ioduanlogs | Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes

Entry tags:

Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes

Characters: Ilda, Valdis and Rutile
Date: early June, before the Talent Tourney starts
Location: somewhere in Aifaran
Situation: Valdis is Ilda's new idol, so she's following her around like a lovesick little puppy (even though she should really be hiding from the Ban Om priests after starting that riot last month). But accidents happen. Like bumping into people. Or, more accurately, toppling people over with your previously undiscovered Talent.
Warnings/Rating: Ilda causing people to stumble with little tremors, Rutile trying to poke Ilda with a scalpel - but nothing really violent! Will add should there be anything.

The riot was not something Ilda's proud of. As much as she didn't like their Church and the idea of gods in general, she didn't advocate violence, especially against people (and things) who'd done nothing wrong to you. And although nobody had been severely injured, there had been broken things, and maybe a couple of bruises and cuts when some of the random strangers got all hyped up with their smashing.

At least that's what she'd been told - it was a little hard for her to remember. She wasn't sure if she was actively blocking the memory away in her denial, or it was part of the effects of the darned space parasites.

But she could only stay cooped up for so long. Ilda was a free spirit. She did not belong in boring rooms, especially when there was an entire city out there full of magic and wonder that needed exploring! Where was the justice in that? She could feel the excitement in the air (and the humidity as well, but that was a minor inconvenience) with the Talent Tourney starting in a few days, and she wanted to be out there, in the thick of things! Seeing and meeting and talking to all those people, maybe even getting them to give Yato a job...

So that morning, Ban Om priests be damned, she was up and about in the city. For good measure, though, she wore the cute hat she'd bought with Pepper, hoping it would somehow conceal her face from whoever might recognize her from the riot.

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Valdis' first real encounter with Ilda had been pleasant enough on the outside, but the young girl had been an bundle of awe and admiration, two things Valdis did not really appreciate here. Aifaran wasn't Keeliai, nor was it her homeworld. She was no one's enemy, but she also wasn't suited to being any kind of role model, not with the choices she was prone to making. Nonetheless, she didn't have the heart to shoot the girl down, or be cruel to her in an attempt to drive her off. So Valdis simply pretended that she had no idea that the girl was currently following her around the city. Ilda might be poorly disguised, but even if her tailing skills had been better, her soul was bright enough to recognized anywhere.

Valdis stopped at a small tailor' shop. The one she had modeled for two months ago. The owner had contacted her about a new dress, and since she had lost some income during her run in with the Dreaming, cheaper, quality clothing was well worth it.

Rutile's not sure precisely what a Tourney is, or what it has to do with talent, so they've been lurking about with half an ear turned toward picking up more information. Under pretext of fascination with a local food stand's wares, they've surmised that it's got something to do with the preternatural powers Dreamfolk seem to have - curious, since Rutile hasn't felt at all different, and certainly hasn't observed anything different either.

They thank the vendor for their time and leave without buying anything, continuing to observe the flurry of downtown activity and peek inside the stores. It's curious, this tradition of exchanging crafts for coin rather than simply distributing them where needed. They're considering stepping inside a shop with an accommodating merchant to ask more information.

Ilda spotted Valdis a block or two away and squeaked in delight, although she'd covered her mouth just before it escaped her completely; the last thing she wanted was to cause alarm and start another commotion. It wouldn't be good for her, given her track record, and most importantly -- what would Valdis think?

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, not that it was easy. She'd been restless, and all that energy from being cooped up for so long was already threatening to explode. Seeing her new role model didn't exactly help, either.

The blonde followed Valdis to the tailor shop, not-so-inconspicuously peering through the glass pane with her hands around her eyes, and bouncing on her heels. The tailor was bringing out a really really pretty dress... wait, was he going to make Valdis try it on?

HOLY QUEEN MOTHER OF APODEIA VALDIS IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE A REAL QUEEN--

And then there was a tremor, with Ilda as the unsuspecting epicenter.

