[Infirmary] Zeltiva Puppet Theatre Part II (Satevis)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

82nd Day of Spring, 512 AV "C'mon, it's fer kids!" Tock protested from atop the wagon. Her crutches were stored in the back (and it had taken QUITE a bit of nagging for her to get her coworkers to lift them up there for her... Apparently they all thought the crutches would bite them or something). The wagon contained the load of building materials, wood, nails, and paint that she had convinced Jacques to donate to the puppet show. "C'mon," she repeated. "Look, once ya see 'eir dirty little snot-nosed sickly faces, ya ain't gonna be able ta live wit' yerself if'n ya don't 'elp!" She put on her best pout, gazing down at James with wide eyes. He sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "Fine," he said. "Just lay off the guilt, alright?" Tock just grinned victoriously, and patted the seat next to her. She handed James the reins as he climbed up; she didn't know how to steer a wagon. "Yer gonna love it, mate!" she said, smacking him on the arm. "Trust me!" He just gave a weary nod. They had just finished a long day of construction work, and not everyone had Tock's energy. No doubt he just wanted to go home and sleep. But he had trouble saying no to Tock (and of course, she was completely oblivious about the real reason why). A short time later, they were pulling the wagon around the back of the Infirmary, to the open space where the stage would be set up. With James' help, Tock got back into her crutches, and they started unloading the supplies. They laid out the wood where they would need it, and set to work. The first step was a few pieces of lumber for the foundation. James dug some narrow holes, and they planted four tall pieces of lumber in them. It took some careful work and adjustments to be sure the pieces were perfectly vertical, but soon the basic outline of the frame was set. Then they started hammering on the horizontal beams that connected them, with James doing the heavy lifting work while Tock nailed the beams into place. This was the easy part, though, and in short order they had a complete frame assembled. For the moment, it was nothing more than a series of connected vertical and horizontal beams, but soon enough it would become a puppet stage. Tock grinned wide, bouncing a bit in her crutches, the support springs flexing with her weight. She was excited. She had never personally organized a project this big before. It was already drawing a lot of interest from the Infirmary patients and staff, along with some bets on whether the new project would be another magic one, like the crutches. Tock hadn't said yet. All she had done was tell the Infirmary staff she was putting on a puppet show. And it was going to be awesome.

[Satevis]

Around Tock, Satevis was starting to get used to bizarre occurrences. Getting hounded by the infirmary staff as soon as he walked through the door was not something new to him. What was new, however, was that instead of demanding him to tell Tock to keep it quiet, or to move her project somewhere else, or to stop the whole thing entirely, they pressed him for details. Once he saw money changing hands under the table, he had stopped volunteering information and told them that they would need to wait to see the finished product. A betting pool. Seriously? Apparently madness was contagious. Then again, he wasn't one to talk. The events of last night still weighed heavily on his mind. He hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep the night before, and the circles underneath his Benshira form's eyes were darker for it. It wasn't just the memory of what had happened with Tock that had kept him up--although the fact that they had somehow ended up in her bed kissing because of a spider automaton named Bitey was something that his mind had trouble processing. It was also because he had been struck by an idea, one that refused to let him sleep until he finally got up and wrote it down. He wasn't sure if the idea came about because of the interesting and rather absurd turn his relationship with Tock had just taken or because of his natural inclination to learn as much about magic as possible (as self-aware as he was, he still refused to give in and call it an obsession, because really, it was just a healthy fascination with the art), but since he had already talked to his professor about it today, he was doing it. He found the girl in question outside of the infirmary, setting up the framework for the stage. It really hadn't been hard to find her. He had just followed the sound of hammering. Satevis hesitated for a moment before going up to her. He honestly wasn't sure what to say to her after last night. It wasn't as if he made a habit of getting into these situations. He finally decided that since Tock, based on the way she had said goodbye to him, did not seem to treat him any differently, he should do the same. "Tock, do you know why there's a betting pool going on about this puppet show?" he asked, walking up to her and setting his backpack down on the ground. The plans for his glyphing project were inside it, but they were written in Shiber, so even if she found it, she wouldn't know what he was talking about. It was then that he noticed that she wasn't alone. His eyes landed on James for a brief moment, remembering the first time he had met Tock and the scene he had walked in on. He knew in his mind that it was a misunderstanding, but Satevis couldn't seem to help the slightly annoyed...but certainly not jealous thought that popped into his head. What is he doing here...?

