Back to Basics

[Arle Nadja]

Arle stood before an incredibly tall tower topped by bulbous purple domes and a floating ring broken up by rather jagged looking crystals up near the tallest spire. It took her breath away, and also raised about a dozen questions about what exactly she was looking at. The towers of Arle's world were far more humble for the most part, simple heavy stone towers that stretched a few floors at most. There were a handful of towers belonging to powerful wizards and lords that stretched higher, but they still retained their humble, almost medieval nature. Your ability to use magic to solve everyday problems was limited if you were a normal mage like Arle. Indefinitely suspending huge objects in the air was a miraculous feet that Arle didn't quite grasp the mechanics of in particular. This entire city was just one big mystery to her in that regard. Magic in her world was simply an entirely different beast, metabolized by individuals rather than pulled from the world around them. There was a pretty strict limit to how much magic an individual had at their disposal as a result and using it all up was an unpleasant experience. This understandably discouraged magicians from using magic that drained their mana over time by design and, even if they did have a theoretically massive supply of mana, lifting something this incredibly massive would be an incredible feet just by scale alone.

This was just one of many questions sitting idly in the back of Arle's mind as she entered the violet citadel and meandered her way to the grand library. The pearly white walls had given way to the inside of spire that seemed to stretch up into infinity, nearly every inch lined with books of various ages. Arle was mystified. How... did one retrieve the books? Most of them were too high for her, at least until she retrieved her ribbit boots--and a part of her suspected no one would appreciate her jumping around in a library. A librarian in a purple rope stopped what she was doing to briefly acknowledge Arle's presence, ever vigilent in her duty to make sure the library was treated with the respect it deserved. The mage also looked a bit lost in the endless sea of books, having a great deal of difficulty figuring out where to start. There weren't even categories! The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got. Did they use magic to keep track of their books as well? How was she supposed to get in on that knowledge if she didn't  even know how to access it yet? Somewhat overwhelmed, Arle hesitantly approached one of the walls and began scanning it for a vaguely helpful looking book. She hadn't thought up any better ideas, unfortunately, and it showed in the lack of results her search was producing.

[Tearen Wover]

Arle was brusquely shoved out of the way as an immense woman dressed in a tank-top and oil stained khakis rolled up to the librarian's desk. The ancient, mousy woman blinked up as the newcomer slapped heavy, weary hands on the ancient wood of the desk. Before the Dalaran native could inquire as to her guest's needs, the tall woman spoke.

"I need every single star chart and astronomical almanac you have for the Omniverse." said the heavily-built woman. Her skin was of brown complexion, and further darkened by a web of black tattoos. Short, woven strands of hair fell loosely down to the nape of her neck, and a hearty fire burned in her eyes. Millie Deberzi, otherwise known as Leviathan, was on a mission: there seemed to be something in the Omniverse that almost no one knew about or payed attention to, but could potentially reveal an immense amount of information. If no one else wanted to capitalize on this vacuum of intel, then she would be happy to reap the rewards of an enterprising mind. Luckily for Leviathan, she had both the intelligence and the bravado to capitalize on it.

As the librarian leafed through her ledger of available titles, Leviathan glanced down at the comparatively demure figure of Arle. Millie didn't know this tiny girl was a Prime, but she didn't know that she wasn't either. Granted, a lot of people dressed in an exceedingly ornate fashion on Dalaran, but something about the girl just sort of struck Millie as...fresh. Maybe it was the wide-eyed look of compounded (but suppressed) confusion and panic. Judging by the spring of her hair, she had also been glancing at Millie a moment before Leviathan looked down at her. A slight chap on her lips indicated recent high wind velocities over her face, potentially hinting at aerial travel, and the cuticles of her fingernails-

Leviathan took a deep breath and slowed down her thoughts as the librarian returned to the main desk. Even after a year, her mind could still take off on a tangent of information gathering that was more than a little overwhelming. Millie would be lying if she said that she didn't kind of enjoy it, but it could still be problematic at times.

"We have three books on the subject-"

"THREE? Three." Millie said, slapping the desk in disbelief and gesturing at the seemingly infinite selection around them. The librarian blinked slowly.

"...Three books on the subject, which I can have delivered to a desk for you. Take this service tag, please." The librarian said, handing Millie a small purple rectangle with an arcane symbol on it. A quick deduction inferred to the mercenary that it would be used by a courier of the library to pinpoint the location for dropping off her order. Millie rand splayed fingers through her hair before taking a brave breath. She plucked the service tag out of the scrunchy librarian's brittle fingers and stormed off, but not before glancing back at Arle and muttering "Nice skirt."

...

Arle still wasn't exactly sure how to proceed in her current situation, but seeing someone else learn the basic procedure around here was certainly helpful. She was in the midst of trying to figure out what her own quest for knowledge should entail when she felt a small brushing around her legs. She stifled a yelp as she glanced down to see a handsome black cat weaving his way between her feet. He glanced up at her once and offered a small meow of greeting before jumping up onto the desk and staring straight at her.

