. She completely understood him not answering the last two questions. They were pretty personal after all. She thought for a moment putting her notebook away. Her questions were satisfied at the moment, but now she wanted to experiment a little. She signed over to him a smile on her face, "I want to try doing something with magic! Show me some hand movements I could do to cast a spell or whatever. Please?"
Soren smiled and shrugged, "I suppose I could show you some, though I'll warn you, they won't work right now, unless you have control over magic already." He started by turning his right hand so his palm was up, then brought his hand around in a circle, flipping his hand over quickly so the back was up when it reached the place where his had started and bringing his hand in a short line out in front of himself. "This one is normally used alongside protection or barrier magic use, specifically personal protection." He explained, looking up at her again.
Rowan nodded and watched his movements. She wasn't expecting to be able to do anything, but she wanted to try. As far as she knew she had no control over magic, she probably didn't even have magic. Her hands slowly copied his movements and she could feel a strange movement through her body, but they felt familiar and comforting at the same time. It continued and moved to her hands as she finished the movements releasing the spell. She, she hadn't expected that.
His eyes widened and he smiled gently, feeling a slight buzz of magic coming from her that was very unlike the constant calm wavelike feeling of his that he was always used to. "Wait..Rowan..did you just cast a spell?" He asked gently, thankful now that he had taught her one that wouldn't do more than make her very tired if she had just did the spell.
Rowan felt exhaustion start to set in, but it was overtaken by the buzz and excitement of what she had just done. She nodded eagerly to him a smile on her face. She had just done magic! Oh god, she had just done magic. What was strange was that it felt a lot like an old muscle that hadn't been used in a while so it was sore from doing such a simple thing. She didn't pay much mind to that though focusing on Soren as she signed to him, "I think I did! Is that a good or bad thing? I would say good right?"
"It's amazing," He said with a laugh, his smile growing, "Have you done magic before?" Soren was amazed and very curious. Still he hid his excitement and just watched her for a minute. Maybe she would be willing to learn more sometime, though he wouldn't push her ability by asking more of her now, mostly since she was probably very tired by now.
"I don't remember, maybe before the accident," Rowan responded signing to him. She wanted to learn more about what she could do with magic especially since Soren seemed as happy about this as she was. She would ask to learn more, but she was tired from just doing that one spell, "Otherwise, no. I've never done any magic before."
He nodded, thinking back to her question and letting his mind run for a moment before focusing and asking one last question, "Do you know if you have any relatives that know how to do magic?" Soren shook his head, telling himself to stop asking questions, "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, you're probably tired now though. If you want I can take you home so you can get some sleep, or you can stay here and crash."
Rowan shook her head slowly. Her aunt and uncle had taken her in after her parents had died, but they never showed any signs of being able to do magic. She let out a quiet yawn once he brought up sleep. Her hands signed though she looked a little sheepish, "If you don't mind, I would like to crash here for the night."
"Yeah that's alright. Do you want to sleep here? You can take my bedroom otherwise, I'll clean up a little first and the door has a lock if you wanted more privacy." He offered, jabbing his thumb back towards his door. This couch wasn't the most comfortable to sleep on..he knew from experience. Soren yawned as well as he guessed their card game was done and started cleaning up the cards.
"I can take the couch," Rowan signed back to him as she watched him clean up the cards. She paused to cover her mouth as she yawned again before shaking her head ever so slightly to try and wake herself up, "I don't want to inconvenience you more than I already have, Magic boy."
He smiled and shook his head, "It's not an inconvenience in any way, don't worry." Magic boy. That was a new nickname, but one he didn't mind at all. Soren scooped up the cards and stood up with a gentle smile, walking back into his room and putting the cards away before coming back out carrying a pillow and fluffy blanket. "Feel free to just smack me and wake me up if you want to switch places." He said, holding them out to her and debating whether to offer her something else to sleep in if she didn't want to sleep in that.
Rowan took the pillow and she was shocked at the softness of the blanket. She nodded along in a sense of understanding as she reached up and removed the bow and ponytail from her hair. Her clothing, while comfortable at the moment, wouldn't be so in the morning. But she wasn't going to ask him for a change of clothes and bother him further. She already felt like she was overstaying her time here, but she didn't think she could make it the way home awake.
"Anything else you need? Clothes to sleep in? The TV remote?" He smiled and shrugged, honestly asking if she needed anything. Soren wanted to be a good host and was happy to let her borrow anything, even though it was only the second time they had ever spent time or crossed paths with each other.
”A change of clothes would be nice. If you have some at least,” Rowan signed to him. She felt embarrassed even though she had nothing to be embarrassed about. Maybe because she would have to change in his bathroom? Or maybe it was because she was accepting his offers.
He nodded, turning towards his room but stopping before the door and turning to look at her, "Do you prefer a t-shirt or sweatshirt?" Soren let out a small yawn of his own as he waited for an answer, though it wasn't from magic use, just from a busy day of work.
"Sweatshirt," Rowan signed to him. Her eyes caught him yawning and wondered if he was tired from the day or from his little show of magic. She decided it hadn't been that much so it probably was just from the day. Before he left she quickly signed, "Thank you."
"No problem" He signed back quickly, practicing more of his sign language as he disappeared into his room and tried to find something that might fit her. In the end he came up with one of his sweatshirts and a pair of sweatpants that were shorter on him, that way she wouldn't have to cuff the bottoms up as much to even out the difference in height between them. "Will these work?" He asked, holding them out to her once he walked back out and offering a small smile.
Rowan had a smile as she saw him sign back to her. She started getting the couch set up to sleep on resting the pillow on one end and the fluffy blanket over it all. She looked back to where he was standing with clothes. Gently taking the clothes from him and nodded looking at the clothes. She balanced them on her arm as she signed to him, "Yes! Thank you once again. Can I use your bathroom to change?"
"Yeah go ahead, and it's no problem," He said, smiling as she took the clothes and heading into his room to change. Soren slipped out of his fancier clothes and into a soft t-shirt and plaid pajama bottoms easily, coming out of his room and heading to the kitchen to fill a glass of water. He hummed softly as he did his nightly routine, setting the glass on his nightstand in his room and returning to the kitchen to scribble his roommate a note in case he came back in the middle of the night.
Rowan walked into the bathroom and changed from her dress into the sweatshirt and pants. She had to cuff the pants as they were a tad to big on her, but otherwise fit well once fully tied off. The sweatshirt on the other hand seemed far too big for her and she constantly had to put one shoulder back in it’s place as it kept falling off. But she honestly preferred it that way. She put her old clothes in her little messenger bag with her notebook and yawned before stepping out of the bathroom to see Soren in the kitchen. She gave him a little wave as the shoulder slipped off again before making her way to her make shift bed.
He smiled when he saw her come out of the bathroom, waving back as she walked to the couch again. Soren glanced over at her again, almost amazed at how big the sweatshirt was on her but also how cute it looked on her too. He didn't say anything though as he headed to the bathroom, finishing his routine and coming out a few minutes later. "Well, goodnight Rowan," He said gently, hiding a small yawn and smiling at her, "Come get me if you need anything else."
"Goodnight," Rowan signed as she smiled sleepily over to him. She nodded at his response from where she was under the blanket just about ready to fall asleep. She turned onto her side and closed her eyes. Soren wouldn't hurt her, she knew that much and honestly, she felt safe around him.
His smile stayed a moment longer before he turned and headed into his room, leaving the door open only a sliver as he flicked off the light and climbed under the covers. It didn't take him five minutes to fall asleep, buried under layers of blankets and extremely comfortable.