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 Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:47 am
The relative twilit sun of Library City had just begun to set; in the distance below came the sounds of city people packing up for the day, doors closing and wheels creaking. Automatons clicked and hissed and roved.
"Open the door open the door open the doooor," came the foreign sound of a small voice. The sounds of Chippenhew drifted away, as up near a spacious apartment surrounding Fin Magna, a little book child danced from boot to ornate boot.
"PLEAAAAASE," came her insistent cry.
Yona's veil had long been abandoned after she had mysteriously reached the ink pots in the library. Sure-- Caveat had /meant/ well-- meant to keep the child quiet anyway, while he worked his job. But teaching Yona how to write her letters had not been a very clean adventure, and now the young book child wiggled in front of Caveat's residence, her frilly purple dress stained a darker indigo from sticky black handmarks.
Despite Yona's protestations, her eyes weren't on the door. They were on what Caveat was currently holding: a shiny new case of building blocks. Having not experienced the joy of an actual toy before, Yona continued to jump around impatiently while she waited- she had run all the way up the quiet street in hopes that the door would be magically opened faster, and that she could play.
"Caaa, veaaaat. Caaaaaaaa veaaat. Caveatcaveatcaveat." came her chirping.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:19 am
He simply could not comprehend it.
The waning of the city at this time was as natural as the waxing of the thin dawn. As people closed their stores and returned to their houses lit with lantern light, the city herself seemed to yawn: the last gradual motions at the end of the wearisome day. Caveat's eyes were lidded, and his back hurt from bending over his desk in the library: even he, with his relatively inert position, felt exhausted at this time of day, and moreso today with the far-heavier-than-it-looked case juggled awkwardly with two books in his hands.
How, then, could tiny chirruping Yona be bounding about expectantly as though it were midmorning?
It went against propriety. Civility. Common decency. Where did she get her energy, he'd like to know.
"All right, all /right/, bidgeon," he said, hurrying up after her. He needn't have bothered - his words slid smoothly ahead of him, a little slowly for his general weariness. "Watch the flowerpot, now, you almost caught your foot in it."
He fumbled for the key, which - through some foresight - he'd placed on top of the case itself. Caveat unlocked the door with a sharp click! - then his bright white eyes looked down at Yona as he pushed the door open. His mouth he tried to set in a serious line, his eyebrows slightly raised.
"Now," he said, hoping to keep her attention just long enough -- "now, Yona, you remember what you promised you'd do when you got home, right?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:29 am
She might have stopped before, and turned to watch the words flow and fade from Caveat's mouth. But far used to the strange speech of the City People after an entire year, Yona only looked long enough to stumble over the words and actually read them.
"No!" she said honestly, and with a giggle, turned and ran inside the dark and otherwise empty apartment. Her little boots clacked against the welcome rug and polished wooden flooring, fading as she got farther away inside.
But it was only a few seconds before she came right barreling out again.
"M-maybe I remember something," she admitted immediately, and smashed herself against Caveat's vest, her short arms wrapping around his back and clutching at the cloth.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:50 am
His arms rose quickly into the air as Yona came barreling back out of the house, not wanting her to suffer injury on the hard edges of the blocks case. She crashed into him and held on tight, her little words a warble of insecurity.
Any sternness that he'd managed to craft on his face faded, his eyebrows drawn together in sympathy - he didn't need to be certain of the reason for Yona's distress to feel rather distressed himself at her frightened, grasping motions. Bending over, he managed to set the toy case down on the ground, freeing one of his hands to lay on Yona's upper back.
"It's all right, Yona, it's all right, now," he said, his words streaming from his mouth to slowly appear just before her eyes, small but wide and legible. His hand moved in slow, soothing motions on her back. "What happened to my bidgeon? Shh, now..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:05 am
There was a long pause as she slowly read the words, and though she could not hear their tone, the subtle way they had been crafted was still noticed.
"It's dark," she answered meekly.
The paradox of clutching a living shadow was lost on Yona, who could not see Caveat as anything more than a guardian now that he had been taking care of her. Her small form trembled, her pink hair an unbrushed mess, her face completely hidden near the pocket that had Caveat's watch in it. One inky hand compulsively reached in and took the watch out, smudging oily black all across the intricate silver surface.
She pulled back just enough to look at the engraved metal in curiosity. "... W-what's this a picture of?" she asked shakily, craning her head up to try and look at Caveat and avoid his moving arm at the same time. She'd never gotten a straight answer of what the watch had on it yet.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:37 am
/Ah, the dark!/ he thought. Now everything made sense. He'd forgotten in the bustle at the door to correct the darkness within the house, and when Yona had bolted in... poor lass. He'd been woken up countless times over the matter, not to mention those first trialsome weeks...
But when Yona spoke again, his kindly nature was rather taken aback. If he wasn't so troubled by tiny Yona's terror, he would have been more annoyed. To deny her any comfort now would be cruel, and he really, really didn't want to talk about the watch's curious little engraving, the meaning of which he kept to himself out of embarrassment. He felt rather manipulated, even a little miffed... until she looked up at him.
Her little head was brushed up against his arm - large brown eyes blinking up at him from where her face was mostly squashed against his stomach. He could feel the warmth from her little body, but also the way she shook with fright. To even assume that such a vulnerable figure would be manipulating him was simple blasphemy. He tried to ignore the fact that he'd only just discarded such an assumption by carefully waving his free hand just behind Yona, the intent from that slight magic owned by the City People flickering on one house-lamp, then two, then three...
"If your little fingers haven't smudged it," he said, the words slightly italicized in his gentle teasing, "can you see that it's a picture of an animal?"
/Perhaps,/ he thought as he carefully relit the house behind Yona's back, /perhaps she'll just accept the engraving as it is, and not ask any questions.../
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