She opens her mouth. 

She closes her mouth. 

She says, "Ugh, why do you have to keep being reasonable and right." 

"It is my curse."

"When I have the argument with anyone in New York it's always just 'I'll tell your mom.' Which, like, has worked so far, but it was wearing a bit thin." 

"Well, I don't know her socially so you're safe from that from me."

"And thus you are forced to resort to being sensible." Sigh. "I guess I have to be glad it came up, I don't think sensible is in their repertoires when the first argument fell through. And I wouldn't, actually, be better off for not having been warned of the problem." 

"Delighted to be of service, naturally."

"That's 'cause you're the best!" 

She doesn't vanish again after lunch; not more than usual, anyway. Later she swings by El's room to exchange the (full) crystal on her person for another drained one. 

"Cheers. Do you reckon your clavemates'll kill me a lot or only a little if they notice?"

"Do you think I should kill Todd Quayle?"

"What am I, your pastor? If you have time to ask probably you shouldn't kill anyone. I guess you could lean on his alliance not to let him back in if you compensated for the mana they'd be out, but they must've promised the valedictorian a New York seat. I assume he's not been cut off the power sharer."

"He has not. --Sorry. I shouldn't lean on you like that. I guess I was hoping that the answer would be obvious enough if you weren't me that you could just snap it at me without it being a whole thing."

"Pretty sure the obvious answer is that you shouldn't kill people. Rather famous in its obviousness. I'm not mourning Jack, mind you, but since you've time to ask."

"But Jack could have killed you!" 

Sigh. 

"You're right! You're very right. It just sucks when, uh, being right does not solve all problems immediately, which is the entire human condition, so suck it up, Lucia. Anyway, I haven't told anyone in New York about your mana crystals."

"Well, if they notice, please don't let them think I'm blackmailing you or some such nonsense. I wouldn't at all take this if you had to get it the normal way."

Snort. "If I had to build mana the normal way, Operation: Santa Claus would never have gotten off the ground, and then where would we be? Anyway, everyone in New York believes I'm hopelessly gone on you, if anyone decides you're up to something it'd be, like, mind control."

"Well, definitely also don't let them think I'm doing that."

"I'll try not to, but denying it in advance also doesn't look great." 

"There is that. Now we know why no one goes about wearing shirts that say 'I am not mind controlled, ask me how'."

"Well, nobody comes in with more than a few outfits. What would you do if you did get mind-controlled, go topless?"

"Wear it inside-out, of course."

"Oh, of course! Silly of me."

Lucia wanders into the library, that evening, where El is sitting with--Dubai?--and settles in with her Sanskrit studying. She was going to take a piece of floor, but calling back the sophomore that the senior sent away would have been awkward...oh well. 

El is studying her Arabic, absorbing bits of it from the surrounding kids while they mutter to each other, and totally missing the approach of a bit of malicious origami.

"Excuse me," Lucia says politely, and then leaps up, drawing her sword and stabbing the origami dramatically before anyone has time to yell. 

She pokes at the edge of the paper with a pencil. 

"...This," she says coldly, "isn't a mal." 

"- is it not? Have you skewered someone's algebra?"

"More like someone's shop homework. I--"

"...I...think maybe Todd decided to--assassinate me?"