It should really not be surprising, that Terrance is large. She's been walking around on his back for a while. But in the tight-packed wooden buildings of the city, it's sometimes easy to forget one's sense of scale.

His head is of a size with his body — which is to say, large. But it's a comprehensible amount of large. It's an amount of large that one can easily visualize, as one climbs the gently swaying rope bridge. And that comprehensibility drives home the absurdity of Terrance's mass in a way that the cramped city streets do not.

The pagoda is mostly empty when she arrives, save only for a young man lying full-length on a long cushion and reading aloud.

"'... the honor, Mrs. Brigsby,' the captain declared, bending low over her hand."

He looks up as she reaches the pagoda, and cuts off his reading.

"There's someone here to see you, Terrance. A young human lady in unfamiliar clothing."

The voice comes rumbling up through the floor, more than it comes through the air. It's a deep, slow voice, with a hint of an accent.

"Good afternoon. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"Hello Terrance. I'm Sapphire Wilson."

"Pleased to meet you, Sapphire."

Terrance pauses for a moment in thought, the whisper of wind and the gentle creak of the bridge providing a counterpoint to his bass rumble.

"What brings you all the way up here? Is everything alright back on my back?"

"As far as I know everything is going well. I've only arrived today though. I came to talk to you because I think I've become a wizard though an unusual path and I thought you might know something about wizards being as experienced as you are."

"Oh! Well, that's certainly an unusual request," Terrance muses.

Far below, the grassland passes in a swish of green.

"But yes, I've known a few wizards in my time. Pull up a cushion and tell me your story. Margrave, I have a feeling this will take some time, so you might as well take your lunch break."

The young man rises with a stretch.

"Alright, Terrance. I'll get lunch, check whether the library has an update for you, and then circle back."

He gives Sapphire a nod, and begins to pick his way down the bridge.

"My story is a bit fantastical but I'm from another world. A very powerful being gave me an opportunity to become a lot more capable and more true to myself and also the opportunity to visit places I could never have reached on my own and the first of those places is here."

"... they weren't a dragon, were they?"

Terrance's voice is mildly apprehensive.

"I never met them in person but I'm pretty sure they weren't a dragon. They called themself The Spirit of Femininity Unleashed."

"Ah. That's alright, then," Terrance comments, his voice relaxing again. "So the Spirit ... taught you wizardry?"

"Not exactly, they gave me an ability that I think let me become one. When I reached out and got a special talent something happened and I was able to control a flying mail carrying construct."

"... got a special talent? Hmm ..."

"Anyway, yes, the Magic Mail isn't exactly common knowledge, so I can see why you were confused. I'm not a wizard myself, but I did help carry a group of wizards who were lugging a bunch of equipment down to Dragon Mountain a few years ago. I asked why they needed to send things the ordinary way, when I'd seen their orbs zipping about, and they told me that the Magic Mail is one of the great old spells, and nobody understands the operating manual anymore. Apparently it only does letters and small packages, but those it does very well."

"Huh, so wizardry is more than just being able to copy people's special talents?"

"Er. Sort of? Bearing in mind that I'm not a wizard myself, and so my knowledge is second-hand: Wizards copy other people's special talents, but they do so through study. Which means breaking down and understanding them. So if a wizard has studied several related talents, they can sort of ... bridge the pieces, I think, and put together something new out of those pieces," Terrance explains.

"They also write these things down for future generations of wizards, of course. So there are some classic spells taught to young wizarding apprentices that may once have been someone's special talent, but that are now just so much pre-digested theory. Wizards spend a lot of time working on their theories."

"Interesting. I can copy people's talents a lot easier than that but I don't get the understanding that it sounds like they have or at least not immediately."

"What do you need to do in order to copy them?" Terrance inquires, his voice tinged with curiosity.

"I haven't actually tried it to test it but when I picked the ability it said as long as I see it in action at least once I can copy any form of magic or special ability."

"Well."

He's silent for a few moments.

"You say you haven't tested it, but you did gain a special talent ...?"

"I did, one of the smaller pieces that make up my ability lets me get my own unique ability from systems where people have unique powers. And I used that to get a special talent like the ones people have here. I got an ability that lets me feel what sort of relationship I can have with people." Speaking of that, what does that ability tell her about Terrance?

Terrance is old.

He is fond of the little people that run around on his back. Especially the ones that will come to discuss literature with him, or that take the time to ask for stories of what the world was like when he was smaller. He certainly counts such people as friends.

But they are friends made with the expectation that they will be gone in a handful of decades.

To say that a 'true' friend would need to have a lifespan matching his own would be to cheapen the relationships that he does have; those friendships are not less true, for all that they burn brightly. But he would get on well with someone who could stay in his circle of friends for longer.

"Hmm. How very curious. I've certainly never heard of something like that before, which is a rare treat!"

The breeze flows through the pagoda.

"You must have run into a number of people on your way to talk to me. What held you back from trying your newfound power?"

His tone is one of light curiosity, as he tries to take her measure.

Well she knows she's immortal at this point but she's not sure she wants to commit to staying on Terrance in the long term yet. That deserves more thought.

"It's a combination of politeness and not wanting to change myself too quickly. I feel like if I was going to copy someone's abilities I would want their permission and I've mostly talked to people in a professional context. And new abilities change your perspective and I'm trying to take that shift gently."

"Ah, wise."

Terrance doesn't nod his head out of respect for her footing, but contrives to make his voice sound like someone who would nod, if nobody were sitting on their head.

"I think many people are in too much of a hurry," he remarks. "To be who they imagine they ought to be, instead of being who they are. Still, I must admit to a certain amount of curiosity. If you wish to copy the magic of turtles from me at some point in the future, you may. I'm interested to hear what you might think of it."