[Infirmary] Zeltiva Puppet Theatre Part IV (Satevis)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock almost expected Satevis to pick her up. She wouldn't even have protested if he had. But it put a smile on her lips that he didn't. She limped along with him, feeling foolish, feeling stupid. This wouldn't have happened if she knew how to ration her own meals. She got a certain amount of food for the week, and if she'd paid attention to how much she was eating, she could have spaced the food out well enough that it would last all week. Instead, she'd been so busy with her studies and her projects that she hadn't paid attention. she'd just eaten when she was hungry, and been shocked when she found all off the food in her house was gone. Stupid, stupid food shortages. She sat where he placed her, leaning on the table. She already felt ready to fall asleep. Taking a nap earlier was supposed to take care of that. But she must have been more tired than she thought. When Satevis returned with the food, she dug in eagerly. His protests to eat slowly fell on deaf ears; she didn't know all the doctory stuff about hunger and how it would affect her body. She was just hungry. She didn't even stop to consider that this might be the last meal she'd get for another two days. She just ate. When the meager meal was finished, she sat back, feeling stupid again. She should have saved some of it for later. She sighed and looked up at Satevis. "Thanks, love," she whispered. She didn't know what else to say. She scooted over and climber into his lap, feeling the need for more comfort. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his shoulder, her nose lightly nuzzling his neck. "Yer..." she whispered, then swallowed the words. She wasn't sure what to say. Finally after a long moment she sighed and whispered, "Yer a good man." She didn't used to think there was such a thing. She leaned more heavily against him, out of energy now that her stomach was finally full. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Can I stay wit' ya tonight?" She had wanted to surprise him, and do... something, anything, just to spend the night together. She hadn't planned anything out, no more than she ever planned things. But she had come to the University tonight to see him, spend time with him, and enjoy his company. But now she just wanted to sleep. But she wanted to do so in his arms. Before he even responded, she started to drift off to sleep, right there in his lap. OOCIf you want, you can skip to morning (or maybe afternoon... Tock's beat, and will sleep a long while). And then we can start moving towards the EPIC PUPPET CONCLUSION!!!

[Satevis]

"Yer a good man..." The words made him stop for a moment, staring down at the girl in his arms. It had not been his intention to make her think of him that way. It wasn't his intention to make anyone think of him that way. Zeltiva had fallen on hard times, and he had done his part to help the people that he could. He had done so for their benefit at the expense of his time and comfort, and he had done so because it was right. But he didn't think of himself as a good man. He knew the darkness in his thoughts, the demons that lurked at the edges of his mind. He had killed with magic. He knew well what he was capable of. Simple men were good men. The learned were always capable of darkness, no matter what face they showed the world. The fact that Tock thought that of him, though, touched him in a way. He almost wanted to believe it. He nodded once as Tock asked if she could stay with him, wordlessly helping her to his dormitory room... * * * When Tock finally woke, she would find herself alone. The curtains had been drawn against the windows, blocking out the light of the sun so that she could sleep, and Satevis's pack and school notes were not on their usual place on the desk. Instead, there was a note, written in his handwriting. Went to class. Should be back shortly. Make yourself at home. --S