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

When Tock saw Satevis approach, she paused in her work and waved at him, calling out, "Oy, Satey!" She piloted her crutches over to greet him. She hadn't given what had happened a second thought, nor dwelled on it in the least. She had also slept just fine. Though when she approached Satevis in his daytime form, a thought occurred to her. She hadn't kissed him in this form yet. As soon as she was within arm's reach of him she reached out and hooked the claw of her hammer in his belt and pulled him forward, a playful smirk on her lips. She planted a brief, yet firm and energetic kiss on his lips, ending it by tugging slightly on his bottom lip with her teeth as she pulled back. With her face still pressed closed to his she giggled and said, "Hi." She didn't notice the giggles and pointing from the nearby children, who had been here to watch the building but were now involved in watching what the grown ups were doing. Nor did she notice the cold, shocked stare James was giving her. As quick as that, however, she was back to her work. "What 'ey bettin' on?" she asked, turning back to the stage and continuing her hammering. "Can I get in on it? Betcha I's gettin' good odds!" She chuckled, pondering whether she could stack the bets by changing any of her construction plans to make sure she won. "Oy, 'and me 'at square, mate?" she said to James, pointing to the tool that she could use to check that the angles on the beams were a perfect ninety degrees. He didn't seem to hear her, as he was still staring at Satevis. Oblivious, Tock snapped her fingers to get his attention and said, "Oy, Bludger, wake up, aye?" He finally looked up at her and handed her the tool without a word, then stepped away to grab the next piece of lumber, casting another glance at Satevis as he did so.

[Satevis]

Satevis's eyes widened in surprise when Tock pulled him closer by his belt and kissed him suddenly. Alright, so maybe she wasn't planning on treating him the same as she always had. The Ethaefal stared down at her as she pulled away, torn between embarrassment at such a public display and the inexplicable (alright, perfectly explicable) urge to lower his head just slightly and respond with one of his own. He got a handle of both warring feelings, fighting them down with the same discipline with which he practiced his Reimancy. He had never seen Tock giggle before, though. A quick smile came to his face at that and he nodded at her greeting. "Hello," he said in reply. Then she stepped away and went back to work, reminding him that there was still work to do. Satevis cleared his throat, his face flushing somewhat as he looked at their giggling audience of children, before he walked over to his bag to take out the book that he had borrowed for her. He caught James's cold stare and felt a sudden surge of triumph that he couldn't quite suppress. Satevis nodded at the other man in what he hoped was a polite greeting, his earlier embarrassment gone. He certainly hoped he didn't look too smug, in any case. The Ethaefal pulled the thick book out of his bag, glancing at Tock. She seemed busy with the carpentry, so he decided not to give it to her for now. It could wait until later. He smiled slightly at her comment, looking over her shoulder at her. "You know, in some societies, they call that 'cheating'," he said, joking slightly. "Although you could make the argument that they shouldn't be gambling in the first place." He walked up to her, staying far enough away that he wouldn't interfere with her work, or get bumped into if she turned around sharply. "I brought the book you asked for, and I did a little more work on the script," he said.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock snorted at his comment and replied, "Ain't cheatin' if'n weren't nobody what said what the rules were, mate." Back home, at a game of dice or cards, one had to be quite clear on the rules. Especially since many games had different rules in different regions. It was quite common for sailors or travellers to be caught cheating and simply say that they were playing by Ravok rules. Generally, it was accepted as being the other person's fault for not specifying at the beginning of the game. When he mentioned the script she asked, "Ya know any other props o' stuff I needs ta make yet?" She flashed him a warm smile, a sparkle touching her brown eyes. She might not be giving a single thought to the meaning behind the recent turn of events, but she was... feeling something. Nothing major yet; nothing she could or cared to give name to. But she had seen him every day for the past two weeks, thanks to her broken foot. She was starting to get used to it, and having him there today was certainly putting a smile on her face. And a frown on James's. So they worked in relative silence assembling the stage. The main body of it didn't take long. Once the frame was set up, it was just cutting boards and nailing them in place. Since it was just a three-sided structure with no interior or roof, the assembly wouldn't take them more than a few hours. It also didn't need any fine details or carvings. The only real decoration would be the curtain and a touch of paint.

