Episode 74
Stepping out into the noon sun, Trakenthin follows behind his father through the back sliding glass door of the two story house. Narrowing a confused and perplexed stare, he glances towards either side, spotting groups of recording crew with their full attention upon him. Trenannin continues to march forward with a bold grin on his face, moving towards the corner of the backyard. Pausing briefly, he starts searching for a route beyond the property to somewhere adjoining. Trakenthin steps next to Trenannin and studies him closely, maintaining his neutral mask under the imposing attention of the cameras. Drawing in a cautious breath, he focuses upon his father. "Where are WE doing?"
With a dark tinge, Trenannin chuckles slightly and glances over his shoulder towards his son. "YOU need to settle a score. Recover your honor. From YOUR loss."
Contorting his dark bronze face incredulously, Trakenthin blinks bewildered and furrows his brow. He stiffens his posture, and his glances bounce between a rush of memories. A faintly familiar moment rises to the front of his mind, and his hazel eyes widen in a mix of surprise, concern overtaking. "What... loss?"
Grumbling, Trenannin surveys the underbrush, visually tracing a path through to the open field diagonal to the house's back plot. Trenannin glares back over his shoulder at Trakenthin momentarily. "Match at the convention. With The Coward's daughter..."
An uncomfortable wave radiates throughout Trakenthin, and he grits his teeth, his stance rigid with his growing unease. "That match? It was NOT important. Nothing official. Does not count-"
Hopping over a low wooden fence, Trenannin trudges through the overgrowth and navigates around the brush beyond the backyard. "When it is The Coward's spawn... IT. COUNTS."
Trakenthin snarls his upper lip briefly and climbs over the barrier. Trailing behind his father under the constant scrutiny of cameras, he directs a harsh whisper with a faintly pleading tone. "Why are you going over there? Now?"
Pushing through the last shrub, Trenannin steps out into the sunny, grassy field, and searches for signs of activity towards the ranch style house on the other end of the plot. "YOU will demand a rematch."
Trakenthin's eyes wide,n and an uneasy curl forms at the corner of his developing frown. Furrowing his brow, he glances around the field ahead and grumbles. "This is NOT the best approach. Try a formal request first? Proper time. Proper place..."
The camera crews spill out into the open field and refocus fully upon father and son. Trenannin turns around, leveling a demanding glare upon his son, and sneers slightly. "You are NOT backing down?"
Narrowing a stare at his father, Trakenthin growls through his teeth and sighs full of irritation tipped indignation. "NO. I prefer the proper process."
Obscuring hints of his redirecting motive, he presents a firm, stern attitude, elaborating upon his idea. "Make it official. Public. Written in records. Settle it before all."
In the distance, Dretphi walks out into the side plot next to the house from the front yard. She readies her practice blade and energetically swings through a series of maneuvers. Faintly overhearing a few irritated quips in grath, Trenannin catches sight of Dretphi. A mean grin appears on his face, and he starts walking quickly across the field. "Understand the sentiment. Would like that under normal conditions."
Marching faster through the grass, he firmly addresses Trakenthin and the surrounding camera crews. "Time is short. YOU take the opportunity NOW."
Trakenthin uncomfortably contorts his face and catches up, keeping pace with his father. He begrudging pleads with his father, trying to quell his growing frustration. "I will properly request the rematch. If she accepts, she sets time, place."
Trenannin glances over his shoulder at his son, a tint of suspicion hidden in the forming disagreement upon his dark bronze face. Puffing his chest, Trakenthin smirks boldly, chuckles slyly. "Present a fair offer. Refuses to defend her victory under those conditions? Proves that she is the Coward's daughter."
Pondering the concept for a few moments, an approving, proud grin appears on Trenannin's face, and he nods in agreement at the proposal. He pats the back of his son firmly and glances towards Dretphi, laughing to the surrounding camera crew. "I have taught you well! An offer we win regardless."
Performing through a number of sword exercises, Dretphi finishes the last attack in a series, grumbling to herself in her own mind. She repeats the last motion, sneers her upper lip at her performance, and draws in a long breath. Her gaze rests upon the large tree nearby, and her mind wanders through a chain of self-reflective frustration and aggravation, the shifts in emotion playing out on her tan face. Seconds later, her awareness returns to her immediate surroundings, and she notices the crowd nearby. Furrowing her brow through the initial surprise at the camera crews, her focus settles directly upon Trakenthin. With a grimace nearing a scowl, she presents her annoyance. "Can I help you?"
Trakenthin draws in a breath, assumes a stoic facade, and clearly states. "I am here to request a rematch for our fight at the convention. You set conditions. Do you accept?"
