The Zeltivan Monument Series Part 2: The Recruitment (Solo)

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 17th, 2012, 5:29 am

14th Day of Summer, 512 AV

Note :

Tock limped across the work site, still quite sore. Her eye still showed signs of bruising, her ribs ached (especially when she started exerting herself and breathing heavy), and while the bone was healed, her right hand was still in a lot of pain and only of limited use. It was making work a bit difficult, though thankfully woodcarving was a job that could often be done seated at a workbench, instead of on her feet.

She was also still fuming over the fight she'd had with Monty. He STILL hadn't apologized yet! Though unknown to her, he was actually bed bound and incapable of so much as speaking to her right now. Still, even if she knew that, it wouldn't make a difference.

It was the middle of the work day, and time to break for lunch. But rather than sitting and fuming, Tock decided to spend the break recruiting. She had a statue to build, and she had the teensy weeny little problem of not having the means to haul the stone back to the city by herself. She wasn't even sure yet where she was getting it from, though a few weeks down the line she would end up locating some a short ride from the city. She already knew, however, that she wanted a BIG piece of stone, at least enough to make a life-sized human statue. A stone that large would weigh thousands of pounds, and she'd need a full crew to get it into a wagon and back to the city.

The trick was, convincing people to help her...

OOC :

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 3:46 am

"Oy, mates!" she called out to a group of men, forcing some false cheer into her voice. The men were all sitting and eating, while trading stories of their conquests and other things they didn't like to discuss around a girl. While Tock was, in some ways, 'one of the guys,' she still got offended about certain things. She didn't mind hearing about how one of the men did this or that with some piece of tail (she wasn't a prude, after all). But she DIDN'T like hearing them talk about getting a glimpse up a girl's skirt, getting a girl so drunk she did something she later regretted, or other crude things they sometimes did.

Hearing about sex was one thing, but hearing about crudity just pissed her off.

She also... didn't get along with some of the men for other reasons. They didn't like the way she bossed them around (even though Jacques, the supervisor, enjoyed the increased productivity). Some of them didn't like seeing her babies on the work site (even though Jacques enjoyed the extra FREE work they did for him, which saved him time on jobs and increased his profits). Some of them just didn't think a woman belonged doing this kind of work. So she hadn't made many friends here.

Well, there had been James. But that had ended badly.

The men gave her polite, but short greetings. She looked them over and said, "Oy, I needs a favor from yas..." They just stared at her as she grinned at them.

After a long moment, a man on the right, by the name of Jesse, said, "We're on break, Tock. Can't it wait?"

Tock waved her hands at him and said, "Oy, ain't no work favor. Whazza, personal favor, aye?" she nodded. They stared at her. Finally, she sighed and said, "I's carvin' a statue. Real big one," she held her arms out as wide as they could go. "Needs me some 'elp gettin' the stone back in the city, aye? Whatcha say?"

They continued to stare, then they started laughing at her.

She frowned, feeling actually hurt by the reaction.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 3:57 am

Her frown turned into a scowl, and she shook a fist at them, "Oy, whazza big idear?" she asked them. "Whatcha done gots ta been laughin' fer!?"

As their chuckles subsided, Jesse replied, "You're kidding, right? Haul stone? When we ain't even on the job? HA!" They laughed some more. Tock crossed her arms and stared them all down.

"But I needs 'elp!" she protested. She couldn't carry all the stone she needed by herself. She could always make some babies to do it for her, but it would take a long time to make the number she'd need. She didn't want to wait that long to get her stone.

"Ya gonna pay?" another man, Chet, asked. The group looked up with renewed interest.

Tock rolled her eyes and snorted. "Oy, I looks like I's made o' mizas?" she demanded. "I ain't gots no money what fer ta pay..."

There were head shakes, and mumbles, and she thought she heard some muttered remarks that made her want to crack some skulls. She stared at the men incredulously, until Jesse said, "Come on, Tock! I mean, sure we work together fine... but it's not like you've ever done anything for us!" There were nods and mumbles all around.

