'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics (September 2019)
Morgane isn’t consider like other students. Who until now has ever try to teach the young Wuntherson knows that rules doesn’t applies like they should. She doesn’t talk comfortably, but her intervention barely are innocuous. Many teachers takes fright to see Morgane raise her hand, ‘cause many of then didn’t though a student with such a talented mind could ever be in their class, here in Louisiana.
For those who open Morgane’s file, they comprehend what happens in her life; homeschooled by a orphan director, got hysterical in highschool; spent a year in an institute for children’s mental care; car crash of his father the past year; it’s a bit easier to understand, then, why Morgane is who she is.
It’s fall on LSU’s campus, and days get more brief, as temperature start to diminish too. White hair alongside her face, with a NASA sweatshirt, Morgane looks at her phone, calendar’s open.
“Mowgli, what do we have this morning?” ask Julia, a doormat of the young arcanist. Even if Morgane and Julia doesn’t have a lot in common, they share the passion about science-fiction and mathematics; two ordinary points who has push Julia to talk to Morgane, pushing our teenage black mage to accept her friendship; who’s not that bad, Julia isn’t as stupid as others in this year’s promotion.
“Physics, two. Social media, one. Maths, one and an half ‘stead of two, ‘cause some dude named… Trasam will present himself. Lmao.” Morgane says. “Do you know this guy? Trasam?”
“Nah. Don’t know what’s gonna happen. Should we go?”conclude Julia, while they enters the building where Apply Physics 102 was about to start.
a few moments later.
“ I dunno, dude. Nobody’s told us we would have interveners.” Morgane shrugs her shoulders while talking to Julia. Rhil Trasam, this mysterious man, can arrive at anytime now. He has been the subject of every discussion this morning. For unusual reason, nobody announced the class that they’ll have visits and interveners. Julia thinks Mr Trasam would be a youngster, someone fresh out the school, to talk about mathematics in real life. For Morgane, Rhil is just a nickname, and he works for a really ancient vampire who’s in search of some thin blood.
Settle near the door of the auditorium; the two friends narrowly listen to Miss Mollet, their teacher in Mathematics. An another common points between them is that capacity of managing two things at once, like whispering about some guy and listening to a course.
“That conclude today’s lesson.” says Miss Mollet after a while. “And now, I will present to you an old student of LSU ▬ Told ya’ ! Happily state Julia while Morgane sighed ▬ who will be an assistant in tutorials. It will be an helper for the top of your class.”
While talking, the so-call Rhil Trasam entered the amphitheatre. Whispers invaded the class, with this participation of Julia: “He’s smoking hot, gurl!”
Morgane doesn’t reply to this message, just a smirk on her face. Yeah, he’s sexy, but what’s the point? He’s here to teach mathematics. Without perceiving it, Wuntherson started fixing Trasam, while the auditorium was caught in agitation.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics
I will be nicer if you would be smarter.
Septembre 019
Rhil Trasam was a scholar. He was also a brat, a tinkerer and a little shit, but deep down it always came to this. Learning. Talking with people who were not complete morons. Researching. Discovering. It made sense then that being on the campus was oddly comforting, as Dr. Ayala knew. Fifteen year after meeting his mentor he should be used to it but still, the brat in him could not do as he was told the first time around. She was right. He has changed that much was true - beyond his scars and first crow's feet and how he felt old, feeling their looks on him when he asked for a cigarette. Not that is was bad looks. Not at all. That game in particular had worn off though. Still. He had changed but being there felt good. Felt right. Even if Dr. Ayala found him his old assistant job back out of... well not pity no. The feeling was unknown of that woman. He was here because it would be good for him and because it would take him out of his summer slump. After everything that went down last year, the déjà vu sensation was... welcomed, too.
Half of his ass on the front desk, the mage looked upon the room and its excited whisper. Crossing his arms over his NASA T-Shirt he waited for the whispers to quiet. He knew from experience it could take some time, but he couldn’t help but feel at ease. Black jeans, open blues jeans shirt, he was not looking like a scholar. Minus the full beard and the amount of dark rings under his eyes than only forty years could give, he looked more like a student, tattoos and glasses included. He let his appearance deceived them, as usual. Then his voice carried over the amphitheatre like it used to. Strong, maybe over-confident but flickering like a flame. Not just a pretty boy, no.
