Edmund flinched again, scrambling off of Lumi. "m-m-my apologies." He stuttered, before gaining interest in the source of the sound. He slowly approached the window, gasping as he stared out at the much different world.
"By Lucifer's beard… what awe…"
Lumi sighed softly and got to his feet as well. "You'll have to see a nicer part of town. It's super dirty and dangerous over here. New York has some great attractions and stuff, but they're not gonna be especially close to here. What other questions do you have? Keep in mind that I'm not educated and don't know everything."
Edmund just kept staring, entranced by the oddities outside. "Doth thou possess a metal beast? And what is that wonderful smell? And why art that man giving out powder? I am so very intrigued, Lumi!" He exclaimed happily, turning around to meet their gaze.
"No, I don't have a car, I don't know what the smell is, and… uh… pretty sure that guy's a drug dealer. Best to stay away from him." Lumi closed the blinds so the man wouldn't see them inside. "He won't like it if he knows we're watching him."
Edmund started to complain, before deciding Lumi probably knew best. "Mayhap I get rid of him? I am in the possession of a multitude of knowledge on the subject." He said brightly.
"Uh… murder is pretty illegal nowadays, so I wouldn't recommend killing him, if that's what you're suggesting." Lumi replied warily. "Just leave him be. I'm sure the police will catch him. I should probably work on conditioning you to modern life before you go out and get a job…"
Edmund sighed and nodded, slowly stepping back from the window. "What jobs doth I need to possess in order to help lord Lumi? I am but a peasant, I doubt anyone shall hire me…" He trailed off, rubbing his arm.
"Dunno. Whatever you can get, I guess, although that might be a bit hard since you don't have any previous work experience that I know of." Lumi shrugged. "I'm sure you'll find a job at a grocery store or something. That's just a big place where we can buy food."
Edmund raised his hand. "I hath worked fields and raised cows! And often mother would have me fetch water! Thus, I do have experience." His eyes widened at Lumi's last statement. "A big place that is full of food?? How bizarre!"
"Uh… you don't really have experience with retail jobs or fast food. Registers are something you'll need to learn how to work, probably. We don't have a lot of farmhand jobs in the middle of a city, and you wouldn't make all that much anyway. We have a lot of technology, so you'll need to be more comfortable with that too." Lumi pulled out their phone, which had a somewhat cracked screen. "This is my phone. Pretty much everyone has one of these, so people will think you're weird if you freak out over it."
Edmund sighed. "I suppose I shall learn…" He leapt back at the glow of Lumi's screen, pointing erratically. "WHAT UNHOLY DEVICE DOTH THOU POSSESS??" He yelled, shaking with an odd mix of fear, fascination, and utter shock.
Lumi jumped a bit at the yelling and winced. "See, that's exactly the kind of response you don't want to have, because people will think you're weird. This is just my cell phone. It's got all sorts of features. A big one is the internet. So… think of it as having all the books in the world always accessible in this one device. Digitally, anyway. There's not millions of books physically forced into this little rectangle."
Edmund stared, gently touching the screen before jumping back again. "Tis all the books! Has it read them all?" He asked, unsure of how it could know that much. Before it hit him. Yet another embarrassing thing he would have to share with Lumi. Edmund shifted his weight and looked down at his hands before speaking again. "Mayhap it be necessary to say that I…. dost not knoweth how to… ehm…. read." He stuttered timidly, preparing for Lumi to be disappointed again
"Uh… I dunno exactly how it works. I think people just upload information, and then everybody can access it." Lumi shrugged. They seemed unfazed when Edmund admitted he couldn't read. "Yeah, I couldn't read until kinda recently as well. Needed to be able to for my jobs, so… you know. But anyway, you can get games on your phone as well if you want to pass the time, and there's stuff you can put on it where you can share your pictures and interact with other people online."
Edmund smiled a bit. Usually in the presence of a noble, his lack of education would earn him he highest amount of disrespect. But Lumi… They seemed to understand. He smiled wider, not knowing what type of games he was referring to, or what a picture was, or online, he was just starting to enjoy Lumi's company.
"Tis wonderful! And thou can work this device? And read?" he asked inquisitively, his gray eyes shining
"Yeah, sure. Technology like this is everywhere nowadays. See, look." Lumi held up his phone for a second and took a picture of them and Edmund together. He then pulled it up to show Edmund. "I can take pictures of us like this. Or I can… I dunno…" They went to their browser and looked up a pasta recipe. "I can look up how to do stuff, see? Like recipes and all sorts of stuff. Anything you can imagine, almost."
Edmund gasped, staring at the screen. "Our souls be trapped in this box…" He murmured, entranced by how much the small device was capable of. He smiled at the pasta, licking his lips slightly. "More worm bread!! Do I love the worm bread!" He laughed, sitting back as he gazed down at Lumi.
"Mayhap I show thee a few things I can do?" He inquired softly
"No, our souls aren't trapped. It's just a picture of us." Lumi explained, toying around with their phone for a bit before he put it away. He looked up at the inquiry, looking a bit confused. "Some things you can do? Uh… yeah, sure. Why not?"
Edmund grinned, then drew a knife, making a cut along his hand and muttering something as he closed his eyes. He then flicked a bit of the blood at a nearby plant, and it immediately shriveled.
"Oh, beshrew me. I did not intend for that to occur…"
Lumi jumped when Edmund cut himself, their face going pale. He cowered and took a couple steps back, his eyes wide. They had seen a lot of strange things, but nothing like this. This wasn't technocrats; this was straight up magic, or witchcraft. "T-That's… not possible…" He murmured weakly.
Edmund started to panic, taking shallow breaths as he stared at the plant he had just killed. "No… I-It was supposed to make it grow…" He mumbled, tearing up with fear. He noticed Lumi's bewildered expression and looked down quickly. "Please don't tell anyone!! Please no fire!!" he whimpered
"I'm not… I-I'm not gonna do anything, I just…" Lumi looked very tense and uneasy, and they had their arms held close to their chest. He was pretty nervous, and not entirely sure what to do. "T-That's… magic. That shouldn't be possible. Magic doesn't… doesn't exist…"
Edmund slowly approached them, puling out some cloth he had in his pocket to wrap around his hand. "tis not magic… tis just… misunderstood forces. Things mortals should not be able to do." he muttered, attempting to resolve the panicking issue.
Lumi cowered more as Edmund approached them, and he fell into a more defensive position. He clearly didn't entirely trust Edmund, especially not after that display. "Y-You… um… probably should avoid doing that as much as possible? People won't like it…"
Edmunds stared down at the raw burn scars on his legs, shaking a bit at the memories. The cold, dark, uneasy times he was forced through once he had chosen his forsaken path.
"Y-you are right. No one likes this type of woodness…" He muttered fearfully, hugging his arms tightly as he looked for a place to run.
"I-I-I have to um… I have to go to siege." He stumbled out, quickly dashing back into the bathroom