Fantasy Familiar (1 on 1) (CLOSED)

[eirastrid]

(MINT GET IN HERE)

When Ayo first failed to call forth his familiar on his fifteen birthday, he was met with reassurance.

“Don’t worry kid. You’ll try again tomorrow.”

“You know, I actually knew someone like you. Couldn’t summon her familiar until she was sixteen.”

Nowadays, he was met with pity and side eye glances at best, sneers and insults at worst.

“Did you hear? The Kouri kid is almost eighteen and doesn’t have a familiar even though he’s a magic user.”

“Really? Damn, that’s sad as hell.”

It’s not like he didn’t try. For months, he would go out everyday to try and summon his familiar. He searched for tips and advice, and did everything he could possibly think of. He tried getting good at magic on his own, only to find it was agonizing. Even the simplest of spells was unpleasant, like someone had dumped ice down his back. And more advanced spellwork made him feel like molten lava was being poured through his veins.

Apparently, it was because magic was too much of a strain on the user’s body without a familiar to take the brunt of supernatural force. Lucky him.

Ayo rubbed his face, quickly adjusting his binder to alleviate the upcoming summer heat. He took a deep breath, turning the corner to an old construction site that had lost funding partway through the project, leaving it abandoned. It had become a prime spot for kids to practice more dangerous forms of magic without the risk of leveling a building. It was technically illegal, but everyone turned a blind eye.

He moved through a bare bones building, with only its foundations in place, once meant to become a shopping center, finding a corner that no one would disturb him in.

“It’s fine,” he told himself, placing his bag down and stretching his back. “It’s just one last try, and then no more magic.”

What was one more failure, right?

He was at the cutoff anyway. Past reaching eighteen, it was impossible to forge a bond with a familiar, and it was his birthday. Not that he put much stock in birthdays anymore. A small celebration with his mother, if that. They just made him sad.

Ayo closed his eyes. He could do the familiar summoning ritual in his sleep after so many tries. He put his hands over his mouth, whispering the spell and pouring all of his magical essence into one last desperate attempt to reach out. As the space under his hands began to glow, a pulsing headache grew behind his eyes. The headache grew stronger and stronger until Ayo could barely think, pain starting to lance down his spine.

With a wheeze he released the spell, stumbling until his back hit a pillar, sweating. He squinted through the fading pain, scanning the lot.

It was empty.

No one was there.

Ayo let out a shaky gasp, sinking to the ground. He brought his knees to his chest, taking his head in his hands and staring at the floor.

“...Fuck,” he whispered, voice cracking.

He stayed there for a few moments, barely aware of the world around him save for unshed tears and the tightness in his chest. A gust of wind blew in. Then another, much stronger gust that chilled him. He curled in on himself harder, trying to ignore the sensation.

And then he heard the rumbling. A deep, deep rumbling that vibrated in his bones. He snapped his head up. Was it an earthquake? But he didn’t feel any shaking and oh-

Standing right outside the building, mere feet from him, was an enormous dragon, staring down at him with an impassive expression. Familiars almost never came in that size, even people with draconian familiars had ones that were maybe waist-high at most, but Ayo couldn’t shake what he felt in his gut.

“Oh my god,” Ayo breathed, eyes wide. “...It’s you, isn’t it?”

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster was flying.

Wings stretched as long as they could go on either side, the chilly wind rustling through his feathery coat. Ah . . . nothing beat flying. Nothing at all. It was such a nice day, there was nothing that could possibly compare. The day was going so well, he hadn't expected anything to go wrong. Until it did.

There was a strange seize in his chest that was sudden, causing a sharp, aching pain. Ow. Hovering in the air, he wondered what was going on. Was it an attack? Had he eaten something bad maybe? It was best to land for now, plummeting out of the sky would be rather painful.

Except when he looked down, the ground was gone. The pine forest that he could see from his cave was gone! What was happening?! Why was everything . . . so bright? It was like the once faint sunlight had turned blinded; and he could feel it through his bones; a unpleasant feel. What happened to his cold day? To his chilly breeze? The uncomfortable feeling in his chest got tighter and tighter, and the light got brighter and brighter. Aster felt himself lose his composure for a moment; mind whirling as he tried to figure out what was happening, why and how.

Then he blinked, and everything changed. Though perhaps blinking wasn't the right word. It was more like 'prolonged eye closure due to pain' But even before he opened his eyes; he knew something was different. Wrong even. For one, it was scorching hot. Aster was used to living in cold areas; so the new and persistent heat sucked a ton. It was quite bothersome really. His wings twitched as he peered around, wondering what in the world had just happened.

Though when he looked down and saw a tiny human, everything clicked. He'd been summoned. Interesting. Quite frankly, Aster hadn't expected it. It was something common yes, but him? No, never. This was a strange, strange occurrence. He wasn't sure what to feel. Flattered? Maybe. Deeply confused, absolutely. He'd always expected that if he did get summoned, it'd be by someone exceptional. Some being thriving with a magical aura that filled the room, making them undeniably great. But this one . . . this one looked . . . rather . . . different?

For starters, the tiny thing looking at him with wide eyes wasn't quite what Aster had in mind, at all really. The scenery could've been better; and he was tempted to try and explode the sun for the cursed heat it was sending him. Oh yeah, he was not enjoying this at all. He wasn't sure what the human meant, or what they were talking about. A quick glance around told him that the human was the only one around, therefore the only one who could've summoned him, and therefore were the only ones who could properly answer his question. The ones from before had all but died out. It was obvious what had happened, even if the experience hadn't been too pleasant.

Lowering his giant head as low as he could, Aster made it to eye level? Head level? Something level. At the very least, he was able to see the human far better up close. "You must be the one who summoned me." He rumbled out in that rough, dragon-y voice one would imagine. "What's your name, human?"

