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Goodfellow · **04-03-2014, 05:54 PM**

Thief?Â Lolo recoiled slightly and his hand shot to his pocket.

"Bad things?" he chuckled as he turned his head purposefully to the door (closed, good), around the entryway (empty, good), and back to the miqo'te.Â His visage darkened.

"Not here," he stated plainly before standing up and walking to the door.Â "Wait."Â Simple, final.Â

He disappeared inside.

Zhavi · **04-03-2014, 07:46 PM**

Zhi licked her lips as the lalafel disappeared. Gods take it, had she just stepped in it? She'd never liked playing cringing little pissants, hated seeing them on the street and could see 'em hanged without remorse, but she'd judged it the best way to cling to Lalataru without unnecessary explanation. Should she have played a beggar instead? She'd thought to forge some sort of empathy -- but she couldn't take it back now. All that remained was to sit and wait, and hope Nald'thal had a shred of mercy for her left.

She hated waiting in such situations. She wanted to go hide, to ward off the potential mistake before it could hurt her true, but until she knew for sure she'd blown her chance, she had to be patient. Should've taken the other job.

Zhi buried her face in her knees, completing the picture of dejection that she'd thus far portrayed, but remained on full alert. As soon as something seemed sour, she was gone.

Goodfellow · **04-03-2014, 11:45 PM**

The doors had barely shut behind him when Lolo kicked himself mentally.Â Idiot of an aldgoat!

Bad things?Â He had no idea what she meant; she could have meant anything!Â No reason to assume that she was talking about then.Â This could all still be some sort of mix-up, a case of mistaken identities, confused names and faces.Â She said she couldn't even read!Â An easy mistake to make, and an easy mistake to clear up.

But what if she wasn't confused?Â What if she wasn't wrong?Â What if she really did know what she was saying and meant it?Â He had to follow up, to see it through.Â He had to know or he couldn't sleep.Â There, in the stuffy hall of the Arcanists' Guild, Lolotaru Lalataru, soaked through with sweat and dragging his long robe, suddenly felt very cold.

He glanced around hurriedly, taking in the lay of the room.Â It was mostly empty.Â The girl's shirt was big enough it might pass for a half-robe so long as no one paid attention too closely; unasked, unobserved, unmolested she could pass for an initiate.Â He walked swiftly over to the staircase and down, glancing into the demonstration room below.Â It was empty.Â Good.Â He hastily summoned Ben, his Carbuncle.Â It was his oldest, most practiced summon and the most comfortable, almost second nature.Â He stilled himself, felt the pull of the aether around him, and held in his mind the loose, looping pattern that summed up his relationship with Ben.Â He waved his arm, catching a corner of the air and with a quick tug upwards and a bright blue flash, pulled the coalescing figure into full manifestation.Â Ben flipped and landed before him with a squeak.Â Lolo held out his palm and nodded and Ben sat on his haunches and waited patiently.

Once back at the top of the stairs, Lolo checked to make sure the main hall remained clear, then rushed to the door and peeked outside.Â The girl was still sitting there, just as he'd left her.Â He put on a smile and addressed her quietly as he stepped out.

"I'm sorry about the wait.Â Please, do come in."Â He opened the door and motioned.Â "Now, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," holding the smile, hoping his voice would put her at ease, knowing it probably wouldn't," but while you seem to know my name, I didn't catch yours."

Zhavi · **04-04-2014, 07:04 PM**

Well, well, well, they had gotten somewhere. If he'd meant to call the guards on her, then certainly he'd have taken longer. There'd be no need to treat her to some elaborate game, not if she was believed to be some scrawny little scut. She didn't think Lalataru would behave that way, though gods knew she'd been proven wrong before. Caution was to be her guide, as ever. The tone of his voice seemed calm enough, and she permitted her stiffness to bleed out of her a little. A little, but not too much; no kid born of the streets would ever actively show themselves calm when they were somewhere strange, especially not if they were as dumb as the part she was playing.

"Me mam called me Joz," she said, slow and hesitant as she got to her feet. "Go by Rat most days."

