Reality doesn’t always give us the life that we desire

[magicalarchaeologist]

WHO: Istredd and anyone!
WHAT: Catch-all for April
WHERE: Thorne, Horizon
WHEN: EARLY April for now, will put later prompts up as time goes on
WARNINGS: PTSD from the event, NSFW thread in comments





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[widows_kiss]

Natasha had given him a few days to recover, to settle back in. She knows just how long it can take to come back from something like what he's been through, and she lets those he's closest to be the ones to hopefully step in as his support. But it's only for a few days, before she's knocking softly on his door and poking her head, carefully balancing a tea tray in her hands as she looks to wherever he's at within, offering him a faint smile.

"Is now a bad time or are you up for some company?"

[magicalarchaeologist]

The reason Istredd is spending so much time in this room has a lot to do with how many wards and protections there are in place. It wouldn't be obvious to anyone without magical ability, but anyone trying to make trouble in there would very quickly regret it. This is the safest place in the castle for him. He is trying to do better about it.

So he does not immediately jump at the knock since it is safe in there, and it's probably someone who knows him checking in. That is proven right when Natasha's head comes into view and he smiles, setting aside the journal and his notes. He is sitting cross-legged on his bed, a common pose especially since it's how he goes into the Horizon.

He gestures and the door open for her so she doesn't have to worry about balancing the tea. Getting back his Chaos has been important and he maybe is overusing it for things. "Please come in, Natasha."

[widows_kiss]

She steps inside when the door opens for her, carrying the tray over to the nightstand beside his bed and setting it down before turning to survey him, hands propped on her hips as she casts him a crooked smile.

"Well. You look a little less like death warmed over today."

She'd seen the state of all of them down in the altar room when Steve had led the infiltration team down to get them out. Even though there hadn't been much time for talking then, she'd kept an eye on him while she worked. Just to make sure.

[magicalarchaeologist]

Istredd gestures and the door closes, and a chair from the desk across the room skitters forward to be placed nearby if she would feel more comfortable sitting. While he is overusing Chaos, these have always been unconscious movements for him. Little ways in which magic is a part of his life.

"I was wasting away from an infection on the turtle, which would have been an interesting resting place. But I live to bore people in the classroom again." He does look generally much better, having looked near pale to death when they got out of there, having bled quite a lot and the infection in question. He smiles at her, tilting his head.

"Your friend Steve, he very heroically carried me from the pit to the altar room after the escape." Istredd can have a sense of humor about it. He and Steve grew quite close during that experience, having had to lean on one another from the very first day.

[widows_kiss]

She shares in his sense of humor as she takes a seat by his bedside, already leaning over to pour them both a cup of tea.

"Steve is always very heroic like that. It's almost downright embarrassing, honestly." her lips quirk as she pours one cup and then fills another. "At least all those muscles come in handy for something every now and then, though."

She reaches out to offer him one of the teacups, meeting his gaze. "I'm pretty sure I've never been bored a single moment in your classroom. But I'll be sure to let you know if that changes. It must be good to have access to your magic again. I understand that was pretty unstable down there."

[magicalarchaeologist]

"He was giving inspirational speeches down there. Or attempting to. He did stop after a few days which was for the best, the heckling was going to turn into mud throwing."

Istredd thinks on some level everyone appreciated him doing it for those first few days. Having someone attempt to reassure others was appreciated, especially as Istredd wasn't doing so well at trying it himself. He was doing it on a smaller level with the boys. He did eventually end up speaking too, but the opposite of inspirational.

"He's a good man. It turns out I like everyone from your sphere, at least so far." Istredd was close first with Wanda, and he knows she isn't particularly fond of Stephen, who he also works with regularly. It's an interesting group, all very different from each other, and yet bonded in their own experiences.

"Yes, I don't think I realized how much I rely on it." So many things just came to him naturally with his magic. "The interesting thing is how they managed to cut us off like that. My magic isn't like learning spells here, it is in my blood, my genetics. I know others there who said their abilities were physical, they shouldn't have been able to get scrambled like that." And yet.