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo’s mouth gaped open and shut like a dying fish, words entirely failing him. He summoned that? With a familiar summoning spell?! Familiars weren’t great beasts - they were lower powered creatures that could be tied to a single human’s magical ability. They were meant to stick with a mage for a lifetime, be their magical source and companion. Something like the dragon standing in front of him should be summoned by a powerful mage to create a contract for a singular favor, not attached to someone who could barely perform a light-summoning spell without passing out.

He bit back a squeak as the dragon lowered it’s head, stepping back. It was...odd. He wasn’t afraid per se, even though he could feel power radiating off of it (him?), but he felt like he was committing some grievous offence.

He swallowed thickly.“Uhm…I’m uh...I’m Ayo?” He winced at the poor delivery of his own name.

“Look, I don’t know how I summoned you,” he said, putting his hands up in a non-threatening gesture. “I did a familiar summoning spell not...whatever summons you. I mean...I can’t believe I summoned anything in the first place. I am an awful mage. I was just trying one last time to call a familiar, since I’m turning eighteen and oh god, I’m rambling. I am so sorry.”

Would it be offended? The dragon would probably be offended - Ayo would be if some sad sweaty teenager summoned him. Could he break a familiar bond? He’d never looked into it, since he’d need a familiar to worry about any of that, and who would even want that in the first place? Maybe the dragon would know, being ancient and wise and all that.

“Uhm, I also don’t know how to...undo all this? Like isn’t a familiar summoning spell kinda binding? Like a permanent thing?” Ayo began pacing in front of the dragon, trying to get out his nervous energy as he thought.

He glanced at the dragon’s face again, gnawing on his lip and furrowing his brows. “Yeah...something had to have gotten messed up because you are way too large to be a familiar. Maybe you were summoned by someone else and got put in the wrong place?”

Even as he suggested it, he knew that that was wrong. It felt wrong to say, like the words were someone else's. Ayo knew for a fact he did the summoning correctly. He had heard about how it felt to summon a familiar and about how a mage would just know about how a creature was their familiar, even if there wasn’t logical proof.

But it wasn’t like he had any other ideas. Summoning a tiny, weak familiar would have been mind blowing to him, much less this. This was completely out of his wheelhouse. “Do you...have a name?” he asked.

 

[Minteafresh]

Ayo. That was the name of his summoner. Well, supposedly. It seemed that despite the signs, the tiny human was convinced that there was no possible way he could've possibly summoned him. Either this human was very humble, or very honest. Very nervous, it seemed. Aster rose his head as he watched Ayo pace; eyes following his figure. What a peculiar human. He wasn't sure what reaction he'd been expecting; but the complete and utter denial really hadn't been it. Coiling his tail closer to his body, Aster wondered if he should say something. But he opted to sit, and wait until the little human was done worrying so much. Surely, all that stress wasn't good for such a tiny body?

"My name is Aster" He replied, settling down to sit in a way that he was sure didn't hit anything. Being big was challenging. Raising a claw; he scooped up Ayo as gently as possible, focused on not dropping him. I mean if he did; that would suck big time. "Now listen. I'm quite surprised at this development myself. But for whatever reason there may be, you summoned me. There was no accident, and there was no mistake. To undo a spell is simply impossible, meaning we are therefore stuck together and will be until your life cycle is up. Worrying over it will solve nothing. If you keep pacing like that, you'll get a stroke from the heat. So calm down, and breathe"

Phew. Now that problem was fixed, hopefully. He hesitated a moment, before returning Ayo to the ground. Aster really hoped that the other wouldn't start pacing again; that had been the whole point of his little speech thing. Probably not too far on the motivational side, but close enough. Aster just wanted the stress to tone itself down a bit. Humans were so fragile, too much of anything would kill them. Or make them ill, and then open to any disease. There were so many, humans died so easily. He hoped that Ayo didn't combust from how much stress, worry and perhaps anxiety he was emitting; though Aster wouldn't have been surprised if he did. Not a very favorable outcome however.

"Have you calmed down now?" He questioned. "Perhaps being out of the heat would help. Nothing good comes out of being hot" Though he was pretty much talking about himself there; and now he wasn't enjoying the heat; being somewhere cool would be very nice; like . . . winter, freezing cold winter. How depressing that he got summoned in such a disgusting season.

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo made a very undignified noise when Aster picked him up, grabbing onto Aster’s paw to prevent himself from falling. The feathers were… soft. Really, really soft. As Aster talked to him, he mindlessly petted the feathers to help himself calm down, nodding along with his words. The deep voice was soothing to listen to, even if Ayo was on the verge of completely losing it.

He hopped down when Aster brought him to the ground. His heart was still beating far too fast, but the initial panic had subsided. Now Ayo just felt bad. He had learned about dragons and other such beings, about their power and how they rarely chose to be in the mortal plane, and he had just shackled one to him for the rest of his life. He leaned on one of the pillars again, sitting back down to catch his breath. He looked down at Aster’s feet.

“Right, right, sorry. Probably not a great first impression of someone you’re gonna be stuck with for the next seventy years.”

Ayo wrung his hands, trying to hype himself up. It was all fine. He had taken the classes, he knew about the etiquette for when first summoning a familiar. Just because this was unusual didn’t change that. He just needed to follow the social rules, and he’d get on the right foot with Aster.

He slapped his knees and stood up. “Okay,” he started with false confidence. “Right. It’s hot out. I’ll get you somewhere cooler. My full name’s Ayo Kouri, I’m eighteen years old, and I am...not great with magic. I didn’t get a familiar when I was supposed to, so doing magic is like punching myself in the face. But uh...I guess I’ve summoned you now.” He dug his phone out from his pocket. “Shoot, I need to tell Ma about this, she’s gonna flip. What do you like eating? Any other requirements you need? Magical affinities? Magical no-go’s?”

