Beyond festivities

[Faustus]

Continued from: A gala for serendipity

Suddenly it clicked.

For the past few minutes, ever since he laid eyes on the boy, Donovan had been chipping away at the vague periphery of an even more vague question that gnawed on his subconscious mind. Almost the whole of his attention was devoted to watching the scuffle between Alexei and Liyah play out, but some infinitesimal portion of his mind would not rest until the question was answered.

Had he seen the boy before? Chaflin's impressive stature was not one easily forgotten, made all the more memorable by the contrast between his clear physical ability and the temperate look in his eyes, but Donovan had managed the feat nonetheless.

But when he saw Chaflin make a fumbled attempt at chivalry and honor, and a still more clumsy attempt at stealth, the memories came back to him in a sudden deluge. They'd met in Live Combat! Of course! In the year prior to this one Donovan had volunteered to be teacher's aide to the Live Combat instructor, Frank Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson had to attend to personal obligations during the very first class and Donovan had to take charge.

From what he could recall about Chaflin's performance against a simulated bugear, Chaflin was as strong as he looked, faster than he seemed, and handy with a warhammer. From what he could tell by how Chaflin handled himself around Liyah, the backwater farmer had taken some of those lessons to heart.

Once all of the dust settled, things had calmed down considerably. Donovan, still holding Shay by the wrist, began to lead her forward, around Alexei with a nod of recognition and further on towards Liyah and Chaflin.

"Chaflin! Ol' buddy ol' pal." This he said while uncertain that Chaflin even actually remembered him. For all Donovan knew, Chaflin's attendance in live combat was a forgotten memory, a single grain of sand in a mosaic of events that painted the boy's life.

"I hope this vagabond of a girl ain't bothering you." Donovan gave Chaflin a slap on the shoulder and didn't move the larger boy a quarter of an inch. He had to tilt his head up a bit to get a good look at him.

[circa.cipher]

Taking in the whole scene at the same time as Donovan, Shay still remained in the dark. There was no click for her, for she did not know this newcomer, and she hardly knew the two others anyways. However, Donovan was intent on pulling her along for the ride, and all she could do was move along with him. Otherwise, she'd run the risk of her arm being torn out of the socket. Donovan wasn't pulling hard, and Shay, somehow, was not weak, but she was too wobbly-kneed to resist. The glass of punch she'd drunk had done a number on her as well, although it had started to wear off a bit just as Donovan's had.

Once they reached Liyah and Chaflin, Shay felt immensely smaller. This boy was larger than Donovan, even, who was almost a foot taller than her in the first place. Feeling somewhat wary, but glad she had Donovan with her, she smiled meekly up at Chaflin in greeting, but didn't introduce herself. Her nerves were too frayed from the night's events. Her mind was scattered all over the inside of her skull as if it had exploded, and meeting a new person was not something she could handle at the moment.

Instead, she stared at Liyah, who had a similar fixation with hiding her face as she did. She wondered if it was for the same reasons, or if she just simply enjoyed the feeling of solitude that came with hiding her face. Shay had often reveled in it. There was nothing quite like feeling as if you were the only person on the planet. Some people might truly despise that feeling, might die over it, but even if Shay was utterly alone, she could survive. Not thrive, but she wouldn't die, either. Somehow, she knew survival was all she'd really need.

With this thought, she looked desperately at Donovan and squeezed his wrist firmly. Even if she only needed survival, that didn't mean she couldn't have more.

[Acies ab Vesania]

The mosaic that painted the life of the simple farm lad was far from complete, a still bare piece of art lacking so many of the carved pieces that made life interesting, detailed, complete. A long future lay ahead, a future that promised to deposit grains of beauty and joy, pain and sorrow, necessary ingredients to build a masterpiece few ever achieved. With so little laid on the canvas that was his life’s work, Chaflin easily recalled the young man who assisted in his Live Combat class, his face much more recognizable when closer and not passing in haste, as the body affixed to it lacked clothing. His demeanor is much the same as before, though the year between meetings is obvious to him by the changes in Donavan’s features, a young man becoming simply a man. Chaflin himself was slowly undergoing such changes.