Tock frowned, staring at her coworkers, feeling like an outcast. Part of her wanted to smack the lot of them... and part of her just felt sad. She scratched her head, thinking it over. Finally, she said, "Well... what if I does stuff fer y'all?"

They stared at her doubtfully. Finally, Chet asked, "What kinda stuff?"

Tock thought about that and said, "Oy, anythin' ya want!" She threw her arms up in the air triumphantly. "Aye, yeah... anyone what 'elps me what wit' 'aulin' my stone back... figger, a day o' two's work, slap 'er on a wagon, drive 'er back, easy peasy... anyone what 'elps me git 'er back 'ere, I's owes ya one favor... ANYTHIN' ya want!" She thought about that for a moment, then added, "...long as she don't cost me no money..."

The men looked around, considering the offer. An open-ended favor had a lot of appeal. She saw one of the cruder men, Andres, get a wicked look on his face. She pointed at him and shouted angrily, "An' ain't no pervy stuff, neither! I ain't 'at kinda girl..."

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 6:32 am

Tock got a few noncommittal responses during lunch, and knew she was going to have more work cut out for her. Quite a few of the men seemed eager for the idea of an 'open-ended' favor. But that didn't mean they were willing to make promises just yet.

She'd have to work on them one at a time.

Jesse

Jesse was just a laborer. He carried heavy things, pushed wheelbarrows, dug holes, and generally helped out with the unskilled work around the site. Skilled craftsman like Tock were held a bit above laborers like him, but it was a distinction Tock didn't give a damn about. She thought everyone was equal. So while the other carvers, masons, and architects had their little cliques, and the unskilled laborers had theirs, Tock treated everyone the same.

Of course, she was somewhat outcast from both groups. But still.

Tock was caught up on her own tasks for the day (having the help of her babies made her quite efficient, and she often finished her own assigned jobs well ahead of schedule). Generally, when she was finished her woodcarving for the day, she helped out with whatever other tasks needed doing. She had a fair about of freedom in what she chose to do, partially because of her rank among the crew, partially because most of them were too intimidated by her to tell her otherwise, but mostly because Eavin, the on-site supervisor, was a drunken oaf who never did his damn job. Without him giving orders, a LOT of the crew tended to do what they wanted. Unless someone else, usually Tock, started giving orders in his stead.

Free to help out where she wanted for the moment, she sidled up to Jesse and started helping him out. He was just carrying lumber back and forth, from one end of the construction site where the wood was being cut to size, down to the line of houses where it would be used. It was boring work, and Tock wasn't usually keen on this sort of task, but she obviously had an ulterior motive.

"So, ya done gonna 'elps me out, mate?" she asked him, lifting a stack of boards and bracing them on her shoulder. She couldn't carry many, considering her soreness, so she kept the load light, limping after Jesse (who was much bigger and stronger than her, and carrying a load of wood she doubted she could lift when she was at her best).

"I dunno," he replied, not making eye contact (a task made easy by the fact that Tock couldn't keep up with him and was lagging behind).

"Aww, c'mon!" she pleaded. "I done tolds ya, any favor ya want! Anythin'! C'mon... 'ere's done gots ta been somethin' ya need..."

They dropped off the wood and headed back to the front of the line, Tock walking backwards so she could give the man her best big-eyed look of pathetic need (which wasn't something she was so good at, all things considered). By the time they got back to the wood piles, she could see in his eyes that he was thinking about something.

She grabbed some more wood, being careful with her right hand so as not to aggravate it further. "Well...?" she asked.

Finally, Jesse sighed. "Well," he muttered. "There... there might be one thing I need."

"Aye, yeah!" Tock replied, getting giddy. She hopped a bit, a skip in her step, almost dropping the boards she was carrying. "C'mon, mate, out wit' it!"

Jesse looked like he didn't want to say it, and waited until they dropped the boards off, then pulled her aside. "You gotta promise not to tell no one, right?" he asked.

