Bakersfield, Outer Ring
3 Bakemes, 333
Fate
"... and this is the trench!" Esteban points to the deepest spot on his diagram helpfully labeled, "The Trench". "It appeared in 224, during the Great Earthquake. We still don't know how deep it goes, but it could have very different ecosystems!"
Krissie sends a bit of a startled look Slavina's way, but it soon eases. "No, I meant..." She takes in a slow breath, then lets it out at a bit of a relaxed pace. "Nevermind. I may be getting ahead of myself." After a moment of searching the counter and gathering together her thoughts, she asks, "Would any of you have happened to put in a request to withdraw the item in question? Or... was one put in on your behalf, maybe?"
Daina
Daina Hmms and nods and sort of does have her a bit more interest then. "Oooh, what sort of ecosystems do -you- think are down there?"
Aaren
"Not that I know of!" Aaren sings to Krissie. "How do we do that? How do we check if someone has?"
Slavina
Slavina gives Krissie a (reassuring?) hug in response to the startledness, and listens for the answer to Aaren's question.
Fate
For a moment, it seems like Esteban's going to bowl right on through Daina's question. "At the time, though, it upset all the —" But then he stops, realization overcoming him, and crinkles up his nose. "Um..." He looks Antonia's way, then Krissie's way, uncertain. Then he turns his attention back to Daina. "You're not supposed to ask questions until after the presentation." He speaks with an air of unwavering, exaggerated authority, the very picture of a child playing instructor.
A smile spreads over Krissie as she's momentarily distracted by what's going on in the living room. But she quickly shifts her gears back to address Aaren... only to be hugged out of seemingly nowhere by Slavina. That proves to be somewhat less a distraction, just a brief glance and her arms absently coming up in a semi-hug around Slavina's arms before saying, "Well, you can go to the Repository and put in your request there, or go to a local Priest's Union facility and put your request there instead. Provided you have some kind of credentials from a master priest first." She considers another moment. "I suppose the way to find out about an already-made request is by going to the Repository and... asking?" She doesn't seem 100% on this.
Slavina
"Let's do it!" Slavina chirps. "I bet if we ask nicely they'll let us in anyways." She sounds absolutely 1000% confident in this.
Daina
Daina smiles and puts her finger to her lips to show she'll be quiet for the rest of the presentation.
Aaren
Aaren nods at Slavina's suggestion. "Sounds good. How long does it take to process requests? If we go to the Repository now, I mean."
Fate
Esteban takes in a deep breath, then hesitates, searching the floor.
Antonia tilts her head. "You were talking about the Trench and how it changed Lake Isabella's ecosystem."
Esteban brightens, says, "Right! Thanks, Mom," and continues his educational speech.
Krissie looks briefly at Slavina, then returns her attention to Aaren. "From what I understand it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years, depending."
Slavina
Slavina hops up and starts circling the room, examining the plants. She giggles a little at the timespan Krissie gives. "Aw Krissie, when we talk to them they'll see how important it is. Seriously... Daina and Aaren are gods! Well, almost gods." She waves away that little distinction with one hand.
Aaren
Aaren sings her agreement, or at least with the bit about it being important. "The request is paper work, right?" Aaren knows about paperwork. They even have it in Hometown now! "Can you certify it for us?" She asks Krissie, to make sure it's okay before they drag her away.
Daina
Daina gives half an ear to the talk about the paper work and all but mostly listens to the story about the quake and trench and ecosystem.
Fate
Krissie is caught a moment, strung with a little unease as she watches Slavina, and then is questioned by Aaren. She thinks, her eyes wandering back to the living room. "I... can," she says, slowly, still thinking. Then, after a moment, she says, "Can you give me a little more information about all this, though?" Another hesitation passes by before she squares herself and says, "I'd like to know what I'm supposed to be endorsing here."
Slavina
"Oh!" Slavina bounces up onto the counter next to Krissie again. "Of course. Um. Aaren?"
