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 Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:15 am
Fall was full on but the cold weather had not settled in yet. The mornings were brisk but the afternoon temperatures usually were warm enough for short sleeves, at least in the sunlight. It was Algie's favorite time of year. He could wear a coat but also bundle up in his favorite scarves for early morning or late afternoon trips.
He'd been bundled this morning as he left to do some marketing but that always involved at least an hour in the cafe sipping tea and reading the newspaper. Bloo always seemed fine to wake up with him, surprisingly active in the early hours. By the time Algie had left the cafe and picked up a few dry goods from the market, the temperature had grown uncomfortably warm for his sweater and light scarf. The scarf hung from his shoulders undone, his sweater stuffed into his canvas bag and his sleeves were rolled up to the elbow.
His walk home took him only a few blocks from Twilight Designs so he decided to swing by. Various reasons could be used: Picking Athan's brain, more formally meeting Reyna, even further interactions with the other fiends would be a bonus. Despite the relative warmth, the day was beautiful and no matter what the reason he just didn't want to go home yet.
Bloo seemed to realized where they were headed and once within a reasonable distance the wisp unwrapped itself from his finger and zipped towards the door eagerly. Algie chuckled a bit to himself but his amusement quickly turned to a frown. The door was locked, the shop dark and a sign hung unmoving in the window.
'OUT TO LUNCH'
Bloo seemed to darken in disappointment but did not return to Algie's hand. He settled on the man's shoulder, the stone cushioned on it's many dark tendrils.
Despite the sign, Algie was cupping his hands to the glass, sneaking looks inside as if he would find anyone or anything that would want to see him.
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:42 am
Fall was a busy time at the nursery so when she was told she had the day off, Jasa made sure she was far away from the phone. It was for that reason she never carried a cellphone with her either.
A day off was meant to be enjoyed and though it had been chilly when she had left, it was not now.
She had stopped at home to change her heavier jacket for a sweater. It was cooler but also easier to manage if she wanted to remove it. Ruku seemed to be disgruntled by the switch in clothing because of warmth and pocket size. He was lucky she had included a pocket at all since she had thought about a much lighter sweater that had no pockets and room for him. Jasa told him so in no uncertain terms as he slid downwards rather annoyed. Her lips twitched. He would get distracted by something else and forget all about it at some point.
As it got warmer, the wisp began peeking out of her pocket more as if he wanted to see everything. She nearly laughed remembering the day she had looked him all over to see if he had any eyes at all. None that she could find and she wondered exactly what he thought he was looking at by peeking out like that.
Arriving at the shop she wanted, Jasa quickly found the icemaker she wanted. Hopefully this one would last longer than the others had. For a moment she hesitated. This was the fourth one she had bought in a year. Two had been on warranty still and she managed to get them replaced for a minor charge, but still, it bothered her that the machinery did not last long. The girl almost suspected Ruku except that she never had any proof except his amusement at her irritation.
They would deliver it to her on the next day and connect the water early and since she had to work late afternoon, it fit her plans perfectly. Her day was still free. Noting Twilight Designs was not far, she turned towards it. She had yet to go inside and talk to anyone about Rukurai. Maybe today was the day.
Then as she stopped behind the man, Jasa saw the sign. With a slight laugh, she said, "It never fails that something interfers whenever I try to get here. If it's not Rukurai and his tricks, then it's something else."
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:38 am
"It is always the way." Algie laughed, turning once he'd come down from his tiptoes and window peeking. His glasses had slipped to the tip of his nose and his brilliant green eyes locked on the young lady behind him. He was slightly tall man, scruffy, with bookish good looks. He was also old enough to be her father (or grandfather, he had a hard time with young people's ages these days).
Bloo seemed to notice the girl even before Algie and rose from his perch to examine her. The dark green and read stone hovered in front of her face, rather close, before zipping to the peeking stone in her pocket.
"Ho.. manners, Bloo." Algie admonished his wisp but it never worked on the little wisp. "I'm Algie." he held out a hand while simultaneously pushing his glasses up over his eyes. "This is Bloodstone."
Meeting all the people connected with this shop had been a pleasure thus far, especially meeting the fiends themselves. He consistently continued to try and make more pleasant connections and had yet to meet any of them that he didn't like.
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Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:48 pm
She laughed, pushing the black strands of hair that had escaped away from her face. Her hair was a loose braid that hung nearly to her waist. Even though it had grown out, there were still some blue and violet tinges to the right side of her hair. Even with the color of her hair, she was dressed nicely in barely faded jeans, a white top and tan sweater.