"- Dr. Rhil Trasam. Former engineer in thermodynamics for the NASA. Former student in LSU. Miss Molett and some others thought that... it would be interesting for you to hear a little bit about more applied mathematics. Keeping you on your toes." It was almost too easy. The words coming out of his mouth before thinking, rolling like honey on his tongue, coining his trademark smirk once again. He kept going for a bit, talking about his previous job and mathematics and aeronautics, but not limited to it. He had missed it. Fire was part of him, but science was also part of him. While treating arcanes as a science of their own, some sort of physics, he had pushed away the more conventional science, using it as a way to think the world and to tinker his enchantment. Nothing more. Now, the raw idea of talking about maths and the like made him ecstatic, his love for the subject glowing on his face full of light.
"- I am to understand, according to Miss Mollet here." He bowed his head slighty to her before moving on. Now, his restless body brought him to pace the platform. "- That I will tutor a group once a week. Helping you out on advanced mathematics, and answering any questions you may have on the applications of it. I hope I don't need to tell you that maths, laws of physics and numbers tie our universe together in every aspect.” The mage raised his hand, one finger, then another. “ - One : I love curiosity, asking and experimenting is what makes scientists who they are, but you will find that I have quite a temper and no patience for what is not science. Two. You are free to ask questions during class, I’m here to help. But after class you will have to catch me first. Questions? ” It was not only that he had a mighty need for cigarettes and coffee after class, but also that he had learned that some people coming after class were just plain annoying. His own personality usually kept them at bay after the first couple of time, leaving only the smart ones. His favorites.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics (September 2019)
“What’s that?“ was Morgane’s first thought in seeing Rhil Trasam. He wasn’t nothing alike other teachers. The young mage noticed nasa’s shirt and tattoos. Many tattoos. Morgane was feeling a bit of pity; looking rather like a student nor like a professor, Trasam could never manage a class. Morgane had to admit the fact that the new tutor was indeed, hot.
As he presents himself, Morgane’s mind flies away. This guy has worked to NASA. He has watched glazing stars and empty space, conceived actual things that probably are into space. How come he’s back in Shreveport? While listening, something else comes being edgy. Talking about maths isn’t a problem for him, obviously, but a weird thought that it didn’t add up made Morgane uncomfortable.
“You hear, Mowgli? We will see him again!”A fake smile appears on Morgane’s face, as she look up to her friend. She envies Julia, her innocence, like any young women should be, caring about hot dudes and mathematics, thinking about a carrier into NASA or anywhere she wants to go. Problems has their way to follow up Morgane; as this negative thought crossed her mind, she conceive maybe it was just her being paranoïd. It’s not because some dude shows up, looking like a student, talking about maths and wearing a NASA shirt that he is a spy who came to get close to her.
“Why’s my daughter so stupid?” should have said William; Morgane’s father; if he was here.
“Question?” asked Rhil. Few hands raised up; that was the annoying questions; some people Morgane has never noticed. Boring plan humans, probably against magic, like most of students here. Every day, subjects come up: Is mathematics magic’s relatate?
Obviously, morons.
“You’re not gonna ask something to Rhil, who has a NASA shirt?” said Julia, disappointed by her friend’s mutisism.
“Not here, duh. What’s the point? To be like Cloe, “Is there any chance we go to visit NASA with you? ”She does even like maths! She’s here because her parents have money.” Morgane didn’t even made effort to hide her repugnance. She also have money, but no parents. Two times gone.
“Come on, you must have something to say! You've fix him all-along his presentation !”replied Julia.
“Misses Acatores and Wuntherson, something to share with the class?” It was Miss Mollet who speaked. She join step up alongside Rhil to talk.
“No, Ma’am.” said Julia with a significant smile on her face. “It was Morgane who wants to say something, but you know how she is, with words and stuff.”
Standing up, the young arcanist - with a NASA hoodie - force a smile on her face. Her regard wasn’t flying away, she kept staring at Rhil.
“I was saying: NASA sucks.”
“Wuntherson!” retort Miss Mollet, pissed off by one of the best, if not the best, student in this class.
“Nah, kidding Ma’am. It was nothing but… Ahem… Science is everything, and anybody in this class should know, even Cloe. (Some laughter, not from Cloe.). But what is everything? What is limit? Are humans capable of understanding everything? I mean, the world changed in ‘13 and everything became a lot more than before. So…”
Morgane was unable to complete her sentence. She took a risk, but it was nothing for her. Every day, by going out, by living, she is taking a risk. Risk that someone perceives who she is, where to belong her heart. It felt like a bombing, some yields at Morgane, for blasphemy; others supporting her side.