The slap on his shoulder certainly did little, unable to make the giant man budge a hair’s width. Despite the still obnoxious behavior, the obvious side effects of punch laced with special ingredients, Chaflin was happy to see Donavan, a familiar face among a sea of unfamiliar.

“Donavan! How are you? Wow, has it been a year, fancy meeting you out here.”

Chaflin’s usual timidity gradually gave away to the friendliness that he unintentionally hid; buried beneath the anxiety and awkwardness a large farm boy from far way was subject to in an academy like this. The combination of a friendly, familiar face and the warm reception of others began to break the man of his shell, easing out just a bit of the truly warm person that resonated within, dying to break free. Temporarily relieved of his shyness, Chaflin readily answers Donavan.

“Oh, she’s alright. A little energetic is all.”

[Fallen Joy]

"No hero, ma'am. Just believe in helping people who need it; I did not realize that you two were simply practicing until I came closer is all.”

Liyah blinked a few times in silence…then burst out in hysterical laughter. Her form bending over as the female slapped her knee in a comedic manner.

“Hahaha! Ma’am? Your choice of words don’t exactly do your context justice! Don’t call me that, hero, I’m no damsel. Name’s Liyah.”

When Shay and Donovan approached and engaged with the miniature giant, Liyah’s laughter died down and she found herself distracted. Her eyes shifted between the surrounding bodies and tunneled into the lone Alexei lingering in the distance. His upset demeanor and whispered words spoke louder than any of them. He was slightly grim, as any true warrior would be after making such amateur mistake of underestimating his opponent. It was a mistake that claimed many lives in the beauty of battle, and one of many lessons Liyah expected them to learn in their future Live Combat class.

Liyah wasn’t amazing or anything, she possessed little to no physical magic and often fought with the instinctive behaviors of an animal like the rhythmic motions of a dancer to music—but when people saw the tiny armature of her body, how petite and fragile she seemed under that silk of white, they didn’t expect a maelstrom of fierce animals nor the ability to briskly shift. Her greatest weapon was the element of surprise and variability.

Liyah smiled softly with a respectful twinkle shinning within her hidden eyes for the young fighter. He didn’t grovel in obnoxious pride, but speculated the outcome to enhance his understanding and compose new strategies. In those fleeting moments, Alexei was already a better fighter. The smile widened under Liyah’s hood as she thought about this. That animal sense never failed her, she knew there was a reason she particularly felt the need to talk to him in the Gala. It wasn’t until Donovan made a personal comment about her and Chaflin responded that Liyah was drawn from her thoughts and shifted her head.

“Tsht. Better a vagabond than a drunk, naked guitar player.”

As she stared at Donvan, Liyah couldn’t help but notice the subtle motions of the accompanying Shay. The masked woman was staring at Donovan and even within the barricade, Liyah could see the desperate desire radiating from her face. The longing squeeze of his wrist...how her body seemed to succumb to the gravitational pull of his presence—it all sing with the cadence of deep infatuation. In Liyah's eyes, the intoxicated demeanor of her body spoke clearly of how hard she had fallen. Digging into her memory, of what she had observed in the Gala, Liyah had thought Syrica to be Donovan’s woman of interest. An intriguing twist of thought. One Liyah was all too curious to learn, and confirm her suspicions. Later.

Decisively, she stored those thoughts to the back of her head and turned to call and wave Alexei closer towards them. If he so complied, she would stepped off from the others just slightly to meet him.

“Apology accepted. We’re here to learn, right? I’m a teeeenie little girl, ya saw I looked like a mouse next to that elephant,” here she thumbed at Chaflin. “I just pulled a jack in the box on ya. Bet you never expected to be cuddling an anaconda when you woke up this morning! Haha! I can tell we’re going to have many fun training sessions. By the time I’m done with ya, you’ll be able to expect the unexpected!” She hit him in the chest with her back of her head. “So don’t be upset! I can sense these things, you know. You’re too cute for that.”