"If I'd not had to stop to order another ice maker, I'd have likely been in time today," she replied, her warm cerulean eyes sparkled in amusement as they watched the wisp. Taking Algie's hand, she shook it, adding, "I'm Jasa, and this is Fire Opal." He seemed an interesting person and quite handsome for an older man she decided. Strangely she felt quite comfortable talking to him.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled the wisp out. "Ruku is unhappy with me at the moment. We were out earlier and I was wearing a heavier sweater. I changed into a lighter one and he's pouting because it's not quite as warm as he thinks it should be. I still suspect that he's the trouble with the icemaker. I've replaced it three times since I found him."
Ruku sat in the center of her palm, tendrils wrapping around her fingers. His pout lifted a bit as he moved closer to where Bloo was. A sense of curiosity seemed to overcome him as he moved from her fingers to hover next to the other wisp.
Glancing at the sign again, she sighed. "Trivii told me of the shop nearly a year ago and I've still not managed to get inside or learn more about him. You and Bloo are the second pair I've met. I was hoping to find out more about him. Them."
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Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 1:18 pm
"A pleasure." Algie leaned over a bit to get a look at Fire Opal but Bloo seemed to be hovering in his eye line. "Ruku? Is that it's nickname?"
Bloodstone gave off a soothing aura by nature and the pouty Fire Opal may have felt it when the stones neared one another. Bloo's smokey shadows shook, almost amused when the girl talked about her broken machinery.
"Well I am not very good with machinery but I can tell you what I know of these little beings." He held out his hand and Bloo hovered above his pointer finger, settling down and wrapping his shadows around it. When the wisp had settled Algie looked like he was wearing shadowy finger armor. "He prefers to travel this way. The shop is closed, and it may be very presumptuous of me, but perhaps we can get to know one another over a bite to eat?" He tried his best to not sound like he was asking her out on a date. Gods forbid! A young girl!
As those thoughts crossed his mind he coughed and blushed a bit. "I'll share my knowledge and nothing more. I swear." He held up a hand innocently.
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Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 3:33 pm
"Yes, I call him Rukurai. Ruku or Rai for short. I'm still not quite certain why I picked the name out." Jasa replied, then added, "Yes, I think replacing an ice maker that much is grounds for something far more to be suspected. And at Christmas there was a war between he and Trivii's ice pixies. We finally had to stop it. My air conditioner went out twice this summer also. I finally just did without one. Too bad the house doesn't have central air in it."
"Interesting. He looks like a piece of jewelry. Ruku prefers my pocket most of the time. He seems to be most active in the greenhouse nursery or at home." Her eyes turned almost a warm turquoise as she began to giggle harder at his protest. "And lunch sounds good even if it's not a proposition." she teased after staring in amusement at his slightly red face.
Then she was apologizing and trying to stifle her amusement unsuccessfully. "I'm sorry. I barely know you and here I am teasing you already."
Ruku hesitated for a moment and then moved back into Jasa's pocket. He rode higher than before as if he were more interested in what was going on around him. The tendrils of shadow clung more to the edge than he had ever previously done.
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Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 6:22 am
By all the talk of appliances and machinery Algie gathered that this girl, unlike so many other's he'd met recently, seemed to be perfectly normal. No demon or witch or wizard. It was a very long time since he'd been in the presence of a normal everyday mortal. it was slightly refreshing! Of course that didn't mean she didn't have some sort of crazy super power he didn't know about (and it was likely she did) but normal talk about normal things was always nice.
"As a father of girls you sort of get desensitized to having young woman laugh at you." Algie gave her a wink. "I take it as a compliment."
"Oh you garden?" He motioned for them to walk down the street, trying to remember and having a vague idea of a small diner they could enjoy around the corner. "I enjoy gardens, sitting in them and looking at them." he smirked, "But I am a rather terrible gardener. I managed to grow some tomatoes this year but my plants look like a mess." Indeed his small vegetable garden at home looked like a tangle of green splotched with the odd tomato.
"I always get these high hopes and motivations that next year I will really do better." The older man laughed. "But every year it's always the same."
Bloo remained on Algie's finger, like a blackish green claw, until they had come to the diner door. When Algie reached for the handle to open the door for Jasa, the wisp detached and zipped in ahead. Though it was a generic diner with all types of food, it had Mexican decor and the wisp picked their booth for them, smack dab in front of a huge gaudy golden crucifix. There were much more low key seats but apparently he wanted them there.
"I hope you don't mind this seat." Algie noticed his wisp's nonverbal insistence. "He has a thing about religion."
