Re: Easing Through Eaulir - 119 4A

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:39 pm

By the second day, Holly was twitching, not because she lacked things to do. She could go through a small project with Iorlas (Amir made a wonderful small scale model at his age), or she could work on those spring clothes. Rather, she wished she had brought another journal because she wanted to dress everyone.

Her and Rose had been with them all long enough for Holly to get a sense of them, and what clothes she could put them in. Kyrie was especially interesting because as far as she could tell, Kyrie (next to Jassin and Lashrael) had very little interest in clothes and style. Also, how often was it that she could make clothes that showed a lot of skin and get away with it.

For that matter, Lin needed a new shirt, whatever pattern was on her shirts had long since faded (that back had such potential for a picture). More than half of the group needed repairs or new clothes completely. Daenis would look adorable in some flower or snow inspired lolita clothing. Andarien could use a few new vests, and Shoneah could use something to match (because they looked like an adorable couple). Despite the fact knowing that Kaito and Shiro were more Japanese inclined, she wanted to give them mandarin collered shirts in blue and white, and blue and black.

She hadn't even touched Miyuki's clothes yet...

Still, she wanted to sketch all of this, which was why she was popping her head into the lab to see if they had any extra paper. Maybe even a blank book.

In the lab, Miyuki was discussing with Eron the details about how things retained heat, and how long it would after the heat went away, and what was the dangers of using cast iron stoves to do this. Eron was mentioning that brick ovens might be safest for an oven, so the brick could insulate the heat in, and not be as dangerous to touch. He even walked her through how a Gaian stove and oven tended to work so she could decide for herself what would be the best method.

He also mentioned wryly that if she did this, it would take a while for everyone to figure out how to cook for a while, nevermind the fact a brick oven would be idea anyhow because there were somethings wood could impart that heating runes could not. Eron wasn't much of a cook back in Gaia, but even he noticed the difference in taste while being here, whereas Miyuki had been raised here for most of her life.

It was a good conversation and one they normally wouldn't have unless it was late at night, because in good weather they were both working on other things.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:15 pm

The lab was a busier place than even Miyuki and Eron made it: Shiro had once more resumed his studies on the crystal Andarien had found in Amon Darthir. He had already determined that it was almost identical to crystals found in Gaia, and that electronically it would be equally as useful, but he was also interested in learning how it could be used with magic. Cael had offered to help him out in that regard, since Shiro refused to touch magic himself, which meant that the former druid was spending more time in the lab as well.

Khetal had taken to researching the plants that Wren was growing in the gardens, and the two projects had grown into a collaboration between them: they would spend a half-hour or hour each morning in each of the gardens, taking care of the plants and observing them, and the afternoon would be spent in the lab, classifying, researching, experimenting. That wasn't the end of their time together, either: they often spent their evenings together, and while Khetal had joined the group to spend time with his sister, he didn't seem to spend an awful lot of time with her anymore.

Still, activity in the lab was so routine that Holly's arrival was quite the surprise.

"Holly, hi!" Shiro exclaimed in surprise. "Come on in!"

He put down the crystal shard he'd been working with and pushed his chair back from his desk. "What's up?" he smiled at her.

It was nice to be able to use that expression and have the recipient know what it meant.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:19 pm

Holly blinked for a moment and then smiled, giggling as she did so. It had been a long time since she had heard that kind of greeting.

"I was wondering if you had a stock of paper. I have some ideas I would like to sketch out," she explained taking a step into the lab.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:31 pm

Shiro grinned. "Yeah, you bet," he nodded. He pushed his chair back further and motioned for her to come closer. "Knowing how much we go through, between Andarien and his plans, Miyuki and her rune experiments, all of us and our research and experiments and everything ... then there's Earendil and his maps ..."

He shrugged, then grinned again. "Yeah, we've got paper."

He slid open a drawer and hesitated. "What kind of paper do you want? We've got journals from here, loose leaf paper, or ..."

He pulled open a second drawer to take quick stock and nodded. "A few notebooks left from Gaia. Not as good quality, I'll admit, but you don't have to worry as much about cost."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:36 pm

Joining Shiro by the drawers, Holly took a peek through. There was a great deal of paper as Shiro said. Then again, with all the work going on around here, she wasn't surprised.

"I'll take a Gaian note book, they're really just sketches for designs. If they're designs I want to keep I'll use a journal, but they tend to go under a few revisions first."