He was a black cat, of medium size and of glossy coat. Patient but yearning green eyes stared intently at Arle as his tail flicked slowly left and right. A few scattered hairs of wizened silver graced his puffed chest, indicating, perhaps, that he was starting to get a bit on in feline years. Purring ensued. Arle's next plan of action was obvious, and he knew this: pet the kitty. Of course she would pet the kitty. He was a kitty and he was meant to be pet. He could not possibly make this any easier for her.

[Arle Nadja]

Woe was Arle. She had opened her mind to a lot of things, but being shoved was not one of them. The mage was taken by surprise and couldn't quite catch her balance in response. She soon found herself on her butt, clutching her tiara and trying to work out what exactly had just happened. She felt like she'd just been shoved, but ... that wasn't a thing, right? Strangers didn't just shove people without at least acknowledging them, right? Surely she was missing some sort of context here... Arle was so flustered that she didn't even think about defending herself or her dignity, never mind commiting to doing such. Not helping her composure was Millie's parting comment. Was something wrong with her skirt? Her gaze drifted down to her lap, but she found nothing of interest there. For a moment she'd been worried it had managed to get caught in a compromising position when she fell, but no such fault was found. That put her back at square one. She'd always thought of the blue mini skirt as being somewhat humble. Was there something... wrong with wearing a skirt? Arle had been a bit skeptical of it at first, but she'd slowly come to realize that not every woman was wearing one in this new world. That was decidedly new to her and she hadn't really been sure what to make of it. No one else seemed to be making a scene, but was hers actually the strange outfit here? Ugh. Just thinking about it made Arle long for home. Her longing for familiarity was cut short however by another unexpected touch, this time of a furrier variety.

. . . Right, this was no time to sit around being discontent. Arle gingerly picked herself back up and brushed herself off a bit. Shoving her questions to the back of her mind, she took a moment to observe the seemingly friendly cat that had presented itself to her. One of her hands would be offered out to the cat, fingers curled inwards unassumingly. She stopped a couple of inches from the animal, just close enough that it would be able to lean out and sniff her if it so desired, and took a moment to observe its reaction. You never knew with cats. Sometimes they'd shrink or squirm away from an approaching hand and that would be the only warning you got that they weren't in the mood. This one, however, didn't seem to be afraid of her and so she moved in after a moment to gently scritch behind the cat's ears. "I am definitely not a city girl..." Arle murmured wistfully as she slowly began to make her way down the cat's back. She now had an idea of what to do, but still wasn't sure what exactly to ask for. She didn't study subjects, but rather each individual spell was its own learning experience. Did she ask for the book on lightning, or a book on casting ice? Was she supposed to have known this stuff by now? ...Had she known it before she lost her memory? There was a weird thought, but not one that Arle could act on. "...Hey. Are there any basic books for magicians looking to refresh their knowledge? Maybe something I could use to protect myself? I ran into a bit of trouble and I can't remember the incantations for my spells anymore." A rather bashful Arle would explain to the librarian. Hopefully they would understand, as she herself was still having trouble rationalizing why exactly she was here or why she'd forgotten her spells. She got the general picture, but was a bit stumped on the details. If only she could find this Omni fellow and ask him herself.

[Tearen Wover]

The wrinkled librarian blinked her painted-green eyelids slowly at the faltering sorceress, her expression conveying only an ingrained sense of boredom. Still, being bored did not excuse poor manners, so the melancholy wasp dutifully slid a service tag over the oaken countertop.

"Just find a table dearie, I'll get a few things together." the librarian said in a peevish, yet honeyed, tone. The elder woman paused for a moment before placing a small lollipop on the service tag, just in case. Cherry, naturally. Arle couldn't help but feel a tad embarassed as she slowly plucked the magical sigil and sweet off of the desk. On one hand, her self-respect almost demanded she leave the offered sucker where it has been placed, but on the other, she didn't want to seen ungrateful.

The black cat seemed to sense the young mage's discomfort. It was a pity; Mildred was a good librarian but was better suited to the archives. Unfortunately, the usual desk librarian was spending a month's vacation as a cactus, so there was little to be done. The feline dutifully leapt to the ground with a querious purr, his tail erect and flicking gently as he walked off towards the study lounge. With a small chirp, he beckoned Arle to follow.

A minute later, the fresh Prime found herself seated at a long, dark wooden table, a chair having volunteered itself by scuttling out to accommodate her. Well...if nothing else, at least the furniture was friendly. It was only after Arle had made herself comfortable that she realized the brusque woman from earlier was seated across the table and a few seats down. Currently, Millie was idly leafing through 'Astronomy and Other Falsehoods' with a dour pout on her face. Her heavily booted feet were kicked up on the table, and her chair was tipped perilously far back.

When Millie heard Arle sit down, she peeked over the jacket of the title she was reading at the blue-clad girl. She glanced down at her book again; whatever. It wasn't until the black cat jumped on to the table that Leviathan's demeanor changed completely.

"Oh, my guy!" Millie beamed, tossing the useless tome off to the side and reaching a long, muscled arm out to greet the four-legged interloper. He coyly wended his way over to her outstretched digits and consented to an adroit scritching of the chin before flopping down on the table. He arched his back and contorted his head around to blink lovingly at Arle. The cat proceeded to flop around in a sun spot filtering down through the stained-glass dome high overhead. Millie looked up at the Prime.