She finally let go of her tail, and chose instead to hold near the hem of her shirt as she minced past Lalataru and into the Arcanist's Guild. Strange as it was, she'd never been inside before. While ambition had seen fit to goad her beyond the more simple messaging jobs that took her from one point to another (and rarely inside anywhere), she'd previously shied away from the guilds on self-preservation alone. People with power tended to use that power, and if you weren't slick enough, you'd get a taste of it. Zhi didn't bungle jobs often, but sometimes learning meant getting your tail singed -- Galine'd been the one to teach her that, and loathe as Zhi was to think kindly on the little terror, she knew her stuff well enough.

Once inside, Zhi took her time to gawk. Time spent on the street had worn the wonder right out of her, but she knew well enough how to play the dazzled poor girl. It was as if she'd plum forgotten Lalataru was there, the way she stared gape-mouthed at all the nice things.

Goodfellow · **04-07-2014, 12:32 PM**

"Joz.Â Yes, nice to meet you, Miss Joz," he muttered as she stepped past him through the door.Â Her mouth was agape and Lolotaru remembered his own first visit to the Arcanists' Guild.Â It had been busier that day and the bustle of it all, the comings and goings of the learning and the learned had excited in him a similar reaction; he had stood for several long moments, mouth agape, wishing his eyes were wider to take it all in.Â It was a new day in a new life for which he maintained such very high hopes.Â He couldn't lose that.

He tried to get the girl's attention.Â "Miss Joz?"Â He indicated the stairwell and stepped toward it himself.Â "Right this way."

Zhavi · **04-07-2014, 01:15 PM**

Zhi snapped her mouth shut, ears going flat as she averted her eyes from the splendor. She mumbled something under her breath, and then said, "Jes Joz is fine," as she moved for the stairwell. She opened her mouth and inhaled as if to speak, then shut it again. Her hands had balled into fists, and she held them close to her stomach. Her elbows were tucked in, her shoulders hunched; even with her feline characteristics, she looked as shy as any mouse might be and twice as pathetic.

She took the stairs slowly, tail twitching sporadically as she preceded Lalataru. Finally, when she reached the end of them, she stopped, awkward, eyes glued to the floor. She opened her mouth again, and shut it in the same breath. She pressed her lips together, and hugged herself. Her ears were pressed so flat to her head that they were nearly lost in the mess of her hair.

Goodfellow · **04-07-2014, 04:30 PM**

Lolo walked behind her to the bottom of the stairs, where she halted, staring at the floor.Â She either hadn't seen or was purposefully ignoring the shining Carbuncle seatedÂ before her, his head cocked to the side as it examined her.Â It was a curious creature, almost shaking with the urge to hop over to her and sniff and paw at her.Â But, it didn't.Â It waited, as Lolo had bid it.

"Ben," Lolo said, stepping past Joz.Â The Carbuncle's gaze shot towards his face, its ears perked and attentive.Â Lolo tossed his head upward slightly and the familiar bolted past the two of them to the top of the stairs, where it sat and watched the hall.

Turning to Joz, Lolo widened his arms and said, "Here, Miss Joz, we can speak more easily."Â Despite having escaped inside, Lolo's skin still radiated heat.Â Had he simply not cooled off yet, or was the situation simply keeping him uncomfortably warm?Â Ignore it.Â Focus.

"You were saying before?"Â He stared at her and awaited her reply.

Zhavi · **04-08-2014, 12:24 AM**

It was evident in the way Zhi jerked back with a yelp that she hadn't seen the carbuncle. What was worse was that the reaction wasn't entirely feigned; Zhi had been so focused on playing her part of miserable loser that she'd lost some awareness of her surroundings. Stupid, she thought, stupid churl. Anger at herself flared hot, and was smothered into a wide-eyed stare after the small creature. Such things were not an unseen sight in Limsa Lominsa, but they were rare in the poorer side of town and all the places where little streetrats were wont to go.

Lalataru had said they might speak easily, and to that Zhi returned a distinctly uneasy expression.

She responded to his question with one of her own. "A-ah. . .does this -- are ye gonna take me as yer 'prentice?"