Blinking utterly bewildered, Dretphi shakes off the initial confusion and rolls her steely gray eyes with an unamused, dismissive groan. Dretphi ponders the offer between winces, disagreement rising up into her face. Trickles of relief seep out into Trakenthin's exterior, and he glances over to his father. With the start of a phrase and a wave of the hand, Dretphi begins to relay her refusal. Trenannin spouts off a particular grath phrase, dripping with vitriol. Trakenthin's jaw drops, the words echoing in stark familiarity to those from the original match. Recognizing the same phrase in a different voice, Trakenthin snaps his obvious discomfort towards Dretphi. With the insulting words sounding out again, Dretphi blanks, halting her answer short of leaving her lips. Contorting her face against a surge of rage, she narrows her furious glare at Trakenthin, spikes her practice sword firmly into the dirt in front of her, and jabs a point sharply at Trakenthin. "I ACCEPT. Two hours from now. Out in the field. Two-handed sparring blades. Match upon first confirmed vital hit with blade."
An excited grin grows wide upon Trenannin, and he proudly slaps the back of his son. "THERE! You have a proper match, now!"
Under the heavy, looming weight of camera attention, Trakenthin struggles maintaining his stoic front, barely covering the swell of dread bubbling through him. He musters up a meager smirk, satisfying his father, and sneaks out a wavering sigh. Dretphi promptly turns away and storms off towards the back sliding glass door.
A crowd of both adventuring teams and Next Adventurers of Nexus crew surround Dretphi and Trakenthin, readying themselves in an impromptu ring in the middle of the grassy field. Gusts of wind blow waves in the taller grasses nearby, and occasional clouds drag patchy shadows across the open space. Aristespha crosses her arms, the breeze moving stray silvery blue hairs off her shoulders. Sotalia rests her hands on her hips and snaps an unamused glare towards a few members of the camera crew when they get close. Deedri and Tassilda exchange quiet commentary between themselves, relaying their similarly wary sentiments across to the other team with momentary glances. Maintaining a modest distance from the gathering, Modoran eyes over at an excited Samantha and apprehensive Gerald nearby. Cideeda twists a souring mood out on her fair face, tapping her foot with irritable flicks of her fluffy tail. She musters up an encouraging smirk towards Dretphi. Noticing an examining stare from Chad, Bach awkwardly tries to play off the attention and settles his attention back onto the match. With a mean grin, Veevi energetically cheers out. "You kick that blonde bimbo's ass, Trakenthin!"
A passing shades the ring. Lifting her head up in the shadows, Dretphi narrows a dark glare down upon Veevi and stares through her very existence, a hint of a glow in her eyes. A moment later, Chad blinks to attention and furrows his brow confused. He glances down at his side and watches Veevi cower close, taking cover behind him. Rolling his brown eyes with a faint groan, he shakes his head. Trenannin smirks at the comment from Veevi and maintains his stoic gaze upon Dretphi and Trakenthin. Trakenthin raises his two-hand sparring sword up in a readied position, draws in a long calming breath, and focuses upon Dretphi. "I am ready."
Tossing back her platinum blonde braids, Dretphi lifts her similar blade up, pauses, closing her eyes briefly in thought, and nods to Trakenthin. "We start... Now."
An eerie silence drops down upon the vicinity. The wind stills. And, a cloud coats the area in its shadow. Dretphi and Trakenthin observe each other, minute movements from either triggering slight adjustments in counter of the other. Stances shift briefly, exploring the finely tuned reactions from the opponent, and the two combatants constantly reevaluate ever changing boy language. Seconds of stillness pass. Trenannin spouts out an irritation tipped quip in grath.
Simultaneously, Dretphi and Trakenthin launch out towards each other. Exchanging quick attacks for blocks, both anticipate the counters into defensive positions. Combinations of maneuvers evolve from Dretphi and Trakenthin, tactics refining, and both hunt down the weaknesses in other's abilities. A close dodge later, Dretphi leaps back, gaining needed distance. Trakenthin quickly attempts to seize the opportunity. Noticing the incoming assault, Dretphi sets up a feint, leads Trakenthin's attack, creating a false opening, and staggers. Trakenthin drives the assault, and Dretphi shifts herself out of the way. Checking her full body weight into Trakenthin, Dretphi sends him backwards onto the grass field. Trakenthin lands on the ground. Cheers and excitement rise up from Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, and Sotalia. Dretphi readies herself and moves in quickly, hearing the encouraging calls from Chad, Deedri, Modoran, Tassilda, and Veevi. Angry, derisive disappointment taints Trenannin's yells at Trakenthin. Dretphi halts her charge, thinking a moment. Glaring insulted at Trenannin, she steps back with her blade readied and waits patiently.
Puzzling, Trakenthin stands back up and readies his sparring sword. Both exchange stoic, respectful nods and resume the match, a mixture of confusion and intrigue forming from the crowd on both sides. Dretphi and Trakenthin trade masterful impacts up their blades, and the wood echoes out into the field over the sounds of supportive cheers and a chain of degrading grath terms.