"Mr. Jingles likes you." the mercenary said in a matter-of-fact tone. Arle started to clam up again.

"O-oh. Is he your kitty? I'm sorry-" the young Prime started before Millie brazenly cut her off.

"Naaaah, Mr. Jingles is his own man. He's the archmage of Dalaran, you know." Leviathan said, reaching across the table to pinch at Mr. Jingle's flexing paw-pads...

[Arle Nadja]

The waxy paper covering the lollipop seemed familiar to Arle. Not from her own world, of course, but from Primp. The lollipop definitely resembled candy, something she knew would make her sick if she actually indulged in it. Maybe this particular piece wouldn't make her ill, but eventually she would discover a flavor so vile and sweet that she couldn't stomach it. Her palette had often put her at odds with the friends she made on Primp. They had an entire ridiculous holiday dedicated entirely to bothering people at their homes and asking for candy, a holiday Arle decidedly wasn't interested in celebrating. Between being somewhat bad at dress up, not having a taste for candy and the stigma against bothering your neighbor that existed back on her own world the holiday offered little to her but discomfort The only appealing part of it was getting to spend time with her friends, but even that had its limits in terms of how much discomfort it could offset. Needles to say, she would not soon forget her experiences with candy. ...Perhaps she'd save the lollipop for later and give it to someone who might find more enjoyment out of it than her.

Taking the service tag and the lollipop, the thoughtful mage shoved her musings to the back of her mind and offered the librarian a bright smile. "Thank you~!" she replied rather radiantly, choosing not to acknowledge the librarian's testy tone. She had nowhere better to be and nothing better to do, which was unfortunate because she didn't really enjoy sitting around very much. She'd much rather be adventuring, or going to school for that matter. When your schools were as dangerously irresponsible as Arle's the two were sometimes interchangeable. When she turned to try and find herself a place to sit, however, some movement caught her attention ahd she stopped to confirm that her eyes were not deceiving her.

Oh hey--It was that cat! And ... was it--...Was that gesture supposed to be--? Was the cat trying to get her attention? Arle's body tensed with mild alarm. She didn't think a regular cat would be too interested in her studies or her problems, but maybe this wasn't a regular cat? The idea that she was being misled by a monster had occured to her pretty much immediately, but... monsters also weren't usually this subtle about their nature in her experience. What was the point of pretending to be a normal cat, exactly? She wasn't sure, so perhaps she was overthinking this. Deciding that there was nothing she could do about her suspicions, Arle allowed herself to set them aside and followed the cat.

...Only to meet something else that screwed with her head in the form of a chair that somehow seemed rather enthusiastic about being sat on. Sheesh. Arle had thought she was starting to get used to all of this culture shock whenever she hopped to a new world, but evidently that just wasn't how things worked. "...Oh, hello." Arle greeted, managing to embarass herself by speaking to a chair in public. The way it had moved conveyed a sort of awareness to her, and she didn't grasp what to make of that other than that the chair must be a living thing. It wasn't the strangest thing she'd ever seen, but it was certainly confusing for the poor displaced girl. "May I?" Arle went on to request, attempting to be pleasant through her bemusement. Was the chair offering itself to her? How would she even know if it tried to answer her? Did living chairs get fulfillment from being sat on? ...Should she be concerned by that last idea? Ugh. The mage started to get overwhelmed by her thoughts, so she passed them from her mind. She'd just have to expirement and find out for herself. Hopefully she didn't wind up on the floor. Turning about, Arle carefully lowered herself onto the chair as if afraid she might offend it by carelessly plopping down. She then observed its 'reaction' or lack-there-of before allowing herself to get comfortable by crossing her legs and leaning back. Huh! Note to self. Sentient chairs are friends--...probably.

And then she was met with a more familiar face. Somehow it was a relief, even knowing that this particular girl had been rather rough with her before. Any familiarity was comforting when you were desperate. Millie then went on to explain that the cat Arle had been suspicious of was, in fact, the archmage of Dalaran. While surprised yet again, this time it was a more pleasant surprise. "Oh! I guess I've made a new friend. Hello, Mr. Pickles~" Arle would reply in mild embarassment, running a hand through her hair to asuage a bit of her anxiety. She resisted the urge to question Millie's mistreatment of that chair. She got the impression that might just be how Millie rolled in general. "My name's Arle, by the way. It's been a bit of a crazy first day in the Omniverse, hehe..." the mage went on to remark. It probably wasn't hard to pick up on her desperation for a steady hand in these strange times, though she seemed reluctant to speak of her problems very much. She couldn't even convince herself to ask about that skirt comment from earlier, as much as she wanted to. There was,
however, one question on her mind that itched too much for her to contain.

"How does he cast spells..?" Arle ever-so-curiously asked, her gaze drifting back to the cat on the table. She assumed that Mr. Jingles would have spoken to her if he was capable, which left the question of how exactly he incanted. Perhaps it was weird that that was her only question about the archmage. Not how did a cat become an archmage, but how did someone who couldn't talk become one? The thing about that was that monsters wielding magic wasn't particularly uncommon in Arle's world. In fact, they were generally considered to be better at it than humans! Those monsters could talk quite well though, sometimes to Arle's dismay. This was different and she honestly found herself quite curious as to how such a thing was possible. Did Mr. Jingles have a way of casting spells consisting entirely of meows and trills, or some other method of agumenting his limited vocalization..?