Tock frowned, wondering what it could be that was such a big secret. Finally, she nodded. "Aye, yeah, sure..."

Jesse looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then said, "It's my kid brother... he's sixteen, and, well..." He cleared his throat, and Tock's frown deepened. Finally Jesse said in a low voice, "He ain't never been with a woman..."

Tock clenched her fist, ready to smack him one. "Oy, I done told ya, ain't 'at kinda favor, ya blimey bludger!" she shouted, causing Jesse to wave his hands in an attempt to calm her down.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he protested. "It's not that... it's just..."

"Spit 'er out, mate," Tock said. If he didn't explain himself soon, she was going to hit him.

Jesse sighed, scratching his head, and said, "See, he's kind of... a weenie." Tock arched an eyebrow in confusion. "He's all into that, y'know, book stuff. He's up at the University," he gestured to the big building up on the distant hill. "And you're there, and, well..."

Tock crossed her arms, scowling at the man. "I ain't shaggin' yer brother fer--"

"No!" Jesse said again, holding up his hands to cut her off. "I don't want you to do him. I just..." he looked her up and down. "Well, you're a student there, right?" Tock nodded, still not sure what he was getting at. "You must know people there, yeah?" Tock nodded again, still uncertain, but starting to get an idea where this was going. "Well... think you could set him up with... I dunno, one of your girl friends or something? Assuming you have girl friends?"

Tock bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping at him. Of COURSE she had girl friends... one at least. Maybe two. Though she knew plenty of girls at the University. That... that was something. "If'n I does, yous 'elp me, aye?" she demanded.

Jesse nodded. "But she's gotta be a nice girl," he insisted. "I don't want my little brother messing 'round with no whores, right? But pretty though... and, well, it won't hurt if she's a little easy..."

Tock rolled her eyes in disgust. "I's find 'im a date," she said, "but I ain't what done nothin' fer gettin' 'im 'tween a girl's legs, aye? 'At's up ta 'er..."

Jesse nodded and said, "Okay, fine. A date... a good date. Do that, and I'll help you."

Tock nodded and headed off. How had she let herself agree to that!? She couldn't even get herself a date most times (Satevis having been a complete fluke, since she had no idea how she'd bagged him to begin with). How was she supposed to get Jesse's little brother a date?

Ugh. It was time to play matchmaker.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 6:34 am

Jesse's Favor
A week later, at Zeltiva University, early morning...

In between work, Tock had classes at the University. Mostly either in the early morning before she was due down at the construction site, or at night, after work. She had been asking around in her various classes for a student that wanted a date. She didn't know Jesse's brother, so she played him up, declaring him to be quite the handsome, charming fellow, intelligent, kind, and caring. Hopefully that was at least somewhat true.

Unfortunately, however, Tock didn't know the first thing about romance. Her one and only attempt at romance had proven short-lived, and she didn't know how to begin setting someone else up on a date. She'd been told 'no' in about every way possible, either because the girls didn't want to go out with a stranger, they already had a boyfriend, they didn't trust Tock's judgment enough to know the boy was any good, or in at least once case because the girl swung the other way.

Frustrated, she sat in Auristics class one day, lingering a bit after the teacher had dismissed the others. She was focused on her book, trying to find a magic way to find the perfect girl. Surely there had to be an aura reading for 'the perfect date,' right? She didn't even realize class had been dismissed until the professor stepped up to her.

"Everything all right, my dear?" he asked.

Frowning, and not raising her eyes from her book, Tock asked, "'Ow's I finds the right girl what likes 'er some romance?"

The professor sputtered for a moment, no doubt getting the completely wrong idea about Tock's motivation, and finally said, "Well... I'd suggest patience, and attending a few social events? Get to know a young lady, see... what happens naturally?"

Tock shook her head and waved him off, "Nah, nah, nah. I ain't done gots time fer that. Needs me ta magic up a girl..."