After sending a few rapid fire texts to his mother to inform her of the new change, he tucked the phone back into his pocket. He grabbed his bag and put it on, adjusting the straps to be less uncomfortable and mentally preparing himself for introducing Aster to her. "My place is like a thirty minute walk from here, and it's air conditioned too."

A realization suddenly hit him, and he looked back up at Aster again, all of his bravado dissolving. “Oh no. You can’t fit in my apartment.”

 

[Minteafresh]

There. The human seemed fine now, ish. At the very least, calmer by a smidge. Which was enough for Aster really.

Now that the excitement (panic) has calmed down, Aster suspected things would be moving alot more smoothly. He watched Ayo tap tap away on something in his hand while simultaneously asking questions. "Well, I've grown up eating wild game, though I assume there's no deer around." There was a disappointed tone in his voice as he spoke. Ah, what he wouldn't give for one. He supposed that at the very least, he'd be able to try something new. Did humans make good food? He hoped so, or else this was going to be a very long life cycle.

"I'm not a huge fan of heat really" He admitted as though it was a great weakness. "Though I wouldn't die from the heat" Because he wasn't a human, though he didn't add that part outloud. Instead he opted to give a little huff, shifting to the side and giving a huff as the sun cooked his back. What he really would've liked to do was start up some wind, though he was almost certain Ayo would fly away, and not in a graceful manner. Wouldn't that be unfortunate.

No clue what a air conditioner was, but he hoped it meant something good. Was it a form of air magic? Color him impressed, had humans really done something like that? Of course, probably not. It was best to not expect too much from humans. They were very . . . human like. Beggars can't be choosers however, and as long as the air wasn't hot and dry, he'd be content.

He turned his head down at Ayo when he heard a 'oh no' though the problem was no problem at all. "Ah, allow me" he rumbled, and there was suddenly cold gust of wind that seemed fit for the middle of winter. Within seconds, Aster assumed his human form, tucking a strand of hair out of his face. "Will this form work better for you?"

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo hummed. “Well, we’re in a city, so there’s no wild game here unless you wanna go after some squirrels. But there’s a butcher shop close by. I’d take you to the woods but it’s not hunting season.”

He scrunched his face up at the shock of cold air, as nice as it was in the summer blaze. His jaw dropped and he pointed a finger in Aster’s vague direction, brain temporarily short-circuiting upon seeing a shockingly pretty man standing way too close to him. “You. Dragon. Man. You’re a guy now.” His expression morphed into a mixture disbelief and relief. “How… how do you have clothing on? Nope. Not questioning it. Ma might actually kill me if I bring a naked man home, familiar or not. But yeah, you’ll be able to actually get inside my place now.”

He shifted the pack on his back, walking past Aster and heading out into the rest of the city. “My apartment’s this way, so just follow me. And keep close. We live in a busy area, so you can get lost in the crowd easily.” He kept walking, very pointedly not looking at Aster’s face, but occasionally looking back to make sure he was still there.

How the hell was Aster more intimidating as a humanoid than a dragon? Maybe it was the height? Or maybe it was because it was easier to read Aster’s facial expressions now. It made Ayo feel like a bug being pinned to a board to be displayed for all. The impassive judgment radiating off of Aster was nerve wracking. He genuinely had no idea where he stood with him.

He felt his phone vibrate, and pulled it out to see a series of very excited texts from his mother, congratulating him for the successful summon spell. He smiled. Ayo hunched over as he replied, asking if she could see if there was venison at the butchers, or just red meat if there wasn’t any. He figured that the more that he did to make the dragon more comfortable, the faster his worries about his new familiar absolutely hating his guts would go away.

He stopped in front of an average looking beige apartment complex, opening up the creaking gate for Aster to walk through. “We’re apartment number twelve. We’ll probably duplicate my key so that you can have your own.” Ayo offered an awkward version of a welcoming smile, still too filled with nerves to really relax.

 

[Minteafresh]

You'd think that being smaller would make small things . . . less small. But no! As Aster glanced around, Ayo was still small. Was he one of those tiny little humans who never grew? Why was he so small? So . . . short and not at all terrifying. That seemed like a very challenging life to live, poor Ayo. Of course, Aster never considered that maybe he was just too tall. He rarely stuck around in his human form, so he wasn't sure how tall humans should be. But even so . . .

Ayo was a bit strange, though Aster had probably covered that fact already. He seemed shocked to see that he had a human form. A strange thing to be surprised about, but then again he had grown up around other dragons; so of course he'd expect their human forms to not be a big shocker. At the very least, the issue of him not fitting into the house would be resolved, and that was all that mattered. He uttered a small 'alright' as he followed behind Ayo. Things looked so different nowadays. I mean really look at all these buildings. So tall. And there were so many people. Was this something he'd have to get used to? He hoped not. Aster quite liked his personal space, and if humans chose to mill about like that; he suspected he'd have none while walking.

It was a bit challenging to walk, think, sightsee and keep a eye on Ayo; but Aster managed well. He managed to not bump into anything or anyone. It was a bit odd to get so many stares from people; all those odd looks made him confused. Was it the height? Probably the height. Though he couldn't help it if everyone else chose to be tiny! Grow some, maybe. He felt a bit out of place in the sea of humans, though here and there he could spot a familiar or two. Strange that these ones didn't seem to be unhappy; maybe they liked this world and whatever current advancements it had.

At last they were away from the loud humans and he was walking through a creaky gate. Here; he was better able to tell that Ayo looked very . . . nervous. Or ready to cry. Maybe both? Aster really, really hoped he didn't let out the waterworks now. That smile looked far too close to falling off. All Aster could do was give a small nod, tucking away that tiny bit of information away in the back of his head to think about later. He was tempted to ask Ayo if he was alright, but was somewhat afraid of the 'no I'm not ok' outcome with tears following behind. Maybe -if he just waited a bit- the human would be less freaking out and more calm.

