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 Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 11:38 pm
Survival did not come easily to Ying. It had been difficult for her to adjust to living by herself in Fa’Diel, but she had managed. It didn’t hurt that there, the only things she had to pay for were food and occasional new clothes. The things she found on her travels- antiques, raw materials, or other strange goods, depending on where she was- sold for enough to cover her basic expenses. It hadn’t been a very luxurious life, but she’d been too wrapped up in her goals to care much.
Gaia was different. She was used to being pampered here, not having to worry about where her money had come from. It had been silly, she reflected, to expect things to go back to being that way after she had been gone for so long. But it was tougher than she was prepared for, getting by on her own. Without her family’s support, she had to worry about lodging, her health, and unexpected safety issues, as well as food and clothing. If it was a holiday she wanted, she would have been better off staying in Geo.
But now Ying had a mission. A new one, equally important to her as the one that sent her away in the first place. She wouldn’t stop her search, nor would she deny herself a holiday, but she was not going to leave Gaia until she managed to find her family. Until then, she was on her own.
Well, almost.
Ying’s eyebrows twitched. “Would you leave that lampshade alone?” she asked, trying and failing to stay calm. “I’m trying to read.”
And I’m trying not to be sick. Tsavorite was in the middle of wrapping the room’s sole lamp in toilet paper. It didn’t do much for the decor- which was a shame, since the room was utterly boring- but the several layers she had wound around the lampshade already helped to dim the light it gave off. It was a good start, but not nearly enough, so she ignored Ying’s request and continued wrapping.
Deep breath in, deep breath out. “Can’t we compromise? There’s places in here the light won’t reach- the closet, or under the bed. Oh, you could leave the lights on in the bathroom! How about that, Savvy?” Ying tried to sound energetic, but came off as pleading instead.
As though she was honestly considering the options, Tsavorite looked over the bed and the closet. She even set down her toilet paper and stuck her head in the bathroom. Then she shrugged and picked up where she left off. No.
“Oh, come on, Savvy!” Ying’s book fell off her lap, but she didn’t notice. “I’m trying to make nice, okay? We’re here. We’re on holiday. All I’m asking is that you compromise a little. And not to do anything to get us kicked out of this hotel.” They were on their third, having been asked to leave the first two by irate managers. Ying had some Gold left from before she’d left, and sold enough items she’d brought from Fa’Diel that they didn’t have to worry about money for a while, but changing hotels every few days was tiresome, and they were running out of cheap ones.
The toilet paper tube was nearly empty. This is a compromise. I could just turn the light off. Which she should have done in the first place, since being near the light was making her head hurt. Her eyes narrowed as she considered another possibility. Or I could mess with the wiring. Then the light won’t bother anyone anymore.
“You wouldn’t.” Ying stared, then sighed and shook her head. “Who am I kidding? Of course you would. You’re you.” This was what she got for playing fair. Even when she knew she wouldn’t win, she still tried, mostly because she didn’t like the alternative, but partly because she hoped something would change. So far, nothing had. She looked for her book, picked it up off the floor, and put it on the nightstand. “I’m going to get ready for bed. Just don’t cause any damage.” Recounting a set of old rules, she held out her hand, extending one finger at a time. “No property damage that can’t be easily repaired. No physical or emotional damage to anything living. No tricks on anyone obviously above the age of seventy or under the age of seven.” Age on Gaia was tricky- Ying was only seven herself- but she did the best she could to keep vulnerable people safe from Savvy’s shenanigans.
None of this was new to Tsavorite, who rolled her eyes and waved Ying off to the bathroom. You talk like I’m a natural disaster. She wasn’t complaining; if anything, Ying’s attitude was a compliment to her. But it never hurt to act innocent. I’ve never caused any really serious trouble.
“Yet,” Ying muttered, shutting the door after her. A moment later she opened it again. “And don’t-”
Don’t do anything in the kitchen. I know, I know. It was a shame, since there was so much potential there, so many things that could easily go wrong, and did with her help. But Tsavorite had learned the hard way that a starving Ying was even worse than a depressed Ying, if only by a small margin. When they managed find the people they were looking for, she planned to make up for lost time. That DS woman had a kitchen that was truly a joy to rearrange. In the meantime, she would have to find other diversions.
Tsavorite sat lightly on the edge of the bed and rested her chin in her hands. Now the night was her own. All she had to do was make one simple decision: where to begin?
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DivineSaturn generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 11:56 pm
Tsavorite took her time deciding on a plan for the evening, Ying took forever in the bathroom even when she was just getting ready for bed, so there was no rush. There wasn't a whole lot for her to work with in the room, though improvising was one of her many specialties. The kitchen was off-limits, but the hotel they were staying in had a spacious lobby with plenty of potential. There was even a bar, the only place other than the rooms likely to have people at this time of night. Tsavorite considered the possibilities, then decided against it. Drunk people were fun to watch even without her interference, but she was in the mood to do something, not just to spectate.
