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Goodfellow · **05-01-2014, 07:08 PM**

Composed, but still smiling oafishly, Styrm reached out one huge hand and ruffled Joz's hair.

"Eat up, Jozzie, looks t'me ye still got 'omework needs doin'."Â With that, he walked over to the window, put one foot out, and turned back towards her.

"G'night, kid," he said, "be seein' ye."

He squeezed back out, tumbled slightly, caught himself again between the buildings, and headed off back the way they had come.

Guess I should go see 'im, he thought to himself.Â Then a drink.

Zhavi · **05-01-2014, 07:46 PM**

"Sonuva bitch." Zhi glared out the window. The one time when she needed to be taken seriously was the time when she wasn't, of course. It suited her fine to play the part of an adolescent boy or a teenage girl when she was out and about the markets but -- the scrag hadn't answered her rutting question. Useless. Still, it probably wouldn't have worked to her favor if she had managed to somehow intimidate him; Joz might not be a wilting flower in front of Styrm, but she sure as shit wasn't a hardass. Her stones wouldn't be that large, even if Zhi herself was willing to ply the edge and risk getting swatted out of the air.

Nothing to it but to empty the pans and move the blankets as far away from the puddles as she could. She'd have to get more pans. She might have to stomach living in shantytown, but that didn't mean she had to let it be any worse than it had to. Gods, hadn't she at least gotten past the point where she was forced to stay in such crap locations? Oh, it was better then huddling up in doorways, but . . . she was probably going to have fleas again by the time she was done with it. No matter. She would have Lalataru's book, eventually, and that would be the end of it. That was the only thing she had to worry about. That and her own rutting notebook. She broke away from the window and went to the pile of blankets. Once she was nestled into them she took up the grease pencil and started working.

Until she made progress or ran out of pages, eh? One way or the other, it didn't much matter to her which one she hit first.

It didn't.

Goodfellow · **05-02-2014, 03:42 PM**

Styrmsthal made his way straight from Barnacles' Reach to the Upper Decks and to the Bismarck, specifically.Â Lolotaru generally dined late and was fond of the venue, although he generally brought his own wine and spices to liven up the dishes.Â Unfortunately, having gotten mussed and muddied with Joz and having walked the whole way in the rain, the staff was unwilling to let him enter.Â Being the sort of man he was, the ruckus he caused caught Lolotaru's attention and the lalafell finally, with considerable effort, managed to persuade them to allow the roegadyn entry.

They seated themselves in the of the balcony area, barely covered from the rain.Â Lolo went to pour the bigger man a glass of wine, then thought better of it and handed him the whole bottle.

"Well?" he asked.Â He seemed tense.

Styrm feigned offense, waving his arms in an exaggerated pantomime, "Woah, woah, woah, Taru.Â S'that any way to talk to an ol' friend?"

Lolo hissed in response and motioned for him to be calm, "Fine, fine, you're right.Â I'm sorry.Â But please do try not to draw so much attention."

"Gods, she's really got ye lookin' o'er yer shoulders, ain't she?"Â He looked at his diminutive companion in bemusement.Â Lolo did not respond.Â Styrm took a long swig straight from the bottle, sighed appreciatively, and put his hands on the table in front of him.

"I ain't got it fer certain ye need to be frettin' yerself so, friend.Â I spent longer with 'er than I meant, but not fer suspectin' nothin'," he said.Â He flipped his hands palm down on the table in front of him, an emphatic tic, and said in a low but intense voice, "The girl's a crack, Taru!Â Ye didn't tell me she was a funny one!Â Jus' shy o' cute, too."Â He grinned and winked.Â In the dark, he couldn't tellÂ whether or not Lolo was blushing.Â Styrm laughed to himself at the thought.

A look of confusion crossed Lolo's face, but he didn't comment, instead brushing his damp hair from his forehead, taking a gulp to rival that of his tablemate, and asking, "And what did you find?"

"Nothin'."

"Nothing?Â What do you mean, 'nothing'?"

The roegadyn laid his elbows on the table's edge, careful not to tip or break it, and leaned in.Â "I mean nothin'.Â Gods, girl seems twice as worried o'er ye, Taru.Â A regular cold an' sober fearin'.Â Don't think it's jus' the homework, neither.Â Ye've got 'er spooked, some way."

The look of confusion returned and deepened.Â "She's scared of me?"Â He felt upset and was unsure if he should.Â If she was scared, she might leave him alone.Â But if she was scared, she might leave, abandon her studies.Â And if she was scared, she'd have a reason to dig.

"How much food did you take to her?" he asked.

"'Bout two, three suns' worth.Â But she looks a sack o' bones, so that bag may be empty by t'morrow night."Â He shook his head.Â "Taru, we known each other a li'l while now.Â What's it about ye got her shakin' so?Â Ain't yer magic, nor yer gil.Â It's somethin' about ye."