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo let the gate shut behind him, going down the walkway and letting his hand brush some of the foliage along the sides. He guided Aster down to one of the apartments on the ground floor and fished out his key, unlocking the door and stepping inside.

A cold wave of air hit him first, making him feel a lot better instantly. The heat had been frazzling him even more than he already would have been. He waved Aster in and shut the door behind him. He gestured towards the interior of the apartment. “Ta-da. My mom lives here too, but she’s at work right now.”

The apartment was small, but clearly well lived in, filled with comfortable looking furniture. The walls were covered in what looked like family photographs. Most of them featured Ayo from images of a young child wearing dresses with long decorated hair to ones where he was older and much closer to his current more masculine appearance. They had little captions on them, giving the date and a small blurb on the context of the photo.

Ayo kicked his shoes off onto a rack and put his bag down next to it. “I guess I’ll give you a little tour? This is the living room and the kitchen is over to the right. You can get whatever you want from it.” He made his way down the hall. “At the end is my mother’s room, but my room’s to the left.”

The bedroom was...messy. A sewing machine was tucked into a corner with fabric and pins piled next to it, and his laundry basket had a ring of clothes around it that hadn’t made it into the basket. Posters and artworks were pasted onto the walls. Ayo walked to his drawer, pulling out a couple clothes. “I don’t have a bed for you, so you can take mine. I think I have a sleeping bag from ages ago somewhere that I can dig out. I need to get changed, but the bathroom is right across from my room when you need it.”

Walking perhaps a little too fast away from the room, he ducked into the bathroom, slamming the door and groaning into his hands. He wasn’t prepared for a sudden roommate! He hadn’t actually expected to summon a familiar this late, so he had nothing ready. He changed out of his binder, cringing at how sweaty the fabric had gotten, switching to a sports bra and a baggy shirt that were much more comfortable. Part of him wanted to keep the binder on, but Aster was a permanent addition to his life now, and he couldn’t wear it forever.

He pointed at his own reflection. “Just be cool. Be normal. Stop acting like a dumbass.” He stepped back out, tiptoeing his way back to see what Aster thought of his new living conditions.

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster's first impression was absolute delight. Though such a emotion was hard to tell from his straight face. Ahh, was this the power of air condition? It was wonderful, simply wonderful. He immediately wondered how such a thing was possible. How was it so hot outside, but so cool inside? What was making it cool, and how did it work? He had several questions, but kept them to himself.

He looked around the house. It looked very . . . homely. It was rather interesting to imagine all the memories that must've taken place here, had Ayo lived here since he was a child? Upon seeing the pictures he studied them curiously. What a small child . . . were all humans so . . . tiny and bright looking? They hadn't the hardened features of little dragon people, that's for sure. Humans raised their young so carefully, perhaps that was why they never grew much. Aster glanced at Ayo out the corner of his eye. Or at all really.

He followed after Ayo, eyes bouncing off the walls. The others room was messy, and what was that? He eyed the sewing machine and it's surrounding fabrics curiously. Did he make his own clothing? Perhaps humans weren't doomed after all, if they had kept some of their survival instincts. Or maybe that was just his human, resourceful perhaps. Though none too organized it seemed.

"It's fine, you can sleep in your own bed. I can go a long time without the need for sleep" What was a sleeping bag? Surely, Ayo was too big to fit in a bag? A bag? Was he thinking right? Humans slept in bags? The mental image of that working out was next to impossible in Aster's mind as he envisioned a human encased in a small plastic bag. That sounded really uncomfortable, he didn't quite like the thought of that.

When Ayo left, Aster took the time to further examine the room. There was a lot going on with everything, but he assumed it was organized chaos. Perhaps it looked messy to him, but to Ayo it wasn't. Were all humans rooms like this? Maybe it was the tiny, still growing humans who had rooms like this. If he were a actual human, would he have a room like this? The thought of it was strangely disturbing, so Aster decided to not think too hard on it. Instead he wondered what he could learn about Ayo. Ones personal housing said alot about that. Aster kept gold in his den, because he loved gold. But humans . . . what did humans like? It was a confusing thought, because he couldn't possibly imagine what they did for fun. The extent of his imagination was kicking around little soccer balls and shouting; though he couldn't imagine Ayo doing that. He seemed too old to do child-like things such as that.

He was so lost in thoughts about humans and their strangeness that he almost didn't hear Ayo return. Turning around to face the other; he gave him a quick look up-down with his eyes. "Is there anything you'd like to do now?" He asked. "Or any plans you have?"

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo shifted uncomfortably as Aster gave him a surveying look. But Aster didn’t comment on his change of appearance, so Ayo wasn’t going to either. He scratched the back of his head, sheepish. “I don’t have any plans? I meant it when I said that I didn’t expect to summon anything at all.”

He kept his gaze fixed to the ground, his body language drawn in and small. “I was supposed to be able to summon a familiar when I was fifteen and I just...couldn’t. I tried for ages. This was the last day that I could try to do a summoning spell, so I figured I’d give it one last go, fail, and then stop doing magic. So I guess I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now,” he finished lamely.

Ayo paused, frowning as he thought. “I ...I’d like to try doing magic again? It’s just that magic really hurts for me to do, but now that you’re here it might not.” He spoke hurriedly, like he was expecting for Aster to shut him down. He went over to his bed and flopped down, putting his hands over his eyes. He had dumped all of his magic into that summoning spell, and his limbs felt like lead from the physical backlash.