[Tearen Wover]

"Omigawd." Millie said, her eyes lighting up. She tossed her book to the side, where it slid into her small stack, sending all of the ancient titles toppling to the ground. Whatever. They were all useless anyway. Millie slapped her hands on the burnished wood between them and leaned towards Arle, a big grin on her hardened features.

"You'z a Prime? For real gurl?" Millie squealed, her voice hitching progressively higher. Arle donned a worried expression before nodding sheepishly. Leviathan let loose an uncharacteristic squeal.

"You're adorable!"

Mr. Jingles already knew this, of course. He also knew that the secondary was not actually talking about him, but decided to act as if she had been addressing him, all the same. It was really just for everyone's benefit; these poor humans didn't know any better. As a reward for her flattery, Mr. Jingles rose on to his feet and gave Leviathan a slow, loving blink. The human absentmindedly reached over and began stroking his bristly forehead. All was well.

Arle, on the other hand, wasn't sure whether she should feel complimented or insulted by Millie's apparent ecstasy. Her mixed feelings were set aside once again as a stack of books deposited themselves heavily on the table in front of her. The young mage looked up to see what had delivered them, but there weren't any sort of book fairies or constructs or anything. It was all starting to become a bit much. Still, the fresh Prime took a moment to browse over the spines of the dusty tomes. The stack contained such gems as 'Baby's First Fireball', 'How to Take your Robe Measurements', 'More than a Hat and Wand: A Primer on Arcane Theory', and one that grabbed her attention in particular, 'Edgelords 101: Your Fast-Track to Badass'. Mr. Jingles preoccupied himself by rubbing his face on the pointy edges of the hard-cover titles and purring lightly. Millie had stopped petting him, but that was okay. She'd realize her mistake eventually. As for the younger girl's question, he chose to answer for himself.

"Meeeeehhrr? Rhhm." he said casually. As the words left his mouth, his entire body seemed to levitate as if being picked up by an unseen force, before landing on top of Arle's book stack. Millie grinned at him dumbly. This was the best cat ever. It was true. Arle simply nodded slowly before fidgeting some more. Alas, it seemed that it would be a long time before she was offered a moment just to think.

"I'm Leviathan. Well. My real name is Millie, but no one calls be that." Millie said, forcibly grabbing Arle's comparatively dainty hand and shaking it brusquely.

[Arle Nadja]

Arle flinched at the display of carelessness as the books Millie had just sent falling to the ground  with a series of dull thuds. Man--Her teacher back home would've scolded her for pulling a stunt like that! ...Was that just proper behavior here, or was the library just a very lax area? For a moment she was worried a librarian might think they were up to trouble, but no one came to so much as ask what the noise was. Perhaps more concerning, however, was the very excitable lady questioning her.  How--....How had Millie figured her out? Arle swore there was something weird going on. Was it her comment about being new here? Did only primes arrive here from other worlds and this was one of the natives? That made a little bit more sense to her,  but she still felt compelled to learn more. The way she saw it, the more she knew for certain the more comfortable she'd become.

"Hehe, thanks..." Arle would rather casually reply, though her tone was tainted with her overall anxiety. She would have been considered to have a striking natural beauty in her home world so the idea that Millie was complimenting her wasn't exactly foreign. Arle personally found herself admiring some of the more refined beauties in her area, but she had no clue how to pretty herself up like them. Having grown up in a somewhat lower class family and having had to raise herself during her teenage years for the most part, she'd never been taught how to pretty herself up. From what little experience she did have, Arle firmly believed she was pretty terrible at it--probably with good reason. To that end, she'd chosen to take some pride in her looks so that she wouldn't feel insecure around her friends.

Arle was soon presented with some books and... A shiver ran down her spine. Unlike the chairs, the books had not moved in a way that suggested they were aware of her presence to Arle.  They'd moved in such a way that she was expecting to see a pair of hands retracting from them, but when she looked up she was met only by thin air. ...Was this library haunted or something?! The flustered mage had to stop herself and reason that if it was, the ghost had just brought her books. As eerie a thought as there being someone watching her that she couldn't see was, she couldn't complain about books. That was just silly! ...Swallowing her anxiety, she glossed over the titles. Luckily she didn't need help with casting a fireball; she wasn't quite set back far enough for that. She also didn't need a robe; her current clothes were quite comfy. Arcane theory sounded a little abstract for what she was looking for, and...  Arle did a double take at the last book. What the hell was an edgelord?  Was it something like... a swordmaster, perhaps? Master of bladed weapons? Perhaps that was a book Schezo would appreciate if he were here, but she was more a fan of staves. She couldn't help but feel that someone had fun writing that title though.  ...Perhaps arcane theory was her best bet? It didn't sound promising, but it might surprise her. She set the book aside before taking notice of Mr. Jingles' vocalizations.

