John raised an eyebrow, and bent over the book, breathing deeply.
And promptly sneezed over the cover.
"Uhm, yeah, charm," he muttered. "That wasn't expensive was it?"
He watched Lux move around the room, completely at home, and smiled to himself. It was the small things that he loved about her, and this definitely counted - seeing her in her element, when so many others (himself included) would much rather be pretty much anywhere else.
"Nerd," he remarked, and stuck his tongue out to let her know that he was kidding, as he took a seat on the opposite side of the table, spreading out the notes he'd made from the others' Books, and opening his to the lineage section. He'd long suspected that the Book, itself, had a mind of its own, adding in new additions to the family tree seemingly at will, and without anyone writing it in. More than a few times, he'd found particularly good spells he'd devised with the others in there, the ink still wet when he opened the page, although never smudged.
As such, he held his hand on the leather of the tome's covering for a moment, just a moment, as one would an animal before taking the reins. He felt his connection establish with the book through his magic, and it opened almost of its own accord, a sigh of power escaping from it as it did so. He flicked through the pages, and as if by - well, magic - landed on exactly what he was looking for immediately.
Sometimes, he wished that he'd devoted a little more theoretical time to his magical studies, gotten a little more learned about the deeper intricacies of the Gift. Stuff like this, he thought with a thrill, was why he loved it so much.