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Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:02 am
The appliances were suddenly forgotten as he began to talk about gardens. She smiled. It was her forte`. A green thumb was the one thing she could claim to. It's why Alice had her potting plants and seedlings. They always seemed to be healthier and stronger than most others. In the beginning, everything was bought from a larger company. Now, she and Alice grew some of their stock during the winter months when it was slower.
"Just girls, huh? Having a sister would have been nice I think. I'm an only child and I'll admit I don't see my parents much. We agree to disagree on what is important in life. They are apalled that I like playing in the dirt. Their words for it." Her voice was almost wistful in the beginning but a frown was easily heard in her last phrases- the ones about her parents. "It doesn't matter. I love what I do. I work for a nursery. I was tempted to go back to school to learn more about various fertilizers and such, but when I think about it, really all plants need is the rich soil, enough water and light, and a little bit of TLC."
Her lips curved upwards as she watched Bloo zoom away the instant the door was open. As they sat down, she nodded. "I don't mind. We can see everything from here."
Ruku slid from her pocket to the table. He began exploring the things placed in the center. His tendrils wrapped around the bottles, feeling their shapes. He seemed to be keeping track of Bloo also because he was constantly turning in the direction of the other wispling.
"I started as a checkout clerk but Alice lets me do nothing but pot and grow plants now. You will have to call me when you plant your garden next season. Maybe I can help, at least give you an idea of what you might be doing wrong. It could be as simple as planting the wrong plants together. Believe it or not, some plants just do not like each other." Sometimes it was as easy as moving a few plants around. Whether it was the fact that some pulled the same nutrients or more water than others she was unsure. Either way it worked.
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Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:47 am
"Sisters, through my experience, have a hard time getting along." His girls were very competitive as children and then just grew apart as they aged. He frowned, only slightly, to hear that Jasa wasn't close with her parents.
"If you are happy is what matters and it may take time but eventually your parents will realize it. I was apart from both of my girls for a long time. My own selfishness. As a parent I think a moment comes where you just can't live that way, with yourself, anymore." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Just give it time with them but don't wait around. Be happy and progress and do it for you and no one else."
Algie picked up the menu that was brought by a nerdy looking teenage waiter. He ordered himself a cup of hot tea to start himself out. "I would very much appreciate your gardening expertise! I think I just sort of put it all in the ground, water it every once in a while and hope for the best." He could never quite seem to concentrate his research efforts on anything besides magic and history.
"You tell me about plants and I will share my small amount of knowledge on these little beings. Do you have any particular questions?"
Bloo had caressed the large crucifix in a reverent manner, unlike the way Ruku examined the things on the table, but he seemed to retain some familiarity with the world from his previous incarnation. When he was finished with the religious decor he drifted down to the center of the table with the other wisp. He playfully moved around Ruku, lapping his smokey tendrils against the other stone but also emanating that soothing aura of his in an attempt to make the other wisp comfortable with himself and his bond.
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Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:58 am
She laughed as she picked up a menu, ordering a cup of tea and a chicken salad sandwich from the waiter. "Maybe so, but it would have given me someone to argue with other than my parents. I'm sure they would have appreciated it as much as I would have." It made a weird sort of sense and amused her. Her father would have said she was being fanciful again. Fanciful was useless in his book, but she could see possibilities.
Glancing over at Ruku, she smiled. "I think he likes Bloo. He's usually not so active. Unless he's up to something. And it's a deal. You tell me about the fiends and I'll tell you what I know of gardening."
She thought for a moment. "I don't know much about them. I'm guessing that he will grow more. What are they like? I've only ever seen wisps. Do they actually get eyes, able to speak?" A soft laugh slipped free. "Consider me a novice. He seems to like the heat, but I'm not sure whether that is him or because of the stone he is. Are there differences in the stones? And when he gets older, does this mean he will have abilities I will have to watch out for?" Jasa blinked suddenly, biting her lip as she laughed. "I know. Too many questions at once."
Rukurai moved towards Bloo tapping him with his tendrils too. He seemed to want to play as he tagged Bloodstone and then hide behind the ketchup bottle. Moving around the other side, he tagged Bloo again and then quickly moved away. The restaurant was warm enough and he was enjoying himself. At least there were no ice pixies this time.
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Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:57 am
"From my limited experience so far, I've found they appreciate one another's company. Especially at this stage." Algie sipped his tea after their drinks were brought to the table.
