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 Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:44 am
 Calico made her way down the stairs carefully, humming something random and erratic as she made her way down. As much as she could keep food in her room, she didn't want to eat in there. She wanted to come down here and eat, and so... she did. Didn't matter why exactly, she just did as compelled when the whims struck her.
She was certain she'd slept a full day somewhere because the calendar was convinced it was a day alter then she felt it was - but then the calendar could be lying for all she knew. She'd have to ask her Aoide or something for some help. She sighed, poking into the kitchen and beginning to rummage through the cabinets for something remotely interesting.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:59 am
Carrying something and navigating newer areas was a bit tricky sometimes, but the plate wasn't heavy and could easily be tucked up flat against her chest as she walked. Trailing one hand down the rail, the padded barefoot down the stairs and stepped confidently towards the kitchen. Each foot placement was deliberate, and she let her feet fall with a faint slap that helped her avoid anything big that might be in the way.
An odd humming notified her that someone was in the kitchen as she approached it. She stopped near a counter and tipped her head. It didn't sound like anyone she'd met yet, and she had gotten the distinct impression that there were quite a lot of people living here. But was this person safe? Finn-att and Garnet both had been. Well, she wasn't exactly alone now, she thought with a flicker of awareness to the part of her mind where Arctang resided. They had had a long talk this morning, and had come to at least a tolerable agreement. She couldn't say she was exactly happy about it, but the options had turned out to be rather slim. So she was resigned to things. Even so, he wasn't a bad companion, really.
Arctang was quite satisfied with how things had worked out. In the end, the child was very sensible and had a good heart. A flash of memory of children gathered around him, slates in hand and eager faces turned upwards towards him nearly overwhelmed him. So there was a reason he felt tender towards this child? Had those all been his own? Who had they been? The memory had fled as fast as it had come, leaving more questions than answers. He could remember some of what he had been, but mostly details were muzzy and blurred, which irritated him. He preferred his world to be sharp in its clarity, clearcut and defined, if loose and mallable. His mind was a strange combonation of merry creative chaos and clearly specified perameters. But it was somehow reassuring that he was indeed himself, to find sense behind his soft spot for his child host.
Deciding that standing mutely would do her no good, even if this wasn't a trustworthy individual nearby, she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but where should I put this?" She held up the plate, her pale eyes staring off into space in her dirty and mud-streaked face. Her escapade in the bathroom had done nothing to minimize her dirtiness. In fact, the shower had rather made things worse, for her hair had dripped further filth onto her face and arms, leaving brown runnels and pale streaks. The little girl was a complete mess.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:46 pm
Calico nearly jumped from the sudden noise, having bene so intent in her search for something to eat. She whipped around, almost triping herself and grabbing onto the counter as she looked around. Realizing there was no one higher up - equal in height - she tried lower and found the source of her scare. "Oh... umm..." Calico cleared her throat, trying to calm down as she pulled herself back up. "If you're done with it, the sink," she said, tilting her head to the side. The child didn't seem to be looking at anything specific...
She blinked, shaking her head slightly, and realized she was talking to someone she didn't know. Had the child been here before, a new arrival, lost? Someone else's kid? The dirt hinted at not being around here for long, though. "We do not think we've met before," she said with a curious tone. "We admit sometimes to forget but... We are Calico." Calico wasn't sure what to make of the child at all; rather young, and certainly unkempt... was she a host or merely adopted or what? The questions nagged her but she kept them quiet for now. Perhaps in time she'd know.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:28 pm
Rairne stood, still proferring the plate expectantly, a small frown creasing her brow. Usually people were quick to catch on that she was blind, whether her pale eyes were exposed or bound behind a cloth. Could this be another blind person, who couldn't see her either? She blinked several times in quick sucession. This was unexpected.
She was further thrown though as this new peron spoke of there being more than just her. It was entirely possible, Rairne supposed, turning her head this way and that to catch a hint of noise to indicate where the other person was. Not being able to find this other person made her nervous, so that she clutched the plate tightly, so as not to drop it.
"I'm Rairne, and you will have to show me where the sink is," she informed her. "And you said you are Calico, but what is the name of the other person?" She rather thought it wasn't very polite to stay silent this long. Just then... a nudge and a whisper in her mind made her stop. "You mean... you are all Calico?" she hazarded uncertainly, not quite understanding what Arctang meant.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:46 pm
The child was acting oddly, no, wait... show? Her own eyes went wide as she realized what ti meant. She hadn't exactly been quick to catch onto most things, but then there was a lot of non-logic in logic to her. Ahhh, it made more sense overall now, kind of. Calico felt a quick flush as she realized she was being really dumb now, something picked up from her host. "We ... are. We are a goddess, in rebirth. Singlular in form.. plural in other ways. Yes." She reached out, taking hold of the plate carefully, but waiting for ehr to release before taking it completely. Now that she realized things, it made more sense and she didn't want to startle the child. To not see - unwillingly? - was something that escaped her in some regards. There was more to the world then seeing, and although it seemed important one did not need it, did they?Mintaka stirred faintly, bemused only slightly by the goddess and reassured her slightly. "We are sorry for being awkward," she explained, trying to find words. "We did not realize."