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:45 pm

"Sure," Shiro agreed, pulling a Gaian notebook out of the one drawer. Before he gave it to Holly, though, he reached into the other drawer and pulled out an Ardan journal, leatherbound as was so common to this world.

"Here," he said, holding both of the notebook out to Holly. "One for rough sketches, and one for final designs."

He smiled warmly at her. "Anything else I can do for you?"

Her interruption to his work was a welcome one. He knew he didn't socialize nearly often enough, and while he could argue that most of the people in the group were too wrapped up in their own work to really socialize, that didn't mean he was going to pass up on the opportunity when it did present itself. Besides that, he enjoyed Holly's company. Until now, Kaito had been the only other neko around, and it was refreshing to have another - and he wouldn't deny that her being a female didn't hurt, either.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:59 pm

Holly fidgeted it a bit, tugging absently the bonnet she had put on again. It was a habit to put it on in the morning and she had to make a conscious effort to take it off.

"Oh no... just the paper, I should have thought about it before and brought paper with me but..." Holly admitted sheepishly.

She hadn't thought about it, she didn't think she would be designing or wanting to so much while they traveled. Maybe it was because there were so many different people here, it was inspirational.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:05 pm

"Do you need anything to write with?" Shiro asked her. "We don't have graphite pencils like in Gaia, but we do have other kinds ..."

He grew thoughtful for a moment. "Though admittedly, it would be very handy to have pencils like that. Pity we've yet to find the ore that would allow us to make some. It's been a while since we've been near a volcano, though, so we're not likely to find any, at least not any time soon."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:13 pm

"I have been using ink for sketching, it's not as nice as graphite pencils, it'll do," Holly admitted, "I tried charcoal for a while, but I'm not really an artist in terms of drawing so I found it just got everywhere..."

She was fine with drawing basic human outlines and clothes, but anything beyond that never seemed to do well.

"I actually used to use pencil crayons back in Gaia, for colour purposes."

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:16 pm

"You know what," Shiro mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Cael's an artist. You could try asking him about his supplies. He'll have colours, too."

He grinned, his red eyes gleaming. "Don't know if anyone's told you, but he's the one who painted the walls in the tent."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:22 pm

"Oh!"

Now that Holly thought about it, she never did ask who had done those paintings on the walls.They were lovely.

"I should, I wouldn't be able to colour the clothes with them, that takes more technique than what I have for the tools here, but it would be nice to have colour swatches again. I don't know why, I have no issues in painting cloth, I do that often enough, but I guess it's because they do require different materials than what an artist would work with. I make do... they're not complicated painted designs, I embroider anything that has to be more complicated, or use dying methods..."

She wondered how Cael would fair with fabric then...

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:28 pm

Shiro chuckled softly. It sounded to him like Holly really enjoyed her work - which didn't surprise him in the least.

"Still, you could talk to him and see what he can do for you, either for coloured pencils or fabric paints or ... whatever it is you'd like. He's pretty amazing, and he's got thousands of years of experience behind him. Lancaeriel too, though she's more about magic than anything else."

The two of them - Cael and Holly - would do well working together, he thought.

"Oh, and out of curiosity," he added, one ear flicking slightly as he changed the subject, "how is Rose doing? Has she found something to keep herself occupied yet?"

He knew Rose was enjoying the travel and that she regular stepped in just about everywhere to help people out, but he didn't know if she had found something yet that she might want to learn as a trade. Or even just as a hobby.

Which, at the moment, she hadn't.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 6:13 pm

"No... not yet," Holly admitted, "She's been helping out in most places, but I don't think she's figured out where she wants to settle, or do yet. I think it's there's a lot of choice, whereas before there wasn't any. Rose is very good at accounting, because that's what her father had taught her, but she was always expected to marry eventually..."

While it was true Rose should still marry (she was after all only human with a lifespan to match), but for the moment she could think of other things instead.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 6:18 pm

Shiro pursed his lips. "Well, there's plenty of time," he concluded after a moment. "She's what, twenty-two, twenty-three years old?"

He smiled. "Who knows? Perhaps she'll pick something up when we stop somewhere."

It was a pity there wasn't a need for any accounting among them. Sure they sold things and bought things but they weren't a business and weren't citizens, so they didn't have to worry about taxes, and they didn't really keep track of how much money they had.

Well, maybe she could keep track of all their supplies so that when they were wondering how much of something they had, they wouldn't have to check the storage rooms every time.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 6:58 pm

"That's true," Holly replied, "And it hasn't been that long since she's been trying everything out. Maybe she'll find something interesting to learn from someone."

