Desk Work [Richard]

by **Jenni Twilight** on February 12th, 2014, 6:50 pm

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-- Winter 40th, 513 AV --

It had to happen. Why not? Jenni was a Novitate after all, set to some of the oddest jobs and times. She’d only held the position once before, last season, but it was still her least favorite of everything. That was… the front desk. Sitting here, with papers and quills and ink, waiting for anyone to come by and request her help. Luckily, it was a quiet day, meaning the total people she’d met so far on this shift was… two. One was checking out a book, and the other looking for a friend. Both took simple direction, and left in about a chime. It had been three bells since she’d begun. Three long, boring, bells.

In order to stave off this, she’d pulled one of the spare scraps of parchment before her, dipped a quill in ink… and prepared herself to write. Write… something. What would she write? That was an excellent question. At least it gave her the potential of something to do, without taking herself away from the desk. Just in case someone turned up. You never knew. Slipping out to grab a book was out of the question, though she should have been smart enough to snag one before she’d started. Still, it was too late to move now.

Sighing quietly, the Twilight returned her attention back to the blank space where words would eventually go. Someone had mentioned once that if you write whatever comes to mind, some good inspiration would come out of it. It didn’t sound too reliable… but what else was there to do? Her quill touched the page for a few moments, hesitating… but she moved it before too big of a pool of ink appeared. Quickly a circle was drawn, then a line sliding out of it. Like a funny tadpole… but she wasn’t drawing, she was writing. At the moment, it looked like a very fancy ‘Q’.

Turning the page so the ‘q’s’ tail pointed down, she quickly added a ‘u’ after it, then paused again. ‘Qu’ words… Quick, quail, qu… qu… queer was a nice word. She scribbled it down, the fast letters looking odd next to the neat and slow ones. Queer… curious? That was added too. But they didn’t make much sense in that order, so she scribbled out the new word and re-wrote it to the beginning.

That sparked something. More words came, listing rather than actually making much sense, but slowly sentences formed.

Okomo Skyglass slippery bridge. Rice fields and storms and thunder and lightning. Laviku rules like the kind of the sea (he is the king of the sea, really), lording over waves and fish and tides.

A fishing boat came to mind at this, and she sketched one to the side, literally a vertical line upon an upsidedown semicircle, with a triangle for a sail. For effects, she added a few squiggly waves beneath, and a tiny flag. A rough fish was added beneath, but when she tried a dolphin… well, that was all too complicated. Dolphins had proportions and things like that, and she was doodling… not really drawing.

Snorting in irritation, she scribbled out the attempted mammal, remembering the words she’d written earlier… about gods. Well, one god in particular. But what about others?

Syna light and sun and bright. Shining over hills and waves. Leth shows night and calm and quiet, breathe in and out… and in… meditation. The Shinya meditate, on mountain peaks. Deep in the forests and hills. Projection is their art, pushing souls from bodies, compared to the morphing of the Twilights. Morphing changing, like the land and people. Birds and reptiles, eagles and snakes. Take the face of your friend or foe, change who you are… and not just in form.

Looking back, it was a set of… gibberish. The first sentence was a name, then three nouns… the rest actually had proper sentence structure, but trailed from one topic to another. Leth, meditation, Shinya, projection, and finally morphing. The magic drew her eyes to her finger, remembering some of the changes she’d brought upon the appendage. This whole exercise was… interesting, and even a little enjoyable. She hadn’t written anything sensible, yet, but was getting somewhere…

Common - Nari/Crook - NPC - Writing - Reading

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by **Jenni Twilight** on March 22nd, 2014, 4:17 pm

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ST NoteWith Richard unable to join this, now that it's a grandfathered thread, I'm continuing it as a solo

The sound of someone coming in the door caused Jenni to glance up, knowing that the library now had a visitor. A young, very average looking man walked in, appearing incredibly nervous. His hands twisted together, and his eyes flashed around the large building, until they finally settled on the Twilight, whose eyebrows were raised in question. He looked a little relieved at the sight of her, and headed over with an obvious question in mind.

“Hello…” he said rather quickly, before she could start the greeting herself. “I’m looking for… a Seeker. Miya Ren? She’s about…” vhe was about to begin a description, but the morpher already knew the proposed person. She was a Novitiate like herself, young –actually about this man’s age- and a little bubbly. However, she was remarkably quick, and was able to think outside the box with little effort. Of the Novitiates… she was known as the best riddle-solver. [color=#551c1c] “I know her,” she put in with a nod, voice much more certain than this visitor’s. His face sagged in relief.