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Where's my dinner, brat?" Minerva cringed and covered her head as the shadowy figure above her closed in. Thunder clapped and dark fists flew, and she screamed and cowered, helpless under the onslaught. All around her, people stood in the darkness, watching silently. She screamed, but no one came to help her. She flailed helplessly, she begged, she apologized, but nothing stopped the terror. Fists pummeled and screamed resounded through the darkness, "Worthless!" BAM! "Good fer nothin'!" SMACK! "Never gonna amount ta nothin!" THWACK! BAM! SMACK! Tock woke up screaming and failing about. She reached out for Bitey, needing the comfort of her baby. He wasn't there, and she flailed about frantically. "Baby?" she cried out past her tears, "Come to Mommy! C'mere!" She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes, trying to get her bearings on where she was. She wasn't home... what was...? Then she realized, she was in Satevis' room. She wiped her nose on her sleeve, and let out a slow exhale. She remembered now... she'd come to the University to see him last night. She was in his bed. But where was he? Then she found the note, and sighed and flopped back on the bed. He wasn't here. Who knew how long until he'd be back? She didn't feel like just lying here all day. So she decided to spend a little time snooping around his room. She climbed out of the bed, limping around and rooting through Satevis' drawers. She glanced over his desk, but he hadn't left much interesting there. She slipped into the washroom and cleaned herself up, stripping herself nude so she could wash up properly. She spent extra time scrubbing the tears and signs of exhaustion from her face, and cleansing herself of the sweat and grime from the hard work she'd been doing lately. She had the strange urge lately to be more... pretty. It wasn't something that had penetrated into the realm of conscious thought, or anything she had dwelt on, but she had been putting the extra effort in nonetheless. She even combed her hair. She checked her reflection over, frowning. Somehow she wasn't satisfied, but she didn't know what to do about it. She redressed, but when she was about to pull her shirt back on, she frowned at the sweaty, dirty smell of it. I needs new clothes... she thought, sighing. She decided to go rooting through Satevis' clothes. She dug around under the bed, noticing the scimitar he kept there, Why's 'e got a sword...? Then she dug out a spare shirt. It was quite big... she recognized it as the one he wore at nighttime, when he was a bit... bulkier. She blushed and smiled, holding the shirt up to her face and inhaling. It still had his manly, mystical Ethaefal scent. Grinning she slipped it on, kicking her own shirt under Satevis' bed. The shirt was way too big for her slight form, but she felt great having it on. She hugged it around herself, giggling, then started buttoning it. It was hanging off her so much she had to bunch up the length of it and then take the tails of fabric in the front and tie them together in a knot, with the result that the far too big shirt hung in a way that exposed her toned midriff. Humming to herself and wearing a small smile, Tock then decided she was tired of waiting for Satevis to get here. She grabbed the note and crossed out what Satevis had written, and left her own note: Went to class. Should be back shortly. Make yourself at home. --S Don't be late for the puppet show, love! ...and Thank You... She then limped out of the room, and started heading off. She crossed paths with one of her friends from her Animation class along the way, and waved hello as the girl walked past her. The girl was a Konti, and bore that natural beauty and grace that Minerva knew she could never touch. Her hair was done up in a series of intricate braids, with bows and ribbons. Minerva had never known how to do such a thing. ... "Oy, Tana!" she called out, turning around to get the Konti's attention. The girl stopped, giving her a curious look. "Oy, I gots a favor ta ask ya..." * * * By the time Satevis made his way down to the Infirmary where the puppet show was scheduled to take place, Tock was already there setting up. She had the puppets in place behind the stage, and was making some last minute adjustments to the curtains and the backgrounds. She was hidden behind the stage at first, concealed from view. When she heard him approaching, she peeked cautiously from behind the stage, keeping herself hidden. Peering around with just one eye, she called out to him, "Don't laugh, 'kay...?" She then hesitantly stepped out, biting her lip, still wearing his shirt. Yet that wasn't the only difference. Tock was wearing makeup: Secret :

[Satevis]