[Alexei]

Alexei turned around to look at Liyah who called to him, he wounld stand as she waved him over, dusting himself off. His steps were in no particular rush, but seemed to close the distance quickly. He would stop as she came to meet him, his musings stopped and all but forgotten, strategies and tactics speed through his mind. He had no other choice but to assume she could change into any animal, the trick was, how could he prepare. As she spoke, he merely tilted his head, as excited as before. He had only one reply, simple, and mumbled low. "I'm not cute." He would say, but patted the top of her head nonetheless, not sure of what exactly he should do. Standing motionlessly seemed even more out of place than he already felt he was. "I may be here to learn, but I've too much experience to be underestimating people." He would add thoughtfully, though he no longer felt bad about it. He just chalked it up to being too lax.

He would give a nod of acknowledgement to Donovan, Shay, and Chaflin in greeting. "Hello." He would speak to Chaflin directly, but would say nothing else. Not that he didn't want to talk, just that he found nothing else to say. Conversation was not one of his strong suits, though he was quite the listener.

[Faustus]

"This is Shay."

Donovan filled in the gap where Shay let silence reign, picking up after her as if from intuition. He responded to her tentative squeeze of his wrist by moving his hand out of her grasp . . . and then gently cupping her hand in his own. He gave her back a reassuring squeeze of his own, but was mindful of her cut at all times.

"You're darn tootin' it's been a year. I've gotten loads bigger, but you're still tall as a damn redwood Chaflin. You know . . . I know this is gonna sound odd but I wonder what it'd feel like to have you rear back and lay a fist into me with everythin' you got. You'd probably break my jaw."

Donovan looked Chaflin up and down and raised his eyes slightly skyward in deeper contemplation.

"Yeah. Probably."

Liyah had something to say. Though gleaned only from the few scant interactions had between the two of them, Liyah and Donovan, the boy nonetheless formed the rather stolid opinion of the girl that she was one that liked to quip. Had a sharp tongue and enjoyed employing it, facetiously more often than not but no doubt capable of a real sting.

"Some people like guitar players, naked or not. Very few people like vagabonds I figure. Maybe it isn't better to be a vagabond after all." Donovan mused this gyroscopic thought to himself but made sure to speak loud enough for the others, in particular Liyah, to her. Made sure of it.

"And this, coming from the orgy-girl."

Donovan very cleanly identified Liyah with this, did so flippantly and with a playful, crude, boyish smile on his face. En guarde!

After everyone had said their piece, and on this Donovan was very meticulous and patience as he lay in wait for he did not want to domineer conversation and bruise the sensitive sentiments of his fellows, Donovan spoke out to the group as a whole.

"I'm taking Terran Engineering, Alchemy, and Elemental Theory I this year. What about you all?"

[circa.cipher]

A soft exhale that had been caught like water in a glass poured effortlessly from Shay's lungs as Donovan captured her petite hand in his own, much larger one. She felt her tiny fingers covered by his thumb and a soft curve pulled at the corners of her lips as she looked up to Chaflin.

"Hi."

A quiet, yet clear word was the only strength that she could muster in front of a stranger, but it instantly overtook her previous silence due to the quiet strength she'd seemed to develop in such a short amount of time. Moving forward to stand beside Donovan instead of hovering behind him, she listened to Liyah and his banter with the same small smile that had been lifting her lips since Donovan had grabbed her hand.

Liyah's seemingly easy conversation confused Shay. If the girl hid her face, shouldn't that mean she was anti-social? But no, that clearly wasn't the case. The girl was so forward about everything and had always been the one to say something crude or jump into a moment when she felt like it. Shaking her head incredulously as she stared at this strange occurrence, she only hoped that she could be like that someday. It left her with a feeling of pure bewilderment. She envied this girl's ability, and was left with a wish to be like her.

[Acies ab Vesania]

Chaflin seems rather off put by Donavan's interest in Chaflin's ability to break his jaw.