God, he was hoping that magic would be comfortable for him to use now. He genuinely wanted to be a mage. Maybe not the best, but at least a pretty decent one. It was why he kept trying to cast through the pain instead of just dropping it like he really should have. Even if Aster was wildly intimidating to him, there was a part of him that was so deeply overjoyed that all of his effort paid off for something. He wasn’t useless or wasting everyone’s time. And Aster had to be a really powerful familiar, and that opened up so many doors for Ayo that had been closed to him for so long. He was tired of being constantly left behind because he was a lost cause. He wanted to be something, to be anything, to be given the time of day.

But first, he needed to get on more even ground with Aster, enter some sort of symbiosis. A familiar and mage were much better off when they worked in sync instead of a mage having to squeeze magic out of them - it was why familiar etiquette was taught in the first place.

“I also don’t know anything about you. Generally only prodigies can summon dragons as familiars, so I never paid attention to any of that. What kind of magic do you do? Is there magic you don’t want to do? You know, stuff like that.”

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster wondered if he had asked the wrong thing, noting that the other started to draw in on himself like a little snail. He looked sad in that moment that Aster sort of felt bad. He didn't know much about humans, but he knew that they were nasty little things half the time. Ayo must've went through alot of hardships getting to this point. There really wasn't much he could do for past Ayo, but surely future Ayo would prosper? That was the goal anyway.

As Ayo spoke he listened. He recalled the other telling him that he was eighteen; so that meant three whole years. Years -and time in general- went by pretty quickly for Aster; but for humans it was probably different. Time flies when you're having fun, though Aster doubted that there was any fun to be had when you can't use magic. What a sad lifestyle to live, he couldn't image. Of course for Aster, he knew how easier magic made things. Oh, poor little human and his poor little suffering. A small part of him felt inclined to at least be of some use, though he was pretty sure that it would be impossible for him not to be. Not to brag or anything but Aster was pretty strong and well versed in magic. It couldn't be that hard to help Ayo, he hoped-

"Well I'm sure you aren't completely useless since you managed to summon a familiar after all" He offered up some form of a really bad pep talk. "So whatever areas you struggled in previously, can be fixed with hard work and proper training now" Alright, not his best pep talk but uh . . . he did something alright. And even though Ayo had flopped onto the bed; he hadn't cried yet. Progress! Trying to cheer people up wasn't his strong suite; so he really hoped that Ayo just felt better soon. Or better yet, magically got happy. That'd be nice, very nice.

Now the conversation was going into a less sad territory. Aster could vibe with that. "Well, aside from the ability to turn from my two forms at will, I possess ice and wind as abilities. I grew up in a cold climate so it was the simplest one to use and master. There really isn't any magic I wouldn't want to do; I'm open to anything that you request of me." Though it seemed that all Ayo wanted was to be able to use his magic without screwing up; valid.

"Would you perhaps like to try using your magic now?" Though on second thought. "Or we could try after you've rested up. You seem to be rather drained at the moment."

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo gave a faint smile at Aster’s encouragement. The delivery was a little awkward but it was nice to have someone who wasn’t his mother believe in his abilities. “Ice...makes sense why you don’t like the heat then.”

Upon hearing Aster’s offer, Ayo sprung into an upright position, the exhaustion fading from his body and giving way to adrenaline-fueled excitement. “Really? You’ll let me?” he asked, grinning so wide his face hurt. “Oh my god this is the best thing ever - yes! I wanna do magic right now!” He got into a cross legged position, rubbing his hands together and wiggling his fingers.

Just one of the basic spells, Ayo reminded himself. Just to get the feel of it.

He took a deep breath in to ground himself, and held out his palms for a simple light-summoning spell. Something most people could do without even thinking about it. He called upon his magic, digging into his power source to fuel the spell-

A bright white light burst from the center of his palms and filled the room, blinding Ayo.

“Ack-!” He dropped the spell in favor of clutching his face, rubbing his watering eyes as the bright light faded. “Ow…”

He groaned and slowly opened them back up, blinking to try and get rid of the massive spots in his slightly blurred vision. Well, guess he was right about how strong Aster was. He was so used to having to scrape the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, that he had no idea how to regulate his magical power.

But it didn’t hurt. Well - the bright light hurt, but the act of calling upon his magic felt...fine. Good, even. Like his hands were humming with raw power. Was that how Aster’s magic felt to him? Was this how magic felt to everyone else? Was this what he has missed out on for so long?

For the first time, using magic felt natural, instinctive.

He looked at Aster, then back down at his palms with wonder. “Holy shit,” he breathed with an astonished laugh. “I did that. Did you see that? That was me!” He laughed again, voice bright and bubbly.

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster had really never seen someone move so fast. One minute Ayo was laying down, the next he was up. Fast and very, very eager it seemed. It made sense though. To go from almost no power to tons of it, it was only natural that he'd want to test it out. His energetic-ness was quite amusing aswell.

Was there something Aster should've said? Maybe some kind of warning to be careful, something along those lines. However before he could say anything at all, Ayo was already holding out his hands. There was a strange tug in Aster's chest and then blinding white light filled the room. uh, ow. Aster winced, throwing his hands up to shield his face. Jeez his eyes, that was really bright. Like seriously-

When the light cleared and he could properly see again, Aster allowed his hands to give one final rub at his eyes before they dropped at his sides again. Then Ayo was talking, rather excitedly at that. It caused a strange feeling to blossom in Aster's chest. No, it wasn't heart failure. It was probably affection but since he'd been living alone for the last billion years; all he did was assume it was some side effect or whatever. Not important.

"I saw" He gave a small head nod in Ayo's direction. "Good job. We'll have to work on moderation, but that was a nice start" Mostly, he didn't want to almost go blind if Ayo ever decided to attempt that spell again. "You seem to be in good spirits now" He noted. "Would you like to try again - less strong of course - so that you can get the hang of it?" Ayo still went to school right? Probably. Though Aster didn't quite recall the cut-off age for humans. So much longer then dragons, and school didn't even teach them how to hunt. Quite useless, if you asked him. "If you remember any magical teachings from school, you could try giving them a go aswell."