The dress was fashionable enough when the tailor held it up, it would be flattering even if she had no place to wear it. Valdis reached out to feel the fabric, talking to the tailor about fit and design while he explained how he had done the seams and what textures he liked most. The tremble of the earth was unexpected, not deep enough to be the great turtle beneath the city, but closer to the surface. The tailor squeaked and stepped backwards, almost falling, but Valdis re-balanced herself and caught him before he fell.

"That was unusual," she commented, letting him straighten, ignoring his apologies in favor of looking around for an unnatural cause.

The tremor hits just as Rutile is passing a tailor. Caught by surprise, they reach out for something to grasp to keep their balance -

- and put their hand through the window of the shop. For a moment they exchange a horrified look with the shop owner and then hastily pull their hand back, grasping their wrist. "My apologies," they say, but it's tinged with annoyance. Who would construct something from such flimsy material, anyway?

Ilda shrieked — startled both by the tremor, and Rutile’s hand going through the shop window. And gods, she was one of those girls who could really scream.

She stared at Rutile with wide, terrified eyes.

And some other people in the vicinity began to linger around and watch them, intrigued.

Valdis turned to inspect the broken window, frowning at the unfamiliar person for a moment until she heard the scream. She was out the door of the shop and around the corner in the blink of an eye, almost shocked to see Ilda standing there, terrified of the same person who broken the window.

"Ilda?"

Rutile was just as distressed by the cascade of glass as the other shoppers in the vicinity, though more because it recalled memories of sleepless nights and terribly complex puzzles than anything else.

It was the shriek that truly took them by surprise. They snapped their neck up to the blond girl just a few feet away, processing the terror in her eyes just as another woman emerged from the shop to see what was the matter.

Rutile squared their shoulders and ducked their head a little, overtaken by remorse. "My apologies," they said. "I didn't mean to scare you, the tremor took me by surprise."

Weird, that there were earthquakes here - was that normal? They'd have to ask around.

Ilda's face visibly shone with relief upon seeing Valdis. Valdis was here! Everything was going to be alright.

Although more people were starting to crowd around them, curious about what was going on. Her shriek had sounded much worse than the actual situation, which didn't really help matters. "Sorry," she said, ducking her head as well and trying to tug her hat some more, as if doing so would hide the rest of her face. "I didn't mean to scare anyone, either. The earthquake..."

A strange feeling settled at the pit of her stomach for some reason.

She'd felt the tremor, but more of the glass pane shaking rather than the ground upon which she was standing. She stared down at her feet, frowning; there were no cracks on the ground, but if it had been strong enough, she was somehow pretty sure they would be radiating from her feet...

She swallowed nervously.

The yellow-haired girl was not comforted by Rutile's remorse; if anything, she seemed convinced it was her doing, the way she pulled her hat around her ears as if it would keep the growing crowd from seeing her.

"... Was a natural event," Rutile supplied at her hesitation - though even this they couldn't be sure of. "An accident, of course. You're no more at fault than I am for the tremors." They offered a small smile at the girl, an attempt at comfort.

The broken window, on the other hand... Rutile grimaced at it. They were no hand at glasswork. Glass was never even used on their island; it was too fragile and difficult to work, and would be destroyed during the next battle anyway. Why they were so fond of it in Aifaran, they couldn't say.

Edited 2018-06-23 22:59 (UTC)

Oh, hey. The stranger who broke the glass was saying that the earthquake was a natural event, and while Ilda wasn't convinced, she also really had no proof she was really the one who caused it. Rutile, though... the way they said it, they seemed to know a lot about earthquakes.

She smiled sheepishly. "R-Right. Thank you."

She glanced back at Valdis. Valdis was with the Sentry, so the crowd wouldn't dare to get rowdy... or at least, she hoped. Then she turned again to Rutile. "An accident," she called out quietly, her smile a little less shy now. "Not your fault, either. Hi."

Valdis looked around the gathered crowd, slightly irritated by the entire event. She pulled out her badge and held it up.

"There's nothing more to see here," she declared, her gaze sharp and her tone making it evident that there would be no arguments allowed. "Please move on."