The other rooms, though, were very doable. Especially if she was careful. Even without Ying's warnings, Tsavorite had no desire to move to another hotel so soon. It was tedious and distracted from fun things she could be doing. Like rifling through the other guests' luggage, or-
A noise from the closet derailed her train of thought. Frowning, Tsavorite listened closely. It sounded like something was in the closet, trying to chew through the door.
Ying will freak if there's a mouse problem here, she muttered. Which wouldn't be so bad if it was daytime, but spotting a mouse at this time of night would keep the Jumi up for hours, and cut seriously into her downtime. But if I move it to another room before Ying sees, it'll be perfect! Set on her plan, Tsavorite opened the closet door.
A blob of ink looked back at her, white eyes luminous in the darkness.
Okay, that's not a mouse. But what was it? It didn't look like any creature she'd seen before, which didn't say a whole lot. It felt like darkness, which was odd, but not very informative either. A spell gone wrong? Or right? Something from another world? Or one of those new monsters like we met that first day back?
If the blob-thing understood her, it didn't reply. It simply kept scraping its little claws on the closet wall, even though the door was open.
Tsavorite frowned. Now her problem had gotten more complex. Ying would still freak out if she saw this... whatever it was, so the best thing to do would be to proceed with her original plan and dump it in someone else's room. But that meant that she would never find out what it was. Curiosity getting the better of her, she extended one hand toward the creature, just to see what it felt like.
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DivineSaturn generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 11:13 pm
Before Tsavorite could touch the blobby creature, it started to shake. At first she wondered if it was afraid, but the tremors got so severe that she wasn't sure it was healthy. If it was diseased, she didn't want to be anywhere near that thing, even though the likelihood of it making her ill was fairly small. She pulled back her hand, but kept watching, not quite sure what else to do.
The blob continued to tremble violently, until Tsavorite wasn't sure where it ended. It took a moment to notice when the shaking stopped, but once she was sure it had, she was more confused than ever.
Whatever the creature was, it chittered at her and resumed scratching at the closet wall, while its twin grabbed onto the edge of the door and started to gnaw on it.
That was interesting, Tsavorite commented, not really speaking to the imps themselves, which was just as well as they continued ignoring her. Any more tricks up your, um, not-sleeves? Spontaneous combustion? Turning lead into gold?
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DivineSaturn generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:03 am
"Savvy? What's going on out there?" Ying's tone was suspicious, but no more so than usual. "I really don't want to have to find another hotel in the middle of the night, so don't wake anyone, okay?"
I know, I know. This was a bit of a pickle. On the one hand, Tsavorite was absolutely fascinated. On the other, she knew that Ying was right, and was in no mood to be evicted from the hotel because of a couple of shadowy blob-things. But if she moved them to someone else's room, they'd be someone else's problem. It was a shame, but they would have to go.
That settled, she bent down and picked up one blob in each hand. Sorry guys, nothing personal.
The disclaimer did nothing to calm her captives. One of them settled for screeching loudly. The other was not satisfied with that, so it opened its mouth and bit the offending hand. For such a little thing, it had surprisingly sharp teeth.
Tsavorite screeched and dropped both shadows, putting her hand to her face as she'd seen Ying do with other injuries. It probably worked better when one had a mouth, and its utter failure to soothe her only made her more angry. Okay. No more miss nice shadow.
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DivineSaturn generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:17 am
Tsavorite reached out to pick the blobs up again, but they had learned their lesson and scurried across the floor. In addition to possessing surprisingly sharp teeth, they moved with remarkable agility for creatures so small and, well, blobby. One moment they were in front of her, the next they were halfway across the room, heading straight for the open window.
Hmmm... Tsavorite considered chasing them, but decided against it. The inky things had definitely worn out their welcome, and if they wanted to leave, she wasn't about to stop them. If anything, it was much better for her if she didn't have to get close again. Her hand still ached, and she rubbed it against her stone lightly, the coolness sapping some of the pain.
The blobs stopped at the window, but didn't climb up towards it. Maybe they needed help reaching the ledge, but Tsavorite was in no mood to touch them again unless she had to. The two chittered at each other, then one grabbed the cheap curtain that nearly brushed the floor and tugged on it.
Good. Climb the curtain and get out of here.
The other blob caught on and grabbed the other curtain panel and tugged it. Then, the two tugged in unison, which ripped the fabric and shook the curtain rod and the nails that held it aloft.
Wait. Don't do that!
They tugged again, and the curtain rod pulled the nails out of the wall, spraying the blobs with flakes of plaster before they disappeared in the folds of the curtain.
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