fashion statement

[revivian]

Isabella eats up as much magic as Vivian can teach her; both of their library cards see a lot of use. The list of spells she's allowed to cast gets longer, and eventually she gains permission to cast one or two by herself. Vivian worries, but she's also proud. It's nice to see Isabella so motivated.

Now that Isabella has a medallion and a library card, they go to the Avalon more than just "as necessary to replenish her cash." It becomes something of a habit for Vivian to arrive, drop Isabella off at the library, and then wander around to sell her charms, do her shopping, catch up with her friends, or whatever else she feels like exploring that day. The critters are blinder to human society and politics than she might like, but she thinks she's getting through to some of them. If they want to blend into human culture, these things matter, after all.

Today in particular being a nice day, Vivian and Isabella took the whole day to go out. After a protest demanding equal rights for LGBT employees, they head into Avalon. Vivian leaves Isabella at the library and goes to grab a cup of tea from the cafe next to the marina. She drapes her jacket over the back of her chair, but when she sees the woman at the next table eyes her Out and Proud! button on it warily and grimacing, she removes it from the coat and puts it onto her shirt, front and center. Take that, nosy lady.

Comments

[revivian]

"You passed out in the hospital room. Gianna's brother got much better suddenly, we think you did something, but- you scared me, sphinxette."

She bundles Isabella up in a relieved hug. Her daughter's awake.

[shesepankh]

"I didn't do anything really -" Isabella puts her claws away and hugs her mommy. "I was thinking about how to try and then I woke up here."

[revivian]

"Well, I certainly wasn't the one who healed him. Even if you didn't do it on purpose, entirely." She pets Isabella's hair. "We'll just be more careful in the future, okay?"

Vivian, and her shirt, greatly appreciate the lack of claws in this hug.

[shesepankh]

"And he's better? All better?"

[revivian]

"He's better. I don't know about all better. I think so, but I got you home before they checked." She reluctantly lets go of the hug. "I told Gianna I'd call her when you woke up anyway, I can ask."

[shesepankh]

"If he's all better and all that happens is I sleep a while I should do it more."

[revivian]

Vivian chokes on nothing at all. Once she's done spluttering, she says, "What if you sleep too long? Or I can't wake you up? You went into midform when you collapsed, I couldn't get you a doctor."

[shesepankh]

"Well, I feel fine now. And he was dying. Wasn't he."

[revivian]

"He was. And what you did for him," Vivian tells her, "was wonderful. You are a heroine of a sphinxette, and I'm very proud of you for wanting to help more people. But you are seven. And we don't know what happened. What if you meet someone sicker, and instead of falling unconscious, your heart stops? What if you passed out because you're young and it's bad for you, but you'll be better when you're older? You have to be alive and well if you want to help people."

Hearing her voice rising, she takes a deep breath to try to calm herself. "I'll do research. Get all my old sphinx books, go through them again now that I know what I'm looking for. I don't want you healing anyone until I know it's safe, but I will try to find out."

[shesepankh]

"I didn't even really try," says Isabella, quelled. "Do I have to not meet anybody in case they're sick, while you're looking? Mommy, what if you get sick?"

[revivian]

"Awww, sphinxette." Vivian cuddles her. "You didn't get sick while we were walking through the hospital, remember? You don't have to stay hidden in the house or anything. And don't forget, we always have spells and nice, boring human medicines. Both of which are, if not as good as you, still extremely competent."

[shesepankh]

"But people die, and I don't think they had better do that."

[revivian]

"I think everyone would like it better if they didn't. But if you're going to help them, you should do it safely."

[shesepankh]

"Yeah. If I have to sleep for a while every time I fix a person I can't even get everybody that way." Pause. "But if you were sick I'd still fix you."

[revivian]

"Thank you love, that's very sweet." Hug. "But let's try medicine first, okay?"

[shesepankh]

Isabella looks skeptical. "If that seems like it will work," she allows.

[revivian]

"No magic for the sniffles!"

[shesepankh]

"Okay, you can have colds if you want."

[revivian]

"I don't want, but that is why I have pseudoephedrine in the medicine drawer."

[shesepankh]

"But if you get really, really sick, I will fix you, and maybe if anybody else we know gets really bad too, but I won't like sneak into hospitals or anything while you're researching. Okay?"

[revivian]

"Okay."

Vivian makes a mental note to research quickly.

[shesepankh]

"I can read the books too, right?"

[revivian]

"When I'm not reading them!"

They're all technically far above Isabella's reading level, and many are in old and near-illegible scripts. Vivian has no expectation that any of this will stop her daughter. If she's lucky, it will slow her down.

[shesepankh]

The illegibility sure will.

The reading level, not so much.

[revivian]

It takes Vivian a good week and a half to find anything meaningful. She blames this on the fact that she wound up having to double check a translation of ancient Greek, but she finds it. Once she's found the one, she can find a few more. Mentions in passing of the "untrained" passing out, but with no indication that it's harmful. One source even includes jokes about it. It is, as nearly as she can tell, just one of those things that happens when you're not yet good at sphinx magic.

She gives Isabella the good news, but says firmly that healing people will wait until they are sure they can do it without revealing her either to the humans (as a critter) or to the dragons (as a sphinx).

And, after some dithering, she calls Gianna to tell her that yes, she checked, Isabella is totally fine, and how are she and her brother doing?