...Oh my goodness, that was precious. It also raised questions. Was there a school of magic just for cats out there that taught cat specific vocalizations? Was Mr. Jingles self-taught, a pioneer of cat magic? Was he the product of magic himself? ...All Arle knew was that she wanted to give him some love. The way he was brushing up against those books moments ago made it seem like he might appreciate it. Before she could properly offer her hand, however, it was snatched from the air by Millie. Her stranger danger senses spiked for a moment, but to her surprise she found her hand being shaken rather roughly. ...This was a weirdly intense way to hold hands from Arle's perspective, but she got the impression that it wasn't being done with ill intent. She had felt ill intent a great many times and this wasn't... quite it.

Arle awkwardly clung to Millie's hand with both of hers in response, bowing her head apologetically for a moment in acknowledgement. Her grip could only be described as modest in both strength and texture.  She didn't exactly pamper her skin, but it seemed like she probably preferred not to do any heavy lifting either. She likely had slightly more muscle strength than the average girl of her age simply because of Arle's very active lifestyle, however it almost certainly paled in comparison to anyone who used their hands for a living. They were very distinct from her legs which had a much more athletic build that hinted at a lifestyle of very frequent travel by foot.

"Yeah--I guess I am. I'm still not sure how everyone can tell, though. I don't really feel special. Hehe... it's nice to meet you properly, Leviathian. I met a dragon with that name once." Arle replied before going on to muse aloud. That had been a long time ago, during her kindergarten final exam. "It didn't appreciate visitors." Arle went on, a hint of a goofy smile creeping into her expression for a brief moment.

[Tearen Wover]

"Aw shit gurl, you call me Millie. Only clients and targets call me Leviathan." Millie said, pointing her thumb at herself. Mr. Jingles watched the pair of human females from atop his literary throne and smiled his biggest cat smile. Good. This was good. There were many potential pettings to be had by staying near these two. He was glad that he had brought them together. It was important that they both learned to pet cats extremely nicely. Millie reached up to stroke Mr. Jingles' tail.

"Meow meow to you too, little guy." Millie grinned. The human's pronunciation was horrendous, but the archmage blinked slowly at her, in appreciation of her effort.

The fact that Arle had apparently faced down a dragon in her home-world wasn't lost on the mercenary woman. The young mage girl may have just been a baby in Prime-terms, but that didn't mean jack shit when her character was to be considered. The girl had chops. But that begged the question...

"So Arle, why you up in this dusty ass library instead of fighting more dragons?"

[Arle Nadja]

Arle gave Millie's choice of words a brief moment's thought. She'd never heard anyone refer to someone as a 'target' before. ...Come to think of it she'd never heard someone refer to a person as a client in casual conversation either. She understood what the words meant, but it made her pause, if just for a moment, to consider what sort of person might use them in such a manner. Her first thought was that it sounded like Millie was referring to a job and that the words sounded rather formal--professional, even. Aaand that was about as far as she got before the conversation moved on and the thought slipped her mind. Whatever job Millie had, it wasn't familiar to her. A little weird, maybe, but not enough for her to overlook the fact that she was being treated relatively well right now.

Arle's gaze trailed up to Mr. Jingles for a moment. She was tempted to take one of those books from the pile, but resisted the urge to avoid disturbing his throne. She was eager to study, but she could do that any time. She might not get a chance to speak with a friend until--....Well until she was reunited with Warren! You never knew how welcoming these new worlds would be, though in her experience she usually caught a break relatively quickly. Giving Millie's question some thought, Arle came to a rather abrupt realization.

"There are dragons here too?" Arle blurted out rather curiously. She'd been in a great many worlds over her time traveling, but most of them hadn't had any dragons in them--not that she was aware of, anyway. They usually made themselves known when they were around if you hung out in a specific world for long enough. "...Y'know, it's been a long time since I've eaten dragon." Arle went on to muse aloud. It was difficult to argue with the comfortingly familiar taste of some beef curry, but the refreshing taste of dragon shank was also one she remembered fondly, if only because it wasn't exactly served in school. You had to leave the village for food like that. "But uh--I guess because there's nothing left for me to learn from them." Arle went on to explain with a little shrug of her ornately armored shoulders.

"I'd kinda like to get back to school, honestly, but I guess I can't do that until I figure out what I'm here for." Arle finished. She distinctly reembered last time she'd found herself trapped in a new world without any way to get back. It hadn't lasted, but it was decidedly a stressful experience. Would this be more of the same in that regard, or was there more to her stay here than a quick vacation?

[Tearen Wover]

“Whoa whoa wait. You eaten dragon before?” Millie asked, reaching across the table and grabbing Arle by the shoulder. The smaller girl meeped softly and looked up at Millie with wide eyes. Had she said something wrong? Was it wrong to eat dragon here?

Apparently not, if Millie’s sparkling eyes were any indication.

“THAT’S SO AWESOME!” Millie shouted. Mr. Jingles looked up at the mercenary with an irksome expression. He had been in the middle of licking himself; now was not the time for yelling. The archmage went back to his personal care with a flick of the tail. Arle grinned sheepishly.

“I-is it? I guess…” Arle said, pinching the ends of her hair slightly. Mr. Jingles hopped off the book stack, and Arle found her hand suddenly moving to pet him, almost reflexively. Mr. Jingles leaned into it with a contented purr.

“So, school huh? What’s at school? Magic learnin?” Millie asked sitting back in her chair. She wanted to eat some dragon now! The thought was making her hungry. Arle turned the question over in her mind.

