[Living Quarters] Home Alone (Minerva|Satevis)

[Satevis]

There were only so many things that you could expect to go wrong when you left your dormitory room for an hour in the early morning. Perhaps someone breaks something, or a would-be thief appears, or someone throws something through a window. For the most part, though, you expect everything to be just as you left it when you return. You definitely don't expect to see your room in shambles, your guest pinned against the wall by a desk, and your "somewhat more than friends"-person of ambiguous status lying on the floor in pain screaming curses while holding a book and waving an extendable automaton around. Unfortunately, that was exactly what Satevis saw when he returned from the marketplace and undid the lock to his door. Of course, given that the people in question were one Yvera Snowsong and one Minerva Agatha Zipporah...maybe he should have expected this after all. "What in the name of all the gods is going on here?" he demanded from the doorway, his eyes wide as he surveyed the chaos of the room. His eyes landed on Tock, and he quickly made his way over to her, judging Yvera to be in no serious danger for the moment. He knelt down beside her, placing one arm around her back and carefully helping her into a sitting position. "Tock?" he asked. "Tock, are you alright?" His eyes moved towards the Vantha girl pinned against the wall. Once he made sure that Tock was okay, he moved over towards the desk, sliding it enough of a distance away from the wall that Yvera would be able to slip through. He stared at the destruction that had been his dorm room. How two people could cause so much damage in less than an hour was beyond him. A realization suddenly hit him. Tock and Yvera. In the same room. In his room, before he could fully explain the situation. Well...he had explaining to do. "...I see you two have met..." he finally said, eyeing the two of them. "Tock, Yvera. Yvera, Tock. Yvera lost her parents in the storm and had nowhere else to go. I was letting her stay with me while she searched for them. I wasn't expecting you until later..." he added, helping her to her feet. "...Is anyone hurt?" he asked.

[Yvera]

"Are you okay?" Yvera asked the lady, a worried look over her face. She had yelled out in surprise when she had fallen and now she was genuinely concerned. Yvera struggled against the desk again, trying to free herself in order to help her fallen enemy. Satevis. Where are you when we need you? Apparently, he was right there. Yvera sighed when Satevis walked in, grateful for the help he would most likely bring. "Tevy! Thank goodness you're here!" she said, in response to his question. "I'll... uh... explain later." At the moment, Yvera was too... squished, to say too much. The redhead was his friend apparently, judging by the way he checked on her first. "Tock, are you alright?" he asked her. "I'm fine, thank you very much!" Yvera called over from the desk. She knew that the girl, Tock, was far more injured than she was, but Satevis could at least have asked. After she was free from the desk, Yvera stood up and stretched. She made her way to Tock, stopping to get a glass of water for the girl. She knelt down beside her, passing her the drink. "Oh nooo. Everyone in this room is obviously completely unscathed." she replied to Satevis, her voice dripping in sarcasm. He would undoubtedly be annoyed in a few minutes so she might as well get some good words in. "I guess you are a friend of Tevy's." she said to Tock. "Sorry for doubting you, but you gave me a huge fright with those machines of yours." Yvera smiled. Her temper may not be the longest but she was quick to apologize and quick to forgive once a conflict was more or less resolved. She presented her hand to Tock as an act of peace. "How do they work?" she asked her, Yvera's curiosity getting the better of her yet again. OOCSuperTevy to save the day!