"Why would I do something like that and why would even wonder about it? Sparing is fun and fighting necessary for life and death situations, certainly, but why would I strike you for the sake of seeing how much damage I could do?"
Chaflin is a man of large stature, made of solid muscle pulled to tight cords, banding into a neck the size of a bull's, yet he lacks any of the attitude typically seen in such large specimens. He speaks carefully and thoughtfully, showing a degree of intellect working behind the hulking mass of muscles, a depth going much further than that of the average oversized oaf who shows up to beat things with a weapon. More so than just that, the amount of empathy registering on his face contradicts his image of a brawny tank designed for receiving beatings, it is rather uncanny, but you can clearly see in the way he looks at you and the way his face changes, he genuinely worries about your sake, in spite of not knowing you at all. He carries with him the compassion and tenderness of a healer, yet he bears a physical strength suited enough to wrestle a bear into submission.

"I took Live Combat last year, as well as some pre-requisite courses and remedial courses. This year, I am looking into The Adventurer, Terran History and Geography, and Herbalism, as well as a field trip here and there. I plan to do a lot of traveling, so I want to ensure that properly prepare myself for the dangers and hazards the lands have to offer. I am not entirely sure what direction I would like to take with my studies beyond general readiness for traveling and adventuring, I never put much thought into it before."

When Shay turns and says hi, Chaflin smiles warmly and replies:

"Good evening Ma'am."

[Fallen Joy]

“I’m not cute.”

Alexei stuck true to his nature and Liyah began to chuckle. When his hand touched her crown, the sound oddly glissaded into melodic purring, vibrating through his palm and up his arm. A cushion of soft hair was felt under the hood and Liyah rose subtly to her tips to meet the patting fondle. She seemed to enjoy the caress a tad more than one should. Yet the savored moment was briskly interrupted when Donovan's comments rushed up her back like a heckling chill. What was a purr transformed into an irritated feline moan as Liyah gradually rotated her body to faced him.

"True as that may be, I bet nobody likes it when the guitar player sounds like-" the genuine scream of a chimpanzee suddenly escaped her hood "-when they play."

Basically she said Donovan sounded like a monkey on stage. His boyish smile was met by an invisible girlish grin. Draw!

Yes, Shay was indeed correct when she assumed Liyah's reasoning for hiding her face, and nearly every inch of her body for that matter, had nothing to do with being antisocial. Liyah adored interacting; be it childish bantering with Donovan or playful flirting and heckling with Alexei. Loneliness made her feel trapped, and she had no desire of sharing the stress of a caged animal. She hid her physical identity for a more intricate reason—as far as she was concerned, the face that rested in the darkness of the hood was not Liyah. The shapeshifter knew not any face that permanently belonged. It was an identity complex the woman had lived with for all of her life. She did not further wish to complicate the issue by the eyes and minds of those she met.

This would be the second time Liyah felt Shay's eyes upon her, and the second time she decisively dismissed it. For now.

"Live Combat. Shame I won't see you there, Don-key."

One could easily observe she was talking to Donovan. A quick response to whatever he had to say to her earlier retort.

"Also Adventure and Alchemy. Not quite sure why I am taking the very latter to be honest. Something new I guess. I caught on that Chaflin and this guy here are older students. I'm new, what about you two?"

She looked in turn at Shay and Alexei. Alexei she guessed to be new just from how much he acted like a stranger, but thought to confirm nonetheless. Consequently, Liyah stared more at Shay for a response.

[Alexei]

Alexei found the purring odd, but not as surprising as he thought. Well, watching her go from tiger, to snake…then to naked. And it finally smacked him the brain like a ton of bricks. While everyone talked, Alexei would take the reprieve of Liyah’s change in direction, to quietly blush to himself. Now that he remembered the soft skin, petite size, and obvious feminine figure he was struck by a thoughtless silence. Taking in a deep breath, he would hold it, then release it slowly, and quietly. He would bring his attention back to the group. Heat fading from his cheeks. Alexei lowered his hand, placing it into his pocket. Her hair was soft beneath the hood, even through gloves he could tell. Liyah’s, feline moan of irritation.

If the sound that Liyah made didn’t catch his attention, the word vagabond did. Alexei just happened to be one such vagabond, but was not wounded in the least by Donovan’s words, they were said jokingly, at least he thought so. It was hard to tell what was an endearing insult, and what wasn’t with these people. Good thing he was quite skilled at remaining quite out of the group’s conversation. He wouldn’t know what to do. He was content to just watching, until questions were asked. And with that, Liyah found a reason to bring him into the group’s conversation. For the few minutes he’s known her, he was already being pulled along by Liyah. Even then, he was not unhappy with it, rather, he was content.

