‘How am I supposed to keep my hands off you until the party finishes?’
‘Self-control? I like your dress, by the way. Those zippers are very tempting.’
‘You’re evil. Self-control is second nature to you. I have to work at it.’
‘Oh, but you will control yourself, Madam President. Otherwise, I’ll have to punish you later.’
Mitsuko made a little whimpering sound. ‘Evil,’ she said. ‘Totally evil.’
~~~
‘Okay,’ Melissa said, ‘here’s something I don’t get. It’s been bugging me for a while so… Spell complexity. It’s measured in Tammys, which is really cute, but it doesn’t really seem to be about how complex a spell is. I mean, it is, but it isn’t.’
‘We’re at a party,’ Mitsuko said, ‘and we’re discussing metaphysics. How sad is that?’
‘Can’t dance all the time. So, like, um, Armour, for example. First rank Armour is a twenty-three Tammy spell. I did the math. With difficulty, but I did it, and I get why it’s twenty-three Tammys. But second rank Armour is thirty-four Tammys and the higher the rank, the higher the complexity. Except that second rank isn’t more complex than first rank, it’s just… tougher.’
‘That,’ Rochester said, ‘is because “complexity”’ – he made air quotes with his fingers for emphasis – ‘is being used in an unconventional manner. Metaphysical complexity is actually a measure of the resistance reality has to a particular sorcerous manipulation.’
‘That’s also a simplification,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Part of the complexity is actually how conventionally complex a spell is. Every spell requires the magician to process information about how it’s going to work and the perceptions of reality which must be overridden to make it happen. The more difficult it is to do that, the higher the complexity of the spell.’
‘But,’ Nava continued, ‘what Suki just said leads into what Chess said. The “perceptions of reality which must be overridden.” It’s harder to make reality think you can stop a bullet than it is to make it think you can stop a knife. Part of the complexity rating of a spell is the magnitude of the perturbation of the Q-field you need to generate to make the spell work.’
‘Oh! That’s what that term means!’ Revelation had, apparently, dawned upon Melissa. ‘Come to a party, learn something new. Who’d have thought it possible?’
‘Not me,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I thought we did things like this when we got together for study sessions.’
‘We do.’ Melissa giggled. ‘Chess and I have paused for metaphysics discussions during sex.’ She frowned. ‘I mean, when we’re taking a break. We don’t suddenly stop to talk about magic.’ She glanced at Rochester to discover that he was scarlet. Luckily, the illusions were shading toward night now and the sunset colouration made it harder to tell how embarrassed he was. ‘That might have been too much information,’ Melissa admitted.
‘I don’t know,’ Nava said. ‘I’m always up for hearing more about your sex life.’
‘I’m going to assume that was sarcasm.’ Melissa looked at Mitsuko. ‘Should we be mingling?’
‘Well, I’ve mingled,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘I’ve even dragged a couple of reluctant first years out to dance.’ She glanced at Nava. ‘Not this reluctant first year, but some. I’m taking a mingle break.’
‘Oh. Seems fair.’
‘Have you seen Courtney?’
‘Uh, yes. That’s an un-Courtney outfit she’s wearing. Maybe she has a wild side.’
‘A shiny metallic-purple microdress with nothing over the stomach and a low-cut top. It’s not necessarily something I’d expect to see her in, no. She does look good though.’
‘It’s the purple that got me,’ Nava said. ‘High-heeled purple pumps with an ankle strap too. She’s usually in more muted colours.’
‘I believe the term would be eye-catching,’ Rochester said, happy to have the conversation shift away from his bedroom habits.
‘That’s a good phrase, sure. I mean, she’s hardly the only one. People have really come out of their shells tonight. Marie Royce is in a scarlet mini that barely hides her assets. She’s always struck me as the quiet type.’
‘Not according to rumour,’ Mitsuko said, lowering her voice to conspiratorial levels. ‘If you believe the gossip, she has a different man in her bed every night.’
‘I don’t,’ Melissa said. ‘Believe the rumours, I mean. For starters, that seems like far too much work. Some nights, everyone wants to curl up with a mug of hot chocolate and a book.’
‘I never have,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I don’t like hot chocolate. I don’t actually believe the rumours entirely though. Still, I’ve never seen her with the same man twice. Maybe she has commitment issues.’ Mitsuko shrugged. ‘Anyway, it’s not entirely out of character for her to be wearing something outrageous.’
‘What about Darius?’ Melissa asked. ‘Have you seen him?’
‘Uh, no, I don’t think I have.’
‘He’s wearing this iridescent shirt. Sort of a metallic rainbow. It’s loose, like Chess’s. I can’t help but think he’s looking for someone to take back to his apartment tonight.’
‘Darius has a thing for blondes, or so I’ve heard.’ Mitsuko looked around at Nava. ‘You’d better be careful.’
‘I doubt he could overcome his aversion to support students,’ Nava replied. ‘Not without alcohol anyway and there’s none on offer.’
‘He’s going to be at the symposium, isn’t he?’ Melissa asked.
‘Yes,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘As a general attendee. Kyle is doing the same, though that’s partially because I persuaded Courtney to help us with the panel. She is also interested in a couple of the other panels. There’s one on sorcery and how it relates to the ASF’s policing role she said she had to go see.’
‘They’re coming to this townhouse of yours, right?’ Nava asked. ‘Courtney and Kyle. If you’ve invited Darius–’
‘I have not invited Darius. Courtney and Kyle will be arriving on Wednesday. They have a few things to wrap up here before they can leave. Technically, so do I, but Darius has agreed to do the legwork so that we can do the prep work for the symposium. It’s just admin and he’ll flag anything to me which needs my attention.’
‘Is he getting soft? Volunteering to handle