When Satevis returned from class, he found Tock gone. He had expected as much, but the sight of his empty room was still vaguely disappointing. It wasn't as if he was in the habit of having women in his rooms overnight, but he was rather hoping to see her before she left. Satevis sighed, tossing his bag carelessly into his desk chair and looking around the room. He threw open the curtains, letting the sunlight in. There were signs of her presence, of course. The bed was still unmade and the washroom floor was damp, as if someone had just been using it. He ran a hand through his hair, looking around and wondering if she might be upset with him. He didn't want to leave, but he had already skipped this class yesterday, and it wouldn't do well to miss two classes so close to the end of term. Then he saw the line she had added onto his note. He picked up the piece of paper, reading it. The puppet show. Of course. He smiled slightly, tucking the note into his desk drawer and getting around to putting his room back in order. A few hours later, Satevis walked towards the Infirmary, wondering why on earth Tock's shirt was under his bed and one of his shirts was missing. Academically, the answer was obvious, but from a social standpoint, it was a little confusing. What was wrong with the shirt she already had? It was one of the shirts that fit his Ethaefal form, so it was much too big for her. He would ask her what she had done with it when he found her, he decided. Satevis stopped in front of the stage, frowning as she peered at him from behind the stage. Laugh...? Laugh about what? She revealed herself, and he froze, staring at her. ...Well. He found his shirt. Although he was fairly certain that that was not the way the garment was intended to be worn. "Tock..." he began, taking a deep breath. "You--you're wearing--er...that is..." He cleared his throat, trying to restore his command of the Common language. (Or any language, really). "You look great," he said, stepping forward. Great?!? Was that really the best he could come up with? She looked...well, she looked...looked very... Javeya... his mind supplied, as he leaned down to kiss her, making sure that they were unseen behind the stage. His eyes fixed on hers for a moment. Beautiful.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Bingo... she thought in the moment before he leaned down. She tried to make a mental note to thank Tana later, though it was mostly lost in the moment of passion. The way he'd looked at her... no one had ever looked at her that way before. Of course, she usually didn't dress like this, showing so much skin. She usually didn't have her hair done, or have make up on. For what was probably the first time ever in her life, she felt beautiful. She slipped her arms around his neck as he kissed her, returning the kiss eagerly. By the time he pulled back her face was red and she was breathless. She bit her lip and lowered her eyes, shuffling her feet helplessly. "I's jus' thought," she whispered, not sure what to even say, "since izza special night an' all, an' the puppets, an'..." She looked up at him and grinned, taking one of his hands in hers and holding it against her chest. Her heart was pounding. She had to look down to hide her embarrassment. "We, umm," she said, clearing her throat, "we should get ready, aye? 'Em kids, 'ey's waitin'..." She peeked through the little curtain behind the stage, seeing a large crowd of kids and parents waiting for the show to start. "I's nervous. Ya nervous?" she asked, giggling. She pulled him in for another kiss for courage and luck, then moved into position and raised her hands over the puppets. They stood up on command, swaying slightly, their movements far from perfect. Yet they would do. She looked at Satevis and gave him a wink, nodding to show she was ready.

[Satevis]

Her heart was pounding. He could feel it beneath his fingertips as she held his hand to it. He was certain that his heart pounded as well. He could almost hear it. He took a deep breath, nodding at her as they stepped behind the stage and prepared. "A little," he admitted as she pulled him in for a quick kiss. He pulled his notebook out of his pack, opening it to the page where he had written his draft for the script. He knew the children wouldn't be the most discerning audience, but he was still worried. He had written the story down accurately, and had asked Yvera with help with the script, but a story teller he was not. Still, they had spent so much time on this, so he took a deep breath and began to read, the Tock moving the puppets along with the story. "Long, long ago at the beginning of the world, the great being Tawannen broke apart, and from his shards were born the gods and the world of Mizahar. But the world was dark, having no moon or sun in its sky. At this time, the great Goddess Tanroa, the Goddess of Time, would often walk in the world. At her side were Kihala, the Goddess of Life, and Dira, her opposite, the Goddess of Death." He paused for a moment to allow the puppets onto the stage, two of which were not automated. "Tanroa was preparing the world for the arrival of mortals, and she wished to put lights in the sky so that we would not have to spend our lives in the dark. For that, she searched for a pair, a man and a woman who would rule the heavens together." He let the three puppets fall away, the Syna and the Leth puppet coming into view. "Now at this time, there were two gods. One of them, Leth, was brother to Dira. He was a dark god, wild and destructive, as only a brother of Death herself could be. The other, Syna, was beautiful and radiant, bringing light to all things with her joy and energy. She served as Kihala's handmaiden. The pair were as different as night and day, but they were in love and deeply so. It was Syna's light that brought balance to Leth, for he adored her greatly. But there was great worry among the gods that the opposite was also true, that just as Syna's light and kindness reached Leth, so did Leth's darkness reach Syna." "Kihala and Dira argued this for a time, before Tanroa came to a decision. And this was her verdict. 'The woman shall reign over the time I give her. It will vary as season pass. And the man will do the same. The man shall be allowed to gaze at the woman always, but not stand near enough to diminish her glory. It will be her glory and fairness that inspires light in the man. Their eternal dwelling shall be beside one another's. And there will be time for them to be close as they exchange roles. Because love is beautiful, I think these meetings will be the most wondrous part of the cycle.' And it was so." "The two of them found balance with each other, Syna stirring in Leth's presence and Leth calming in hers. And they lived in happiness for a time. Syna would rule over the day, and at night she would exchange duties with Leth. The two of them would spend the twilight hours together, and would occasionally steal away for a day, leaving the world in darkness." He took a deep breath and tried to make his tone sound more ominous. "This was before the Valterrian." At those words, the first calm backdrop fell away, revealing the chaotic backdrop that the children had painted. Satevis glanced at Tock, smiling at her slightly as he held out his hand from backstage. He hadn't planned this, but it seemed fitting. As the backdrop changed, the Res he had been manipulating beneath the stage transmuted into steam, the white wisps flowing out into the audience. The children gasped and 'ooh'ed appropriately. OOCThat's half of the story done. I'll write the next half in my next post.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