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock generally didn't know what embarrassment was. There were a few marks of shame in her past, most of them relating to her Da's heavy hand and her inability to stand up to him. She was capable of feeling shame, and wasn't beyond feeling certain awkward, embarrassing moments. Being caught in the compromising position of book theft, assault with an Automaton, and falling on her star, however, simply wasn't such a moment. "She wouldn't give me yer book, Satey!" she protested quite loudly and without a trace of embarrassment. She retracted Grippy to retrieve said book from him, leaning into Satevis when he came to help her. And good for him that he came to check on her first, or oh the trouble he would have been in. She clambered to her feet with his help, extending Grippy towards the ceiling and clamping him down on a beam so she could use him for balance. She was mostly mad about the book 'defender,' though she felt a twinge of something else. Something she couldn't quite explain. But it definitely had to do with finding another girl in Satevis' room. Jealousy...? Nahh... She wasn't the type to get jealous. Though that twinge wouldn't quite leave her gut. However, ALL was forgiven and forgotten the moment Yvera asked how her machines worked. "Oy, 'is 'ere's Grippy," she said, patting the Automaton affectionately. "Tactile response, automation in the gears 'ere, got 'is 'ere chain ta keep 'em running in synch." She gestured to the chain that linked the two large gears, ensuring cohesive motion between them. "Bitey's at 'ome," she said. "Ya 'ave ta meet 'im later. Professor Claudia done said I can't bring 'im ta class no more, which ain't no FAIR cause she done got 'at cat she wears 'round 'er neck, an' I done said, 'Oy, 'ow come ya can bring yer pet an' I can't bring my baby?' An' SHE says, 'Cause I's yer teacher, an' cause mine ain't done never bit one o' the other students!' An' I says, 'Oy, it ain't Bitey's fault! 'At girl shouldn't o' been poking 'im!'" She threw up her hand in exasperation at the unfairness of the situation.

[Satevis]

Satevis shot the Vantha girl an irritated glare as she started getting sarcastic, setting the small paper bag with his purchases in it onto the bed. The bag contained chalk--the same chalk Tock used to draw her animation circles. He was planning on putting the finishing touches to his surprise today, and if Tock found the chalk and asked about it, he already had several convenient lies in reserve. Sometimes, he wondered whether or not he was inherently deceitful, but it was for a good cause this time. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure that he was still feeling particularly gracious towards either of them. "If you want me to skip to the part where I interrogate you about the state of my quarters, I can do that as well," he said, turning away from Yvera to look at Tock as she started complaining about Yvera not giving her the book. "And maybe if you hadn't attempted to break in through the window like a maniac, this could have been avoided," he said. There was only a small amount of anger in his words as he spoke, but it was still present. Now that he was sure that everyone was unharmed, his concern gave way to other issues. He was sure that anyone would be angry in his situation, considering he definitely did not make it a habit of leaving his dorm room in this state and it hadn't gotten that way by magic. Or, well, maybe it had. Grippy counted as magic after all. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and surveying the damage as the two of them went off on a completely different tangent. Well, at least they were getting along. Thank the gods for small blessings. There didn't seem to be any structural damage, nothing he would have to pay for at least. It just meant he would be spending the better part of his morning cleaning. He frowned, about to let the issue go when he noticed a piece of paper sticking out from underneath one of the desk's legs, covered in broken pieces of ceramic. Satevis bent down, slowly teasing it out from under the desk leg. His eyes narrowed. "Would one of you..." he began, slowly rising to his feet. "...care to explain how this found its way out of my desk drawer?" He held out the sheet of paper to them. It was obviously his glyphing homework, several carefully drawn runes arranged in a design, with his name written on the top of the page. But it was also drenched in fish soup with a few pieces of the ceramic bowl still clinging to it, the ink running from the water. It had torn in a few places too, from all the furniture moving around. His eyes flicked towards the most likely suspect, who was currently trying to make herself unseen. "...Yvera?" he asked, his frosty blue eyes blazing.

[Yvera]