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo nodded, still marveling at his hands. “I’m finishing up my last year. I only have a few weeks left. I know all the theory, I’ve just failed every single practical exam. Very bad for my grades. I guess you'll see soon, since you'll probably come with me to school. You'll get a lot of attention, that's for sure." He snorted. "I'm gonna have to pry people away from you."

He beamed up at Aster again at the praise. “Yeah! I can try again. Sorry for blinding you. I’m used to having really weak magic so I guess I underestimated how little I’d need.”

He went to re-try the spell before pausing. He hopped up, going to a desk and rummaging through a drawer filled with knick-knacks that he had no other place for. He grabbed a pair of scratched sunglasses and held them out to Aster.

“Here, wear these over your eyes! Just in case it happens again. I’ll keep my eyes closed, so tell me if I did it right, ‘kay?” He sat back down, getting into a comfortable position, closing his eyes, and putting his palm up.

This time, he tried dipping in a little less, using a lighter touch. What was it that his teachers kept saying? Think of your magical output like a valve. Only open it up a little depending on how much you need.

Ayo’s hands filled with light again. Ayo could see it behind his eyelids. He shut his eyes tighter and focused on trying to lessen the output. If he could pour more into a spell easily, he could do it the other way.

The light dimmed to something more manageable to look at, occasionally flickering brightly before dimming again. It was clear that keeping a steady stream of magic going was difficult for him, but it was a passable version of a light spell.

“Did I do it?” he asked, actively resisting the urge to peek. “It doesn’t look crazy bright, but I dunno.”

 

[Minteafresh]

Attention? Aster wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. His first assumption was that it would be of the good kind, obviously. Of course, that meant people surrounding him, didn't it? That thought didn't sound too fun, he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Ooh that made him a little unsure, none too excited about school. Ew, unwanted attention. As long as nobody tried to touch him, he supposed he'd be fine. Suck it up buttercup, as the saying goes.

He watched Ayo rummage through the drawer and produce a old pair of sunglasses. Where . . . When . . . yeah, nevermind. Of course he couldn't help wiping them off carefully before putting them on his face. If Ayo messed up, he wouldn't suffer as much now.

He watched the light fill Ayo's hands, brightening and dimming here and there. It was good, at the very least. Not too bright thankfully and if they were in a dark room, he'd probably have lit it up fairly well.

"It's good, alot better then last time" Though was it even possible to be worse than before? Probably not. "Practice makes perfect, soon I'll imagine that you'll be able to do alot more" Like what, he wasn't sure. But Ayo seemed to be a fast learner, which was good. Aster had never actually taught anyone, so he'd leave that educational bit for the teachers at school. It didn't mean that he'd rather sit back and see the results of course, we all know teachers aren't that competent.

"Do you have any books on magic?" He asked. "Taking up some form of meditation might be useful, though it's different for everyone"

 

[eirastrid]

He opened his eyes one by one, making a little happy cheer upon seeing his success. He held the light out towards Aster, glowing with pride. “Woohoo!” He brought it closer to his face, inspecting it with glee.

“Wow...thank you so much man! This is so cool! Aa, this rules so hard!” He released the spell with a small giggle, letting it blip out of existence. He could barely contain all of his energy, bouncing his knees up and down repeatedly.

“I can do so much now! ….I wanna make a tornado. No, an ice tornado. Yeah! That would be so awesome,” Ayo said, mostly to himself, grinning like a child who had gotten access to fire for the first time.

Yes, technically Ayo knew that he needed to take things slow - but that’s what he’d been doing for so long. He wanted to do everything! He wanted to know what magic felt like when he could really put his all into it. Even the little bit of magic he had just done felt exhilarating, and he wanted more. At least there was that construction site for practicing in so he didn’t destroy any neighborhoods by accident.

He leaned back on his hands and pouted. “I have some textbooks. I don’t really like meditating. It’s just really boring. I usually end up falling asleep. But I guess I should probably actually start doing it again…”

“How are you dealing with...all this?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. “I mean, I know this is wild for me, but I hope I didn’t pull you from anything important. Oh, and if there’s anything you wanna know, just ask. You’re gonna be here for a while, so we might as well be friends, yeah?”

 

[Minteafresh]

Ayo's joy seemed to grow more and more. It seemed that at this age, humans were still capable of positive emotions. Normally the adolescent humans he recalled were so . . . depressed? Wearing usually all black, listening to ear aching mu- ah yes, emo. Those kids were called emos. He had sort've assumed all humans went through that phase. Was he too late, or too early? Maybe said phase was one that only some humans went through. No . . . He was probably overthinking it. Or at least he hoped he was. He couldn't imagine a emo Ayo, especially when he smiled so brightly like he has won big-time. It was kind of . . . heartwarming to see the little human so happy.

Though, he couldn't help but feel some slight concern. He hoped Ayo didn't decide to start pushing himself to do any and all spells. Well technically it's not like Aster could just tell him not to, humans had wills and whatnot. He just hoped that when Ayo spoke of ice tornadoes, he didn't meant ice tornadoes right now. Hopefully later. I mean granted he could but the room wouldn't be in the best shape afterwards. Actually, probably the house in general. Or the surrounding houses. Or . . . It's best not to think too hard on it.

Aster's brow rose. Mediation? Boring? "My brother wasn't too excited about meditating either. Perhaps you'd benefit better from his method." Though extreme, Aster figured that with the right mindset, such techniques could be used. But for a human? Ok, altered ones, heavily altered. I mean, he doubted Ayo would survive a leap off a cliff. No human would, because they were fragile balls of flesh and bones. Poor things.

