a perfectly ordinary day

[elves_are_nice]

It's a perfectly ordinary day today, in this tiny cottage in the woods.

Aisilian is just awake, washing the sleep out of his eyes and peering at himself in the mirror.

And then, on a whim, he flicks a drop of water onto it - and now he is peering at somewhere else entirely.

What does the library look like, this morning?

Comments

[light_another_life]

The library looks pretty quiet!

But there is a person in it. She might look a bit familiar.

Someone seems to be researching. She's reading a history book about the second halfblood.

[elves_are_nice]

Aisilian frowns. That book is ... pretty bad - its account of some of the events surrounding his marriage to his second wife, for example, are entirely speculative, the author either being unable to find an accurate source, or unwilling to expend the effort.

He notes as such in the margin, helpfully! "Try Weiskell and Dievelon, it's much more grounded in reality," he adds.

[light_another_life]

Kavetnia eeps at the note in the margin. She drops the book and flinches away.

"Aisilian?" she asks, voice only somewhat wobbly. "Are you scrying me?"

[elves_are_nice]

By way of reply, Aisilian simply appears in the room, with a cheery wave.

[light_another_life]

She huffs, a little.

"It's rude to scry people without their permission," she informs him, mulishly.

[elves_are_nice]

Aisilian pouts. "In my defense, I wasn't actually scrying you! I was just scrying your library, so I'd know if it was safe to show up. And then I saw you reading that rubbish, so I had to speak up!"

He tilts his body in midair without moving his head, so that his head is tilted as if in thought. "Well. Write up, I suppose."

[light_another_life]

Sniff. "It's also rude to scry people's homes without their permission." She picks the rubbish book up from where it landed on the floor. She considers it. "... But thank you for the book recommendation."

[elves_are_nice]

Aisilian shrugs. "Yeah, probably. But I'm not ready to reveal myself yet, and I won't be ready unless I learn everything I can."

"What're you looking up, anyway?"

[light_another_life]

She finds the shelf the book came from, careful to return it to exactly where she got it, and puts it back.

She fidgets. "History." Specifically, a crash course in halfbloods. It's suddenly become more relevant than the basic overview her broad education covered.

Then, because she can't stand him thinking she's badly educated: "I've read Weiskell and Dievelon, but I... thought it would be a good idea to look at other books, too."

[elves_are_nice]

Aisilian nods. "Always a good idea to have a few viewpoints~. That's how I figured out that book was so awful, it didn't match up with what anyone else was saying at all~"

[light_another_life]

"Right," says Kavet. "What are some other books that are historically accurate about the time period?"

[elves_are_nice]

Aisilian tilts his head to the side for a moment. "Mmm... Kailet and Devons' The Revealed Second is a tad purple, but seems to get the major facts right. They have some good analysis on the ways the Second's wives managed to turn their situation into real soft power, if you can get past their prose. Seiphsmar allegedly found a secret cache of documents around the assassination of the Second that he published The Thirty-Ninth - he covers the a few of the unsuccessful attempts too. Even if the cache is fake, at any rate his analysis seems reasonable, and he has an insightful look at how even massively powerful individuals can be vulnerable." He says this last with a tinge of irony and a sardonic smile.

"Ah... beyond that, of course there's Kithian and Westham, but that's practically standard, you've probably read it already. That's all I can think of at the moment, beyond random correspondence. Would you like me to steal some for you?"

[light_another_life]

Kavetnia opens her mouth, and then closes it.

She would like to read those.

But stealing is wrong.

"... Maybe?" she says, in lieu of the Yes yes yes yes yes singing in her heart. "Do you have to steal them, though?"

[elves_are_nice]

Aisilian shrugs. "Well, they certainly belong to someone else at the moment. I could return them when you're done?"

[light_another_life]

"I," would like that very much, "would like to know who they belong to, before anything's stolen. And can't you copy things instead?"