Clearing his throat, even still a bit off kilter from his shocking realization, he would speak. “I'm new as well. I’ll be taking Live Combat, The Adventure, and Traps One ‘o One.” He would respond, just loud enough for them all to hear. Not exactly shy, though that was part of it, but still somewhat detached when it came to the group. He’d return to his silence, only to find himself idly patting Liyah’s head once more. Mostly to do something; other than stand around quietly. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure on how to even join in on more than just giving information on his classes. He had no skills in banter with others. In other words, he hadn’t much to say.

[Faustus]

Shay did not respond to his general query. Donovan dismissed this. Already in his mind, at just the implication of the thought, he could see Shay's face blushing furiously beneath her mask, and then the back of the girl's head as she stomped off to sulk somewhere. Her hand, so comfortable in his own, was much too warm to let go just yet so he buttoned his lip.

"Live Combat. Shame I won't see you there, Don-key."

Donovan shrugged in response, articulating that "Maybe I'll end up as a teaching assistant again and I'll take you greenhorns for a run. Anyway it sounds like we'll be taking Alchemy together anyway. You seem like a real blast to be around."

With his free hand, Donovan stroked his chin thoughtfully and addressed Alexei and Chaflin at once.

"And sounds like you two will be taking the same class. You better watch out. Mr. Hickson looks like a puff but he's strict. And traps. You'll have fun with that one Alexei. That's taught by Mr. Brown. Err, Brown the third I mean. Before it was taught by Edward Brown," Donovan's voice rose slightly in pitch and his eyes adopted a twinkle of admiration. "Before he got promoted in the military."

Donovan zipped his lip. Let the others speak their pieces, either to him or to the others and let a few full minutes of cordial conversation pass before interrupting again with a gentle suggestion. Not to interrupt the flow of conversation, but perhaps in anticipation of enhancing it.

"Say, anyone wanna go to the observatory?"

[circa.cipher]

Chaflin's cordial response was enough to pleasantly surprise Shay. Often times, strangers would treat her awkwardly. People usually had adverse reactions to the mask that hid her face. Chaflin's casual kindness and Donovan's reassuring hand prompted her into sharing her classes as well.

"I'm taking Alchemy, Herbalism, and Elemental Theory I."

Shivering some as a breeze blew through her thin, damp dress, she clasped her shawl at her throat with her free hand. Fixing the hat on her head, she felt a giddy excitement as Donovan suggested the observatory. It had been a long time since she'd had the leisure to stare at stars. It used to be her favorite past time. She'd lay in the backyard, butterflies surrounding her, and stare until the sun came up. Her mother used to get furious at her. Her muscles tensing as she thought about her mother, Shay attempted to distract herself by asking a question.

"Can I change first? This dress is ruined."

Leaning forward to look down at the frayed silk around her knees, she blushed in embarrassment at her disheveled state.

"I'm so sorry! I hardly look appropriate!"

Fussing with her shawl again, she'd attempt to rewrap it around her slight frame, the soft white fabric shimmering in the moonlight.

[Acies ab Vesania]

Chaflin realized that he was socializing with others, and seemingly doing so in an appropriate fashion- no one had given him any funny looks yet. In fact, the others actively engaged with him and now he they invited him to an observatory, something he could not recollect ever hearing of. Since he began attending the school, he had seen many things he never heard of while working on the farms in his simple hometown, and now it appeared he would see yet another thing he had never witnessed before. Twice in a night- well, three times, if you include the nude Donavan, but he would rather not- he will see something new and unknown to him; the thought of this made him excited.

“Well, I would like to, since I am not even sure what that is. I have never heard of one.”

Chaflin turns a little red, blushing slightly in embarrassment as he announces his ignorance. Up until this point, he had done well with his interactions with these people, and it seemed like he might be making friends, but he did not want to look like some country fool who is not worth their interactions after all. He hoped they would not take it poorly that he his past experiences never exposed him to something like an observatory before.