“Well yes, but friends too…” she said softly. Millie gave her an apologetic expression. Nobody got out of the Omniverse, but she felt bad crushing this little baby Prime’s hopes like that. Maybe later, she’d have to. Or maybe she’d figure it out herself. Either way, Millie quietly picked up one of the useless books that had been delivered to her.

“Well...not gonna get anywhere by sitting around all day gurl.” Millie said, her tone sounding more defensive than she had intended. In all honesty, though she had been so quick to barge into the laboratory, Millie was out of her element in this scholarly setting. The point was driven home when Arle actually showed a bit of spine for once.

“Maybe, but I’m not going to run out into the world unprepared. I need to study first.” she said in a flat tone. The sorceress flipped open one of the tomes that had been delivered to her as Mr. Jingles helped himself to her lap.

“M...me too…” Millie said, blushing slightly. She was bored already...

[Arle Nadja]

Some of Arle's dragon friends probably would've argued that it was wrong to eat dragon even on her world. ...Or maybe they wouldn't! Y'know, now that Arle stopped to think about no one had ever complained about dragons being a part of her diet, and that was in spite of her knowing at least a few dragons that talked to her on a pretty regular basis! Did they just not know that they were food to her? Did they know super well that they were food to her and that was exactly why they avoided the subject? ...Did they just understand that in a world where a great many creatures spoke just like humans that the meat had to come from somewhere? ...Did dragons also eat dragons and it just wasn't a weird concept for them like it would be for a human? She'd have to ask Draco Centauros if she got the chance to see the other again, hopefully without convincing the other she was on the menu in the process. She'd already made that mistake once with a rather paranoid mermaid and it had gotten her into a big fight. She supposed it was really the other's paranoia that had caused the altercation, but it still stuck out in her mind. A pang of longing was felt in her heart at the thought of all the friends she'd left behind. Right, right.. It was better not to think of these things, lest she be reduced to sulking and stressing out all the time. She'd like to avoid being reduced to that state as long as possible.

But wait--What was that tone Millie was giving her? Frustration? Disappointment? That flustered look on Millie's face grabbed her gaze. What was she blushing about? Arle's golden eyes lit up with recognition after a few moments of consideration as It suddenly occured to her that Millie wasn't just patronizing her for wanting to study, which was frankly her idea of a fun time, but rather she wanted to spend time with Arle! Suddenly everything had clicked into place. Millie liked her. That was a nice feeling to have at a time like this. She had to briefly remind herself of an important lesson she'd learned back on Primp. Maybe this world wasn't that comfortable and she was alone without any of her friends, but that didn't mean she shouldn't take the opportunity to make some new friends while she was here. Perhaps she was being too selfish wanting to stay here and refresh her education. She offered Millie an understanding smile.

"...Ooor, we could go out on an adventure together! I guess it wouldn't be so dangerous if I had a 'friend' to guide me~" Arle would offer in a very warm, inviting tone that contained only the tiniest hint of bashfulness. As she was still learning, she was used to having more experienced people watch over her. She had to figure that Millie qualified as being more experienced anyway, as she wasn't new around here and at the very least probably better understood her limitations than Arle did. "I'd feel a lot more comfortable adventuring if I knew someone would be there to bail me out if I wound up on the other end of the food chain or something." Arle went on to remark in a more bashful tone. It wouldn't be the first time a monster had tried to gobble her up; her somewhat potent natural curry spice 'perfume' gave her a rather alluring scent that way. She could only be thankful that the only time one had ever succeeded they'd been an enormous fish with no teeth to make her stay much more brief and lethal. "Though to be honest, I'm not sure where to start exploring I heard about a really nice sounding place called the Tangled Green that a man in the Nexus seemed to think would be a good fit for me, but I'm not sure how serious he was being..." Arle would finish by offering, pondering the idea. She did love being surrounded by nature. She'd grown up in a very modest village set in a tropical Amazonia-esque climate where that was simply the norm and your house was surrounded by thick forests, so Camelot was still a somewhat jarring transition for her--even if it was much more comfortable than the Nexus.

[Tearen Wover]

"The Tangled Green?"

Millie's eyes flicked up to meet Arle's, and a silent moment passed between them before the dark-skinned woman vaulted up onto the ancient wooden table and took Arle's face fully in both hands. The shocked mage girl blushed and tried not to wither under the soul piercing gaze from the secondary warrior.

"Y...yesh?" she said through bunched cheeks. Millie blinked once and smiled widely.

"Omigod! Yes! We have to go to the greens! Um..." Millie stood up on the table and tapped her chin briefly for a moment, much to the disdain of a passing librarian owl. Mr. Jingles also cast an annoyed glance up at Millie, having been ejected from Arle's lap when the young woman had been wrenched to her feet.

"Elves! They have elves there. Elves know magic. Probably better magic than these dusty fops." Millie said, waving her hand dismissively at the highly educated and deeply skilled wizards flitting between the shelves. The light of the waning midday sun trickled down through the stained glass onto Millie's matte grey leg armor, tracing eldritch patterns across its scuffed and pitted surface. Arle wasn't entirely sure just what kind of warrior Millie was, but it was clear that she had seen her way through more than a few battles.

