dirk rider (inatower) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-01-24 12:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, cecilia fennes, toku matsudaira |
Who: Toku Matsudaira & Cecilia Fennes
What: Checking in on the new arrival.
Where: The 9th floor of the Mages’ Tower & Toku’s office
When: Backdated to Jan 17, morning.
Rating: Tame
Status: Complete.
The week had seen a number of new arrivals to the Tower, which was not unusual in and of itself. Emillion was a trade city and its citizens came and went, among them members of the Mages’ Guild. As Councilor, Toku always made a point of welcoming the new additions to the guild. The case of Cecilia Fennes had piqued his interest, by virtue of the vague letter the Council had received to inform of her transfer. In accordance with the usual protocol, her class, age and origins were included to give the bare bones of the girl’s magical ability, but hardly a dozen words were dedicated to the reasons for her transfer. The sender of the letter had been beyond ambiguous—and not by accident, it seemed to Toku, though he could not fathom what the problem may be. He was then pleasantly surprised to see, upon returning to the ninth floor, the girl leaving Peony’s quarters. He did not know how Cecilia looked, but Peony had mentioned they would be meeting that morning, and so he felt it was a safe assumption to make. “Excuse me.” He greeted her with a slight bow. “I am Toku Matsudaira, of the Council. By any chance, might you be Cecilia Fennes?” Cecilia was feeling a little bit exhausted - she wasn’t quite sure why. Perhaps it was because of the nature of her meeting with Peony. What she had thought would be simple soon felt like a pointed questioning of a witness on the stand, and unfortunately, Cecilia had never dealt well under pressure. She had managed to keep herself together but the longer their conversation went on, the more eager she was to escape that office. She almost thought about ignoring the greeting - but the mages had always impressed on her that she had to be polite, so she bowed in return, hoping that this would be a little different. “I am,” she said. This councilor looked impressive and grave, just like how she imagined them to all look - Peony had been a pleasant surprise. Cecilia’s face was blank, as it often was. “A pleasure to meet you,” Toku said. “If you have no other appointments, I was hoping we might speak. I will not keep you long,” he assured her. She looked tired—an inevitable side-effect of the novelty of moving to a whole new city, he supposed. She was tempted to say no - if only because Cecilia wasn’t sure how much longer her attention could hold and she didn’t want to give a poor impression. But perhaps it was just better to say yes now. She nodded her head slowly. “I have no where else to go for the moment,” she confessed, “so I have time now.” Toku nodded. “I am glad to hear that. This way, then, if you please.” He led her into his office, and motioned for her to close the door behind her while he cleared away the paperwork he had been working on that morning. A water jug rested on one corner of the table, and he retrieved two glasses from a small cupboard near the desk. He filled them and placed them on the desk. Usually, he would have offered her tea, but it would take some time to brew it, and he did not wish to keep Cecilia longer than necessary. “Please, take a seat.” Once she had, he said, “As I said, I shall be brief. I simply wish to bid you welcome, and ascertain you have not run into any difficulties since your arrival.” Everything else, he could always speak to Peony about. Her first impressions of other people were rarely off the mark, and he could not imagine she had failed to ask Cecilia to clear up some of the ambiguity in the transfer letter. She reached for the water wordlessly, though her stomach was already full. Tea, incidentally. From Peony. She took a sip from her glass and then placed it back down on the desk. “Thank you,” she said after a moment. This entire experience was strange for Cecilia - for one, no one group of people had paid so much attention to her, and two, she wasn’t exactly the sharpest socializer in the bunch. She let the conversation dip back into silence, wondering if there was something she should say. She decided to venture a little out of her comfort zone. “I have had one difficulty,” she said, taking the first thing that came to mind. Toku felt some surprise at the words—so soon after her arrival, he had expected a negative answer—but of course, it was his duty to help her if he could. He kept a politely curious expression as he asked, “Is that so? What would that be, if I may ask?” “A hairbrush,” she replied automatically. “I seem to have forgotten to bring one.” She didn’t mention that she had been thinking of ‘borrowing’ from a fellow mage. “Do you know where I might be able to buy one?” If her initial words had been surprising, her question was even more so. He did not let it show on his face, though there was a moment of hesitation before he answered, “I believe you may wish to try your luck in the Bazaar. The area is famous for its food market, but you will find many other types of merchants.” On the other hand, it was reason for relief that such was the biggest of the problems she had run into so far. “Have you had a chance to explore the city yet?” She had already been to the bazaar and was about to say so, but Cecilia decided the matter wasn’t worth exploring further. She would have to just go and borrow the aforementioned item as planned. “A bit,” she replied to his question, “I had forgotten a few things… So I had to go out and buy them, but in the end, I also forgot to get the hairbrush.” She laughed a little sheepishly. “But it was nice to go out and walk,” she continued a bit dreamily, “Emillion is very big.” Much bigger than she had expected, for some reason, though she had already spent time in Viura which was probably a similar size. “I always feel like big cities just swallow people up.” Toku nodded. Even after all the years he had been in the city, he was still sometimes overwhelmed by the maelstrom of activity Emillion seemed permanently trapped by. With so many new things all around, it was no surprise Cecilia was feeling lost. “It may take you some time to get your bearings, but I am sure you will be all right,” he said. “Do you have any other concerns? About your study goals, perhaps?” Cecilia shifted her weight from one leg to the other like an antsy child. “I haven’t really thought about goals,” she said. It was an admittance but the way it came out of her mouth so dreamily made it sound more like a casual observation. As if she were simply pointing out the hallway rather than disclosing her rather aimless tendencies to a mage councilor. It was not an answer he expected. He had heard such words often from scholars, especially the young ones who were newly arrived in the Tower, for whom magic still retained a mystical quality beyond which they found it hard to decide on concrete objectives. “I see,” he said. “Should I take this to mean you are content to continue furthering your knowledge of your current class? Black Magic, if I recall correctly?” “Yes,” she replied. Her tone seemed absent of any particular conviction, just as if she had no opinion either way. “Currently a black mage. But I used to study blue magic, which was lovely but…” She trailed off for a moment before smiling at the older man. “Change is nice sometimes.” Toku nodded. “I was a Blue Mage for quite a few years. I studied Black Magic as well. I can relate to your desire to try several different things,” he said. “If you ever need help, you can always come to the Council, though of course we could also arrange for a senior member of the guild to mentor you, if you feel that would benefit your studies.” Cecilia felt that familiar sensation of hesitation - because while mentorship would be ideal, she was not sure if she could find one that would be able to give her what she wanted to know. She would have to investigate on her own first. “I very much appreciate that,” she said, smiling, “but it might be unnecessary. I’ve always liked self-instruction more.” “Very well. Should you change your mind, however, do not hesitate to contact the Council.” It would remain an open offer, should the girl change her mind. “Now, if there is nothing else you would like to discuss, I believe I shall let you go.” Cecilia looked tired and, though she had been perfectly polite, he had no doubt she would prefer to have some time to rest, especially so soon after her arrival in the Tower. “Thank you,” she said, moreso for letting her go than the actual advice and help offered. Cecilia gave Toku one last small smile before she continued her way down the hall, hopefully to her bedroom - she had woken up early by her standards, and she couldn’t say no to the idea of a nap. |