[Satevis]

Satevis smiled slightly, opening the book in his hand and drawing a folded piece of paper out from under the cover. "I might be able to give you something slightly better," he said, handing her the folded sheet. "I made you a list." It was almost a private joke between them. When Tock was in the infirmary, she had often sent him, and he suspected, a couple of other people, off on errands by giving them lists. So, of course, now that it was his turn, he did the same. The list was written in Satevis's neat handwriting. He had spent some time in his dorm room last night going over his plans for the script and writing down everything that he thought Tock might need, based on the information she had given him. Characters: Syna (Goddess of the Sun) - automaton Leth (God of the Moon) - automaton Tanroa (Goddess of Time) - automaton (if time permits, low-priority) Kihala (Goddess of Life) - ordinary puppet Dira (Goddess of Death) - ordinary puppet Backdrops: Starry sky - base backdrop Chaotic starry sky - as if there's a divine battle (I suggest giving the children bright colors and letting them have at it). Complete blackness Sky with red moon - final backdrop Props: None at the moment Actions for automatons: (just to give you some ideas) Syna and Leth - something to show that they are in love (child friendly, obviously) Tanroa - general walking/talking actions Leth - takes a blow for Syna, holds her, gets injured and has to be healed Syna - tries to get away, heals and tends to Leth "I have the images you can use as reference," he said. "Let me know if you need anything else." He also had something in the back of his mind that he thought could help with the animating, but he kept silent about that for now. Satevis needed to make sure it would work before he told Tock anything about it.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock took the list and looked it over, giving Satevis a smile. "Oy, looks good, mate!" she said. There was nothing on the list that was beyond her capabilities. She folded the list and stuck it in her pocket, then planted another quick kiss on him, just because. She turned back to her work, thinking over what she'd need to do to complete everything on the list. The main thing she had to plan out was the backdrops, since the puppets were already drawn up on her blueprints. She had enough extra boards of wood here. It would be easy enough to nail a few of them together to make a background, and rig a configuration that would allow the background to be mounted behind the stage. Then, between scenes, one background could be quickly pulled out, and then replaced with another. Once the stage was finished, she headed over to the extra boards to pick out some for the background, but James was packing up his tools and got up to leave. She glanced at him and asked, "Oy, mate, we catchin' the other blokes down at the tavern?" Without looking at her he said, "No... I've got to get home." He started hurrying off. Tock glanced over her shoulder, and called out to him, "Oy, dodger! Whazzer 'urry, aye? Where ya...? James? Huh..." She frowned as she watched him leave without answering her. That certainly wasn't like him. She briefly wondered what was bothering him, then shrugged it off. Whatever it was, he'd likely get over it by tomorrow, she figured. She turned to Satevis and said, "Oy, Satey, gimme a 'and, aye?" She had a hard time carrying things and piloting her crutches at the same time, since the controls needed both of her hands to work. It was a design flaw she hadn't considered... next time she built something like this, she'd find a way to get it to respond to smoother commands. Once the boards were gathered up, she set to work making the backdrops, nailing a pair of struts across the back to hold a few boards together, with a few inches of extra wood from the struts jutting out the bottom. The extra lengths of wood would slide into slots at the back end of the stage, holding the background in place. She made four identical sets in quick succession, since it was nothing more than some quick nailing. She then grabbed the cans of paint and brushes that Jacques had donated and said, "Oy, ya ever do any paintin'? I done a wee bit 'ere an' there. Might be better what fer ya ta do the stars, though, if'n ya want 'em ta be accurate an' stuff. If'n I does 'em, 'ey'll jus' be white dots on black. But I figure ya wanna like, do a constellation, o' somethin'?" She didn't really know the constellations. She recognized the more common ones, but she couldn't remember the exact arrangement well enough to duplicate them without a book in front of her.