"Oh! One other thing! We need to get you a library card, girl! We can take all this shit with us. You can read it while I drive!" Millie said, gesturing at the stack of eldritch tomes before hopping off the table. Arle blinked once. Drive? Like a carriage? That would be nice! As if of their own accord, the library books lifted themselves off of the table and trailed behind Millie like a train of paper and bindery. At second glance, however, Arle noticed that they were actually following Mr. Jingles, who was creeping along under the table.

"We'll just have to stop by my hotel room before we head out!" the mercenary girl called back, walking towards the front desk...

[Arle Nadja]

Arle's heart raced. Man, they must not teach table manners at warrior kindergarten or something. Millie's spirit kind of reminded her of someone her heart ached for dearly in a very roundabout way. A pang of longing hit her, but she quickly hushed that feeling. She'd lost Rulue long before she'd wound up here in the Omniverse and nothing she could do would change that. ...Say, how long had it been since they'd been torn apart? Thinking back on it, her head kind of hurt trying to process that. It felt like years, and yet now that she stopped to think about it it had clearly been a couple of months. ...But that made no sense. She distinctly remembered a graduation exam, birthday parties, moving to new homes, going on terribly long adventures... The inconsistencies in Arle's memories faded to the back of her mind, suppressed by a higher power. It was rare for her to become quite that aware to begin with.

"Alright!" Arle eagerly replied. Hey, look at that! Millie had made a compromise without even having been asked. She frankly would've been happy just to be asked, but just having someone know what she wanted and accomodate her? Boy, that made her heart flutter. She had a feeling she'd made the right choice in trying to befriend the other. "That sounds like a fun trip~! I haven't met too many elves from my world. We can stop by your hotel and then get going. Just one question..." Arle continued, bouncing along with her books as best she could manage.

"What does drive mean?" the mage ever so innocently asked. One got the impression that she might not know what a car was either, among other things. Really, it was enough to give one the impression that she must be from a rather low tech world. Such an observation would probably be ... an understatement. Even a close observation of her clothes could potentially reveal that they were sewn by hand rather than by machine. The tiny errors an imperfect, unsteady human hand would create stood testametn to that, not that the work was particularly shoddy.

[Tearen Wover]

Millie glanced at Arle with a coy smile as they approached the front desk. Boy this girl was in for a treat when Millie got her into the VariaBike. The two women and their stately feline walked up to the long, marble wall where the prunish librarian from earlier sat silently, staring ahead into space. Millie bounced up with a smile and slapped the tall stack of books when they finished their aerial march.

"We need a library card for the little sister here and probably a book bag." Millie said, trying to stare into the old witch's evasive eyes. She blinked slowly and nodded, pulling out a small, thin metal token along with a surprisingly stylish leather bag. The bag had a large red gem on the front and a brass clasp. The leather had been dyed a deep, magical looking purple and had a matching strap that seemed to be bound in snakeskin or similar material. The flap of the bag opened of its own accord, and the assembled books seemed to get vacuumed into the satchel despite the fact that there were obviously too many to fit. Millie grabbed the satchel and handed it to Arle, who was only mildly surprised to find that it was barely any heavier than if it had been empty.

"Gimme your finger." the librarian said, making a beckoning motion at Arle. The young sorceress obliged and held her hand out, only to shriek slightly when the librarian jabbed it with a tiny silver needle. Millie patted her on the back as she tried to find the words to express her indignation.

"Easy there Arle, it's just how the rental system works."

Arle pouted, but watched in fascination as the librarian tapped the blood-tipped needle onto the magical foil of the card, causing Arle's face and name to etch themselves onto its surface.

"Ya got two fortnights to bring those books back along with the bag. Anythin' else, puddin?" the librarian asked, finally glancing at the two women. Arle began to speak, but Millie cut her off.

"Naah we're good. Gotta get moving." the warrior woman said before grabbing Arle by the hand and yanking her off towards the door. Arle glanced back at the shrewish old woman behind the counter once before being tugged out into the bright light of Dalaran's midday splendor. Millie treated them to a pair of bittersweet tasting drinks in apology for not telling Arle about the registration process at the library that left the younger girl with a pleasant, buzzy feeling in her upper body. Millie had called it 'coffee', and it seemed to be very popular around Dalaran, now that she could recognize it herself. They walked up and down a few tree-speckled boulevards before arriving at a quaint looking hostel with a very out-of-place looking...thing outside of it. It was long and bulbous, and had a black, polished appearance. It floated a foot or two above the ground of its own accord, and had all sorts of weird looking pits and flanges that Arle couldn't make heads or tails of.

"What's that thing?" the mage asked, pointing it out. Millie grinned that coy smile of hers again.

"That's my uh...well...it's like a flying, mechanical horse. It's called a VariaBike." Millie quipped. Arle gulped reflexively; she had already had one flying horse ride that day. She wasn't sure how she felt about another, though, considering that Dalaran was a flying city, it would probably be prudent to get used to that sort of thing.