Yvera listened intently as Tock explained her inventions. She found it thrilling, listening to someone answer all her questions before she even got the chance to ask them. As Tock explained Grippy's features, Yvera looked closely at the machine, remembering how effective it was. She noticed that even with the gears and handle, there was nothing in the machine to make it move on it's own and yet Tock seemed to move it just by holding it. The Vantha decided that she would ask her about it after she finished talking about "Bitey". Bitey sounded as if he would be dangerous, but Tock was talking about him with so much love. If something can be loved like that, then they probably aren't as dangerous as one believes them to be. Although Yvera knew this, she was still worried to learn that Bitey actually bit someone. Well, I guess that's why he was named Bitey... she thought. In truth, Yvera should have been more angry at Tock for the trouble she had caused. There was something about the older girl, though. Something that you can't seem hate. Well, not that Yvera hated anyone. But this lady, she was interesting; she and her inventions greatly intrigued Yvera. She was about to ask Tock another question about her gadgets when she noticed Satevis walking towards the desk. Uh oh... she thought, and rightly so. Calmly walking behind Tock, so as to be out of Satevis' direct line of sight, Yvera tried her best to ignore his actions. He seemed to have found his glyphing homework, and judging by the tone of voice he used, he was not happy. Yvera scratched the back of her head and looked up, trying to avoid eye contact with Satevis. All of a sudden, the crossbeam above the bed seemed very interesting to her. Glancing back at Satevis once, she tried to explain it to him in a way that would make him the least angry. "Well, you see... um... The glyphing homework..." she said before deciding on a course of action. "It was on the desk. Then, a gust of wind came in and blew the paper on to the floor. I stood up to retrieve it, tripping on the edge of the desk. I was distracted because I saw Grippy coming in through the window and was rather frightened. When I fell, the soup that I was holding landed on the homework and the bowl shattered. Then, I ducked underneath the window, trying to hide from the would be intruder, Tock." Yvera nodded at the end of her speech. It wasn't the whole truth but it was close enough. This way, Satevis wouldn't be mad at her for "observing" his glyphing homework although she still spilled soup over it. And, in case he asked Tock, her story lined up with what the redhead would have seen or heard: A crash, a squeak, and a girl beneath the window. "I'm really sorry, though." she finished.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

When Satevis first pulled out the ruined homework, Tock's initial reaction was to point at Yvera and say, "Oy, she did 'at! It weren't me!" Though as the girl started pathetically making excuses, a rare surge of guilt washed over Tock. She was possessed of the need to make things right. Which might just have had something to do with the new and fragile feelings she was developing for Satevis. "Oy, okay Satey," she said, leaning on his arm and retracting Grippy. "We's gonna fix 'is, we is, right Sook?" she looked to Yvera, who certainly looked like she needed a rescuing. "I's gonna 'elp ya fix yer 'omework," she told Satevis, lifting the page and looking at it. She realized she didn't know the first thing about Glyphing. "I's gonna 'elp clean up yer room," she corrected herself, pushing Satevis towards the bed and pushing down on his shoulders to make him sit. "An' ya jus' sit 'ere an' finish yer 'omework, an' everythin's gonna be good as new 'fore ya know it, aye? Aye." She could tell Satevis was upset. It was a rare thing for Tock to give a damn if someone was mad at her, but, well, this was different. She for some reason really didn't want Satevis to be mad at her. A reason that she begrudgingly admitted probably had something to do with all the kissing. "Oy, Sook, go find a broom o' somethin'," she told Yvera. She then hopped across the room and found a good angle to use Grippy from, extending him down to grab the edge of the desk and lift it back up. Not only did using the device grant her better leverage, but the gears could generate more force than Tock's own hands, so the lifting was much easier. All she had to do was hold on and use her body wriggle to anchor the device. "An' I's gonna fix up anythin' what's broken, aye?" she told Satevis. "Fix 'er up right good, I will!" She started checking the desk over to see if anything was broken besides the soup bowl.

[Satevis]

Satevis stared on as Yvera started giving excuses, his expression disbelieving. Yvera was a Vantha from Hold Snowsong. She could weave stories as easily as she breathed. He had to admit that her story was a little more reasonable this time than her others had been, but he clearly remembered putting this sheet of paper into his desk drawer before he left, and telling her not to touch it. In short, the premise of her lie was wrong, and he wasn't buying it. The apology, though, was real, and that helped curb his anger somewhat. He was still about to scold her, though, not willing to let this one go. He had opened his mouth and was already thinking through the words that he would use when Tock stopped him, forcing him to sit on the bed and calm down while she and Yvera cleaned the room. And it worked. He couldn't stay mad at her. At either of them, really, although he was still a little annoyed with Yvera. Was it really so hard to follow simple instructions? Did the child have to go through everything he owned? Still...she did try to save your room from what she legitimately thought was a burglar... he thought, feeling himself calm a little more as he watched Tock order Yvera around the room. He sighed. "Fine," he said, rummaging through his bag for a sheet of paper and his writing set. "But we are having words later," he said, staring pointedly at Yvera to make sure that she got the message. It might have looked like just one page of runes, but at his level, each rune was painstakingly tedious to draw. He wouldn't have been so annoyed if it was just an essay he could rewrite. But there was no use crying over spilled milk, and he would be talking to Yvera about it later. For now, he used the ruined sheet as reference, slowly beginning to draw the glyphs again.