"Styrmsthal," he replied, eyes downcast, "you know I can't tell you that.Â You're my friend and you know that I trust you, but--"

"Yeah, yeah.Â I gotcha, Taru.Â I ain't one to begrudge a man 'is past.Â I'll work 'er next time I'm by, but I ain't no good at lyin' and she fits right in me soft spot, so ye may have more luck jus' askin' 'er yerself."

"She's scared of me, Styrm," Lolo replied.Â His wore a sad face, and his words were full of a world of regret.Â "I can't."

Zhavi · **05-02-2014, 04:40 PM**

The night passed, and the morning brought with it charcoal clouds and more drizzling. The sky was packed with clouds, shielding Zhi from Azeyma's vindictiveness. Good. Let the bitch keep to her own company for a change, rather than forcing it on everyone else. Zhi would stomach the rain for that purpose, as she skipped between her sources for the morning rounds. Despite the lack of progress with the notebook, and the frustration of the night before, she'd decided to start working on a whole other problem.

Galleon.

Her queries were carefully worded and sown. She didn't use the name he'd given her, was sure that it was a throwaway in any case, but there were enough hints that anyone gave in conversation and dealmaking to use when dealing with the rumor mill and the information network that clung to every spire and bridge. Keep it vague enough that nothing would be returned to him, but not so vague that those she visited wouldn't be able to do anything with it -- story of her life. At least if she had some weight behind her she wouldn't have to worry about getting squashed, but she was inconsequential enough that her death would be little more than an inconvenience to most. Those who did rely on her didn't have the power to stir up trouble, themselves. She'd get there one day. In the meantime, she played the game.

____________

Zhi jerked back from the page, pencil falling from her grip. Was that -- ?

It was late. The moon was high, she was certain, though the clouds were as thick as they'd been since the previous night. The rain was more sporadic now, though it showed no signs of going away completely. She'd been working long enough that she'd had to tug more wick up out of the oil in the lamp. Late enough that, thanks to her recently diurnal habits, she'd been falling asleep. It was then, as she nodded over the paper, that she'd been jolted awake by a strange sensation. Not much of one, maybe just a stray fancy, but something.

She picked up the pencil. It was too late to go looking for Lalataru. Could she do it again?

_______________

Waiting for Lalataru in front of the Gate's front door was really getting tiresome. Zhi resolved to ask him for another meeting place, or something, because the walk was really not one she wanted to be making so frequently. True, it was only what, her third time? But that was more than enough. She felt exposed. Even with the weather giving her cause to tuck her tail up into her coat, she had that creeping sensation that she would be seen by someone she knew, which translated into potential blackmail. Not something she wanted to deal with. Hard enough to handle her other jobs while dealing with this one; it gave her the jeebies to let the matter with Clove fall to Brindle, even though she knew him to be more than capable for such small work. Long as he didn't shit the bed.

Crouching in the depressingly familiar corner, she waited for Lalataru.

Goodfellow · **05-05-2014, 05:49 PM**

As with their first meeting, Lolotaru didn't see Joz until he had almost stepped on her.Â He was in something of a hurry, arriving several hours later than he had intended, and his head was cloudy from replacing sleep with wine.

Despite the sad and tense beginnings of his meeting with Styrmsthal the night before, they had ended up running fast from sleep with wine and revelry, as they always seemed to when meeting in the vicinity of alcohol.Â They had, of course, had to remove themselves from the Bismarck, but the Drowning Wench was built for just such raucousness.Â Had the Mizzenmast not been connected to the Wench, Lolo may never have found his way back to his room.

And so it was, in light of the contents of Styrmsthal's report and the cloudiness of Lolotaru's mind, that he stopped the descent of his foot just shy of Joz's kinked tail--Funny, never noticed that before--and allowed a very obvious species of shock to appear on his face before slowly and clumsily composing himself.

"Ah...er...good morn--uh...good afternoon, Miss Joz," he said with a shallow bow, blinking his eyes deliberately to clear his view and hold her gaze.

Zhavi · **05-06-2014, 11:51 AM**

Zhi pulled on cheer with some effort and bounded to her feet. "Fair winds Master Lolotaru! I was wondrin' if we might jes find a place t'meet that weren't all underfoot like this'n is, on accountin' I keep getting all these looks, an' I don't want t'get chased -- an' I think I did it this time here look!" The words came out in a rushed jumble. Her eyes were big, her smile barely contained. She sank back into a crouch to hold out the notebook to Lalataru, ears back and tail curling up under her threadbare jacket.

But she wasn't looking him in the eyes. Not for long, anyways.

Goodfellow · **05-06-2014, 06:05 PM**

Lolo's eyebrows climbed high as the torrent of Joz's words sped by him.Â Raising his palms before him he indicated for her to slow down.Â His eyes fell on the notebook being proffered him.

