"In a way, though you're right in that it's generally agreed to be when conscious will is involved. And... I've been able to use my aether just fine here. It's never been a problem, so I assume either there's aether here or something that's acting like it."

The apology gets a smile. "So you lived in another world that wasn't your own before coming here. It's... interesting, because I also went to another world. It was similar enough to my world, though there were some major differences. Including how they looked at certain elements... but that's a whole diagram's worth of story." He laughs a little bit, putting his fist in front of his mouth to muffle the sound. "And I've always been a bit of a nerd about magicks - the usual joke is that I can't help it, having the Scholar as my patron."