At least to Holly, there was always something interesting going on in the tent.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:05 pm

"Yeah ..." Shiro murmured softly, his eyes unfocused as his thoughts drifted. After a moment, he looked back at Holly.

"You busy with anything?" he asked her. "I've been sitting all morning, I could use a walk, if you'd like to accompany me."

Sure, it was still pouring rain outside, but the gardens were, as always, clear and sunny.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:53 pm

Holding the books to her chest, Holly thought about it. Why not, she needed to spend more time with people, actually spend time with them.

"No, just designing, and that can wait," Holly admitted, "Will we be going to the gardens?"

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:59 pm

"Unless you prefer the rain," Shiro teased her, guessing that like most nekos she would definitely not want to go out in the rain. "Come on, we can drop your books off somewhere on the way. The sewing room? Your room? Wherever you prefer."

He pushed his chair in so that no one would trip over it and turned his tablet off, taking a slip of paper from the corner of his desk and setting it on top of the tablet. In bold English letters, it read: KAITO DO NOT TOUCH.

With that in place, he was ready to go.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:49 pm

"The sewing room will do fine, if I need them in my room I can pick them up on the way," Holly replied.

She watched as Shiro put his note for Kaito and giggled.

"Would he really not touch?" she asked him.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:58 pm

Shiro chuckled. "Yeah ... no, but at least this way I can give him heck for it later," he grinned. "Kaito couldn't listen if his life depended on it. Still, I can hope. Who knows? Maybe he's off working with someone else and won't even look in here."

He motioned for Holly to lead the way out of the lab, since she was closer to the door.

"I know you've not known us long, but Kaito ... he's still rather like a kitten in a lot of ways," he explained as they went. "He's got to touch and play with everything. Give him food and a warm place to nap, and he's happy."

There was a gleam in his eye as he told her this. He was still amused by it all.

"And age is no excuse, we're twins," he added, unsure if she was aware of the fact.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:17 pm

Holly laughed, "I think Miyuki mentioned you're both twins at one point. At first it was surprising, but then I remembered how common it is for neko siblings not to look like each other. Something about where our genetic markers are, and really... angel and demons aren't that far apart from each other."

Unless you were talking about demons from more Asian parts, but even then the term demon wasn't really accurate.

"I noticed Kaito does have more of the stereotypical... habits that are associated with nekos."

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:26 pm

Shiro laughed. "Yeah, he does. Kaa-san - sorry, Mom found Kaito when we were just kittens, so he was kind of spoiled and allowed to be a kitten. I was on my own until I was older, so I really didn't have much choice but to grow up and act more human. I had to in order to survive. I don't regret it. My life has been more than I could ever have expected it would be. Even traveling before we had this tent was much better than the cardboard box I grew up in."

They reached the door to the sewing room - it wasn't far, after all - and he opened it for Holly.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:30 pm

"If Miyuki, Andarien, Lin and Earendil are anything to go by, I'm guessing though your mother wasn't a neko," Holly replied softly.

She entered the sewing room and put the books on her worktable. She didn't mean anything bad by it, just that as someone who wasn't a neko, she might not have realized that Kaito's behaviour could have been taught out of him. Even other nekos sometimes had trouble raising nekos that weren't theirs as the range of ability to act "human" varied. Some nekos just had an easier time of it.

"Though now that I think of it, you're related to them too right?" Holly asked, "I think I've heard of your family."

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:40 pm

"It's a bit of a confusing relationship," Shiro explained as they left the sewing room behind. "It's got a long story behind it. Let me see if I can simplify it a bit without leaving out so much as to make it confusing."

He paused a moment to think, and when as he reached for the door to the gardens, he began.

"Earendil and Daeron are brothers, and their father and my and Kaito's mother are siblings. By blood. All Dark Elves, like Caelamondorion. And actually they're part of the royal family in the Southland, another continent here, so Mom is from this world. A long time ago, she fell through a tear in the worlds - like you did, but the other way - and ended up in Gaia."

Inside the antechamber, he paused and allowed Holly to choose which garden they would walk through.

by **Kara Winters** Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:54 pm

Holly chose a garden with moderate weather, so it was cooler than the country they were currently in. She opened the door and let Shiro go through first.

"So... Lin is your aunt?" Holly guessed.

Though she could have sworn they weren't introduced as such.

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