Where had the nearly bashful demeanor gone from outside? Zhi had a sinking feeling that she had unearthed a side of Lalataru that she hadn't accounted for, hadn't known existed, but she couldn't be sure. Had she made her move too soon? Was it her own blimming overconfidence that'd gotten in the way of her street sense? He'd spoken of going inside to fill out paperwork. There was no paperwork. There were no "better qualified" individuals to hand her off to. Something did not feel right, and now Zhi was in a place she couldn't escape from. She was trapped with his gods-cursed creature up the stairs. He could snuff her out easy as chuffin' pie, with no one the wiser. Just like that. She'd underestimated the situation. If things were to go sour, she'd nothing to blame but her own flipping idiocy.

Focus!

She started to sweat. Again.

Goodfellow · **04-08-2014, 03:20 PM**

Patience.Â But gods, it felt like pulling teeth.Â He placed his hand over his pocket to ground himself.

"As I mentioned before, it's not that simple.Â There are protocols and customs and tests and--," he interrupted his droning and looked her in the eyes, "you see, the matriculation process isn't quite so direct as--"

He looked down and shook his head lightly.Â When his gaze returned to her, he was again smiling, more at ease.

"I'm sorry, never mind all that for now.Â This whole situation is...er...unorthodox.Â And so, with so little precedent, you see, where we end up depends entirely on how we communicate with one another.Â If you were my apprentice, the first lesson I would give you is in clarity.Â The equations and symbols of arcanima are clear, they circumvent the rigid verbal formulae of other magicks and serve to directly express the will of the arcanist to the aether in and around him and, if there is correspondence," he paused for effect, "the aether responds."Â In conversation, Lolo had the habit of losing himself in his own words, letting technicality bleed into informality in a way which provoked either of two equally uncomfortable reactions in his interlocutors: those who attempted to meet him on that technical level, and so made fools of themselves, and those who laughed and exaggerated their own simplicity for the sake of their discomfort, mollifying him.Â Lolo, red-faced, had ruined many a perfectly serviceable interaction in just this way before.Â

But how would Joz respond?

When he first began to study, his reaction to just such a discourse would be one of limited awe and attempted engagement leading to an exhausting, though endearing, line of seemingly interminable inquiry.Â He hoped that she would react in just such a way.

If not, he expected she would become much more direct.Â That was what he had observed and so that was what he expected.

"And so, let us be clear with one another, Miss Joz.Â What was it you were saying upstairs?"

Zhavi · **04-09-2014, 11:40 AM**

"I can't. . ." Zhavi's voice was more than a little strangled, and not much more than a whisper. "I don't understand but -- but I'll work hard for ye! I'll learn, aye? I can learn. I can do that much."

Twelve save her from scholars and arcanists. Tip the scales, Nald'thal. . .towards me this time. Zhi almost didn't answer Lalataru's second question. It seemed out of place, and she wondered if she shouldn't just focus on her desperate begging, but she wasn't so sure that ignoring any of his words would be the right direction. She was wary of him, backed up against a wall as she was, and fear was only one short step away. Couldn't give in to fear. If she did that. . .

"W-what d'ye mean, upstairs?"

Goodfellow · **04-09-2014, 11:59 AM**

Lolotaru tried to swallow his frustration.Â She hadn't reacted quite as transparently as he'd hoped.Â She seemed neither particularly enthused nor clearer.Â He was beginning to feel as lost and out of his element as she looked.Â It had been a blessedly long time since he had been in a situation of this sort and he was not happy to be dragged back in.Â He wanted to excuse himself, refuse her, cast her out.Â But that's as good as confessing, isn't it?Â And what if she wasn't trying to trap him?Â What if she really was a prospective student in need?Â

"Outside.Â You were telling me why you had to be my, and only my, apprentice."

He still owed so much and he couldn't simply refuse on suspicion one who requested his aid.Â His fingers traced the outline of his pocket as he sighed, somewhat more audibly than he intended to.

"So please, go on."

Zhavi · **04-09-2014, 12:54 PM**

"O-oh." She looked at him, and then back down at the ground. Her fingers wormed around themselves; she was fidgeting. Frustration and confusion mixed poorly in her expression, leaving her with the sort of look that could have been unattractive even on someone who was beautiful. "It's jes -- it's said you wasn't like th'others. I been -- I don't want t'turn out like me ma, but . . . no one'll have me, not fer real work. But I thought that if, if y'know, if ye was somethin' like me, ye'd understand. C-cuz I don't want t'be nothin' no more. I wants ta be somethin'. Like you."