Aaren
Aaren sings Slavina's calm song a little stronger, after giving her the eye. Then she sings, "The Tsarbog sent me a letter asking us, Daina and I, I mean, to fetch something he'd left in the Repository. We don't know what it is yet, but Slavina will know it when she sees it, if I don't know it when I hear it. I can show you the letter, but I can't let you read it because it's confidentail. Like, super." Aaren wrinkles up her nose. "Sorry."
Aaren turns to Frankie, her noises jingling and clattering. "Frankie, may I please have the first letter from the Tsarbog for a moment?"
Daina
Daina is pretty sure Frankie will cough up the letter when asked by Aaren but she does give a nod just in case and returns her attention to the diorama and presentation.
Fate
"Taip." Frankie slides away from Daina (though still attached). Then he swells up just enough to be within Aaren's reach. With a silent, heaving lurching, the letter slides out of his maw, coming to a rest right beside Aaren's feet. Then he waits, utterly still, for further instruction, his eyes blazing like twin hearthfires.
Throughout this process, Esteban trails off, his eyes growing wider and wider, following this disembodied shadow. Antonia, who's sitting next to Daina, crawls back as Frankie slides around her and, when she finds that she's against the wall, slides up it a little. Krissie gets tight too, her voice strained when she says, "Friendly," partially as a reminder, but mostly as some kind of protective charm. (Needless to say, the general tempo of heartbeats increases to something on the allegro side.)
Aaren
"Oh yes, very!" Aaren reasures them, with a few measures of calm song to help. "He's here to protect Daina." She shows the seal on the letter to Krissie.
Daina
Daina looks over "hey Frankie, come back out when we need to put the letter away ok, you're sort of.. 'big' for the room buddy"
Slavina
In contrast, Slavina's heart beat slows a bit under the influence of Aaren's song. She peers over Krissie's shoulder at the letter and says, "Hey Aaren, what about letter number dva? That's not super top secret, just... kinda secret. Right?" She peeks up at Aaren from under her bangs.
Fate
Obediently Frankie snaps back to Daina's shadow, flat and unobtrusive.
This, of course, doesn't do any favors for anyone's heartrate.
Aaren
"OOh, yeah!" Aaren trills in excitement. She looks back to Frankie. "Sorry Frankie," (more out of habit then out of a beleif that Frankie cares) "Can I have letter number two, too?"
Fate
Luckily, the second time he comes out is not much of a shock at all. In short order Aaren has the second letter.
Aaren
Aaren hands it to Krissie, putting the first letter back. "Remind me to write asking for a letter of authorization or something." Aaren sings to her remembering song, as she hands over the letter. "That would be really useful."
Fate
Krissie takes it, working hard to take Frankie's presence for granted. After reading the first couple of sentences five times, she manages to actually retain what the letter says. Then she examines the seal with care. Soon enough, Krissie folds up and returns the letter to Aaren. "Okay." Now her unease is gone—well, mostly. There are still some shivers lurking at the edges, strung there by Frankie's voice.
"What is Frankie?" Esteban whispers, his presentation completely forgotten.
Antonia is slow to settle back into her seat, also making an effort to be as cool with it as everyone else.
Daina
Daina looks over "He's a gift from Ofenya sp he lives in my well she said belly when I was little but I'm guessing it's more likely in my shadows... he protects me and helps me on my quests"
Aaren
Aaren takes the letter back with a smile and gives it back to Frankie, singing to him her song of thanks.
Fate
Frankie accepts them, and dutifully returns to Daina's shadow.
Esteban's eyes go wider at Daina's explanation.
Antonia gets up and moves over to him, putting stabilizing hands on his shoulders. "C'mon, li'l fish, let's put the diorama away for now."
He allows himself to be nudged to action, the blood still drained from his face, movements mechanical. Once he makes it to the room, he asks, "We're gonna die now, aren't we, Mom?" His voice is at even more of a whisper, quavery—although still easily heard in the tense silence (save, of course, Aaren's singing), as he seems to have forgotten that leaving the room doesn't mean that sound stops carrying.
At this, Krissie says, "Excuse me a minute," and heads to Esteban's room.
Daina
Daina blinks a few times "Whoa what?" Frowning and looking to Aaren and Slavina with her brows arched in question.
