Fifteen Bells: [ACTION/WRITTEN]

[simplestgift]

[Archie woke up yesterday.  How is this new?  Well, after getting some fairly critical stab wounds from Grell, he was put on a ventilator and kept under sedation for a few days.  The ventilator was exchanged for a less impressive-looking concentrator yesterday and he was taken off sedation.  He spent yesterday sleeping anyway, since anesthesia doesn't generally leave you bright-eyed immediately afterward.

This morning, he is talking and eating Jell-o, which is a new experience. The most important bit comes written on the journal network in wobbly handwriting courtesy of the heart monitor clipped on his finger.]

I have been informed that I may have visitors. I'd like to know everyone is all right.

Kennedy

[Anyone who comes in will find him looking predictably weak and pale but lucid and in good spirits, or possibly catnapping after a dose of painkillers.

OOC: Purely for the sake of mercy, Archie is unaffected by the event.]

Comments

[simplestgift]

[He releases a breath at the word delaying. That's better than giving up.]

I doubt we'd have let you. I'm not sure how I feel about enchantments.

[consultmybooks]

[He snorts.] I'm not sure how I feel about enchantments, most days.

Living with Helios has done a lot for that, if only because I've had to depend on his magic more than once. And the spell in question is...really only good for gods, or beings that are as powerful as gods.

But Buffy and I have used to it to good effect, in the past. I do understand why she returned to it, even though it did absolutely no good in the end.

[simplestgift]

I've never used them. We hear strong words about witchcraft, if ever it's mentioned.

[consultmybooks]

Understandable, given your home world.

...I'm not a witch. I'm just...very good at "monkey see, monkey do." Willow and Tara were the only ones with power of their own.

[simplestgift]

I think I understand. There's something different between magic and witchcraft, though I can't put my finger on it.

[consultmybooks]

Yes, there is. It's a difference that's even harder to puzzle out here. But I suppose I could phrase it like this.

"Magic" is something anyone can do, with the right materials to hand and enough stubborn willpower. "Witchcraft" is something only a chosen few could manage, like Willow or Tara. Something you're born with.

[simplestgift]

I thought something more along the lines of magic being [he waves a hand] a part of the world around you, somehow.

[consultmybooks]

The energy is there for anyone to make use of, yes.

But until it is made use of, it might as well be air.

[simplestgift]

What does it do when it isn't being used?

[consultmybooks]

Nothing at all. Sometimes it reacts to other factors - the Hellmouth, or a particularly powerful demon, or a Slayer. But otherwise, nothing.