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starter for formerhighking
Feb. 17th, 2025 03:22 pmQuentin is a bad pet; he's aware of that. He's aware that he's insanely lucky that for some reason, a young Julia Wicker had looked at his anxiety-ridden, clinically-depressed self and thought yeah, that's the one for me. He's not even that cute to make up for all the difficulty involved in keeping him healthy and functional. So he wouldn't have blamed Julia if - when he somehow slipped through the cracks at Brakebills with her when she was invited to take her entrance exam - she'd decided keeping him here would be too much trouble to manage and shipped him off to a shelter while she gets her magical education.
Instead, somehow, it's arranged for him to stay. He's not a student - he's technically considered a Familiar, which is officially because pets have a different relationship to magic than humans though he suspects it also has something to do with formal magical educators being snobby as hell - but he gets to sit in on classes that Julia attends. He's not considered a magician but he's still learning magic, which is absolutely mind-blowing.
The main hitch to the situation is that, as a first-year student who didn't even know magic existed until she was accepted at Brakebills, Julia's not considered adept enough to be responsible for a Familiar. Somehow, this resulted in Eliot Waugh, the upperclassman who'd found Quentin after he managed to stumble onto the grounds of the school, stepping up and saying he'd accept responsibility for Quentin as his Familiar, at least until Julia was deemed ready. So they have a sort of shared custody situation happening, with Quentin staying at the Physical Kids Cottage with Eliot and meeting Julia for classes and things. It's - strange, and disconcerting especially at first, but it's working surprisingly well, for the most part.
Today, though?
Well, he's not hiding, exactly. But there's no classes today, and sometimes Quentin just feels the need to find somewhere quiet, where he can curl up and get away from people for a little while. And he didn't tell Eliot where he was going. But he's still in the Cottage, just tucked away in a sort of attic/storage closet that he'd found in the first two weeks staying at the Cottage. It's not very large or well-used, judging from the amount of dust he'd had to banish with some simple cleaning spells, but it's a perfect place for Quentin to lie down when he's feeling a bit overstimulated by the comings and goings of the Cottage inhabitants. At some point, he'd spread out a couple blankets from a linen closet to make it extra cozy, and he's currently curled around a cushion stolen from the main living area of the Cottage. The only thing that could make it better is if there was a window to let in some sunlight, but nothing can be perfect.
Instead, somehow, it's arranged for him to stay. He's not a student - he's technically considered a Familiar, which is officially because pets have a different relationship to magic than humans though he suspects it also has something to do with formal magical educators being snobby as hell - but he gets to sit in on classes that Julia attends. He's not considered a magician but he's still learning magic, which is absolutely mind-blowing.
The main hitch to the situation is that, as a first-year student who didn't even know magic existed until she was accepted at Brakebills, Julia's not considered adept enough to be responsible for a Familiar. Somehow, this resulted in Eliot Waugh, the upperclassman who'd found Quentin after he managed to stumble onto the grounds of the school, stepping up and saying he'd accept responsibility for Quentin as his Familiar, at least until Julia was deemed ready. So they have a sort of shared custody situation happening, with Quentin staying at the Physical Kids Cottage with Eliot and meeting Julia for classes and things. It's - strange, and disconcerting especially at first, but it's working surprisingly well, for the most part.
Today, though?
Well, he's not hiding, exactly. But there's no classes today, and sometimes Quentin just feels the need to find somewhere quiet, where he can curl up and get away from people for a little while. And he didn't tell Eliot where he was going. But he's still in the Cottage, just tucked away in a sort of attic/storage closet that he'd found in the first two weeks staying at the Cottage. It's not very large or well-used, judging from the amount of dust he'd had to banish with some simple cleaning spells, but it's a perfect place for Quentin to lie down when he's feeling a bit overstimulated by the comings and goings of the Cottage inhabitants. At some point, he'd spread out a couple blankets from a linen closet to make it extra cozy, and he's currently curled around a cushion stolen from the main living area of the Cottage. The only thing that could make it better is if there was a window to let in some sunlight, but nothing can be perfect.
