"I meant shut up about Liu specifically. Hey, Nkoyo, what do you do?"

Nkoyo is more than capable of directing the table through a lunchful of pleasant light chat.

Cool cool cool. 

Lucia quietly promises to meet up with El sooner rather than later and then FLEES THE MISCELLANEOUS ENCLAVERS CIRCLING HER LIKE SHARKS AROUND CHUM. 

El looks almost - sheepish, next time Lucia encounters her, on their hall that afternoon.

"Education goal number one: Learn Sanskrit. Education goal number two: stop being a coward around people I don't like but don't feel justified in telling off." 

"New justifications or old ones?"

"Depends how strong the old ones are. And how specific. I'd have to be, like, at least thirty percent more annoyed for just 'is an enclaver' to be sufficient justification." 

"Oh, I meant did anyone specifically piss you off since lunchtime. - I have something to tell you."

"No, I was specifically referring to getting mobbed by opportunistic enclaves at lunchtime and fleeing like a coward. What is it?" 

"Um. Aadhya offered to run an auction for me, for the phase control spell. She said we could leave her cut up in the air till we see what I get. Uh, and Aadhya and I helped Liu cut her hair, and - Aadhya said maybe she'd use the hair to string her harp, and Liu's working on a mana amplifier that I reckon I can use, and -

- anyway, I told them -

- that I'd have to ask you."

"--They invited you to an alliance too? Wow. How'd they take it when you said that?" Gosh I'm lucky I asked first. 

"Oh, Aadhya said 'score' and Liu said something about having imagined you'd go solo."

"Well, that was my original plan, but plans change. --I'm alright with it. I'll want to, uh, talk to them more, obviously, I don't know Liu very well--I don't know Aadhya very well either but she seems alright. And," deep breath, "I do--want. To--build a team worth being on." 

"Stop it, you'll make me cry again," says El, the resentful tone not quite drowning out the smile.

She grins at her. 

"This is going to be great. Who's playing the harp, does Liu do that?" 

"She'll have to learn how but that's the idea."

"Awesome." Bounce bounce. "Oh, I should tell them--well, okay, they've probably figured out I get mana from killing mals, after the cafeteria, but I should tell them more about, like, the specifics of my skillset. Do they know you have mortal flame?" 

"Didn't come up specifically, I - don't just have mortal flame, I am. Very, uh. Destructive."

"Well, fair enough." The maw-mouth wasn't incinerated, after all. "It is in my defense very cool. ...Also there's, um, something I hadn't brought up yet that I really should, actually. It's...kind of embarrassing? But it's not strategically irrelevant." 

"...okay? Do you want me to go get Aadhya and Liu so you only have to say it once, or...?"

"No, I'd rather say it to you first." 

Deep breath. 

"My New York power-sharer? It had a block on it. Because if I have open access to a big pool of mana, I'll just drain the whole thing dry without even meaning to, the same way I pull mana out of a dead mal." 

"They were agitating for you to take it back and you don't even get jack shit out of it?"

"Yep! Lovely crew, aren't they." 

"Their charm is fucking matchless. I hope they all have to do pushups till their arms fall off and then need to do a few more."

"In their somewhat limited defense, when I say I'll drain the whole thing dry, we found that out empirically. By accident. With the New York enclave's own main pool of mana."