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Leila was a bit nervous about all of this.

She'd talked plenty with her wife about her frustration with magic: in regular Ashdown it was unpredictable and fickle and seemed to have a cruel sense of humor, to boot. While Eve seemed to be having a good time with it all, even finding it liberating, Leila felt more boxed in by it each time another power manifested itself.

And on top of that, Eve's latest suggestion was... more magic. It left Leila feeling a bit put out and pessimistic about the meeting they'd set up with someone she'd never met in person. What was willfully bringing more of that s**t in her life supposed to accomplish?

There was a Jamba Juice on the Rider-Waite campus that was as good a meeting place as any, so there she was with a Razzmatazz waiting for the person to arrive.

"Hi. Uh, yes! I am," Leila answered, getting up to go in for a friendly handshake (her dad would be proud). "She doesn't call me honey, though. I'm Leila, and holy s**t is that a bird."

She was doing her best not to stare at it. Julian had reminded her recently that such behavior was a surefire way to stress a bird out.

"Partner, huh?" asked Leila while breaking off the handshake. She also noted America's partner-of-sorts was a bluejay: known to many as the a*****e Bird. Not that she minded, since there were always crows nearby when she was around. "Wait... you mean like you all who showed up at Blackfriars with the animal pals?"

Friend tickled Leila's wrist from under her shirt sleeve, reminding her that he was technically also an animal pal while also asking if he could eat some of her cup when she was finished with the non-food in it.

Oh hell no, Mr. Bitterberry. Leila slapped her hand protectively over Friend's perch on her wrist, and gave the bird an intense glare for good measure.

"Yeah, Eve took the s**t at Blackfriar pretty hard. Speaking of... I think I'm starting to piece together why she wanted me to meet you. You give warging lessons, I'm guessing?"

if you decide to go through with things--

That made something click in Leila's mind, and her demeanor began to shift from cautiously friendly to... genuinely interested. Setting her smoothie down mid-sip, she leaned forward to give both America and Mr. Bitterberry another look. "So I can just... learn how to do this? And not get totally roped into it if I don't want to?"

America said that her familiar had chosen her, but the implication was that was an exception to how the warg thing normally happened. The fact the familiar would be the teacher didn't give her much pause, given the continuous counsel she received from an insect. Friend didn't have much to say on the topic of warging besides an adamant beaming of NO!! We are Not Food!! while he climbed to a safer hiding spot behind his charge's ear.

"I'll be honest here. I hate magic. The main thing it seems to do is make major life decisions for you, and the longer it's around the more this place looks like an apocalypse in progress." Leila gestured outside, to the impossible rain and slimy business on the sidewalks. "But..." her voice began turning quiet, bashful and confessional: "I like biodiversity- I like animals- and when I was a kid i daydreamed about being able to talk to them. Is that what it's like?"

Another glance at the bird.

Leila snickered without restraint at America's little quip. And, for good measure, added in a look that said something along the lines of I've done my fair share of feeling out, and then some. Friend chimed in Leila's head with a me too!!!, evidently not quite understanding the meaning of the euphemisms being exchanged.

She nodded through the rest of the explanation, attentive and starting to get genuinely curious. "Alright, then... so how does this work -- wait, should I be asking Mr. Bitterberry that?"

"So there's consent involved for both of you," Leila offered in an attempt to summarize. "That's good, though." Even with that aside, it sounded like as heavy a commitment as... well, as marriage. She could already hear the wisecracks Eve could make about her bonding with a familiar, with that in mind. Then again... this was her wife's idea in the first place.

Love at first sight, though... that meant she wouldn't just go out wandering out the state park and throw a magic pokeball-analog at the neatest looking critter she saw. Even that first step was going to take luck and work. This was, in all honestly, a brand of magic she could get behind -- planned, carefully considered, and ethical for all parties involved. "What happens next? I'm guessing there's a difference between a regular bond with an animal and the magic one you have. Do you just... feel it out somehow?"

"You make it sounds like Mr. Bitterberry's the one doing magic here," Leila admitted.