"I can't say I'm particularly bothered. Well, perhaps a bit. Only in the sense that someone might move into my old home and take my possessions." Ahh his pretty gold and gem's. He worked hard to get that stuff! And now he's been summoned so that was pretty much thrown out of the window. "But I don't really feel a certain way about being summoned. This decade seems rather peaceful, it's much better then if there was a war going on." Because ya'know, that would be significantly less cool.

Let's see, did he have any questions? Thinking about it, he shook his head. "No current questions at the moment I suppose. Though is there anything I should know for the future? Earth rules change so much" Like seriously. One second, humans are all fighting over land and the next, they're playing games with people from other lands. Deeply confusing, if you ask him.

 

[eirastrid]

“Like what?” Ayo asked. The version of meditation he was taught had involved sitting and just breathing. Sue him, he got distracted easily by his own thoughts.

He snapped his fingers. “Oh! Well there’s some laws that you should probably know. If you do a crime, like stealing or murder, I’ll be held responsible for them, ‘cuz of the bond. And if there’s any evidence of mistreatment on my part, I’ll also go to jail. There’s familiar protection laws and shit.” He waved his hands in front of him to backtrack, worried he had given off the wrong impression. “Not that I would mistreat you if the laws weren’t in place!”

It wasn't like everyone was happy with those laws. There was a certain sect of mages who believed that familiars were lesser, only meant to bolster a mage’s ability. Most familiars didn’t have Aster’s ability to shift into a human form, which made it easier for a mage to be willing to use them with no consideration. Ayo had seen them on forums, spitting vitriol and hate online. He mostly just felt bad for their familiars.

It wasn't a mentality he had ever considered for his own familiar. Both of his parents had impressed upon him at a young age the way that a familiar was part of the family, and he had taken that to heart. Even if Ayo had to grieve for two when his father passed. And it wasn't like he could take his familiar for granted after going so long without one.

He put his hands back down. “My ma will be home soon. She works pretty late. She’s a tailor that adds small custom spells to clothing.” He smiled again. “I could probably learn to do that and make you some more clothes if you want. Since your current outfit sticks out like a sore thumb.” He looked over to the sewing machine, complete with fabric piles and clothing designs pinned to the walls. “I’m pretty good at it too. I altered a lot of my old clothes when I started transitioning."

 

[Minteafresh]

"His method was a more hands on approach" Aster explained. "Rather then do breathing exercises, he was the sort who best learned magic by using it. He'd bother us for sparring matches and would go into the woods to provoke creatures that he wanted to beat. While I didn't condone his behavior, I think a hands on approach would most likely help teach you better then meditation would.

As expected, bad things like murder were illegal. Good, he'd be very worried if such things weren't. He couldn't say he was too worried about Ayo going to jail. Stealing and murder weren't something he did, ever. Ok well unless you considered hunting to be bad. Then yup, tons of that then. Ayo seemed like a nice kid with no sinister motives. I mean, he just wanted to use his magic properly, nothing wrong with that. But all the same, Aster was glad that those laws for familiars were made. Ah, would've been really useful had they been made sooner though.

He glanced down at his own clothing, then at Ayo's. Yup, clear difference. He wondered what else had changed, perhaps he could get a nice book of history and sit down to give it a read. "I worry that I'd stick out like a sore thumb even if I was in normal human attire" Because ya'know . . . he wasn't a tiny little midget like everyone else, but he'd leave that unsaid. But if he stuck out a little bit less, he didn't mind. "So your mother taught you sewing then?" He guessed. What a good parent, teaching her child life skills. The thought of combining spells with clothes sounded like an interesting concept, wondered how that worked. Though before he could ask, he was hit with a new little word. Transitioning.

At first, Aster thought of butterflies and how they start off as icky little caterpillars. Did humans . . . did they do that? Was that a new kind of human-ing that humans did? How was that possible? Was it slang for something? Probably, humans always had slang for everything. Why couldn't they just say what they meant, they made things far too difficult sometimes. "Transitioning?" He echoed in a confused tone. "What's what?"

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo nodded along. “That makes sense. There’s some exercises where you power a weak spell for a long time, so I could start doing those. I don't wanna fight you though. Or anyone." He had the mental image of Aster picking him up and chucking him like a ball.

“She did teach me.” He let out a quiet laugh. “I kept scraping myself up and getting holes in my clothes, and she was tired of fixin’ ‘em. But I ended up really liking it.”

He went over to the sewing corner, picking up a cup and fishing out rolled up tape measure. “Do you know your own measurements? I mean, yeah, you’ll stick out still, but that’s because you’re an insanely tall guy with pointy ears.” He left out the part where Aster was the kind of pretty that turned heads. He was not looking forward to the experience of having someone hit on his familiar. What was he even supposed to do if that happens? Go ‘whoops, sorry, he’s bound to me and is also a giant dragon?’ Would Aster even realize if someone was flirting with him?

He began to sort through some of his fabric, looking for pieces that would be large enough to cut pieces from. He’d want softer, warmer colors for Aster to match his hair. Flowing fabrics would also look nice on him, and might be cooler in the summer heat.

When Aster asked about what transitioning was, Ayo bit back bouts of laughter, grabbing onto the edge of the table as his shoulder shook. Aster just sounded so genuinely confused. Ayo had just assumed that he had vaguely figured it out when he saw Ayo not wearing his binder. In hindsight, Aster probably didn’t have context. Were there even trans dragons? Ayo hoped so.

“I’m trans,” he explained. “So I was born a girl, realized I was a guy, and I’m transitioning now. So I changed my clothes to look more masculine, I bind, take hormones, stuff like that. It helps me feel a lot more comfortable." He turned back, holding up various fabric colors to try and see what he thought would look the nicest on Aster.

 

[Minteafresh]

Aster gave a small nod. Made sense. Kids - especially the human ones - were always so clumsy. Did all mothers teach their kids that? Probably not. They really should, how else were humans supposed to do anything? Really, Aster was just judging the whole human race.

