tushanshu_logs | EVENT | LANDFALL

EVENT | LANDFALL | EVIDET

Characters: ALL!
Date: January 28th to February 11th
Location: Evidet
Situation: Tu Vishan has washed up near the coastal city of Khatronma.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

The suddenness of the looming cliffs takes even the kedan by surprise, in spite of a number of them trying to plot their course with as much knowledge of the ocean’s currents as they already had. Tu Vishan makes landfall without any of the grace shown in previous times, bumping into the cliffs before finally coming to rest on the reef and rocks at the low tide around Khatronma.

Most of Khatronma's shores consist of steep iced cliffs, and once it becomes clear there is no threat, the residents of Khatronma oblige by establishing scaffolding across from the walls of their city to the turtle’s back. A customs area is quickly set apart, and the residents of Keeliai welcomed -- with some slight confusion. The Khatronmans are just as surprised by the unexpected docking as the kedan.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She went straight for the scrapheaps.

The moment Midii heard about them. She had a small allowance, yes, enough that she could have even indulged. Spoiled herself a little. It had been...how long since she could do that? A year? Longer?

But there would be time for that later. Anything she could get for free first, she would consider buying later.

"...this would be a lot easier if I had learned mechanics too," she muttered absently, shifting through pieces of what looked like some sort of radio or ship navigation system.

"Wouldn't everything get boring pretty quickly if you knew it all already?" Jack quipped cheekily, perched on his staff. Having seen Midii, and not having had the opportunity to talk to her lately, he'd dropped down on a gentle nip of wind.

She jumped, not expecting any voice to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Let alone his voice.

"...Jack?"

A year. Maybe longer. That was how long it had been since they'd last spoken, if one took into account the Dream world. A lot could happen in a year, particular when one went from a young thirteen year old to fourteen. For one, she had grown. At least two inches. her hair was longer, darkened slightly into a more golden hue. Though his skin was just as fair and her eyes as sharp as ever.

Her mouth, on the other hand, was currently slack-jawed. Clearly, he had caught her off-guard.

"You're...still here."

The most surprising thing of all. Most everybody else she had known were gone.

Jack's expression falls slightly at Midii's obvious shock, like he's guilty for causing it even though he doesn't know why. He hasn't had the chance to speak with Midii directly since they returned to Keeliai (and that's his fault, he'll admit) but he has made a couple network posts since then. Erroneously assuming that all the Foreigners had seen them.

"Yeah," he replied, softer this time. "Surprise?"

The blame was just as much hers as it was his.

He might not have had the time to talk to her, but she also hadn't gone out of her way to make it easy. Laying low and keeping mostly to herself, ever since returning to Keelai. After the loss of Riva...having to leave the Dream world, with her family...she hadn't been in much of a mood for dealing with people.

"Normally, I don't like surprises." She began, before breaking into a warm, if slightly embarrassed smile. "But I think, this time, I can make an exception."

I'm happy to see you again.

Her response got a rueful grin from him too, and he nodded. "Good to hear," he answered. "What are you doing out here digging around in the trash though? There's lot of shops and such in the city, and they all seem pretty eager to do business with the Foreigners."

"I know."

Without battling an eyelash. She had done her research, and time had done wonders for the treatment she'd been given in the markets.

"But that kind of business still means I would have to pay. Everything out here is free, and the more free things I can collect, the more money I have leftover to buy other things."

Jack kicked his staff in a loop and planted it, gravity-defying, on the ground where it stayed by itself, and ambled over to where Midii was. "I guess that's one way of looking at it," he said, nodding at the scrap piles.

"We can go through them together, if you want. If you tell me what I'm supposed to be looking for..."

Ever after all this time...everything she had ever learned about magic (and believed, as evident by the fact that she could see the Winter Spirit)...her eyes lingered on the staff a moment longer than necessary. As if trying to find the invisible string holding it up.