“Oh, good… do you know where I’d find her?” This brought a frown. Miya stayed in the dorms, but had gone out earlier in the day to visit family. She had come back, however, mentioning something about… reading? Probably. Most of the live-in Seekers read in the dorm’s central room if it wasn’t research, a place she didn’t visit too much… but she knew the location. “I believe so.” After a quick glance around, she stood and slipped from behind the desk. She’d rather lead the way, than give directions.

“Follow me, please.” With a wave of her hand, she set off down the hallway. The younger man tagged along like a nervous puppy. He’d seemed to have pulled something small out of his coat pocket and was fiddling with it nervously. “Your name is…?” she began politely, twisting her head over her shoulder. They were passing through long rows of books, and even a patient studier, so her voice was quiet.

He glanced up in surprise. “Me? Oh, Joste. Joste… er… Winde.” His voice was a little higher than normal, probably from the anxiety. What was this guy so tense about? It had to be important. A few odd and eccentric concepts went through her mind, none of them quite likely. The Twilight wanted to glare at him, however, for disturbing the obviously kept quiet, but kept her expression flat and polite. Some… less intelligent… people were bad at picking up signals like that. Of course, some magnificently smart ones were completely useless in the social spectrum. She personally found herself a nice balance between the two… and it was no lie… she was smug about that.

In response, she gave her own… in the same quiet voice. “Nice to meet you. I am Jenni Twilight.” When he stopped in surprise, she nearly groaned, wanting to shake this Joste into his senses. Most people were a little put off by her last name, some more, some less. He seemed to be the ‘more’ type. “Oops… I didn’t notice. Sorry… er…” he stuttered off into oblivion, tone high and squeaky. When a grey haired older man glanced up from where he was browsing the shelves, Jenni spun on her heel, barely managing to keep her expression friendly. Her voice, however, gave away some of her exasperation. “We are in a library. Please… be a little quieter?” Her words were tense and slightly pleading, and his expression became even more obvious. ‘I’m so stupid’ it said. Probably. “Thank you.”

She continued along her way, not even checking to see if the visitor was following. They went on in silence, until, finally, the pair arrived in the Novitiate’s central room. Miya was just where expected, curled in an armchair with some incredibly interesting book in hand. “Miya?” the morpher called, causing the girl to glance up. “Joste? ” she said incredulously, jumping out of the chair and rushing over.

The Twilight wasn’t going to waste any more time, so simply turned and began to leave. Joste began with something about “I didn’t want to wait, but…” they dissolved into mutters, until… Miya squealed. In delight? Fear? It was hard to tell. Jenni whipped around to stare, and found the two embracing each other. She looked at the pair in confusion, until Miya noticed her glance and broke apart.

“Jenni! Jenni! Guess what? Joste just proposed!” She grabbed the older Novitiate’s hand in excitement, face beaming. The morpher kept staring? “What?” Then it dawned on her. “Oh… Oh. Well… congratulations.” She gave a bewildered smile, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward. Both Miya and Joste looked like this was the happiest moments in their lives. Which… it probably was.

“Well… I’ve left the desk unattended for a…while now. Someone might need me. I…. have to go.” It was a lame excuse, but she didn’t exactly feel like being in this situation any more. Miya simply nodded, not noticing the rudeness, and skipped back over to her new betrothed. Jenni turned and quickly walked back to where she was supposed to be.

Common - Nari/Crook - NPC - Writing - Reading

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by **Jenni Twilight** on March 25th, 2014, 6:07 pm

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Jenni was still feeling a little odd after the encounter, but found her desk nice and empty. She’d be able to be alone, relax, sort out her thoughts on this. Or… just ignore it. It was Miya’s engagement, not her own, after all. She had no idea what was going to happen to her, in that area. It was something she didn’t like to consider. She slipped into the chair behind the front desk, eyes landing on the sheet of writing she’d been working on.

In retrospect, it looked a little… immature. Simple. She didn’t feel like writing anymore, for some reason. Instead, she carefully folded the paper in half, then into quarters, before slipping it into a pocket. She’d eventually forget about it, find it later, maybe work some more. Until then, she’d have to find something else to bide her time with.

Contemplating the options, she finally landed on something else that desperately needed practice… her morphing. She stretched out a hand and looked at it, examining all angles. She contemplated working with bone structure, but with no true model to work off at the moment… it could go horribly wrong. Instead, she worked with skin texture. She remembered Crook’s fur –something she’d imitated before- and began pulling at the Djed in her hand.

It stretched more easily today, the skin pulling up and forming a thick covering of points. It was simply growing hair from her skin, exactly what happened naturally… except not in this magnitude. They had the normal color and consistency of her own arm hair, but she slowly kept pulling at them, turning them to that familiar grey color, making them thicker, softer. It took about a chime to fully complete the transformation, fast as it was something she was used to. The back of her hand was covered in inch-long, cat-like hair. She stroked it absently, then took the time to slowly, carefully, pull it up all over her hand. It felt like a funny, fuzzy thing… cattish, but still hand-shaped.