“Fuck, Morgane, you know how to trigger people.” said Julia, laughing harshly.
Morgane was in no mood for laughing, ‘cause in front of her, someone else was in no mood for laughing.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics
I will be nicer if you would be smarter.
Septembre 019 As expected, half of the questions were dumb, the other half borderline. The things that were good-natured and awkward when he was a doctorate, now that he was closing to forty, appeared ridicule. They did not know that the joke was on them and their crush amusing. They were kids. They would feel dumb about it later and him slightly weary. « - I don’t know, can you get me in ? » He shrugs at the question – it’s not as if he can knock on Nasa’s door and ask for a tour. He had to admit he would have asked the same, at the time. Actually, he would have done anything to get in. He was trying to be a better person though. « - Say the one who goes to Primark. » Rhil answered peacefully to the young lady. Blue hair and NASA sweatshirt. He had a long experience of being cocky himself, so he barely registered the attack. Part of him was childish and could just blow a raspberry at her. Part him was. well he did not feel really threatened by this sass.
Then the question hit close to home. His jaw clenched against his will. Was it a trap? From whom? Dr. Ayala and her fucking obsession with him betraying his own kin (for science)? Or them? She can’t see it from the distance, but his fingers grasped the desk behind him, enough to mark it with his fingernails. One year. It’s been a year since the attack. Since he saw them die and still, fire and blood were as pregnant as ever. Two months spent to hide and mope in his flat and his first intervention ending by a goddamn panic attack? She was a goddamn teenager. He was at the LSU.
Rhil let the silence fell upon the room, and a whole harem of angels dance between them. He was standing against the desk when his laugh began to slowly erupt from his chest – not a roar, of course, just a chuckle while he shook his head and reigned in his nerves. “- Why not ? Did something change in ’13 ?” There we go, back to the smart-ass. Rhil paced back and forth the platform, arms crossed upon his chest. He kept going on a totally informative tone : “- If you manage to go in post-grad, you will meet Dr. Ayala who is desperately trying to find someone dumb enough to take that kind of university job. But sure, for now, we can think about it. For science purpose.”
This question or rather the implied questions were always on his mind. That was the kind of obsession that was keeping him awake and at his workshop or before his grimoire. He could almost feel the tattoos under his shirt as he pondered his words. “- Nothing changed in the world. The common understanding of it changed, sure. Not the universe. But if anything, it gave us more clues to understand what we don’t understand yet. The effect of the moon. The unexpected deaths. The effect of time. What is called supranatural is just some new fields of science.”
He should shut up. The urge to just close his big smart mouth was overwhelming. It was beating in this chest, a deep thump throbbing in his ribcage, in his throat. But Rhil Trasam never knew when to stop. He also realised: it was the first time that it was… out there. He was not talking himself into madness in the solitude of his flat, he was not debating with his mentor in her office. He was not even the looks that he could share with Vincent when they see each other working on some pet projects nor the questions that he had pestered Thaddeus with. He stared at the blue fairy light that talked and kept going in earnest. Hearing his own words echoing against the walls, bouncing against all these so-called brilliant minds, was endearing. Exhilarating. “ If you believe that the Earth and all the planets around, all the universe, who are well beyond our capacity to fathom, to grasp by our senses” He rolls his eyes at the world “senses” and added, with a grin “as they are commonly thought anyways, answer to the same laws of mathematics and science… Why not everything? More even so. There is dark energy. You know that, right? Something we know affecting gravity, black matter, light, something that moves entire solar systems, ours included. But we only know the effect of it, not what is it and how it works. It’s like an equation with multiple unknown factors, that we can deduce. Why would the “Revelations” not under the same logic?”
He stood tall and his eyes embraced the whole room with a calm that he owns to maths as well as his training. “- There is one change, I admit.” He paused, smiling softly to himself. He should have shut up minutes ago but he was enthralled even though he looked so calm and contained. It could be the work of his life. But he was a mage first and foremost and he had to protect his own. He could not watch them die again. “- As scientists, it took away our excuses to stop looking for answers.” There were no superstitions or mysteries anymore. There were things to understand. Things to learn.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics (September 2019)
The sneering comment about Primark made Morgane smile a little. That’s pleasant that, for once, a professor was responding fire by fire. Many academists would have just ignored the comment to focus on the question. It goes without saying that Wuntherson was enjoying Rhil’s derision. Happen to look like a student, nonetheless, he was not.