She looked up, then, and though her eyes wavered still it was Lalataru they settled on. "I - I wants t'be taught by you. If ye'll have me. Please."

Judging by the way her lips twisted, she was aware of how lame she sounded, how desperate, how pathetic. But though she looked like she wanted to run and hide, she stood. She was shaking, but she didn't run away.

Goodfellow · **04-09-2014, 01:43 PM**

Lolo's breath caught in his throat.Â There it was again, the suggestion that something, some rumor from his past had made it out of Thanalan, had followed him to Limsa Lominsa.Â Leaving his left hand firmly planted on his pocket, Lolo raised his right hand to his collar, tugging at it gently.Â He knew it made him look nervous, but everything was beginning to feel very constricting.Â He hadn't done this dance in a long time; he was out of practice and rapidly running out of patience.

"Who says I'm not like the others?Â How do you mean?"Â He looked into her wide, wavering eyes, searching for any sign of what she knew.Â He hoped he wasn't beginning to sound as desperate as he felt.Â "You're so eager, I simply want to ensure that you haven't come to the wrong place by accident," he added quickly and with a weak smile, hoping to cover himself.

Zhavi · **04-09-2014, 02:07 PM**

For a moment, there was shock. Then her expression crumpled.

Zhi didn't have much time to think. It wouldn't make sense in the situation if she stared at her feet for the next several minutes -- but she had to think. Because, it was becoming obvious, she'd screwed up. It was true that she'd done some deep digging to find out what she had about Lalataru, but she'd thought that was due to the lack of interest in him as a potential player now. She'd not come across any evidence that he'd tried to squash the rumors; if anything she thought he'd laugh her off, perhaps offer her some advice, and then she could move on from there. She should have caught it earlier, should have held on to her hard-won knowledge -- should have rutting started up the waterworks to feel him out. Instead, she'd taken a risk before she should have, and now look at where they were. Obvious to anyone with eyes that the reason she'd had to dig so deep wasn't because he'd fallen out of the loop. There was something else to it, and it spelled out "not good" to her situation.

Time was up. Her priority had to shift to getting out alive.

"I-it's jes somethin' I heard when I was hidin' out after a. . .after I nipped coin off a mark, th-that not all them who worked at th'Gate were clean." She concentrated on her memories, picking one that continually scoured her with shame. She needed to blush, and she needed it fast. "So I started -- I started askin' questions, cuz I t-thought -- I wanted to know so I -- I hadda --" She broke off, freezing in place. Focus. Her tail curled around her leg, and she felt the beginning prickle of a flush up her neck and cheeks. Rather than look at the ground, she looked away. She clenched her teeth for a moment, her fingers digging into her arms as she resumed hugging herself. "I d-don't wanna talk 'bout it. I-if I heard wrong --" her cheeks got hotter. "I-I don't wanna talk 'bout it." Her voice had gone a little higher, and it quavered.

Goodfellow · **04-09-2014, 02:56 PM**

Don't want to talk about it?Â You brought it up!Â Lolo would have been happy to never have to talk about it again, but she had shocked him, forced his hand.

He opened his mouth to respond when he saw a light over Joz's shoulder.Â It was Ben running back down the stairs.Â He heard voices and footsteps descending the staircase behind the familiar.

"Aaand that's all the time we have for today, I'm afraid," he said, loudly enough that the new arrivals could hear him clearly.Â He snapped and Ben jumped into the air before him and the girl, flipped, and vanished with a flash and a pop.Â He grabbed her hand and tugged her gently, but insistently, towards the stairs and out.Â The others barely paid them any attention as they hurried out, eager to begin their own practice.

"There's a deck on the walkway between the Wench and the Hyaline; meet me there tonight at eleven bells."Â He whispered urgently.Â Putting on a wan smile, he bowed slightly and stated plainly, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Joz."Â And with that, he turned on a heel and continued the rest of the way up the stairs.

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