"At this point, I'd settle for anything that can be salvaged." She had a list, yes, but if it was free, then best to take advantage of opportunities she might need later on. "But right now, I'm mostly looking for things I can use to make...well...locks. Any kind."

She almost felt embarrassed about her lingering paranoia, but could he really blame her?

"Locks," Jack echoed, frowning just slightly as he rolled the response around in his mind. "Because you want them, or because you're worried someone in the city is going to make trouble for you?"

She shook her head almost immediately.

"No, it's nothing like that." There were people she didn't like, yes, but she didn't feel afraid that either of them would hurt her. "I just...prefer my privacy. And with everybody staying in the hotel, it's a lot harder to come by than it used to be."

Jack nodded, though he couldn't say he knew especially just how crowded the Hotel was getting-- he and Zatanna had relocated to the Welcome Center fairly early on. But Midii's response satisfied him that she was being proactive and not reactive.

"If that changes, you know you can always tell me, right?" he said casually, crouching down to begin picking through the scrap.

"So we're gonna need... tumblers, right? Or are you talking like a fancier lock?"

If she had known any other options, Midii would have taken them.

"I will, Jack. I promise." It was a promise she knew she could keep, too. Having a Winter Spirit on her side was always useful, and such a friendly one at that. "And it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just sturdy. Something that would be hard to pick or break."

She lifted up a relatively large, but surprisingly light piece of aluminum, checking out the pocket underneath. After shifting a few more bits around, she held up a rusted padlock. There was no matching key in the immediate vicinity, but it was heavy and solid and most of the damage seemed to be cosmetic. A little work, and she could get it looking good as new.

"Like this."

"Oh, that's old school," Jack laughed, realizing he'd been far overthinking what she was looking for. "That's a pretty good one, though. You can probably get a key made if we can't find it."

Old School. New School. She genuinely wasn't that picky. Though there were certain benefits to finding the simpler, low-tech brands.

"Do you know any locksmiths who might be willing to work with me?" This was exactly what she meant earlier. Having to hire somebody would require money she still had, thanks to her scrap-diving.

Jack was also a fan of the low-tech options. "I'm on decent terms again with a few shops in Metal," he replied. "I'm sure one of them has the ability to make a key for you."

Decent terms, he said.

"That's better than me." She had no connections. Anybody who might've done a few favors in the past wouldn't have remembered her now. She'd grown. And her face had never been all that memorable--something she'd spent her life making sure of. Just in case. "Could you talk to one of them for me, maybe? I'd owe you one."

"Like you need to ask that," he chuckled, shaking his head and wrinkling his nose playfully. "Of course I will, Midii."

Common courtesy--something which she actually still had, despite what some might think (namely, those who had gotten on her perpetual bad side)--dictated that she ask for the sake of asking.

There was always the chance he could've said no, after all.

"Thanks, Jack. I really do appreciate it."

"No problem. So, was that padlock all you needed, or should we move on to the next item of your shopping list?" he asked cheekily.

While it was tempting to linger a bit longer, just in case she happened to find something else that might be useful...

"No, the lock was the main thing for right now. I can always come back later."

"That's true," Jack said cheerfully. "Doesn't look like these piles are going anywhere. Makes me wish I could actually build complicated things, this place looks like it'd have everything you'd need. So what else is on today's to-do?"

He was enjoying Khatronma, but he really didn't have anything specific to do.

If he was expecting more searching and/or adventure...

"Well, I think the next thing to do would be to clean this up and get a key for it as soon as possible."

...he was asking the wrong girl.

"That's it? This is the first place off the turtle we've been in months, Midii. Isn't there something else you'd rather be doing?"

Anybody else, and she would have been absolute sure.

But...the way Jack said it...

"I...suppose I could...explore a little?" It came out more like a question than a statement. As if there was meant to be a right answer to that question, and she didn't know what it was.

EVENT | LANDFALL | EVIDET

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)