He patiently waits in calm come back into the auditorium to respond. Standing still, arms crossed at the chest, Morgane was listening. Rhil was indeed smart, bypassing the question. Exposing facts, constructing an example quite close but not similar. Everybody in the room, Miss Mollet include, was listening to the former engineer while he was talking.
“Needless to say, things changed in ‘13. Our perception of the world.”replied Morgane in the head. She would have gladly respond to him in a more vivid way, but she kept her mouth close. Who ever was this guy, he heretofore participated in more conversation in this topic than Morgane could have dreamed of; that’s a lot.
“What’s your saying is that magic doesn’t exists? That’s just something we don’t understand yet, that’s it? That… Someone who can read mind has brain waves a bit different, but we can’t measure it yet?”Morgane had a bit of a laugh.“Who are you, Professor Charles Xavier?” Replacing herself on her feet, Morgane shrugs shoulders.“ I dunno, prof. Here is indeed connexion between black matters and magic. One of them would be church is against it.” Miss Mollet folded her eyes to Morgane.“But I’m not here to create debate, y’know. Our knowledge is advancing in the field of magic. It’s not believing anymore, it’s facts. But, I do not agree with you, perception is something to consider. I’ve seen trickster and arcanists been molested just ‘cause it was known that they know magic, never ‘cause they discusses black matters. ”
Morgane sits, exhausted. She doesn't like being in the spotlights. She’s an arcanist, one of the kinds who doesn’t say she’s an arcanist. Eoghan would probably yields to her if he knew that she was supporting a speech about magic in classroom. Grasping a pen, clamping her inferior lips. Rhil Trasam have awakened something in her. Curiosity, questions. Enjoying an interest in someone was usual for Morgane, which care more about knowledge and science than everything else. Perchance was the knowledge in Rhil that was intriguing Morgane.
“If there is no more questions, that conclude Dr. Trasam intervention.” said Miss Mollet in conclusion. “You’ll find the list of students who can pretends in Dr. Trasam’s applied mathematics tutorials” Morgane was on that list, which made her happy. Class was dismissed and students starts leaving, chatering about everything and nothing. Julia and Morgane were one of them two.
In Morgane’s mind, she was saddened to have met Rhil in front of the class. Many questions were leave unanswered. Relation between mathematics and magic is more complex that how they talked about. It was to light to even been a proper conversation for the young arcanist.
“Seems disappointed?” asked again Julia. “Yeah. I don’t like to speak like that, you know it, twat.” Morgane replied while knocking Julia’s shoulder. “You’ll see him again, gurl. And then, you will kill him with your stupid question lmao.”Both laugh. Arriving at a crossroad inside the LSU, they split away. Morgane was on break lunch, as Julia has Lacrosse.
LSU’s cafeteria.
Plates between her hands, music on the headphone, Wuntherson seeking a place to lunch. Few places are vacant, Morgane sighs. Due to a new politics from the headmaster, professors and students currently share the place once a week; today.
Thinking about her afternoon’s schedule and Virgil new leitmotiv; church; Morgane ultimately pinpoints a spot; in fact, the perfect spot: Rhil Trasam is over here, with a coffee. Approaching him, ignoring comments about her looks; why was she so naive thinking things will change after highschool? ; she drops the plate in the place in front of the ex-NASA’s engineer.
“I agree with you.” she said. “But not entirely. Difference between black matters and magic is that humanity discovers black matter and provide it a name; as magic was known by some people, only to be known later by the rest of them. That’s a significant difference. Some can but some can’t. I do think of you as Professor X; You’re one of those who think magic represent evolution?”
While talking, she took place. He stays, they talk; he leaves, she eats. No unsatisfactory answer here.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics
I will be nicer if you would be smarter.
Septembre 2019 I’ve seen trickster and arcanists being molested just ‘cause it was known that they knew magic, never ‘cause they discussed black matters. His eyes are closed but his mind is restless. The words are dancing in front of him, stinging. Rhil had been molested for a never ending list of reasons. Science one of them – black matter maybe not, but his strong belief in alien life yes, and him being unable to shut up and stop pestering innocent bystanders by his higher understanding of the world and its laws, yes. He’s never learned. He loved a good fight, he loved feeling alive and barely dodging a punch in his pretty face and too big of a mouth. He did not mind the taste of blood in his mouth. Until he saw them die because they did some magic once.