The professor sighed and rubbed his face. "Miss Zipporah," he said, "magic doesn't work like that. Unless you're talking about hypnotism to alter someone's emotions, and that is completely immoral. I'd suggest..."

"Oy, yer brilliant!" Tock said, standing up and slamming her book shut. "Aye, 'ere we go..."

She headed for the door, and the professor grabbed her by the arm and said, "Miss Zipporah... I cannot condone you hypnotizing a young lady into... into..."

Tock stared at the man like he was stupid. "Who done said nothin' 'bout 'at?" she asked. When he stared at her blankly, she added, "I ain't even knows no hypno-whatty, aye?"

She then left the confused professor behind, and headed off with a new idea in mind.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 5:31 pm

Tock headed down to the Cafeteria Hall, some papers in one hand, a quill in the other, and a book on Auristics and Emotions behind held by Handy, who was strapped to her wrist. There were a lot of students around, many of which Tock didn't even know. She'd more or less gone through all the ones she DID know, so it was time to start harassing strangers.

Tock didn't 'get' emotions. She had them, she expressed them without hesitation, but she wasn't great on reading them in others. So she figured since she wasn't so good at understanding what people were feeling through normal means, she'd cheat. She was reviewing the book that listed various emotions and the different ways some Aurists might sense them. After awhile, she settled on a set that she thought would be ideal for finding a girl:

Loneliness: Often expressed in auras by a pulling sensation, a feeling of emptiness (sometimes mistaken for hunger), or the color blue.

Curiosity: Often expressed in auras by a tickling at the back of the head, a feeling of itchiness, or the color yellow.

Timidity: Often expressed as a feeling of smallness or hiding, a sensation of cringing, or the color pink.

Tock jotted down the notes about these emotions, and thought they sounded ideal. A lonely, timid girl would be ideal to set up on a date whether she liked it or not, and if she was curious, she might be more inclined to take a chance on someone she didn't know.

She looked around the room, searching out her first test subject. It was time to experiment.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 6:43 pm

Three girls were sitting at a table off to the site, yapping about whatever fool things it was girls yapped about. Tock had never gotten along well with other girls, so she didn't know the sorts of things they liked to talk about. She ignored the words she heard, something about some boys and hair ribbons and a new dress from Yvette's. Tuning it all out, she leaned in and stared at the first girl, a teenaged blonde, focusing on her aura.

She stared, focusing, concentrating, and pushing Djed through her mind to expand her senses. Just one... she could only read one girl at a time. She felt the energy flowing, and ever so slowly she saw something start to expand around the girl. Muddled. Grey. Undefined. She frowned, flipping through the pages of the book Handy was holding. Grey seemed to indicate a stoic state, like the girl wasn't feeling much of anything that moment.

"Excuse me?"

She frowned, focusing harder. Maybe she could dig deeper, find out what the girl felt on a deeper level, beyond the surface. Trying gave her a headache. Delving that deep was too hard. Though after a few moments, the grey aura did start to change, slowly shifting to a clear, shimmering color like water. It made Tock's eyes blur a bit, and she severed the Djed flow for a moment, flipping through the book again.

"Can I help you?"

Mumbling to herself, she searched until she found it. Confusion. What could the girl be confused about.

"What ARE you doing?"

Twitch.

Tock turned a glare on the girl. She HATED that question. "Eatcher peas," she said with disdain, gesturing to the girl's plate. So rude of the girl to interrupt Tock's work.

She turned to the second girl and started focusing her mind again. She was feeling a little tired already. Another clear, watery aura started up again. How could they both be confused at the same time? What was so confusing? Tock stared harder, right into the second girl's brown eyes, which stared back, completely perplexed.

"Excuse me, we're having a conversation here?"

She frowned, giving up on the second girl and turning to the third. She was glaring at Tock. She pushed her Djed forward again, her temples throbbing with exertion. She tried to steady her breathing, feeling fatigued, squinting at the girl as she concentrated on her aura, watching it slowly expand around her. Watery clear... red? Red like blood in the water, faded and thin.

