May Catch-All

[rutility]

Characters: Rutile + You!
Date: Starting yesterday and continuing through May!
Location: The Dreaming Bridge, Breakwater Wing, and adjacent areas
Situation: Arriving in Aifaran, new accommodations, Faith 4, and maybe more
Warnings/Rating: None, totally PG. You could let your kid cousin read this stuff.



A ▸ NEW ARRIVAL | open

[ First moments in Aifaran. ]

A couple of blocks away from the Dreaming Bridge is a scene of semi-controlled chaos: a couple of Verdant Sentries and well-meaning passersby try to assist the newest Dreamfolk, who seems determined to ignore placating words. If you would just go to the Dreaming Bridge like everyone else, the natives say; if you would just comply with protocol, all your questions would be answered -

"Don't patronize me!" the Dreamfolk snaps in one of the sentry's faces, audible across the street. From here their hair, glimmering gold and crimson in the sun, hangs wild about their face, and their lab coat is dirty and disheveled. Fortunately, Rutile doesn't seem dangerous: they carry no weapons, and they're actually on the smaller side of your average human. They just seem pissed.

The second sentry reaches in to separate the two of them and Rutile knocks their hand away. "Get away from me!" they hiss, "I don't need an escort!" The sentries seem unconvinced.

Scratch that about the danger: the situation isn't looking good.

B ▸ BUTTERFLY BLESSINGS | open

[ Arriving in Breakwater # 03, Faith 4 ]

The room is sparsely furnished, but still more than Rutile is used to: three beds, as many tables, a shelf with books with names such as Baby's First Spiritual Experience with Tu Vishan and Slime Molds of Konryu: A Field Guide.

None of the beds seem mussed or even occupied, despite the twilight fading fast, so Rutile approaches the one closest to the open window and kneels carefully on the mattress. Despite its flimsiness - it's certainly not quartz - it holds their weight. Rutile curls up on one end and tentatively leans their head against the wall, letting their gaze fall across the courtyard below.

Rutile is on the verge of falling asleep - from lack of sunlight, from an emotional hangover - when a tiny mottled butterfly alights on the windowsill. Moments later, more have arrived, fluttering their wings as they land on the sill, the shutters, and even Rutile. They're reminded of someone else they've seen this happen to - a memory that makes them scowl. Rutile reaches out a finger for one of the tiny butterflies to land on.

"You're in the wrong place, little things," Rutile mutters. "I'm not the one you're looking for."

C ▸ WILDCARD | open

[ Not feeling any of the above? Let me know on plurk and I'll see what I can do! Alternatively, just go off. Let me have it. We'll make it work. ]

Comments

[rutility]

Kit keeps his distance, and the crowd stays behind him. Though the eyes of the sentries are still unpleasant, they are far enough away now that Rutile can let their guard down a little, and focus their attention on Kit.

Rutile's questions really are quite simple. It's not their fault the sentries are insensitive communicators. They've gathered that this place is not the moon (which is almost certainly true; it doesn't look like the moon), but nothing beyond that.

"What is this place?" they demand. "How far is it from the moon? Have you heard of a gem called Phosphophyllite?"

These really are questions the Dreaming Bridge can answer, one sentry begins to point out, only to receive a vexed eyeroll from Rutile.

[bestofthevein]

Kit supposes he is the most qualified dwarf in Aifaran to be answering these questions, by way of being--to his knowledge anyway--the only dwarf in Aifaran. He raises his eyebrows, sucks in a breath, and does his best.

"This place--" and here, he spreads his arms out to either side of himself, gesturing around them at the peculiar city, "--is Aifaran. It's a city. Near as I can tell, just about everyone here is originally from somewhere else, even most of the locals. It's--" another pause, his expression considering a moment, "...safe, I think. As safe as any other city I ever visited back where I'm from in my world."

As for the moon? Kit glances up at the sky, squinting some, and then just shakes his head. "I'm definitely the wrong one to ask about the moon--and the only, uh, gem I've met since coming here is Padparadscha." He watches Rutile to gauge their response, to see if his instinct here was correct, that the pair of them are from the same world.

[rutility]

Kit's instinct is well-founded. When he mentions Padparadscha a host of emotions cross Rutile's face: their anger is replaced by shock, which in turn fades into something desperate. They no longer seem to be paying strict attention to Kit, lost in their own thoughts.

Rutile's rational half warns that there's no way of knowing this is their Padparadscha, and that in fact it makes little sense for the only person in the universe they'd rather see to be here also. But there's plenty here that isn't making sense, and at some point they'll have to give up the expectation that it will. Now seems as good a time as any.

Rutile grasps Kit's wrist with their free hand. Their words, while still quick and demanding, now have an air of pleading. "How do you know Padparadscha?" they ask. The sentries, the street, Aifaran - everything else is forgotten. "Do you know where they are?" If it's at the fucking Dreaming Bridge...

[bestofthevein]

It is the fucking Dreaming Bridge.

Kit knows better than to say as much--at least in so many words.

He startles some when Rutile grabs hold of his wrist, but doesn't jerk out of their grip. He knows the desperation in those eyes, in that voice, only too well, knows that he probably wouldn't behave any differently if someone he knew and cared for happened to appear in this place. Behind them, the Sentries look increasingly agitated, but when they start forward as though to intercede in the encounter, Kit is quick to lift his chin, his free hand, in a placating gesture their way--as though to say 'cool it' without actually having to say it out loud. He looks quickly back to Rutile, answering them hopefully before they have the chance to notice how their action had seized the attention of the sentries.

"They're my friend," he replies, and hopes that Padparadscha wouldn't contradict him, were they here. "One of the first friends I made, once the Dreaming stuck me here. Like it's stuck you here, too, I figure." A pause, and then, "I can show you where they're living, though I don't know if they're around right now. Might've gone to Aisling Tower to visit the scientists, I think they do that sometimes."

[rutility]

The sentries' movements go unnoticed, though Rutile does come to their senses and realize that Kit's arm is much softer than their own. They quickly let his wrist go, and shove the chisel back in their pocket.

With one hand they smooth their hair, putting straw-like projects back into place. There's a soft grinding sound of stone on stone as Rutile clenches their teeth. They cannot breathe, so they don't sigh or inhale, and their voice trembles so slightly one could miss it, but when they look back at Kit it is with the focus of an ancient.

"Take me there," they say. Despite trying to recover their composure, their voice still has a frantic edge to it. They're not angry anymore, though, so this is certainly an improvement. "To Aisling Tower, or to where they live, or - wherever they're likely to be."