The coffee is too black, too bitter, too hot to be real. Dense smoke irrupts for the plastic cup barely holding its form when the mage drinks from it once again. He slowly put it down, his back against the wall and his feet on the chair beside him. Could he not drink a coffee or two in peace while waiting for his mentor? He had classes later. Again. “- Go away I’m reading.” Thet tone is unpleasant, and gives no opening but still she keeps going. He does not look up to her, holding his book as a firewall from the world. Keeping up with his former colleagues was hard since 2013. Before him, another cup, already emptied and a zippo, laying next to a box of cigarettes.
“- Professor Trasam.” He corrects without thinking, darting a look to the girl from behind his book. Rhil sighed and closed his book, pushing it aside as he put his elbows on the table, considering her. Nonplussed. “- I did not say that. Witches and the like are not the final evolution of humanity, nor superior to so-called human. This is not a goal to attain.” Being a little bit politically correct, here, aren’t you ? He had to restrain to touch his lighter for comfort. He could not imagine being with his fire. Life would be unbearable and the fact that he lived almost all his life hiding who he was was not helping. His parents were CESS. Everybody he had ever been closed to was CESS. Being human made him shudders. “- I think magic is like black energy. Some people discovered it and gave it a name. The name evolved when more people came to know it. Do you think CESS were calling them like that two century, even two decades ago ? People got molested because of the Earth’s revolution, you were wrong. He cusped his coffee with two hands, deep in his thoughts. Why can’t everybody do magic ? Why can’t he, the fucking genius, the engineer, could not for the death of him, do alchemy ? Something that was done by humans with less than him ? Not that he was going to evoke alchemy in a university mess. “- Why can’t everybody do magic ? Why is natural to some and not others ? You can turn into a vampire. You can become a therianthrope. They are laws to magic. We just don’t know them all. Yet. ”
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics (September 2019)
Meeting doctor Rhil Trasam was without a doubt. The most thrilling thing Morgane was about to do in this day. Something about him was pushing Morgane to want to talk with him. The ways is was, perhaps. Wuntherson knew she was disturbing him; being alone with a book, that’s something she could do. Advising people to piss off, also. Claiming maths and magics are similar too.
Only just when she had sit, she noticed the resigned mouvement of Trasam’s hand. Going to the lighter and stopping. Zippo’s was magnificent. It was representing Solar’s System. While Professor Trasam was responding, Morgane didn’t touch her food. Her eyes was oscillating between Rhil and his lighter.
Knowing his point of view was nice. Part of that was the reason why she already appreciated him. Barely talking about magic was stressful. Half of her life hide, by fear. Now playing with her fries; almost cold; she bits herself inside of her mouth.
“-Yeah, you’re right.” She was, for once, feeling stupid. “Somehow, I want it to be different.‘Cause if mankind can’t stand by science and black matters, how is he suppose to appreciate nor understand magic, y’know?”Fries were definitely cold. An half smiled in her face when she looked up to Rhil. “I absolutely think that’s a game changing facts. Like mathematics, if we understand magic, there is a whole new fu… world.” It was noticeable, but Morgane retains the F-word.“Not that I’m interesting of becoming a vampire!”
She laugh. Not the harsh fake laugh she routinely use in class or with her humans friends. A genuine laugh, calm and simple. Man, it was nothing, just a chat with a new professor, but for the little black mage she was, it was fresh air. LSU is her human’s life. In this place, she’s just “Morgane the weirdo”, a lost soul who love a bit to much sci-fi and maths, with a pendant for magic. But right in their face, she came close to be real in front of anybody. That’s what started the laugh.
“-I’m sorry, Professor Trasam… It’s perhaps the nicest conversation I’ve had here in ages!” He remain a professor, and she wasn’t stupid enough to tell the truth. You never say the truth about yourself to someone you barely met; William have said it a thousand time. William likely never met someone as smart as Trasam in his life. Morgane was outsmarted, completely left behind by this guy.
“-I’ve come to notice your lighter… It is gold! Made me think about July; did you saw the Blood Moon?” If you’ve ever talked to a “relax” Morgane, you know it: Transition isn’t her strong suit. In fact, she doesn’t possess the significant clue how to achieve that. “Social science are absolute nonsense,” she once said to Julia, who noted the fact and told Wuntherson this trait of character. Another fun fact could be that Morgane and Julia was, at this moment, talking about Blood Moon ; something Julia never heard before. Except one, in the news… Not to be sure about.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics
I will be nicer if you would be smarter.