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:15 pm
There seemed no limit to the depths of how odd this place was. Rairne shook her head at her own thoughts. She supposed she'd get used to it sooner or later... or rather, she would if she existed long enough. None of the strangeness seemed to bother Arctang. He nudged her again into speaking.
"I'm supposed to tell you that you are easily forgiven the oversight." She frowned and continued as if repeating someone else's words. "I am the host to the god Arctang, the Pie Bird, and he greets you, Calico." Feeling this somehow inadequate, the little girl dipped her knees in a sort of clumsy curtsey. She had agreed to say what he'd told her to say when he needed to communicate through her. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but this was also the first time she'd tried it. It was strange to be telling someone else what the voice in her mind said.
Her tummy suddenly rumbled quite loudly, demanding more of that rich, wonderful food she'd had the night before. If she could have shushed it, she would have. She could hardly order up another of those delicious things. Still, it rumbled again, and she sighed. Might as well compromise. "May I please have some bread with butter?" There, that couldn't be too much to ask, right? She wouldn't have normally asked so primly, but somehow Arc's influence was making her more formal in the face of this person.
It hadn't occured to her that this individual she was conversing with was indeed a goddess reborn. Noone had bothered to explain that to her yet. Not even Arctang, who rather took it for granted that the child must surely know.
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:43 pm
Calico's eyes went slightly wide, then back to normal as she pursed her lips. Which her expression changes might not be apaprent to the child (or the god), she went through the motions as she considered this. Arctang... yes, he of Numbers. One which confounded and confused her at times. And other times made clear sense. So the child was a host then. It made no sense to her, but then, she was not Harmodius, either. She shivered slightly, and paused as she heard the sound of the girl's stomach.
"Ohhh, why yes, we can find something for you!" She perked up, putting the plate aside a moment. "We admit, we came down here to eat as well, as we are hungry too!" A faint rustle of her single wing as she shifted around digging out the bread and setting it on the counter before going to the fridge for the butter. That didn't sound like a half bad idea for food. Better then nothing, and better then the really sweet stuff up there.
"SO you are host to Arctang then," she said, closing the fridge. "We are pleased to meet both you you, Rairne and Arctang." She set the butter down and went for two plates. "So you are new here then?" she asked, setting them down and fishing out some bread carefully. At least two slices each for now should do.
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:55 pm
Rairne consulted her memory for the chair she'd sat on the day before when Garnet had been in the kitchen. She was surprised when Arctang fed her numbers that were meant to alter her course slightly. He remembered like she did? She bit her lip, but followed his instructions. Sure enough, she was nearly on top of the chair when her instincts said she would be. Grinning to herself, the girl scrambled up on the chair and turned to sit facing Calico.
"Yes and yes," she replied simply, tucking her feet under her. "But I'm getting used to it." She paused, then added, "Getting used to both being a host and to being here. This is such a strange place." This last was said with a faint frown, as she ran her fingertips across the surface of the table, feeling minute irregularities but not really thinking about them. "Arctang doesn't seem to mind it, though, so I suppose I shouldn't either."
"Why is Arctang called the Pie Bird?" she queried suddenly. "He doesn't remember well enough to tell me, I think." She had asked, after all, but he'd had no answer for her. She figured she might as well ask as not. Who knew what these strange folk here could tell her?
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 7:20 pm
Calico rustled in a drawer fishing around until - aha - a butter knife was found. She glanced over her shoulder as the girl talked, taking it in before turning back to the butter and bread and carefully putting the butter on.
"We agree, it can be odd, although we find it comforting at times," she said, setting the first piece down and grabbing the second. "We know that Our host was very... confused and lost at first too. It was a lot... she saw a lot as well that... left certain things We wish she hadn't had to see."
She sighed a bit loudly, and tended to her own two slices. "Much has happened, and will." To the last question she pondered. There would be many a reason for such a title, but... then, Calico could not pick one clear. Remembering then was like walking in a thick fog. You only found things by running headlong into them, often unwantedly. She set the second slice down, and scooped up the plates to go sit by her. She set the plate down carefully in front of her before taking a seat. "We are not entirely sure," she said carefully. "I reminds us faintly or some song of long ago perhaps... or maybe not as long as one might think. We are uncertain to the truth however; we do not remember much and were gone before the Fade fully came to be."
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Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:58 pm
"That must stink," Rairne commented with wry, childish honesty. She located her plate by the sound it had made being set down, and managed to pick up her bread without sticking her fingers into the butter. She neatly folded a peice in half, then made very short work of it, ravenously gulping it down.
When she had finished swallowing the last bit of the first peice, she paused and turned her head towards where she heard her companion sitting. "What is the Fade?" She had heard the significance in the woman's voice when she'd said the word. Arctang stirred within her, and she sensed his uneasiness.
The Fading. That awful time. Gods and goddesses gone, forgotten. He and Cosine staying close together, nearly clinging to each other when their time had come. "The Fading was awful," he told Rairne silently. His whole being within her shuddered at the memories that had followed, of bieng ALONE for the first time since he'd come into being with his twin. Alone. Suddenly the reason why he'd hated it so much flared back into his memory. His sister! He must find her!