"Go away! Stop staring at us!"

Tock sucked on her teeth, releasing the Djed flow with a sigh of relief. She checked the book again. Red was often either anger, or passion. Sometimes lust. She looked up at the third girl, scowling at her. Was she aroused by this? No. She didn't look horny. She was glaring at Tock as though Tock had done something wrong.

Tock nodded and muttered, "Yup. Anger."

All the girls stared at her like she was crazy. The angry one slammed her hand on the table and asked, "What is THAT supposed to mean? You're SO rude!"

Tock frowned, looking between the three girls. They all looked pissed now. Why? They were the ones interfering in Tock's experiments. It wasn't as if she'd DONE anything!

"Piss off," she told them, stalking away to find someone else.

As she walked away she heard one of the girls asking, "What WAS that all about? Did you see the way she was staring at me? So weird..."

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 18th, 2012, 7:45 pm

Tock made her way around the room, studying a few more auras here and there. She got stares, she got a LOT of confusion, and she got one person to call her an 'erratic, aberrant miscreant,' whatever THAT meant.

Finally she sat and ate her own lunch, tired from so much aura reading. This wasn't going well. She wasn't very good at this stuff yet, and she only seemed to be able to get basic information of what people were feeling right that moment. Which mostly let to a lot of clear, watery auras, a fair bit of red ones, and one or two that had a tinge of violet amusement.

She took her time eating, finding the food somewhat tasteless. She thought it was just because the cooks needed to add more salt, but it was actually a sign of mild overgiving, the temporary loss of her senses. In this case, her sense of taste. But she choked the food down anyway, needing to restore her energy after the exertion of the morning. Staring at people shouldn't leave someone this tired...

When she felt better, she returned to her task. During the time she'd been resting and eating, a lot of the people who were here earlier had left, and she saw a bunch of new faces. They must be students who just got done a morning class. She rose and walked around, uncertain where to begin. She scanned the room until she spotted a possible target.

It was a young girl, maybe seventeen, with long brown hair pulled back into a pair of braids down her back. She wore round spectacles, and she was reading. That was good... Jesse had said his brother was a book-type kid.

Tock walked over and stood behind the girl, staring at the back of her head. She focused on pushing the Djed through her mind, working slowly so as not to fatigue herself as much again. Slowly, focusing her mind on the girl, she started to see the aura grow. Vague at first, wavery like mist, before it started to stabilize in her sixth sense.

She frowned as she focused, seeing a myriad of colors. Blue, yellow, pink, red... all swirling around together. She thought about that, checking her notes. Blue could maybe be sadness or loneliness, yellow curiosity or happiness, pink timidity or embarrassment, and red anger or arousal.

So the girl was either mad, sad, happy, and embarrassed all at once, which made NO logical sense to Tock, or perhaps she was lonely, curious, timid, and aroused...

...

She thought about that, and peeked over the girl's shoulder, wondering what she could POSSIBLY be reading that would provoke such emotions...

Jillian cried out in passion, her back arching, pleasure filling her. It had been glorious, it had been fulfilling, and the Prince had been both firm and gentle, guiding her through the unfamiliar act of physical love with so much caring and tenderness...

She smiled down at him, straddling the seal body of his lower half, running her fingers through his hair. The Akvatari Prince gazed up at her with longing, his fingers tickling her sides, a contented smile touching his tender lips. She leaned close and kissed him, whispering softly, "My Prince, that was the most invigorating experience of my young, energetic life..."

The Prince slid his hands up to cradle her face and replied, "Stay here with me..."

Rising from his lap, covered in the sweat of passion, Jillian turned away. "You know I cannot..." she replied, pulling on her clothes and retrieving her sword from the floor. "The Archduke may have been defeated, but his apprentice, Baron Fury, is still at large..."

The Prince sighed, hanging his head. He knew he couldn't hope to tame a woman as passionate, as strong as Jillian. He rose and slid up behind her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He whispered in her ear, "At least promise me, you'll never forget me...?"

