A Meeting of Magicians [D4EE]

[Manny Donos]

"Well, I know that." Manny said. "That's what I was just saying!"

There was a brief pause.

"I just noticed I'm hungry." Manny said, frowning. Funny, he hadn't been a minute ago. "You want something?"

[Tyllia Demici]

"You're very impressionable, has anyone ever told you that? Sure, I could eat."

Now there was a slight pause from *her* instead.

"What made you decide to become a magician, anyway?"

[Manny Donos]

Manny led the way back to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, he peered in. "I've got leftover omelets. And beer. How's that?"

He continued to stare into the refrigerator, frowning. "I was good at it. It was the first thing I was good at, y'know? Picked it up from one of the older kids in the home I was at. He showed me a few things, and it was cool. He got moved to another home after a few months, but that sort of thing was always happening. Anyway, I stuck with it."

He glanced up. "What about you?"

[Tyllia Demici]

Eggs. Of course. "That's fine," she said, before listening to his answer.

"Hmmm..." He was too stubborn to take either truth or denial for an answer. "...I guess you could say I was taught as a kid too.

Which was true; from a certain point of view. Just not fake 'magic'.

[Manny Donos]

A bit of rattling, and Manny presented her (with a flourish) with half an omelet on a plate, with fork. It seemed to be very egg heavy, but there was at least a bit of cheese and mushroom.

"Yeah?" He said, sitting at the table with his own plate. He doused it generously with a bottle of hot sauce, then slid the bottle across the table. "That's cool. An older kid, like with me?" Manny took a bite, then frowned. "I wish I could remember his name. Nick? Nick-something? Nickle...bees?" He shrugged. "There were a lot of other kids."

[Tyllia Demici]

"If by older kid, you mean old man with a grey beard and a bunch of students from all ages under him, then yes."

She looked down at the omelette. How bad could it be? Seriously, this guy lived for eggs... surely he'd actually be *good* at making an omelette? Right? Hopefully? Tyllia decided she would try the omelette without sauce first, before judging how much of the stuff it'd need.

[Manny Donos]

The omelet was actually pretty good... just very, very, dense. Many eggs were used, clearly.

"Whoa, some kind of magic school, huh? I've heard of those." He took another bite, then added a bit more hot sauce. "What was that like?"

[Tyllia Demici]

"Informal school, I guess," she said, deciding the food was good enough that she only needed a minimum of sauce.

"Brutal training regime. You wouldn't like it, I'm sure."

She blinked.

"Wait, what kind of magic schools have you heard of?"

[Manny Donos]

Manny frowned, his face creasing up. "Brutal training? Who teaches magic like that? I mean, it's hard, but it's supposed to be fun, right?"

He shrugged. "You know. Pay some credits, some guy shows you some stuff. I already knew better magic, y'know. Street magic. Wink." He winked at her.

Eating with his right hand, he pulled out his deck of cards, shuffling them with his left.

[Tyllia Demici]

"All the best things in life require sacrifice and hardship. If you got a thing for free, then that thing can't be worth all that much, can it?"

[Manny Donos]

Manny considered that for a few moments. "Uh... maybe..." He said.

After a few moments, he shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, aren't things worth how much you like them, not how much they cost? It's like how Vex's bar would charge like ten credits for a drink, just because it's blue, when I can go drink with a bro for way less than that somewhere else."

[Tyllia Demici]

"Those are simple, material, and transient things. I'm talking about the things that really matter. And I'm not talking about a cost in credits, necessarily."

[Manny Donos]

Manny looked at her. The seconds stretched on.

"... what?" He finally said.

[Tyllia Demici]

She looked back at him. Seconds stretching on again.

"...what is most important to you?"

[Manny Donos]

Manny considered that, seriously.

"My friends, I guess. Leah and Munch, and Sholua and Dhel, and Raven and Jyr, and Phroth and Varina."

[Tyllia Demici]

"And, keeping friends? Is it easy?"

[Manny Donos]

"Totally!" Manny said, grinning. "You just, like, be there for them, and be like 'hey, what's up bro' whenever, and you know, help them out when they need stuff."

He waved a hand; the one with the fork. "And a lot of that is just doing stuff you would anyway. Like magic, and eating omelets or wings, or drinking, or watching grav ball games. So... yeah! Friends are the best!" Manny didn't quite keep the thread of what she'd said through all the way, but he was certainly enthusiastic about it.

[Tyllia Demici]

It really was like talking to a kid, wasn't it? She hated it. How he could be so carefree about having these things.

"Well, I hope it stays easy for you then. But when the time comes when it doesn't, I hope you'll remember what I said."

[Manny Donos]

"Great, thanks. You too!" Manny said, cheerfully, smiling at his new friend.

And he went on to cheerfully eat his omelet.

/fade to omelet