Slavina
"Krissie...." Slavina says, as she gets up from the counter. "...want a hand explaining? I've travelled with Frankie, so we're pretty tight." She says this last part with a smile and a bit of a joking tone.
Aaren
Aaren looks at Daina, singing her 'No clue!' song breifly, and then settles in to wait for someone to be free to tell her. Meanwhile, she continues singing Antonia. Her proto-cancer is cleared, but there are still a lot of tight joints, aching muscles, and of course eye damage from lots of close up work to fix.
Fate
Krissie pauses, mid-stride, hesitating. Then, after a moment she presses her mouth flat and nods before continuing onward.
Slavina
Slavina shadows her, although she stays outside Esteban's room since three is already a crowd in such a tiny space. She waits for the moms to manage the initial soothing before she joins in.
Fate
Between the three ladies, they're able to calm Esteban down and put his fears at ease. But even so, Antonia goes to take him for a walk while Krissie reconvenes the meeting in the living room. She returns to her spot in the kitchen and rubs her hand over her face. "Right, so... how did you want to do this again?" Clearly she's not quite on the ball at present.
Daina
Daina pauses "sorry Frankie and I scared Esteban, I thought he'd be .. excited if anything.. I figured wolves aren't so threatening around here.. "
Slavina
Once he's calm enough to take in information, Slavina tells Esteban stories about Ulfynja and her servants... and about the many other things they do than simply end lives. About omens and how they can be interpreted many ways. About the time her grandfather lectured them for bringing Frankie to dinner without an invitation. Among the stories is woven the assumption that Ulfynja's primary domain is the act of death, but Slavina embroiders onto it the patterns that show how much more she is than that.
Her voice takes on a lilting, metered cadence as she talks, but with a bit of restraint Slavina manages to avoid actually breaking out in poetry.
Fate
Krissie distractedly holds a hand out as if to dismiss Daina's concerns. "It's okay, Slavina explained." She gives a nod to Slavina. "Thank you." Then she returns her attention to the task at hand, waiting for the answer.
Aaren
"We'd like to take you— to have you take us to the Repository so we can ask them to let us look around." Aaren sings with confidence.
Fate
"Okay." Krissie's shoulders drop as once again she's refocused. "Got it." She takes a cleansing breath, then considers some more. "How soon did you want to go?"
Slavina
Slavina starts peeling an orange. "Hm... are you free tonight? And tomorrow?" Slavina asks, hopefully. "If we leave now we could maybe get there before everyone leaves...."
Fate
Krissie furrows her brow and shakes her head lightly. "Ohhh no no no no. The earliest I can leave is the day after tomorrow. I need to find someone to stand in for me at the temple for a couple of days." Her gaze once more settles on the ground. Then she lets out a little bit of an exhale and regards them all directly. "I'm sorry I can't go any sooner."
Daina
"Could let Frankie go look around more.. we should try and get out of him if found anything good.."
Aaren
Aaren sings reassurance to Krissie. "Day after tomorrow is fine! Can I get the paper work from the local Union house? I could fill it out early." She is imagining a stack worthy of a Chlovakian customs house.
Slavina
Slavina starts laughing. "It'll be like... a single sheet of paper. With probably no more than five questions and a spot for a signature. But we can pick one up on the way home if you want!" She eats a wedge of orange and turns to Krissie again. "So, if we're not going to book it over to old town tonight... is it alright if I stay for dinner?" She tenses a teeny bit and pauses for just a second. "I'd really like to catch up with you."
Aaren
Aaren sings agreement with Daina. "Lets wait until we are somewhere private and ask him what we found before you send him back though."
Fate
"Oh, absolutely!" Krissie glances between the three of them. "If you need a place to stay, too, Toni and I can rearrange some things for you here."
Daina
Daina nods some and then smiles a little "We could find rooms I think.. " checking her pockets for coin or things that might be tradable.
Aaren
Aaren lights up. "Oh that would be wonderful! We're staying with Troung, and that's four hours. Thank you so much!"
Slavina
"Really?" Slavina says, "That would be just..." She hugs Krissie again to prevent poetry.
Daina
Daina looks around the apartment and wonders if they really can find room for three unannounced guests.. "is the roof of this place occupado?"