Jillian turned, and her eyes strayed downwards, a wry smirk touching her lips. "Oh Prince," she said breathlessly, "I could never forget that..."

Tock's eyes widened. She knew that book! The girl was reading The Adventures of Jillian Smythe, Lady Adventurer!

She grinned. Any girl who liked THAT book was sure to be up for some 'real life' adventures of her own...

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 19th, 2012, 1:28 am

"S'a good book," Tock said, sliding into the seat next to the girl. The girl gasped, slamming the book shut and clutching it to her chest. "Ya think a Akvatari's wanker is really 'at big?"

The girl sputtered, turning bright red, her aura shining a brilliant pink. Tock snickered, and cut off the Djed flow, rubbing her temples. She really needed to get more practice at this so she didn't get a headache so damn fast.

"He... She... I mean, I..." the girl stammered, looking both embarrassed and curious. Tock was quite curious herself, about a lot of... aspects of male physiology. The illustrations in the book had been, ahem, 'educational,' but they hadn't quite shown EVERYTHING.

"I's Tock," Tock said, holding her hand out to the girl. The girl hesitantly took it and replied in a timid voice.

"Ah... A-Anne..." She looked Tock over uncertainly and asked, "Can I... help you?"

"Aye, ya can!" Tock said, grinning, glad that the girl had offered. "Ya wanna go out onna date?"

The girl somehow turned redder, cringing in her seat. "W-with you?" she asked, eyes wide behind her spectacles. "B-but, you're a girl! And I don't even know you..."

Tock scowled, a bit offended that the girl would react so negatively. "Oy, not wit' me, Sheila..." she muttered.

"Anne," the girl squeaked. "My name's Anne..."

"Whatever," Tock said, leaning forward to get the girl's attention. "Look, I know 'is guy, aye? 'E's real sweet, real smart, 'e likes books," she nodded to Anne's book, "an' 'e'd git 'long real good what wit' a pretty girl like yous. Whaddya say?"

Anne shrank further into her seat and whispered, "Oh, I don't know... I've never been on a date before, and... and... I don't even KNOW this boy!"

Tock sighed. This was going to take awhile...

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on July 19th, 2012, 1:57 am

Tock spent a few more hours with the girl, talking to her and trying to persuade her. She followed her down to the library so they could chat while they studied (Tock reading books on Auristics, while Anne studied History). She went with her to class, whispering in the back row until the teacher realized there was someone there who was NOT a registered student for that class and kicked her out. Then later she tailed the girl back to her dorm room so they could continue chatting.

Not all the conversation was about dating. Part of it was just getting to know each other. Anne turned out to actually be pretty sweet, and Tock found that she liked her. After awhile, the conversation turned to family life, and Anne talked about her brothers while Tock talked about her babies (which both fascinated Anne, and freaked her out a little). Finally, after having been so swept up in conversation that Tock forgot her original reason for starting to talk to Anne in the first place, Tock remembered and steered the conversation that way.

"So, 'bout my friend's brother an' 'at date..." she said, causing the girl to blush again. "C'mon, Sook," she slapped the girl on the knee, winking at her mischievously. "Ye'll likes 'im, I know ya will..." That was a blatant lie, considering Tock had never even MET Jesse's brother. "One date, 'at's all I's askin'. Where's yer adventurer's spirit, aye?"

"Well..." Anne said, chewing on her lip. Tock could tell she was breaking down the girl's inhibitions.

"Ye'll 'as a great time," she said in a pleading voice. "An' I done bets 'e's a great kisser..." That prompted a blush. "C'moooooon... C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon..."

"Alright!" Anne said, blushing bright red, and possibly just agreeing to shut Tock up. "ONE date, but I'm not promising I'll kiss him... unless I want to..."

Tock grinned and clapped her hands. "Ya won't regret it, Sook," she said. "I promise."

One down. However many more to go...