His thoughts are interrupted by Shay, voicing concern over her appearance due to the state of her dress, which Chaflin found mildly amusing. Where he is from, the girls get down and dirty just the same as the men, and many a nights the mothers of these girls would be mending dresses and removing stains. There is nothing wrong with getting a little dirty after all, what good was it to avoid having fun out of fear that you might get a little ruffled.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, your dress looks fine! I remember back home, some of the girls would end up at home with dresses thrice as careworn and they never had caused to be embarrassed. Who knows what might happen on the way to this.. ob-serv-a-tory.”

Chaflin stumbles over the word, as it is unfamiliar to him. He turns pink again, embarrassed by his shortcomings.

[Fallen Joy]

"The three of us will be taking the same class," Liyah rectified Donovan's statement, and couldn't help but wonder if he left her from that piece of advice on purpose. She remained verbally unresponsive to the greenhorn comment on their shared class, only secretly smiling at him.

Before Liyah could further comment, she found herself once again mildly spellbound by the stroking and patting patterns of Alexei's hand, which managed to find its way back onto her head. Closing her eyes to focus on the comforting sensation, Liyah barely resisted the temptation to nuzzle her head into the open palm, mostly for the subtle sake of propriety, and purred lowly. The enjoyment rendered her quiet for a time. Even as Donovan offered a trip to the observatory, she was in no hurry to speak until everyone else expressed their opinion on the idea and a brief silence occurred.

Then she opened an eye, turning it to Shay and taking her first decisive gander at the woman's worn attire. Being proper or lady like wasn't exactly Liyah's personal style, but that didn't stop the sense of amusement ignited from this girl's most adorable behavior. Shifting her head from Alexei's hand, Liyah laughed and reached over for a friendly grasp upon Shay's slender shoulder.

"I agree with our large friend here. While I am pretty sure we won't be getting into any grimy situations on the way there, there's no point in possibly dirtying something perfectly clean." Liyah paused and canted her head, silently observing Shay for an extra moment before adding, "And I think this look is rather appealing on ya. You're a natural beauty! Even when I can't see your face." Liyah lightly tapped the mask with the back of her finger with a chuckle before facing Donovan.

"I'm down. I haven't gotten the chance to explore much."

With that said, there was only one person that had not answered the question, Liyah glanced at Alexei.

"You're coming too, right?"

The tone in her voice held a warm, friendly yet somehow very decisive tone, almost suggesting she wouldn't take no for an answer.

[Faustus]

Off topic:
Alexei won't be back until the 21st

Shay said something or other about her appearing being off-kilter. Donovan was in disbelief, and his cocked eyebrow and incredulous glance did all the talking for him. Of course, that wasn't enough. He opened his mouth to make his point crystal clear, but the others beat him to it, and did so in turn. First Chaflin with the break, then Liyah with the assist.

All Donovan could do then was smile, squeeze her hand a little tighter to call her attention, and smiled in that way he had a habit of doing at times. In a way that seemed just for Shay.

"See? You're amazing just the way you are."

Now that that was done and over with, the full weight of Chaflin's prior words hit him as hard as Donovan imagined the monolithic man-boy exert with a closed fist. Donovan brought his free hand to his chest as his breath caught in his throat and staggered back a step.

"You've WHAT?!"

Another gasp, then he panted hard, recovering.

"You've never heard of an observatory? Well! That, that just about settles it doesn't it?!"

Donovan's voice was growing nearly shrill with sheer excitement, and if he didn't get control of himself, he'd lapse into that squeak of a crack that shamed most adolescents in these formative years.

Donovan didn't wait for a response. He tugged Shay along like a locomotive leading a box-car, slapped Chaflin on the shoulder to make sure he had the mountain's attention, and then began to lead the troupe of them towards the observatory.

It was a natural instinct for the boy. To lead. But an instinct he followed lightly. If one of the others knew the way and took point, Donovan wouldn't struggle to stay ahead, but he did not intend to dawdle on Academy grounds while one, or perhaps maybe more (this thought chilled Donovan to the bone) had not seen the beauty of the cosmos stretched taut against the infinite black.