"Wait out here just a minute; I'll be back with my stuff." the warrior woman said, dashing into the granite wayhouse with a spring in her step. Arle nodded and sat down on a small, grassy stoop to wait. She smiled softly and sipped her flagon of coffee as Mr. Jingles helped himself to her newly presented lap. The black cat looked up at her slowly, his tiny fangs glinting in the noontime sun, and gave her a loving blink. It was a pity that she only had one of her hands free with which to pet him, but it would suffice until the taller human female returned...

[Arle Nadja]

If it had been Arle's choice she would've been riding one of the giant flying squirrels from her homeland. Not much could really compare to the speed at which they deftly lunged over the jungle tree tops, clearing quarter miles in a single stride once they got going. She'd been riding those since she was a little kindergartner. The idea of riding something you couldn't at least attempt to communicate with unnerved her. Plus she kinda missed slipping her ride treats if she was being fully honest, but well--it was hard to complain when she was being treated to coffee. Arle had decidedly requested a sugar free variety, having quickly learned that sugar was the cause of many of many an upset pallette during her time in Dalaran. Having grown up in a pretty poor family, sugar had been more or less unheard of in her household. She wasn't used to it, and it made absolutely everything taste sickeningly sweet.

Back to things she wished she could pet, though, Arle was briefly surprised to find Mr. Jingles helping himself to her lap. Not that she minded. She was having a great time warming up to new friends and exploring new things. Adventure was something she adored almost as much as school--even if her adventures tended to go spectacularly wrong. The two often wound up intertwined, as you couldn't exactly practice magic on your fellow students. There was simply no training equivalent to a fireball like there was with a sword. Reaching in, she set her drink down for a moment to dedicate her attention to loving on Mr. Jingles. Two fingers found their way under his jaw to brush along his cheek before migrating up behind his ear for scritching. "Are you coming with us on an adventure Mr. Jingles..?" Arle curiously asked, surprised that the cat had followed her out of the library, honestly. She'd kind of expected him to lose interest when it became inconvenient to follow them, but he was at least a nice cat--not like certain other cats she knew. She had little to complain about.

"I hope the elves are nice. I never met too many of them back from my world. ...I hope Millie likes me too. I feel l can really trust her." Arle mused aloud to Mr. Jingles. She'd already started to become very fond of her new friend, manners or not. She had begun to get the impression that Millie was a really cool person underneath all of that, and she was far from a stickler for the manners bit. A part of her really didn't want to part ways with the other in the future, but another part of her was scared of traveling down that road again. A memory of betrayal haunted her with an intense fervor, mocking her for being clingy. She silently resolved to get to know Millie better. She had plenty of time before she even had to consider the appropriate way to address those feelings. For now, their new friendship was in a comfy place.

[Tearen Wover]

Millie popped back out of the low-built building a few minutes later, carrying a large amount of heavy looking armor and gear in her arms. So far as Arle could tell, the older girl didn't have any kind of swords or bows. Maybe she had them all stowed away on her mechanical horse thing. There was on particularly nasty looking machine that Millie seemed to speak softly to and...kiss...before shoving it in what Arle presumed to be a luggage compartment on the VariaBike. Satisfied, the warrior woman dusted her hands off and beckoned to the sorceress.

Arle finished her coffee and hopped off of the planter wall. She glanced back to see if Mr. Jingles was coming along, but couldn't spot him anywhere.

"Mr. Jingles? Uh. Mir...mir?" Arle called, attempting the magical cat's proper name. Millie clapped a hand on her shoulder and tugged her gently towards the VariaBike.

"Don't you worry about Jingles, hon. He's got business to do, but he'll catch up." she said, coaxing the slightly nervous younger lady towards the now-humming flying machine. Arle watched as Millie grabbed ahold of what appeared to be a horizontal bar in the center , atop the machine. Arle followed suit, and with a helping hand from Millie, sat with her legs tucked back into a little space behind the second seat. Millie seemed to be leaning very far forwards, almost to the point her chest was touching the seat in front of her. Arle yelped slightly when Millie reached behind her and pulled the smaller girl close, up against the warrior's armored back.

"Watch ya head." Millie said, pressing a small button on the console. Arle did her best to stay calm as a large, black canopy hissed to life and slid over both of their ducked heads, suddenly making the VariaBike feel very cramped indeed. Dozens of lights and readouts blinked to life on the interior of the shaded glass, and the entire contraption roared to life violently as the engines came online. Millie gave the accelerator a few experimental squeezes, and the immense turbines responded promptly.

Before Arle could express second thoughts about this mode of transport, the entire VariaBike rocketed nearly straight upwards at a speed Arle could hardly fathom before nosing over and diving out over the lip of Dalaran. Down it plummeted, nearly as fast as falling, straight for the forest below. Naturally, Arle was beside herself, but Millie was just chuckling the entire time. By the time they finally leveled out and were speeding eastward, Arle had caught her breath.

"Millie! That was mean!"

Millie burst out laughing, made all the more loud by the fact that Arle's face had been glued to the other woman's back for the past few minutes.

"I'm sorry baby, I just...I just couldn't resist. Don't you fret, I'll take it easy from here. You like music?" Millie asked, hitting another one of the dozens of switches on the VariaBike's console. The sounds of woman singing and deep bass thrummed through the sealed cockpit. It was nice, Arle supposed, but not all that relaxing...