Rairne winced and raised an inner barrier to protect her own thoughts as the god began to ricochet off the boundaries of her mind in his fervor. She'd ask him about her later. For now, she wanted to hear what Calico said about this Fading. "I don't think Arctang liked it very much, whatever it was."
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Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:47 pm
She watched the child as she nibbled idly on one piece, slowly making her way across in lines on the peice. Upon utterance of Arctangs opinion she chuckled, slosing her eyes a moment.
"We don't think anyone, including even Harmodius liked it. It was a bad time... We fell before the majority of it came to be, due to meddling of another in spite. Perhaps a sign of things to come. We - We as in all of the Pantheon - were put aside piece by piece, bit by bit by the people who looked to us. Without the sustinance of their worship... without that, We cannot Be." She helf the half-eaten bread, openign her eyes now and exhaling somehwat raggedly as she trembled. "We had our following taken from Us, but others were simply discarded. We had seen a certain falling away, but... nothing to the degree of the Fade."Mintaka gave Calico soothing thoughts, trying to calm her somewhat. It did no good to dweel on it, and that looking back gave better clarity then being there then. Not much to do about changing it. Calico took a n** of her bread, swallowed, and cleared her throat. "We think that maybe it was necessary in some way, however misunderstood it was. We think maybe a few deities could learn a lesson from it." She sounded a bit sour, although for what reason was unclear. "But it is still something sad for us all."
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Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:08 pm
Despite being hungry, Rairne fiddled with her other peice of brea, folding and unfolding it. Her expression was intently thoughtful, and the gears of her mind were whirling away, apart from Arctang and his still urgent bouncing around about whatever had gotten him stirred up. She had the sense that it had to do with this Fading, but wasn't about it directly. She brushed aside the thoughts of what he was doing now and instead focused on what they had talked about earlier that day, and how this Fading applied to it.
"So," she began slowly, dwelling on his urgency for her to accept him. "That would be why Arctang needs me so much. He had everything taken away." She kept fiddling with the bread, now turning it and folding it the other way, frowning into space. "He can get it all back if I let him use me to remake himself." She used the term 'remake' carefully, as if told exactly what it was that it meant, though not being entirely sure of her feelings about it. "I am his key to living." It was a very complex and grown-up way to look at it, and the resonance of it's truth vibrated through Rairne's being so strongly that even Arctang stopped and took notice, quieting down to listen in again.
She gave a great sigh and took a bite finally of the buttered bread. When she'd slowly chewed and swallowed, so different from her previous wolfing down, she said in a confidential and solemn manner, "I have already agreed to let Arctang take over me. He promised to do some things for me, since I'm letting him. But now I feel better about it. He needs me. Not just for what he wants, but because he was sad, and should be happy again." It was a rather simplistic way of looking at it, and a simplistic way of expressing it, but she meant it. She really didn't think she'd have a very happy life herself, stuck as she had been with no home, no family, and no sight. He might as well be happy, if she couldn't, right?
The sincerity and selflessness expressed in the girl's thoughts, words, and attitude struck him sharply. This child was willing to give all she had to let him be reborn. If he could have wept, a single shining tear would have trembled on his lashes for the bravery of his host. She was worth the agreements he'd made to convince and wheedle her to allow this. He really hadn't given her enough credit for grasping the situation and responding positively. Very softly he whispered in her mind, "I'm sorry...," and enveloped her in the warmth of a mental hug, trying to surround her with his gratefulness and mild dismay at his own callous attitudes.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:10 am
Calico blinked once, twice, and wa silent as she took the words in, sitting almost statue still holding the half-eaten slice. The words were so... utterly unexpected almost, yet... so perfectly true in some ways. Every host was the vessel to the rebirth, and without them, they were nothing. Without Mintaka, Calico would have had to wait, if ever... and if she hadn't help keep her safe during that time against Luciius -- well, she might not be sitting here now eating bread and butter with a little blind girl who was host to a god and full of wisdom.
She snapped from her stillness, her wing shifting and rustling a moment. If anythign the words were touching, almost warming. She rubbed at one eye, trying to be rid fo tears that wanted to come. Yes, the words were moving, hopeful. Invigorating, even, something lacking in these times. "Yes," Calico said, her voice cracking slightly. "We do depend so greatly upon our hosts... without them we have no chance. Some of us care deeply for our hosts, and We could only hope that more do so hold reverence for those who make this possible. While... it perhaps may be unfair in some regards, there is the hope of better things with our return. And We - We shall not forget Our host, Mintaka. She did much for Us, and We will be greatful always." She nipped at the bread again. "We hope that you and Arctang can find happiness together perhaps in the times to come."
She folded the bit that remained and shvoed it into her mouth to devour the rest, chewing in silence now.Mintaka felt the warmth of Calico's greatfulness and returned it, nesting into a corner of her mind with contentness of things and reassuring the goddess it was all okay. I've never regretted anything, and don't you do so either.We won't, Calico returned. We shall be sure that you are never forgotten.
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