Roots

A hot breath rolls down my otherwise cold naked back.

“You are- spectacular.” He says, breaking the delicate silence we’ve maintained over the last few minutes.

“Not the first time I’ve been called a spectacle, dude. Are you gonna get working, or are you going to just keep drooling?”  I feel his gaze on me, but I don’t dare meet it.

“You… are such a fucking asshole. I’m just making observations. These readings are like nothing I’ve seen before from someone, wizard or otherwise.” I feel a weight on my lower back as he straddles me. “Now, you might feel a slight pressure. And some heat, I’m starting with black obsidian ink sourced from the plane of fire. But relax, I’ve been practicing.”

I let out a sharp gasp as the needle goes into the skin at my shoulder, and what feels like blazing fire and sharp pain with every prick starts. “So Zabelle, how exactly is this supposed to make me pass Transmutation 211?”

The silence returns for a few minutes, but it feels like eternity between the tapping noise, the acrid smoke hanging in the air, and the heat from what looks like eight thousand four hundred and twelve herb-scented candles lit around the room. I twist my neck around to look up at him. His brows are furrowed, his eyes are squinting and he’s biting his lip ever so slightly the way he always does when he’s focusing really hard on something. His nose gets all scrunched up too, and from his nose, his freckles roll out, spreading across his face and down his neck to… His glasses flash with candlelight as he turns his head, meeting my gaze. I blink a few times and look back down. “You didn’t answer my question, Lucas.”

“What question?” he says, shifting his weight and reaching over to his collection of inks and needles, supposedly to switch out his components. I’m proven right by the icy chill that spreads outward from the point of contact near my spine. “Oh, right! Well, remember last week, when I used you as a conduit, an anchor point to summon those Smoke Mephits?”

“I remember the ash you used made me smell like burnt garbage through eight baths. I couldn’t get laid no matter how hard I tried.” Silence again. Man, he must be focusing hard. After what felt like another eternity, he spoke.

“Right, well, as… stinky… as it was, it was very informative. Whatever the reason, whatever your parents did to make you shoot beams of light whenever you have a tantrum, it seems like it’s connected you to all of the planes- or at least, the astral sea that connects them.” I try my best to follow along. Good thing he can’t see my face. “As I’m sure you’ve realized, the Prime Material is one of, if not the least magical of all the planes in the currently-mapped cosmology. If you found a way to draw on here, or here,” he touches different points on my back where I assume he’s completed parts of his rendition of the lost planar tree, “You’d have a lot easier of a time producing the magical power required for your practical classes, Transmutation 211 included. As for the theory classes, our study sessions are going… Well?”

Eager to change the subject from my objective areas of failure, I clear my throat. “I thought the planar tree was chopped down, anyway?”

“Burned.” He says with an intensity I can’t quite place.

“Well, whatever it is. It’s gone, how am I supposed to draw power from it?” He starts with a new ink, this one fills the right side towards the bottom of my ribcage with a feeling of… despair? What the fuck did I get myself into?

“It’s more of a metaphor here. It’s invoking the spirit, the concept of the planar tree. You seem to have some sort of innate connection, not unlike the tree did. I don’t think I could explain it to you.”

My mouth curls into a frown involuntarily, and there’s an unwelcome feeling behind my face. “You could try to explain it. I would listen.”

Lucas smacks me on the back playfully, shaking me a little, “Evander, Come on, I didn’t mean- I… It’s just hard to describe, okay. It’s not like someone could physically enter you-” He coughs. “I didn’t mean that! I just-”

 It’s cute when he gets flustered. It’s good to know I’m not the only one that puts my foot in my mouth. Besides, I’d have to be dumb as everyone else thinks I am to think my roommate is flirting with me right now, besides, he’s definitely more into people who can understand what he’s talking about more than half of the time. “I mean, it’s not like someone could step through you and go somewhere else. I don’t think you’re the planar tree incarnate, but you could be, like, a seed?”

I nod as he switches inks again, and I feel hatred fill my lower back. “Right, so I’m a seed. You’re right, I’m not gonna fucking get this. Thanks for trying buddy.”

“Sure thing.” Lucas almost whispers.

So, we sit in excruciating silence for the next however long it takes to finish what might be a masterpiece or a hot mess. Finally, he gets off of me and wipes away the excess ink and blood with a damp cloth. I let out a sigh of relief as he opens the window and the cool air blows across my back, which feels to be on literal fire.

“Okay, roll over, I have to do the other side.”

“FUCK!”