The crowd didn't seem in the mood to argue, but the designer said something about his window, which meant Valdis now had to deal with that. She sighed and reassured him that she would take care of it. It was clearly an accident, and she especially didn't feel like writing someone up for a reaction to a 'natural event', but he pointed at Rutile and said something sharp.

"Sir," she said, "Edwin would like you to pay for the window you broke. I'm sure we can come to some agreement over the matter."

She glanced at Ilda, willing the girl to stay silent and not interfere.

Rutile's previous experiences with the Sentry were not encouraging, and the flash of the badge immediately put them on edge. The officer's stern words seemed unnecessary as well: no one in the crowd was hurt or interfering. It was rarely effective to start shouting in the wake of a chaotic event. When the officer turned toward them, Rutile's eyes narrowed, though they did not back down.

They glanced at the window again, and this time found the shopkeeper glaring in their direction, his skin the bright pink of padparadscha in the sun. It was rather clumsy on their part to break the window, but it was an accident, and hardly worth splitting so many of his hairs over. The shattered glass spilled across the ground, too flimsy and in too many shards to do anything with.

"I'm happy to do what I can to help fix it," Rutile said to the officer. "I'm afraid the glass is in too many pieces to adequately repair, though. He would be better off getting a new window altogether; perhaps one made of a sturdier material, such as rock crystal," they suggested.

As Valdis took control of the situation, Ilda swallowed nervously. Yikes. Valdis was scary. Although that increased Ilda's admiration of her — so strong, so commanding, so cool — the blonde teenager knew better than to interfere. Not just because she didn't want to get on Valdis' bad side; that glance was more than enough to shut her up.

For a while, anyway. As she averted her gaze from Valdis, she caught sight of the shopkeeper, and the way he glared at Rutile just didn't sit well with her. It was an accident! And even if it wasn't, it wasn't their fault — it was hers. Or at least, she was convinced that it was. It would make her the bad guy again, just like the temple riot she'd unintentionally started, but that way it seemed to feel less... wrong.

"I'll help," she offered to Rutile quietly.

The narrowed eyes seemed uncalled for, Valdis knew it had been an accident, Garren's request wasn't entirely unreasonable, but she had to smooth the tension in the air.

"Generally one replaces the entire window," she replied, "Once something shatters, it usually cannot be repaired to the same state as before."

She glanced at Ilda, once brow arched, "I don't think that's necessary, Ilda, they are perfectly capable of either helping pay for the window, or aiding in the repair."

Garren looked like he might decide to argue, but Valdis lifted her chin, "It was clearly an accident, Garren, holding them entirely accountable would be unfair. I'm sure you two can come to some kind of agreement."

"Once something shatters, it usually cannot be repaired to the same state as before."

"I realize that," Rutile pointed out, with a great deal of feigned patience. It was unreasonable to assume Valdis would understand the work that went into keeping gems in good repair, and further, that Rutile was the resident expert on such matters, but they found the lecture no less patronizing all the same. "In fact, I suggest a replacement that would mitigate this kind of damage in the future, but you can overlook that if you like."

Rutile then turned to the blond one - Ilda, that was the name - who stood sheepishly off to the side. Whether it was an accident or not (and it very likely was, unless this was yet another manifestation of the talents they were hearing so much about), Rutile was quite used to having to deal with the fallout of actions by the young and reckless. "I can pay for the window. You best be on your way." Then, to Valdis and Garren: "... How much is the cost?"

Ilda realized that Valdis was defending her, and while she was glad for it, she still had the sinking feeling that she was at fault somehow. But she'd seemed to have been backed into a corner, so she didn't say anything else, just nodding to acknowledge that she'd heard.

Then even Rutile was dismissing her as well, which was both awkward and a relief for the blonde girl. She didn't know what else to say or do, anyway, and if the accident wasn't truly an accident after all... lingering around windows wasn't a good idea. So she nodded to them as well, and slowly, carefully stepped back. "Thank you. Um, I guess I'll be going, now. Hope you can all work this out as friends? Um, yeah. Bye."

She walked away, slowly at first, but eventually slipping into a half-run.

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Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes

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