Distractedly, he responded, "Yes, yes, of course.Â Where did you have in mind?"

He reached out and took the book before craning his head back to look her in the eye.

"You did what, exactly?" he inquired.

Zhavi · **05-06-2014, 06:33 PM**

"Where don't matter none, but I thought ye should -- oh! I think I mighta done it, Master Lolotaru! Look, here, this'n --" she reached out, impulsively, and stuck her finger into the pages, flipping it open so she could set it to the right page. Her cheeks were flushed.

"That un, there." She put her finger right above the marking, and stared at it like it held salvation.

Goodfellow · **05-07-2014, 08:18 PM**

He looked at the notebook in his hands, at the page that Joz was so excitedly indicating.

It's not the last page.

She was to return when she had run out of pages or made some progress in her awareness of her aether, and she had returned before the last page.Â His eyes opened wide as he examined the symbol before him.Â Yes, yes, this one was different.Â At one very precise angle, she had brought the line curving outward, only to cut it back in tightly at the next vertex.Â He looked up at her and smiled.

"You felt something?Â What was it?Â Do tell, Miss Joz!"

Zhavi · **05-08-2014, 11:42 AM**

"It was sorta. . .tingly. Up me fingers an' down me tail. Only did it once, I was fallin' asleep -- wanted t'show ye first thing." Zhi folded her arms on her knees and smiled down at the notebook.

Goodfellow · **05-08-2014, 10:53 PM**

He nodded along as she spoke.Â As she was falling asleep tracing, her mind must have gone totally blank.Â Except for the symbol.

"That's it, Miss Joz," he whispered.Â Then, louder, "We're leaving.Â The Zephyr Gate, I should think."

He smiled and turned away, waving along his companion with his hand.

Zhavi · **05-09-2014, 11:54 AM**

Feck. That was the last thing Zhavi had expected to hear, and the last thing she'd wanted to hear. Well, maybe there were worst things he could have said, but that one was rutting bad enough. Protesting? That wasn't going to happen. Not yet. There'd be no reason for Joz to have any misgivings about leaving the city, none that wouldn't complicate the simple teacher-student relationship she was currently striving for, and that. . .

She had to go along with it. For now. What a rutting wonderful start to her day.

"Yes, Master Lolotaru."

Ye feckin' scrag!

The litany of insults in her head didn't make her feel any better as she rose to her feet and dutifully followed him like some clueless puppy. Joz was all smiles, for sure, but Zhi was wrenched back by the thought of her other jobs. Brindle and Clove could handle Thatcher's business if she was out for any long amount of time, and Chirp could assist with the rest, and Skarp could wait -- she was used to waiting anyways, sometimes the timing of moving her assets could be delicate -- and . . .

"So where we goin', sir?"

Goodfellow · **05-09-2014, 02:01 PM**

Lolo felt invigorated.Â If he could truly teach her, it would serve as vindication for his goals.Â And if she learned something difficult and of value from him, maybe she would fear him less.

He tossed a reply over his shoulder without stopping.

"We're going outside, Miss Joz, to practice more freely."

Zhavi · **05-09-2014, 08:31 PM**

Sweet, sweet relief. He wasn't taking her on some trip that would take gods knew how long. Still, she was on guard, and edgy.

"Yessir!"

Zhi followed him past the chocobokeep and over the bridge, keeping her mouth shut. She hated being outside of the city. It was so. . .open.

Goodfellow · **05-09-2014, 09:59 PM**

As they stepped off of the bridge, Lolo took a deep, deep breath.Â He loved La Noscea.Â The rolling hills, so like the dunes of Thanalan, but green and redolent with the sticky salt smell of the Rhotano.Â Too often the crush of people in the city crowded out the clean smell of the sea, but mere steps outside the gates and the island rushed into one's lungs in an intoxicating way.Â He continued walking, his student following, out into a wide open area just east of the road from the Zephyr Gate.Â He looked around and nodded.

"Here.Â Those rocks," he pointed, "right over there."

He turned and spoke directly to Joz.Â "What you felt, Miss Joz, was the aether that fills you, whether you were aware of it or not.Â It has always been there, and it always will be, like your blood or your breath.Â It wells up inside of you and if you are cognizant of its flow, you can express it, manifest it outside of yourself.Â The purest, the simplest of these techniques is Ruin, the symbol you've been practicing."Â He paused and squinted seriously.Â "Do not think of Ruin as destruction, and the Twelve take its name.Â It is simply unrefined power.Â Raw power is dangerous, yes, but it does a disservice to the aether and its wielding to be satisfied with such."

He breathed, loosened his expression, and smiled.

"Now that my speech is out of the way, would you like to try?"

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RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes