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 Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:04 pm
Backdated - Saturday the 19th
The flurry of activity that happened whenever guests arrived was over now. Greetings had been made, coats had been hung up, everyone had found a seat and a drink if desired. Bronnie and Five were playing in the backyard, far away from all the 'boring' talk.
And Riven looked vaguely uncomfortable, and kept squishing Ghlyssa's hand in his own. A gathering of not only your own Guardian but also Ghlyssa's adopted 'family', with the express purpose of figuring out how to fight bills, live in a house, and make babies, would do that.
Sosiqui came out of the kitchen with the last mug of tea, and set it down on the coffee table among the other cups and a spread of pamphlets on everything from wedding florists to apartment ads to the GMFC. "So," she said. "Now that I assume we've all been informed of what these two-" she gestured at Riven and Ghlyssa- "are planning... what are we goign to do about it?" She sounded stern, but there was a teasing twinkle in her eye. Riven thought she might have winked at Miss Sundragyn.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:17 pm
"Short of locking them both up on separate continents, you mean?" Sunny mused. "Well. I'm not entirely sure. It's only just finished settling in for me." She tapped a finger against her cheek. "I suppose we do have to do something. I mean, we can hardly just turn them out in the streets."
Ghlyssa squeezed Riven's hand just as tightly. "Do you really have to tease?" she mumbled in the general direction of the floor.
Ray rolled his eyes theatrically, having decided to be vaguely unhelpful today. "You might as well go with it. I think she's on your side."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:13 pm
"I'd phase through the wall anyway," Riven remarked. For a moment, he considered sticking his tongue out at Sundragyn, as he would have done if Sosiqui had said that, but... no. Not the time for that.
Sosiqui looked more serious now. "We're not here to try and manage your lives for you... you should be capable of doing that yourselves. Hell, you're great ancient powers... we don't have any right to control you. So we won't. But we do want to help. You understand?" Her gaze flicked over to Sunny for a moment to make sure she was expressing the right thing.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:21 pm
Sunny nodded. "Right. I mean, I know I'm not above giving a little help, either, but... this is all definitely things you're going to have to do yourself, figure it out yourself. That's... that's part of growing up, I suppose."
"Doing things ourselves?" Glee ventured.
"Exactly. And yes, I'm concerned about things, but... what Sosi said. Even leaving aside the nature of what you are, you're old enough we don't have much right to dictate to you. And I've never been sure where I stood with you authority-wise, Glee." She shrugged.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:25 pm
Sosiqui took a sip of her tea. "Okay." She put the teacup down and riffled through the pamphlets on the table. "Before we even MENTION babies, there's the house thing.... Riven explained that you wanted to try and make a house on the outskirts of the woods, out of trees... with magic. Right?"
Riven nodded. "Ghlyssa thinks she can do it, and it would be good for her to be out in the woods all the time." He smiled fondly at her and squeezed her hand again, this time out of tenderness rather than nervousness. "That's why I didn't like those apartment-thingies. Really small and all shut in with the fake rocks and stuff." He wrinkled his nose in distaste.
"Well, that forest is public land - I went and checked at the housing commission in Aekea the other day when I was out visiting a few clients," Sosiqui said, finally pulling out the leaflet she'd been looking for. "You can stake a claim on it, as it were, and it'll be yours as long as you don't cut down trees... which you don't want to do anyway, right?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:29 pm
"No! No cutting down trees," Ghlyssa said urgently. Ray let out an amused snort, and earned a glare from his sister. Glee stammered a bit before continuing. "I mean... I couldn't do it all at once, I really don't think I could. But I could do it."
"Um. There's the matter, of course, of water, and furniture, and the like?" Sunny moved to lean on her other arm. "Furniture's not so much of a problem... that's what thrift stores are for."
"I know a guy who'd probably loan us a truck," Ray offered.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:34 pm
"Furniture isn't too much of a worry, really," Sosiqui pointed out. "The shops in Aekea sell a lot of basic, inexpensive stuff... and you can upgrade that bit by bit into better, longer-lasting pieces if you want. Same as any young adult in my world ever did. Same as I did." She chuckled and shook her head, apparently remembering her own trials in moving out.
"But yes, water... and electricity." Two more pamphlets were produced. "Fortunately, since taking trust of the land is essentially free, and the cost for the actual home will be free in terms of money... we can help with that more. The closer to the forest's edge the better, though, as it's easier to tap into the existing city sewage and things like that." She shook one finger at Riven. "I know you don't need that, but others will, so be quiet."
Riven was.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:42 pm
Ray stifled a snigger behind his hand.
"Electricity is a bit of a bother," Sunny said. "If the house is going to be technically... alive... then you probably don't want to be drilling holes into the trees to run wires through. I'm pretty sure that'd be against fire code, anywho."
Ghlyssa's eyes widened. "Oh. No drilling holes. No. That would hurt them..."
"So, what? Battery power for the rest of time?" Ray asked. "That'd get sort of expensive."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:45 pm
"Hyvaren?" Riven held up one hand and moved his fingers in a quick gesture; the air just above his palm rippled and disgorged a small cluster of glowing lights. The hyvaren let out a few high-pitched, quiet noises and moved to orbit around Riven, with a few of them occasionally venturing out to twirl through Ghyssa's hair.
"They're alive, though... er... in a manner of speaking. They move anyway. Shut up," Sosiqui said. "Besides, you can't keep summoning them and summoning them, right? And wouldn't they get bored?"
"I guess," Riven admitted. Hyvaren were bright and useful, but they probably would get bored after a while. They were as bad as sprockets in their way.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:03 pm
Ghlyssa giggled at the hyvaren. "They are pretty, though."
"That's a thought, though." Sunny peered over her glasses at Ray. "You remember... er... whatshisname."
"You're going to have to be more specific," Ray said evenly.
"I'm trying to remember. The sasquatch you used to buy beads from all the time. Mlia."
"Oh, right, him. Haven't seen him in years--"
"But," Sunny interrupted, "remember his house?" She turned back to everyone else, waving her hands. "Mlia lived in this massive dead cedar stump, hollow inside. Couldn't have fire, of course, and electricity was out of the question since he lived out in the middle of nowhere, but he used to buy these little magic lights, about so big," she indicated something a little larger than a softball, "and he'd leave them all over the place. Went off with a touch. I think he bought them someplace in Barton. I should think they're still in business, but there'd probably be another place that sells something similar."
Ghlyssa tilted her head. "That could actually work."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:07 pm
Sosiqui blinked. "You're friends with a sasquatch? You mean they actually exist?"
"What's a squash?" Riven asked.
"A vegetable. A sasquatch is a... um... big hairy dude."
Riven pondered this, then shrugged. "Like Yani? He has lots of fur."
"... no. LIGHTS! Yes, lights," Sosiqui said quickly, attempting to steer the conversation back on track. "Magic would work. I almost keep forgetting that magic is just as prevalent in Gaia as back at 'home'... it's just not half as organized here. Okay, magic lights, check. Those shouldn't be too pricey, I hope... plumbing will be, but considering the home construction is pretty much free, we should be able to cover that. Other electric things probably have magic versions too... like an ice-enchanted box for a fridge or a fire-spell stove.... right?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:13 pm
Sunny shrugged. "I've known a lot of different sort of people, 'specially since I came to Gaia. But yeah, magic."
"Would fire magic be safe with the trees there?" Ghlyssa asked. "I mean, it would work, but everything will be wood and I really don't want it to catch fire..."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:17 pm
"We'll figure something out for safe heat." Sosiqui waved one hand dismissively, apparently made reckless by the easy answer magic was providing to most problems. "Don't worry about it. Heck, I could probably stop by Moorgahaine's sometime and see - I'm sure he's got everything in that old maze of his."
She turned to look at Ghlyssa. "You'd better plan out this house of yours, then. Pick a place. Make a floorplan - I brought some of the brochures from the Gaia Housing commission back, if you want to modify some of those. I assume you'll want a plan before you start doing... what you're going to do. But that's up to you - we'll advise, but not force. Unless you forget a bathroom, in which case we must insist..."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:24 pm
"I guess a bathroom would be pretty important," Ghlyssa admitted. She picked up one of the brochures and looked at it. "Okay. I'll plan before I actually start doing anything. I guess we'd need, um... a bedroom, and a bathroom, and a living room, and a kitchen, and... um... a room for the baby?" She blushed.
Sunny rubbed her forehead.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:26 pm
"Baby, yeah. That's the other thing, right?" Sosiqui grinned. "Riven explained that too. No reason to rehash your reasons, only that you have them and they're not frivolous, right?"
Riven blushed, too.
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