Private Secrets Of The Mind

At first, there was no reaction to Shiro’s knocking. Then, something like a squelching, whimpering howl filled the air from inside the apartment.
”Shut up, Cutie.” Came a faint, familiar voice. More howling. The girl inside groaned, and could be heard stomping towards the door.

The door drew open of its own accord, willed by a minor effort of magic, and on the other side was a haggard-looking Tilly, her hair a tangled mess, wearing blue robes draped over an oversized The Evil Dead t-shirt and some red flannel pajama pants. One of her slippers looked like it’d been used as a chew toy for something with too many teeth. That particular something was currently being held by her collar by Tilly, who was barely restraining her.

”Oh, hey Shiro.” Tilly grunted.

Acute’s three-mawed mouth opened like a blooming flower, revealing rows upon rows of unsettling teeth, and she let out a horrendous growling sound as the small wizard held her back. ”Down, Cutie, she’s a friend!” She shouted at the hound, her voice stern and authoritative. The corner hound continued to pull, causing her to stumble a step forward. Sighing, she reached out and away from herself with her free hand, calling something to it. A small, furry stuffed possum, well-loved and worn, came flying to her grasp.

”Where’s your baby?” She asked the hound, her voice shifting a pitch higher. The cornerhound ceased moving at once, sitting down, and looking straight up at the toy. Her long, hollow tongue traced the edge of her maw. Tilly held the possum high over the hound’s head, and allowed its tail to dip ever so slightly towards her, before jerking it up quickly. Cutie followed it, lunging up and nipping at the possum, which Tilly tossed onto the couch. The hound went barreling after it, and took her place back on one of the two couches, nibbling on the toy a bit before snuggling it contentedly.

Sighing with relief, Tilly stepped towards Shiro, tiredly accepting the kiss. ”Puppies.” She groaned, in the same way a tired parent might. Her features lit up into something more pleasant as Shiro mentioned her very favorite subject, magic. ”Oh, of course. Come on in, I was just making supper.” She said, gesturing for her to follow. The wards shimmered in her presence, seeing as Shiro was one of the few people who Tilly had made contingencies for in her ward, meaning that she (Yes, even she) could enter the house uninvited. Tilly kinda wished she would.

She pulled out a chair for Shiro at the kitchen table, returning to the stove and stirring the pot that was boiling away there. ”Have you eaten? I’m making beer cheese soup. I had some the other day and it’s all I’ve been thinking about.”

Tilly nodded, ladling two bowls of soup, which she placed on plates, along with large pretzels. She set the plates on the table, still carrying the conversation as she returned to the icebox. She drew out something wrapped in several shopping bags, and dumped its contents into a shallow dish by the counter, hidden from view of the table. Tilly didn’t like to watch her dog eat.
”’Cutie, dinner.” She called, and the hound padded over eagerly from her spot on the couch.

That done, she had a seat at the table, breaking a piece of her pretzel off and dunking it in the soup. ”oh, ‘emchmantment?” She said through a mouthful, swallowing hard. ”You know, lots of people ask me for love potions, but I didn’t expect that from you.” She said wryly, resting her head in her hand.

”I’m pretty good with enchantment magic, yeah. Mostly I can charm and read minds, I don’t really mess around with things on the Mindflayer end of the spectrum much, but I’ve used domination spells on monsters before.” She said, assessing her abilities as succinctly as she could. ”-never people, though.” She added hastily.

Her response almost made Tilly choke on her next bite of pretzel. She swallowed hard, setting down her spoon. ”Oh.” She blinked. ”Wow, sorry, that was a bad joke.” She apologized, flustered and red in the face. Cringing internally, she put a hand on Shiro’s, her expression concerned. She listened intently, forsaking the soup, until she finally made her request.

”Oh, no, you’re fine. I should have known better, honestly.” She said, taking the blame. She didn’t want Shiro to feel even worse about all this, after all. ”Like a mental ward? Yeah, I could help with that.” She said, drumming her fingers against the table thoughtfully. ”I could teach you a spell to block out any enchantments that might be levied on you, but you’d have know it was coming, or still be in your own mind enough to cast the spell.”

Then, she stood from the table, crossing to a little jewelry box that she had next to her workbench. ”Or I could make you something that does it automatically. A ring or a necklace or something.” She added, drawing a little jeweled pendant from her collection. She usually used steel bands when she made people enchanted items, finding them more cost effective and simple to work with, so this gesture was pretty grandiose for Tilly.

Tilly winced when she mentioned her past experience with enchantment magic. She felt really foolish, having just bragged about how talented she had grown with it. In truth, she’d become even better since she’d begun training with Caissa, but she had always had a natural predilection for the art. Heck, her skills with enchantment was the main reason that Cutie obeyed her commands.

”Of course.” She smiled dumbly, glancing down at the necklace she was holding. A choker seemed way more Shiro’s style, anyways, but she didn’t have any on hand. She liked to keep things simple, and necklaces were just a jewel on a string. Still, a choker wouldn’t be too hard for her. ”Can you make me a gem?” She asked, digging through her little workshop as she spoke.

She produced a bit of black velvet, which she affixed a few chains to to allow it to be closed at the back. Then, she drew a few pieces of silvery metal from her box, twisting it in her hands. It bent and warped with the ease of putty, thanks to a minor effort of magic, and soon she had shaped it into an intricate design. She knew what Shiro was about, so she formed it into a baroque pattern and fused it to the velvet, working in her own personal touches, with a motif of shields dotting the pattern. That done, she produced a silver chain to accent the work, and joined it at the center and the back. At the center of the piece, she worked a pentacle, an arcane symbol of protection, and a personal signature of Tilly.

Proud of her work, she laid it on the table for Shiro to see and admired her handiwork.
”Set your gem in the center there, and I’ll fuse it. I’ll need a day to actually weave the enchantment. I can have it done for you by this weekend, probably.”