nexus_crossings | (no subject)

(no subject)

Hermione is back in the Nexus. She sits at a large table, with several computer parts scattered out in front of her. She is reading a large book in her lap, that she is writing in as she studies some of the technology in front of her.

Crookshanks is keeping her company today. He is laying on a keyboard, watching her lazily. Every now and then Hermione puts a piece of technology on a separate part of the table, and waves her wand over it. Whatever the spell is, it doesn't work at first. But Hermione just makes some notes over what happened.

She then smiles up at the Nexus. "What is something new you have learned recently? Did it change how you look at your life?"

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He doesn't show it, but the praise is nice. It's feels good to be appreciated for something other than hoisting heavy pieces of furniture around.

Her reading of the runes gets him to smile wryly. "Sounds right on the money," he says with some amusement. "Tell you what... sometimes you need to shield electronics from one another to avoid interference. I could send you a list of options. Maybe you could use one of those while you're trying out spells."

"That would be greatly appreciated, Caspar."

"It's no problem." Sounds like he means it, too.

He gives Crookshanks another ear scratch. "How's the alarm system holding up?" He frowns a little, remembering the need for it in the first place. "Did that crazy witch get taken care of?"

"You would have to ask Hunter about that. I don't stay with him anymore."

Hermione frowns slightly. "She was found guilty at her trial. She will be put to death."

The trouble is, he hasn't met Hunter yet. Looking a little shy, he mutters something about Adia getting in touch with him.

"Does that bother you?" he asks curiously. "Her being put to death?" He took capital punishment as sort of standard operating procedure for humans, but he knows it doesn't sit well with everyone. But hey -- one less psycho in the Nexus. He's not complaining.

"Caspar." Hermione speaks softly. "Hunter is a 4. You, as a 6, will find that you both have a great deal in common. I encourage you to meet him."

Hermione pauses again. She runs her fingers through Crookshanks fur. "No. But I had to reveal something about my torture to the whole court. And that bothered me."

Hmm. He's been told that before about Nexus people, with varying degrees of failure. But the numbers don't lie. "If it has your seal of approval, then I suppose I'm game," he replies with a wry smile.

Her admission doesn't surprise him. He witnessed some unpleasant torture firsthand. That leaves scars people are unwilling to share. "It's like she got to stick you with one last 'frak you' by having to talk about it," he guesses.

"I shared my memories with the court. So they could all see what she was capable of. I just didn't talk about it..." Hermione sighs. "I relived it."

He may not know the ins-and-outs of magic yet, but he's bright enough to take Hermione literally. "Sounds unpleasant," he says, grimacing. He rubs the back of his neck and looks away, not entirely sure what to do with this sudden feeling of empathy. "You should talk to Adia about that... she knows what that's like."

Hermione nods slightly. Then she gestures to her computer parts. "So which ones did you want to take?"

He looks down at the computer parts, all business again, secretly relieved by the change of subject. "I'll take the motherboard," he replies, leaning over and tapping the large, circuit-filled green square. "It gets fried easily."

"Motherboard." Hermione makes some notes in her journal. "I appreciate it."

"Here..." Hermione reaches into her beaded bag, and pulls out a few potions. "You can experiment with these."

"No problem," he replies, right before she hands him the potions. "I... okay? What do they do, though?"

He needs a bag to carry this stuff back. "I'm going to go home and get something to bring this home," he tells her while pulling his PINpoint out of his pocket. "I'll be right back."

"The light blue one is a floating spell. The other one is a shrinking spell. Be careful using them." Hermione advises him.

"Of course." Like he's going to mess with floating or shrinking magic. No thanks.

When he returns from his errand, he is not only holding a bag, but a couple of wrapped presents. "Adia reminded me that we got you presents for the holidays." He puts one in front of Hermione. Inside the red-and-green box is a collection of dried plants collected from all over the island, each little clear container labeled with its contents.

"This one's for you, little man," Caspar says as he places a second, smaller package in front of Crookshanks. This box is unwrapped so the cat can whack the lid off himself, if he chooses. Inside is a cat toy in the shape of a golden snitch.

"Oh wow!" Hermione was not expecting any belated presents. She opens her box, with a little ohh over the dried plants that were collected.

"These are awesome!"

And then she laughs at the cat toy in the shape of the golden snitch. Crookshanks sniffs it, then places his paw over it. Mine.

"How did she know about the Snitch?"

That gets another smile out of him. "Adia will be happy to hear that you liked it. She spent a whole day collecting samples."

As for the cat toy, Caspar can't help but smile at that, too. "I knew about it. I was looking up information on magic in the Library and came across an entire section devoted to magical sports. Quidditch is very popular." Not really one for sports, Caspar enjoyed reading about it briefly. "That's right, buddy," he adds to Crookshanks. "It's all yours."

Carefully he packs up the motherboard and potions into the padded bag he brought with him. "I'll let you know how it goes."

"Thanks Caspar. And hey... next time we get together, I will take you and Adia to a Quidditch game." Hermione offers, with a smile.

There's a pause while Caspar gets his PINpoint back out. A small look of surprise before his subdued smile quirks back to life. "Sure. She'd like that."

So would he, even if he doesn't say it out loud. A bunch of witches and wizards on broomsticks beats a game of Pyramid any day.

"See you later, Seven," he says with a dry chuckle before teleporting home.

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