Septembre 2019 Vampires still eluded him. He was not one of their followers, especially knowing his tendency to stay away of all from everything… brain-diminishing (except concussions, of course). He was intrigued by them though, still figuring out an approach for them that was not unsubtly one-liner them where they were looking for a snack. “- I honestly think magic was rather well received. All things considered. It’s surprised me.” admits Rhil slowly. He had to be careful about his choice of words – they, we and such. He was a teacher, her teacher. You had to leave you religious and political views at the door: now, magic was part of it too. Once again, the big divide between the parts of his life strike – years after the Revelation, years after cessing the lie, quitting his job to just wander the world with a spark a magic in his brain… He must get used to it again, but it slips off him like a badly tailored clothes or water away from fire. “- If somebody ask, I never told one of my students that being curious and interested is the first step to understand something and that magic must be explored as science and could help science.” Just throwing it out there and little non-responsibility disclosure. But yeah, as a mage? From a secretive community that would have been very happy to live outside of the world forever including physically. Yeah. He had not been that optimist when he learned about the gods forsaken revelation.
A tint of amusement in his eyes welcomed her swear and laugh but the scientist simply and smugly drank a sip of coffee. His eyes wandered upon his arms, following her eyes, but no, she was only interested in the light resting next to it. His scars, unmistakably of magical source, were still covered by his long sleeve. He hated the feeling but tattoos were legit, scars were legit: traces of burning cinders engraved in his skin ? Harder to explain. Miss Mollet noticed it when he was talking earlier – but for the students it had blended with the rest of this tatts smoothly. It was the plan.
“- Sure.” Sitting a little bit straighter, but not too much, Rhil opened the light, bursting out the small and familiar flame. Under his fingers the solar system was engraved, glittering in the new shadows cast by fire. His thumb petting the fire absentmindedly. “- I went to the bayou, getting a good view without city’s lights. That’s one of the things good thing about Shreveport.” Truth is, the memories were far distinct than this. In the bayou, yes. Alone or with a special someone? Not at all. As usual he blended with the other mages, helping them during rituals and ceremonies. His own magic was not fed nor released by stars orbits, an irony never ignored by the astrophysicist. He felt nice to be part of something though, to feel the energy linking himself to others, to hear the community chatter around him, alive and well. Rhil acknowledged her sweat with a nod. “- You want to go to NASA or you just like the brand? What is your plan? Astronomy or just theorical maths ?" He was not gonna say “sucks” out loud in front of a student but wasn’t it his job to advice student in his field? His demeanor was calm and serene but still : for him, she looked more interested in "magic" than in maths. For now.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics (September 2019)
Getting a disclosure serve as an excellent reminder for the relationship between the two of them. Morgane didn’t manage to hide the smile she had when he said that. It was, obviously, impossible for the youngster to find out that Rhil Trasam is actually a mage; but somewhere in her brain, the possibility was real. Every so often, you encountered someone. Without thinking, you imagine all kinds of stuffs.
For Morgane, most of the time, it was to imagine her friends, or some interesting strangers, as an arcanist like her. It was to imagine not being almost alone in this vast world, knowing arcanists were out there. Yeah, that had always have been part of Morgane’s fantasies; the moment wasn’t making an exception.
When the flame was thrown up, the blue hair girl didn’t find any obnoxious comment. The light was magnificent. Space always had a peculiar impact in Morgane’s mind. To escape William’s tyranny, mostly. Lying on the rooftop of their former house, with nothing else that some music, starring at starry firmament, forgetting all hate and pain. Seeing the fire took Wuntherson far more away than she expects.A glimpse of sadness then spawns in her face, chased away when Trasam starts to talk.
She would have gladly had come to the bayou. William always forbad her to go there; the habit has stayed, long after her father’s death.
“- I’m sure it was really nice. I’ve seen it from the LSU football field. There are no lights here either; but from the bayou…”She restrains herself, almost being a bit too close from home. She never came to the bayou, but William and Eoghan had talked a lot about it to her.
She looked down to here shirt when Trasam’s point it with his word.
“- To be perfectly candid, I don’t know yet.” She takes a bit while answering the question. “I’m having a major in mathematics and a minor in informatics and digital media. Yeah, I would love go to NASA, who wouldn’t want to go? But I really like what we’ve done so far in maths. So, I'll think about it some more." She replied, while remembering what Rhil was saying earlier. "Now that I think about it, didn't you say you were NASA at some point? If I may ask, why would you leave. I mean... You look quite fond of the starry night..." While talking, she pointed out the light, knowing the fact she was trespassing a boundary here; like she had ever cared about those.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics
I will be nicer if you would be smarter.