[Satevis]

Satevis frowned slightly as he observed James's abrupt departure, watching out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to be busily looking something up in his book. It was clear to him that Tock was completely oblivious to what was going on, and as much as the part of him that saw James as a rival was pleased that there didn't seem to be any clear competition from that quarter, the part of him that was a horrible bleeding heart felt...well, a little sorry for him really. Tock was apparently embarrassingly free with her affections, and they were clearly causing him some amount of pain. He wondered whether or not he should inform her of this and decided that, yes, he should at some point but now was probably not the best time. Right now, she was working, and wouldn't listen to anyone else until the work was done. So he nodded, helping her gather up the boards and bringing them over to where she was working. He frowned as she gathered up the paint cans and brushes and moved over to him. "Painting?" he repeated. "...I can't say that I have...not in recent memory anyway. But constellations...those I can probably do." He smiled slightly. "I work as the teaching assistant for astronomy," he revealed, realizing that as much as he had talked to Tock in the past two weeks, he hadn't told her that. "They won't be completely accurate, but I can draw out the shapes of some of the simpler constellations. Not that the children will notice, of course, but it might be a nice touch." Scorpius, he decided. He would draw Scorpius into one part of the backdrop, because that was the constellation that held the star Antares in it, the star that translated into Shiber became Satevis. And on the other half of the backdrop... "What constellation would you like?" he asked, as he settled down in front of the boards and paint that would make up the first backdrop. Most people at least had some knowledge of the common constellations, if only the zodiac. He guessed that Tock might also know one that he could draw.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock opened up a couple of cans of the more colorful paints and set one of the boards aside for the kids. "Oy, buggers!" she called out, waving over the kids that had been watching. Their parents watched hesitantly, not wanting to let them get involved in anything potentially dangerous. "I needs 'elp paintin', aye?" she said. When they saw it was something harmless, the parents let their kids rush over to help. Tock set the board on the worktable, and handed the kids some brushes. "Make it look like the Gods is fightin', aye?" she told them. The kids dove eagerly into the work. Tock didn't have the first clue how to paint "The Gods at War", so she figured it was best to let the little biters run free and use their imaginations. They started painting broad, colorful strokes, making sounds like fire erupting or lightning striking as they blasted paint across the board with their brushes. Tock smirked, and pulled the other boards out of range of the paint splatters. "Jus' all three black ta start wit'," she said, handing Satevis one brush and taking another herself. "Don't get 'er all gloppy, aye?" she added, since he said he'd never painted before. Tock wasn't a skilled painter, but she'd done it from time to time on the job. Usually just painting houses, though she had added an artistic touch here and there on occasion. "Keep 'er nice an' smooth, see?" She drew the brush across the wood in long, careful, even strokes. Learning not to leave drops or globs was usually the first lesson on the job site. "After she dries, ya can add the stars," she said. "Don't want 'er all grey, aye?" The black paint wouldn't take long to dry, then they could add little dots of white for the stars. She thought about constellations. She didn't really know them that well. "Is 'ere like, a buildin' stuff constellation?" she asked. "Like, I dunno, the God what crafted the world?" She shrugged. She didn't know much about the Gods, aside from the most basic stuff. Religion had never really been an area that interested her.

[Satevis]

Satevis smiled as he watched the children attack the blank board Tock had laid out for them with predictable enthusiasm. The product would probably be a swirling mess of colors, but the children would be proud of it at the end. Besides, it was meant to represent the Valterrian, so the more chaotic it was, the better. He left them to their work, dipping his own brush in paint and attempting to mimic Tock's neat strokes. As with any new skill, it was odd at first, but it was painting. It didn't take too much thought or skill to pick up, just moderately good hand-eye coordination. He talked as he worked, thinking back to Tock's question. "I don't know about a constellation," he said, drawing his paint brush across the wood. He kept his eyes focused on his work, not looking up at her as he spoke. "...But as for gods, there's Izurdin. He's the God of Strength, Patience, and Industry. He's normally considered the patron of the Isur, but he blesses skilled craftsmen and builders regardless of race." He knew that Tock wasn't the religious type, but he had a feeling that if she ever did decide to take up a faith, she might have a soft spot for Izurdin. He had spent some of his time earlier today reading up on the gods for the script, and that particular thought had crossed his mind then. "I don't think he has a constellation, but his symbol is the hammer. I could arrange the stars so that they look like a hammer constellation, if you like." He worked slowly and precisely, treating his job the same way he treated his glyphing homework. He painted with smooth, even strokes, his eyes set in a look of concentration. When he finished, he set his brush down and surveyed his work, frowning as he studied it. He turned towards Tock. "Does this look right?" he asked.