"No?" He wasn't sure what measurements were, and what tape was for. He was oh so confused. Did he need to know how tall he was or something? Did Ayo plan on just, sewing him a whole outfit or something? While that did sound touching and all, that also sounded very time consuming; even with a sewing machine. He just let the confusion wash over him as he watched the other go through the fabrics. What he was looking for, Aster had no clue.

When Ayo explaining what transitioning was, Aster nodded. Oh, yeah that made sense. "Oh, so you're like a shapeshifter" He said, which was his level of understanding. Changing his appearance to become their preferred self; made tons of sense now. While Aster wasn't a hundred percent on what hormones did, he sort've understood the overall concept.

He looked at the different colors, wondering if he was meant to help. I mean probably not, he was sure that Ayo knew what he was doing. It was strange to think that these little pieces of fabrics could be changed to full outfits. Maybe the humans weren't such disasters if they could take simple things, and turn them into complex clothing. Not that he thought badly of humans or anything but ya'know . . . they were humans.

"Do you plan on making the clothing from scratch?" He asked in slight concern. "If it's what you prefer, I don't see anything wrong with it of course. But that sounds really . . . time consuming?" Like, really really time consuming. Did Ayo even have that much time on his hands? Maybe he did, in that case it didn't matter as much.

 

[eirastrid]

“Yeah, I figured. That’s okay.” Ayo put aside some white fabric to the side as well as some lighter warm colors.

Aside from his general enjoyment for making clothing, he also wanted to prove to Aster that he could accomodate for him. Aster was also going to be too tall for most chain clothing stores, and Ayo would much rather make something wholesale then have to pick from a very small selection.

“Shapeshifting huh… Yeah, I can see it.” Ayo smiled to himself. It was oddly endearing, seeing Aster try to relate to him through a draconic lens. Maybe he didn’t quite get any of the nuance, but that was fine by Ayo. He wasn’t going to take away from Aster’s lightbulb moment.

“You’re too tall. Most stores won’t carry things in your size that fit nicely. It’ll take a while to make, so you’ll be stuck in that for a while, but it’s fun. I’m graduating soon anyways, so I’ll have lots of free time.” Plus, all his post-graduation plans had gone out the window with Aster’s arrival. He could use a project to do while he figured out magic and what he wanted to do. “Plus, I do wanna practice using magic to speed up the process. I can start working on stuff after I finish all my final exams.”

 

[Minteafresh]

"Oh" So all humans were short, not just Ayo. It made sense for stores to only carry clothing for people of their size. Made him wonder the extent of human height. What was their tallest human? Probably not an impressive height, though did humans even care about height? Did they like all being the same size? Probably, it seemed that it'd make for a less problematic society. Or more, depending on how you looked at it.

Aster gave a small nod at the others words. If Ayo used magic, it'd make things speed up. Then he wouldn't feel so bad taking away the others free time. He wasn't sure which category Ayo fit into, but free time was like a weird concept to most humans; with them always complaining that they didn't have enough of it, or had too much of it. He figured it was the first option; being a human that went to school and whatnot. There seemed to be alot that they had to worry about, like exams. Poor humans and all that work they had to do, seemed really unreasonable if you asked him.

"What exactly do you want to become in the future?" He asked. Aster figured that with the opening of previously closed door, the world was a canvas and Ayo was the painting. That probably wasn't how the saying, but it was close enough.

 

[eirastrid]

Ayo paused and pursed his lips. “I’m not sure. I used to want to be a tailor like my mom, but I kinda wanna keep it as a hobby? I like making clothes but I dunno if I want it to be my whole thing. I got time though, I literally just became an adult anyways. I figure I’ll start getting better at doing magic with you and then see what I like doing the most! Also whatever makes me money.”

If he got good at magic and could do more powerful spells, Ayo could most likely get a job doing whatever he wanted. Powerful mages with strong familiars were always in high demand. Though it was weird - Ayo had never seen a mage with a dragon-shifter familiar. Draconic familiars were always lesser dragons or one of their cousins. Wouldn’t a mage with such a strong familiar be placed in high regard? Ayo brushed it off. There was a good chance he just hadn’t been paying enough attention.

He heard the door opening and was brought out of his train of thought. “Ah, I think she’s home. Come on, you should meet her.” He went out into the living room to see his mother coming in, several bags in tow. She was a short, heavy-set dark-skinned woman with a high ponytail, wearing a blue sundress. Atop her forehead were a pair of tacky pink heart-shaped sunglasses that managed to look in place on her. She had a beauty spot underneath her right eye, and smile lines from age. Sitting on her shoulder was a small sparrow with unnaturally bright markings. She relaxed as soon as she saw Ayo emerge from the hallway.

“Ayo!” She dropped the bags and drew him in for a warm hug, kissing his cheek. “Happy birthday hon! Ah, you’re all grown up now! So big. And congratulations on your familiar! I knew you had it in you!” She pinched Ayo’s cheeks as he squirmed. The sparrow chirped an agreement and flew to sit on Ayo’s head, gently nosing at him with its beak. The little familiar couldn't use human speech, but was very fond of the family.

“Aster!” Ayo called, guiding her over to where Aster was. “Ma, Aster. Aster, Ma. So this is my familiar. He’s a dragon-shifter, which is why he looks like a guy.”

She side-eyed Ayo. “...You sure you didn’t just bring a strange man home?”

Ayo sputtered, offended. “Yes! I swear, he was an enormous dragon a while ago.”

“Kidding, kidding. Now, there was some venison chuck at the butchers, so I got that and some beef. I don’t know how much he needed, so I got a lot. If you could go get that from the car for me, that would be wonderful. I also got us some food from that little dumpling place you like.”

“Oh, yeah, no problem. Be back in a sec, Aster!”