To add to the effect, she focused on her fingertips, pulling up another already-used form. Claws. She sometimes grew them on the tips, and sometimes between her knuckles. The latter had been taught by Altelo. This, however, felt more… natural. She developed more of the nail-like material, forming them –almost molding it – into points, curving a little down. Again, they looked just like Crook’s. There was no doubt who her model was. These, however, took a little longer, eating up over three chimes of her time… but she had more than enough to spare.

Jenni held her hand up to look it over, admiring the fur. The only thing missing was the pads, then it would truly be cat-like… other than the shape, of course. But altering the shape would include altering her bone structure… and she wanted something more specific to work off for that. She’d have to be satisfied with this for now.

Common - Nari/Crook - NPC - Writing - Reading

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by **Jenni Twilight** on March 29th, 2014, 12:11 pm

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Jenni was staring into the distance in the vague direction of the entrance, trying to bring up an image of Crook’s pads, when something blocked it. She glanced up, a little surprised, and hastily stowed her hand below the desk. She considered letting the morphing go, but decided that –if this didn’t require her to get up- she would try and keep it for a length of time. See how it went. With a careful morphing, she didn’t think keeping it for ten or so chimes would hurt. After all, some of her relatives could hold their forms (full forms at that) for bells, or even all day.

The person was a well dressed woman, standing at a slightly short height, but still able to look down on the Seeker… mostly because the latter was sitting. Her cloak, lined with rich, thick, fur was a deep purple color, and there was jewelry scattered everywhere. A necklace… or was that two? Earrings, rings, bracelets… you name it. It was a blatant display of her wealth. Technically, Jenni could afford more jewelry. She had the money, and she had her family’s allowance. She lived incredibly well. However, she didn’t find a need for more than her usual necklace and bracelet, despite Lhavit’s fashion for large quantities. Sometimes it didn’t fit her outfits, but not usually… so they were good, all-purpose pieces.

This woman’s, however, looked more like they were specifically matched to the outfit. Very wealthy. Actually, getting a good look at her face… the woman was of the Dusk family. She wasn’t entirely familiar with those outside of the main circle, but she recognized most. They almost all had a family resemblance, anyways. It was a similar situation with herself… quite a few knew her as ‘Twilight’, but placing a name… She wasn’t quite in the highest view with her family anyways, so that ruined a few things.

“Good Morning,” she said politely, sitting up in her chair and smiling pleasantly. She knew as well as any member of the three towers to be polite and respectful to another… especially an older one. Though it was her family the most, they were all very… what was the word… fancy? That was part of it. Still, the Dusk woman smiled politely back, then got to business.

“Good Morning to you, Miss Twilight,” It was apparent they both recognized each other. The smiles continued, even if both were the tiniest bit fake. “I was looking for the section on… poetry. My father recommended one particular volume that is only found here.” Jenni’s hand was still feeling alright, and after a quick test… still furry. Poetry? That was easy… there were quite a few poems in the library, from full volumes to simply scrolls with three lines on them. A few were in different languages… she’d copied one in Nari, once. But that was last season.

“Ah… yes. I know where that is. Over… there. It’s really on the closest shelves.” She used her un-morphed hand to point, choosing it at the last moment… it would be odd to display one covered with hair and claws. She felt a little tired, a feeling that showed that… her endurance wasn’t what it could be. The point of this exercise, then. Dreading to ask the question, however, she inquired “Do you need me to show it to you?” She would have offered to find the volume as well, but she didn’t exactly want to… it would mean letting go of the djed in her hand, which might take a while and… all that awkward stuff.

Luck was on her side, however, as the Dusk woman –after some consideration- shook her head. “No thank you, I can find it on my own.” With a wave of goodbye, she strode away in the direction the Twilight had indicated. Relaxing, the younger woman pulled her hand up from under the desk and glanced at it, looking at it from all sides.

The conversation had broken her mental image, and now… she no longer wanted to add the pads. The fur was soft enough anyways. She stroked it absently until she finally got to a point where she felt too much strain keeping it there. She let go of her hold on the djed, half allowing it to sink back into her flesh, and half pushing it, just in case it decided to stay up… which would be a disaster. Slowly, carefully, the hair and claws receded, leaving her with a normal hand.

Common - Nari/Crook - NPC - Writing - Reading

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by **Catastrophe** on April 22nd, 2014, 3:28 pm

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Jenni Twilight :

Notes :

Closed Desk Work [Richard]