Septembre 019
Lighters and candles were a good way to keep fires as pet. As a teddy bear or as a lucky charms, in the mage's case. The burning sensation close to his skin worked liked a charm, putting his heart more at ease. Its warmth melt into its skin, into its own hearth. It was like putting gazoline into a car - or into a fire. He was resting, more than his casual attitude was telling. His chest expanded, his breathing calmer and deeper. Ressourcing. He cocked his head a little, following her gaze. The fire in his fingers were casting shadows upon the engraving. Giving life to the stars, suddering alive upon its flickers. She looked… absent. For the first time maybe in there entire conversation, her sparkle was away. Space phenomenon observable from the Earth did not usually involves such deep nostalgia.
« Well, the bayou is something else, entirely. » Rhil admits with a shy smile, his head slighty bend forward, as if nobody else could hear them in the self. This, for instance, was not hard to admit aloud. Nobody knew what was in the bayou - and Rhil had grown there like one if its firefly, breathing its foul air until it exploded inside him like a firework or a chemical nuisance. And there still mysteries, areas of grey, of warm than he was not aloud to trespass. He had a pretty good idea of what was in there, though. But for the mundane eye ? Bayou was special. As if there was something pulsing in there, explaining why all the weird shit came flying aroud in Shreveport. In a way, it has been the excuse, bayou and voodoo, for a long history of weird shit - before the revelation (part 1). He bit his boyish smile out.
«- Well, you would be happy to know that NASA is more keen about numbers than about stars. » He explained with a smug smile, crossing his arms upon his chest. Now that they are closer she could see that his skin was made of numbers and stars under his rolled up sleeves. Plus some cryptid secret was still baffled his one-time lovers. Naked, he looked more like a grimoir than a real scientist - audacity made in another time, ironically less dangerous. He was just weird back then. Not a monster. Now, with all the propaganda anti his kin and the black tendrils wrapped upon his wrist he was definitely a monster. Not like he looked at all ashamed from it, his arms crossed in the plain sight. All smugness and arrogance to cover the fear. « I worked there for a while, yes. And it was… satisfying. The ungrateful little genius is he does not use the word lighty - nor like others would. It was hard to set his mind at ease, to overload it just enough to not be bored. As was hers if her ability to change subjectfs was any indicator. Rhil sit back in his chair, swinging his weight back and forth on three feet. 0 « I would say challenging but in a good way. I still have friends there and I'm sure I'm gonna have to pull some strings to get some of your comrades internship. But I got restless there. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to see more, outside a lab', outside an office. I've travelled for most of my life, never stayed that long in one place as I did there. Having a job is not really my jam. » Still in a precarious state, Rhil took back his coffee, sipping the now supposed to be lukewarm coffee. He was not in a hurry to get back to his classes - at all. The coffe burned his tongue, his lip, giving back the strength he gave it. The Revelation was just what he needed to stop being a coward. He hid in NASA. Because they were not really another carrier for him at the time - he was not healer like his parents, can't see himself passing knowledge and secrets to the younger generation, and stealing magical artefacts, dangerous book was not paying his bills - just a side hustle at the time. Black market work. The Revelation got him an opportunity to live truly as himself - less hidden anyway. The Revelation created a whole new market for people like him. The Revelation gave him a kick in the backside to get moving. It ressurected him. Rhil raised his plastic cup - the killing-dolphin one, the his mother would murder him for one. He left his plastic cup, the one killing dolphin and his mother would murder him for and proposed a toast : «- So I'm stuck as part-time university teacher. Stay at NASA kid.» Could be worse. Could be a student. Could be forced to accept the chair his mentor wanted him to take - the magic arcana science one. The one who was deeply disturbing the secretive mage.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics (September 2019)
Trasam’s voice snapped back Morgane to reality. She blinks, while diverting herself from the lighter. For the youngster, it’s sometimes hard to keep focus.Some injuries take more times than others to heal; for example, an abusive father, who trains you without mercy, without even thinking about the wrongs he’s doing. Stars were where Morgane used to flee when it was too much; the bayou is where she heads too, with Eoghan’s tutoring. The journey could have end with William’s death, she has chosen to go on, to keep study arcane and secrets, to prove herself she could be the mage she intends to be, not the one her father wanted her to be.
