she doesn’t really think about it much, after three-ish years here, but kingsport has always felt a little small to her. it’s not brooklyn, for sure, and manhattan kinda laughs in its face, but... it also feels a little friendlier, feels like someone is less likely to knock you over and then yell at you for getting in their way.

it means she’s a little more relaxed, feels comfortable enough to buy a frappucino and go out into justice square to take in the sun, do some sketching. the notebook is cluttered with ritual circles and little caricature figures in front of the big imposing architecture alike, little squiggly doodles between the careful straight lines. she likes to watch the people, draw until the sugar crash from the drink makes her too tired to focus. her favourite spot is the fountain opposite the statue, and that’s where kamila is now, idly kicking her legs as she follows the movement of the girl with the eye-catching turquoise hair, doing some kind of weird performance. the colour is pretty cool. she wonders what brand of dye the girl is using. maybe she should a-

oh.

kamila’s had it happen a few times, but when people walk through other, seemingly regular people it’s always kind of a surprise. the man in the suit who did the passing-through is still walking without the faintest care so it’s probably the girl who’s the weird one.

she gets up, brushing the dust from the back of her legs, and slowly approaches with her sketchpad under her arm. “hey, uh. excuse me, are you okay? are you stuck here, or just...?”

the finely feathered edges of her outline is the only giveaway - she’s certainly not much like most of the spirits kamila’s ever encountered.

Electromancer

“... uh, yeah.”

kamila’s confusion shows on her face. she’d sort of thought she was being obvious about it. “i mean... uh, you’re a spirit, right? or a ghost?” most of the spirits she’s met have been fine with the bluntness over their ‘condition’, but the ghosts of the dead are a lot touchier, and she wants to be as friendly as possible. even now, she murmurs the few words of the short spell under her breath, draws the circle in the air with her fingertips. it’s the work of a second, and she lowers her hand to touch the other girl’s sleeve.

there’s the faintest resistance, substance under her hand, the fizzing energy of the under-realms given the most delicate semblance of form, and kamila takes her hand away before it can get really awkward. she extends it in a handshake instead, a little smile on her lips.

“i’m kamila. i’m, um. the word is vještice, it just kind of means... ghost witch, basically. so, yeah, i can see you. i was just wondering if you were... okay. there aren’t usually many spirits walking around kingsport just for fun so close to the mortal plane.”

Electromancer

kamila flails wildly at the shriek, startled, dropping her sketchpad and taking a stiff half-step back. she probably looks ridiculous to an outside observer. but she’s almost immediately trying to fix it. “hey, whoa, whoa, it’s not that unusual! i’m not gonna hurt you!” she has both hands up, trying to calm the other girl. “calm down, please!”

she has to sheepishly bend down to pick up the pad again, holding her skirt down at the back.

her smile is bright but gentle. “yeah, i mean... conserve your energy. freaking out will take a lot out of you. you wanna come out of lady justice’s plinth, or...?”

the explanation isn’t the most comprehensive, but it’s not like the poor girl is asking for a lesson on it. she lets the wonky pronounciation by without a care, just giving a renewed grin. “nice to meet you too, alice. i kind of meant, like... i mean, you know ghosts aren’t really supposed to linger on this plane, right? usually it’s because they’re unhappy, or stuck where they are or something. is that... y’know, sounding familiar? or are you just kinda... around?”

after all, this is the first time she’s met a mortal-plane ghost that wasn’t despondent and/or crying, or trying to outright hurt people. “can you move around? you wanna come sit with me?”

Electromancer

kamila is sympathetic. she’s met a few spirits reluctant to move on, and she’s not the sort of hard-hearted person who would try and force them. she just listens until the cheery conclusion, a little laugh at the joke.

“i wouldn’t, don’t worry! not unless you were trying to hurt people, and even then i don’t actually have all of my kit with me. i’d have to improvise, and that’s... hard. you’d get to watch me try to give myself a papercut or something.” she shrugs.

she’s smiling as she follows, watching the ghost girl sit down. “does that happen a lot, or only when people startle you?” it’s a little teasing, but kamila is already sitting down next to her, flipping her sketchbook open again to one of the more elaborate filled pages, a miniature ritual circle of her own design, intricate little designs picked out in silver ink. she picks out the purple pencil from the jumbled assortment in the pocket of her bag, starting to write around the outside in tiny little letters.

“is it rude of me to ask what it is you’re still trying to do?” she looks over at alice as she asks it, innocent curiosity on her face.

Electromancer

the flurry of questions throws her for a second - she can only process so much at once. “u-uh, if i want to do banishment against the spirit’s will, then yeah, i’ve got to use a little bit of blood. the magic i know is circles, mostly, with incantations and stuff. i carry chalk with me all the time so i don’t get caught short, see?” the little pack of chalks is right there in her pocket, the colours bright above their paper wrappers. “mostly i summon spirits who are on nearby planes, near ours, y’know? and then i make bodies out of earth for them to control. or concrete, asphalt, that kinda stuff.” kamila tucks a stray lock of silvery-dyed hair behind her ear, smiling. “sure, i’d love to see it!”

she laughs at that, directing the page towards alice to better show her. “i’m trying to design one that’s specific to nature spirits, right? mostly i end up calling all sorts, and while the ghosts of people who’ve died are usually way happier to help out, spirits born of natural energy are a lot stronger. they stay smarter in the bodies i make for them, ‘cause it doesn’t take so many of them to control it. you know how there are those twitch channels where the audience play the game?” she grins, marking another line of letters. “the colours are important, too, so i have to kind of experiment. like, black is a colour for safety and grounding, so marking the main circle in black will make sure nothing malicious is gonna come through.”

the refusal is something she kind of expected. it doesn’t bother her much. “sure, i get that. most ghosts are pretty quiet about it.”

Electromancer

she can’t keep from grinning - enthusiasm is a pretty rare reaction to her particular talents, and it’s enough to get her a little giddy. “i... i mean, i guess? it usually takes way more than just one ghost, most of the time, but...” kamila glances around, scanning, eyes settling on the stone tiles behind the nearest other bench. “... i mean i can make a really little one and you can try?” her tone is a little conspiratorial.

“yeah!” she gestures vaguely. “especially water spirits. kingsport is right on the hudson, right? so you get them gathering near the river. depending on where you are sometimes you can even contact sea-spirits, which is... i mean, those guys are pretty angry most of the time, but they’re pretty strong.”

“oh, sure! just gimme a sec...-” kamila rummages in her bag, coming out with her phone after a few seconds - the clear hardcase is covered in scratched-in designs, stained on with ink. “here!” she sets it on the bench between them, sketchbook abandoned on her knees. “now what...?”

Electromancer

“yeah. i mean, only if you want, but i’m just saying, i could make you a pretty sweet tiny stone lion.” her tone is mischievous. “well, whatever shape, but i like animals. they’re pretty easy to form and even if you make ‘em out of dirt they run faster than human shapes, usually.”

the equivalence makes her laugh, and she nods. “pretty much, right? like... all the old didusiv at home, who used to work on the docks? pretty much them.”

she genuinely flinches at the lack of fanfare, picking up the phone to gaze in wonder. her mouth is hanging open, but it’s not like kamila has ever been prim and proper. “bozhe miy, oh my god that’s so cool,” she intones, awed. “so you can, like. get into all the stuff on my phone like that? like you can see my contacts and emails and stuff?”

Electromancer