As the story began, Tock guided the puppets onto the stage. Tanroa was animated, the vividly painted puppet walking along without strings, guided only by Tock's hand motions above the stage. The other two followed on strings, with Tock holding the sticks to control them both in the same hand. Their motions were jerky since she had to control them both one handed and, well, she didn't know how to really control puppets. She hadn't had time to practice the actual moves, since she'd spent all week on making the puppets. So she just made them hop/walk across the stage behind Tanroa. The Animated puppet, however, was more life-like. It was still far less than a real human's movements, but she'd programmed the motions into the puppet itself, so she didn't need to control the movements. Instead, she flicked her fingers above the puppet's head to tell it what to do, and it walked across the stage. While Tanroa's movements were still crude compared to a human's, they looked more like real walking motions than the bobbing movement of the stringed puppets. When Satevis spoke of Tanroa searching for Syna and Leth, Tock made the puppet raise a hand over its eyes, as if peering into the distance. She turned back and forth, then looked out into the audience. Her arms then rose to the sides in a shrug, and the children giggled. She then pulled the puppets back, hanging the two on their strings up behind the stage. Tanroa she left standing off to the side out of view. Without further commands, Tanroa would stand still indefinitely. The puppets didn't have the intelligence to move on their own without commands. She raised her hands over Syna and Leth next. When Satevis declared Leth wild and destructive, she had him punch his hands forward towards the audience as if brawling. More giggles followed. Syna she had prance onto the stage, frolicking as if in a field of flowers. When Satevis declared how they were in love, she guided them to embrace, pressing their faces together in a kiss. A few kids in the audience went, "Ewwww!" and the rest laughed. She left them standing there, embracing and showing their love, and brought the stringed puppets out, holding one in each hand. She moved the strings to make them shake their fists at each other as if arguing. Then she set them back, propping the sticks above the stage so the two puppets would stand in the background as Tanroa came back in to declare her verdict. She had the puppet raise her arms up high as if preaching to the audience. Once the verdict was declared, she guided the Syna and Leth puppets to prance around the stage, distant yet always following each other. The kids clapped when it seemed like the Gods were happy. But then they gasped when Tock pulled back the backdrop to replace it with the chaotic one. She glanced up at Satevis when he threw in the sudden burst of magic. She smirked, but said nothing. She was too busy focusing on everything she was doing. It was harder than she thought to keep up. She realized they should have spent more time rehearsing this. She hadn't even read the final draft of Satevis' script. She had meant to, but with the business of the last few days, her hunger, and the moments of, ahem distraction with Satevis, she hadn't gotten around to it. She was sweating from the stress of the moment, keeping up with Satevis' story. But it was worth it.