"They most certainly do grow.. and also get powers." He smirked a bit, thinking of what a disaster it would have been for her if she continued to go on cluelessly with her fiend. "I have met quite a few at all different stages. After this initial 'wisp' stage they will manifest into a child like form. I do not know their powers exactly but I know that depending on their stone and what they were in their past life, they all have distinct personalities and abilities. They also wil go through stages where they are much like teenagers and then again like an adult. More than that I do not know."
Bloo seemed to go for the direct approach and despite Ruku's dodging, Bloo clanked straight into the ketchup bottle and made it rock on it's base. He waved his shadows playfull before sinking into the shadow of the bottle and disappearing. After a moment he popped up on the other side of the table, appearing from the shadows, and caught Ruku from behind!
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:46 am
Jasa listened carefully as Algie began to explain what he knew of the fiends. "I have suspected something was up since Christmas at Trivii's. She has ice pixies running around the house and it was an immediate war between Rukurai and them. We finally had to turn the heat up just to get some peace."
She watched the wisp for a moment. "I've replaced my ice maker three times. The motors have been burned out. It just seems odd that I've had to do so. And my air conditioner once. My refridgerator is acting funny too. It seems everything related to cold in some way." Jasa suddenly sighed. "I suppose this means he has to do with heat or fire in some way. Let's hope he doesn't burn my house down."
Her gaze was on both stones for a moment before turning back to Algie, "Do you know how they got into the stones or are the stones simply their dormant shape? I mean there has to be some reason they are connected to them."
Ruku moved forwards, his tendrils flailing for a moment. Then he moved to the other side of the bottle, peeking at Bloo. It was as if he were trying to figure out how that had been done. But there was amusement in his actions too that he had been caught offguard.
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 7:05 am
In a few moments their food arrived, Jasa's chicken salad and Algie's BLT. Both looked delicious and the older wizard picked broke off a piece of bacon and munched it before he was ready to dig in fully. "I went and researched the stone actually. Though not 100% accurate, I've found that Bloo shares a lot in common with the folklore based around his stone. Also I believe they all have some measure of basic shadow powers that they share. Such as sinking in and disappearing into shadows." He pointed to Bloo's antics on the table.
Bloo seemed thoroughly amused by this game of hide and seek. He kept darting between ketchup, sugar and salt and pepper glassware and popping up by Ruku to lap at him playfully with his shadows.
"Well I haven't been involved in any of these events, before I came here, but as I understand it an evil magician traveled the worlds seeking power. When people stood in his way or were useless to him he tore out their souls and they were imprisoned in gemstones. Athan has found the souls and freed them, as much as he could, by giving these little beings life. They need our energy to flourish." He took the opportunity to bite into his BLT, making an 'Mmmm' noise as he chewed.
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Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:21 am
Listening closely as she ate and decided this was the best chicken salad she'd ever had, Jasa sort of watched Bloo and Ruku playing. A confused feeling slipped over her from him and she knew it was because of the things Bloo was doing. The slipping in and out of shadows was something she had not seen Rukurai do yet.
"Bloo definitely has Ruku's attention with the shadow stuffs. I've never seen Ruku do it though." she said, nodding. "I'll see if I can find out more about Fire Opal then. That might give me more of a clue what he will be able to do. And how to curb some of it, if he is the one destroying my ice makers."
"An evil magician? Hmm... I wonder exactly what Ruku was before. Will they remember any of the things they did before they were sealed? That could be something they'd have a problem with depending on what it was."
Ruku turned this way and that paying attention to what Bloo was doing. He was amused by this game but more intrigued at how it was being done. Moving over into a shadow, he sat there for a moment, then he disappeared. Reappearing on the opposite side of Jasa, he twitched for a long moment as if surprised he had actually accomplished it.
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Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:08 am
Algie held up a finger, not wanting to talk while he chewed on his delicious sandwich. It took him a moment but he continued once he'd swallowed.
"As far as I have been told, no. They probably will not remember who or what they once were. But I believe that as they grow it will be up to them to pursue that knowledge if they want to."
He wiped his mouth gently with a napkin and sipped his drink.
"Bloo has soothing and healing aspects to his personality. Also he's a fighter, a warrior I mean. I only say these things because this particular wisp, used to be a child. There was a bit of an emergency and he ended up retreating back into his stone." Algie looked sad about that. "But he's regained much of his strength. I have been told that he will not re-emerge the same as he did the first time."
Bloo spun around and seemed happy but amused that Ruku had just discovered their mutual shadow abilities. In fact the shadows were a soothing and comfortable place for all fiends.
"But shadows are definitely their forte." Algie watched the stones again with a studying eye. "You should expect a bit of chaos.. trickery from them. It's probably the exact explanation of your ice machine problem."
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