[Yvera]

Yvera nodded and smiled as she started to work. She intentionally ignored the look Satevis was giving her, secretly hoping that he would give up and forget to scold her later. With that though, the Vantha began looking for a broom. She had been a little panicked at the time but she was pretty sure she saw a broom when she was hiding underneath the bed. "Eeeexcuse me, Tevy." she said as she crawled underneath the bed. "Tevy, how often do you clean under here? I hadn't noticed it before, but it's filthy! Do you even own broom? Wait... What's this? Is this a sword? Why do you have a sword? ... Can you teach me how to use it?" Her voice got more and more muffled as she explored deeper beneath the bed, searching for the broom. This reminded her of a story her mom would tell her before she went to sleep but didn't remember too much of it because she was only a young...er child. As Yvera searched, she recalled something about a magic portal to another world. She chuckled, thinking that no such thing could be possible even if said under-bed were this messy. After a few more seconds of searching, she found the broom. With great difficulty, she was able to bring the broom out from underneath the bed. Sooo... I guess I'll start cleaning. she thought, moving towards the greatest concentration of sweep-able mess. Humming a small tune, she began to carefully sweep up the broken ceramics bits all the while trying not to spread the soup around further.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock made a mental note to Animate an automatic broom and mop later, though she knew that for the current mess, good old fashioned elbow grease would be needed. While Yvera swept up, she hopped around the room and gathered up everything she could find that was intact, and set it back on the desk. Then she reorganized the desk a bit because it seemed like Satevis had just thrown things around wherever he felt like it, and it needed a woman's touch. Then she noticed a slight crack on the edge of the desk. Frowning, she pulled the chair over and sat down to fix it. She took out her chisels and started tapping away, hitting the handle with a mallet to shave off a small bit of the wood. Then she started filing it down, clearing out the damaged bits to reveal clean, smooth wood underneath. She didn't want Satevis to get charged for damages to the room's furniture. She carefully sanded it down, leaning over and lining her eye up with the edge of the table to check that it was straight. After a bit of work, to the naked eye it didn't look like the desk had ever been damaged. And of course, there was a bunch of sawdust and wood shavings on the floor for Yvera to sweep up. When everything was picked up, reorganized, and repaired, she hopped over to the bed and sat next to Satevis. She scooted close, propping her chin on his shoulder so she could peek at his homework. She was quite curious about Glyphing, even though she didn't know much of anything about how it worked. She gently rubbed his back, peeking up at his eyes to see if he was still mad. She whispered in his ear, "I's sorry, Satey... Didn't mean ta cause a mess o' nothin'..." She rarely noticed the messes she made, nor cared where she made them. She usually had more important things to worry about. But considering that whatever it was that was happening between her and Satevis was, well, happening, it urged her just a bit to think about her behavior. Just a little bit.

[Satevis]

"Leave the sword alone, Yvera," he said without looking up as he wrote, moving his feet out of the way so that the Vantha girl could get out from underneath the bed. He didn't bother to tell her not to crawl under there. As long as she wasn't destroying anything, it would be faster if she just got what she needed and finished. He still fully intended to talk to her about this later, once the room was put back in order and he had cooled his head a bit. He frowned, carefully retracing the lines of a difficult rune as he transferred them from the ruined piece of paper to the clean one. After several minutes, he felt the bed shift as Tock sat next to him, looking over his shoulder. He sighed at her apology, setting down his quill. "It's alright," he said. "There's no lasting harm done. And I should have told you about Yvera." Really, he didn't know why he had kept silent for so long? Maybe he had just been worried that she would get the wrong idea...? His mind didn't seem to be working in a rational fashion lately, at least as far as Tock was concerned. At least the book hadn't been destroyed. It would have cost an eye to replace it, and besides, they needed the information in it for the puppet show. Wait, the puppet show! An idea struck him. He knew just how Yvera could make this up to him. The other day, he had already been thinking that they needed to find a better narrator for the show. He had written the script, but his delivery was just not what he wanted it to be. And Yvera was born for this. "...I was thinking," he said as he glanced at Tock. "Yvera's had some training as a storyteller. She could actually do the narration for our puppet show."