[Satevis]

From the sounds of it, they were getting the reaction that they wanted, but Tock seemed to be having some difficulty with the puppets' movements. They should have rehearsed this before the show, but they had been a little...caught up in other things. There was no helping it now, though, so Satevis flipped the page, going to the next part of the story. He gave Tock a quick apologetic smile, then went on. "The Valterrian tore apart the skies and shattered whatever peace the gods and MIzahar had had. In the middle of the chaos, Syna looked down from the sky and saw Zintila, Demigoddess of Stars and her companion in the sky, fall to earth. In her panic to aid Zintila, moved to help her, but Leth saw the danger. He left his realm and held her back, protecting her. Syna struggled, but Leth refused to let go, knowing that if she left, she would be hurt severely." "Leth sheltered Syna from the attack, but he paid a terrible price. He was hit by the attack's full strength. Syna, realizing that Leth was severely hurt, took him away for a time..." He pulled the lever to switch the backdrops, the chaotic backdrop falling away to reveal the pure black board that he and Tock had painted. "...There were no lights in the sky for those days, and the world of Mizahar was plunged into total darkness. In that time, Syna tended to Leth's wounds, and the two of them slowly began recovering." He let the puppets continue to act on the stage, going through the motions of Syna tending Leth's wounds and staying by his side. When it had gone on enough, he switched the backdrops, revealing the final one. It was a starry sky, the same as the first, but in the center of it was a single red full moon. "Eventually, they resumed their proper places in the sky, and light was once more brought to the world. The two of them still rule the skies--Syna in the day and Leth in the night. They still meet during the twilight hours and exchange tender moments, and they still steal away with each other, bringing about an eclipse. But neither of them forgot that day, and the wounds in their realms are still slowly healing..." It was the only mention in the entire play of the fate of the Ethaefal. He had considered mentioning that the Ethaefal had started falling after the Valterrian, but decided against it. The children's attention spans were wearing thin, and it wasn't really necessary to the story, but he couldn't leave it out completely. "That is why, on the first of Spring every year, the moon goes red as a reminder of Leth's sacrifice and loss..." He shut the book and exhaled slowly, indicating that the story had come to an end. His heart was beating quickly. He hadn't even realized he was nervous until he started talking, but now that it was over, it was beginning to feel a little exhilarating. He gave Tock a tired smile, listening to see if the children liked the play.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock let the puppets fall to the ground as the catastrophe happened, then had Syna reaching out, her arms flung forward in desperation. She had Leth grab her and hold her back while she struggled to get free. Then she had Syna drop to her knees, and Leth huddled over her protectively. The children gasped, a few of them looking scared. The two puppets then huddled together in the darkness, holding each other tight. But at the end, as they returned to the skies, Minerva had the two puppets start frolicking and chasing each other again. The children laughed and clapped, knowing that meant everything was okay again. Tock had the puppets bow, then closed the curtain and leaned against the back of the stage, letting out a breath. She grinned at Satevis and said, "Our babies done a good job, 'ey did!" She gathered up the puppets and hugged them proudly to her chest, kissing them each on the head. She wanted them to know they'd done good. "An' 'eir Daddy done a good job too," she said, flashing Satevis a smile. There was a heat in her eyes as she gazed up at him, brushing back a strand of her styled hair.

[Satevis]

Like that, it was over. Satevis leaned against the wall of the stage, listening as the children began leaving the audience and heading back to the infirmary. He tried to gauge their reaction. Judging by the amount of excited chattering going on, he judged that they enjoyed it. That was good. He had been a little worried about that. True, children wouldn't be the most demanding audience, but they could be fairly critical in their own right, and they were the most honest audience one could get as well. He smiled down at Tock as she gathered up all of the puppets. He was slightly uncomfortable with her referring to the puppets as their 'children', but he knew how Tock felt about her automatons, and he knew enough to not argue with it. She really did look nice today, he noted. Not that she didn't always...but there was a difference between how she normally was and how she was when she actually made an effort. He wondered what had brought it on. She seemed embarrassed, so he didn't ask, but he had a feeling it wasn't for the puppet show, considering they had been back stage the entire time. How did the old saying go again? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth? "You did great as well," he said. "I think you put more work into this than anyone did..." There was a small amount of guilt in his voice as he said that. He remembered how tired Tock had been last night, and knew that he was partly to blame for it. But it was over now, and he would help more in the future...assuming of course that they did more of this in the future. "So..." he began, his smile turning slightly mischievous. "Remind me again why you're wearing my shirt?"