“That’s actually quite good to know.” She replied. It’s always difficult to choose a path when you’re studying’, so much path can be borrowed. Picking one fries, Morgane listen to her professor without disrupting him. For all that she knows, he is the first person to have worked into NASA she meets. Working in a lab is not what she intends to do, but in an office, she can manage. The word “internship” resonates in her mind. Could he pull the string for her when the moment is right? Morgane restraints herself to asks more in details what would be the condition for such a favor. A better way to do so is to prove to him she can be trustworthy, at least in maths and in science. Where does it matter when you are in LSU.
“That’s important to find a way to accommodate your life’s style. I’m way more sedentary, so… I guess it would not bother me to work in an office.”
She smiles when he makes his comment, while rolling her eyes. NASA feels so far away yet, for the fresh girl year she is; so much can happen, from university, from her other life, hiding in the shadows, ready to mess it up. Dreams and nightmare hardly go well together. Before Morgane joins the LSU, she didn’t have a dream of her own, living in another man fantasy. This liberty is new, unsettling, always pushing Wuntherson to open herself to the world, reaching people and ideas she never had, under Legrasse’s yoke.
“I’ll think about that if I go one day.” Morgane replies. “For now, I’m focusing on getting my first year, like I said, I don’t know what I’m gonna do… But I’m open to every path, NASA being one of them. Teacher’s not.”The taunt is light in her mouth, clearly without any expectation to hurt or something of sort.“You mention Dr. Ayala earlier, is she part of LSU ? Her name doesn’t occur to me, what’s her field of expertise?”
There is a bit of time left before having to join class again, before leaving the new teacher be. Morgane isn’t in any hurry, and she wants to ask anything she things of while she can. Putting magic stuff aside, she focusses on more down-to-earth questions.
She has noticed odd marks on Trasam’s wrist, hide beneath the sleeves, but something tells her it’s not the right time for questions about this; at best, she would get evasive responses, at worst; this could offend the part-time teacher, and blow any chance to pursuit conversation later on.
'obvious' is the most dangerous word in mathematics
I will be nicer if you would be smarter.
Septembre 019
Sedentary. The word makes him twitch ever so slightly. A smirk crossing his face like a train shooting off his rails. His upper torso shying away from her, for one second. It’s driving her mom mad, how they, dad and him, can’t stay in one place. They make her uncomfortable. Mages are supposed to belong, to stay, (to endure). Rhil spent half his life trying not to be who he is, what fire means, what fire does. Rhil runs. Always been good at that avoidance. And his ass is right where he was at Morgane’s age. The irony is biting it.
Once upon a time, teaching was his least favorite plan too. “- Yes. Dr. Ayala.” More than twenty years working with her, fighting with her and he still calls her that. In public, with deference, in private with a lot of gratuitous sass. There is a fond smile, erasing the usual cheeky smirk, fleeting. He put the gods’ forsaken plastic cup back on the table, stretching his arms around it, in front of him. Breathing out. Since she sat with him, she hadn’t seen him immobile for more than a couple of seconds. There was always something of him moving : hair, fingers, legs, stimming and restless even when everything about it was yelling carelessness.
Rhil nodded slowly. “Dr. Ayala is LSU. Specialized in astrophysics, but she only do post-grad. She’s near retirement now, so she’s more into research and tutoring doctorates’ students than teaching classes. She can afford too, she’s quite brilliant. And hard to contradict.” She did save his life, quite literally. From an gruesome magic OD death. He owns her the last twenty years of his life and his secret. His enchanted ring slowly spins around his finger, pushed by his thumb as he keeps on. The look of his face says : I’m trying to remember why I mentioned her earlier. The look of his face says : I pretend that I barely remember it. He does not forget anything but bills to bad people. “- She thinks, as I do, that magic and werewolves and all this stuff can be explained by science. That, rules of physics are still game, and that we, as scientists, should dig into it. She got research funds, actually. But she’s … struggling to find researchers for it, or even CESS willing to help, to answers questions. Apparently normal people are more interesting to understand magic than freaks.‘’ Rhil shrugs, biting his lips.
There is a spark, a very daring and not-good-at-all sparks in his eyes when he downs his coffee. “- Could be interesting for you. There’s more challenges in that than in teaching.” More challenges in that than in everything, and he was a guy who put his bed on fire and lived on “rescuing magic items books from too wealthy hands” for years. He was not going to sacrifice one more community on his own curiosity. And he was certainly not going to sacrifice his own skin in this business.
Accueil 
S'enregistrer 