Minutes into the match, signs of fatigue reveal themselves upon the combatants. With each flurry, the timing between attack waves and counters grows longer. The surrounding teams silence themselves when Dretphi or Trakenthin lunge out, watching the clash of the imposing titans. Recording crews shift constantly around, capturing the action from the best angles, and frame the most dramatic moments. Trakenthin summons up a surge of strength, releases a powerful flurry of blows, and rains a barrage upon Dretphi. With expert precision, Dretphi anticipates the course of each attack, intercepts, and redirects the energy from each blow. In the last moment, Trakenthin dramatically alters the course of his finishing strike, empowering it with all his strength. Awkwardly shifting in anticipation of the impact upon her sparring sword, Dretphi falters with the redirect. Trakenthin presses his full weight into the clash of wooden blades and shoves Dretphi off-balance with brute force. Dretphi tumbles back upon the ground.
Sorting through the calls of concern and cheers of encouragement, Trakenthin prepares his follow through. Right before driving his attack, he catches a comment from his father. He twisting his mouth uncomfortably and halts, a disapproving sneer curling his upper lip. Stepping back, he readies his sparring blade and waits.
Dretphi narrows a curious gaze at Trakenthin, smirks appreciatively, and stands back up. Settling into combat stances, both Dretphi and Trakenthin exchange respectful nods, the excitement growing from the crowd along with the confusion from one. In the moment, both pant out, the looming exhaustion weighing upon them. Each judges the status of the other, and both arrive at an unspoken agreement.
They still themselves and focus fully upon the other, tensing their bodies. Simultaneously, the two launch at each other. In the fractions of time during their charges, both constantly change attack angles, responding to the other, and settle upon their vectors. The two close in. Trakenthin leads the point of his sparring sword forward and aims the tip right at Dretphi's center mass. Quickly adjusting, Dretphi braces herself, her blade at the ready to intercept and body aligning for the counter. Mere moments away from the clash with Dretphi, Trakenthin's muscles tighten. The swords almost touch. Pulling his blade back, Trakenthin drops low to the ground into a powerful spin and swings his sparring sword tightly away from Dretphi. Sliding upon the ground, he leads the blade into a full, sweeping revolution around, and rams the tip of the wooden blade squarely towards the center of Dretphi's back. Readying his full strength behind the finishing move, he winces in pain. His chest tenses, and recent memory flashes into Trakenthin's mind. In the moment of reflection and calm, he eases back his attack to a modest amount of energy and lands a gentle, firm wooden tip upon Dretphi's back.
The combatants freeze in place and wait. Confirming the result with each other, Trakenthin and Dretphi check around with the surrounding crowds. The Flames of the Phoenix team yells out triumphantly, the other squad claps encouragingly through disappointment, and Trenannin incredulously complains loudly in grath. Trakenthin lowers his weapon from Dretphi, stands up, and releases a long sigh of relief. Slumping her shoulders slightly, Dretphi musters up a stoic front and respectfully holds out a hand. "Excellent match."
With a grateful smirk, Trakenthin firmly shakes Dretphi's hand and humbly chuckles. "An honor to have. It was close. A proper rematch."
Watching the handshake, Trenannin's sheer disgust surges outwards without check, and he storms up to his son loud and accusingly. "What type of match was THIS?! Passed up an opportunity? Showed mercy?!"
He jabs a point towards Dretphi and sneers at Trakenthin. "To HER?!"
Mustering up every bit of calm within, Trakenthin draws in a long breath through his gritting teeth, releases a grumbling exhale, and slowly pivots, facing his father. "YOU wanted a rematch. I provided."
Trenannin sputters out a number of angered sentences in grath. Trakenthin struggles for calm and slowly states. "As YOU said... It was MY fight to rematch. NOT yours. Settled it as I saw fit."
An irate scowl erupts upon Trenannin, and he launches into angry, enraged scolding. Trakenthin resolutely stands, weathering the verbal barrage. Dretphi watches in utter disgust and spots the flinches of pain upon Trakenthin, the hurtful grath phrases washing over. With a final summoning of spite, Trenannin spits out a quip towards Trakenthin and Dretphi. In abject shock, Dretphi stares, jaw agape. Catching her full attention, Sotalia shudders through the offense and shouts. "OH! THE FUCK did he say?!"
Clenching his fist tightly around his sparring sword, Trakenthin grits his teeth, puffs up his chest, and glowers at his father silently. Staring down Trenannin, he fights against the swelling rage growing blatant upon his reddening dark bronze skin, surrounding the teams and crew watching expectantly. A sudden stillness overtakes Trakenthin, and he breathes out his ire. Leveling an odd, stern calm towards his father, Trakenthin stares stoically. "Do you have anywhere else to be?"
Tilting his head to the side, Trakenthin narrows his hazel eyes and snarls his upper lip. "Out of my life? Again... As it SHOULD BE."
Trenannin blanks completely and stares absolutely bewildered at his son. Seconds later, he returns to some awareness of his surroundings, noticing the sharp, undesirable attention from everyone around him. Without another word, he steps back, gazing at his son, pivots, and walks away, back towards the two-story house.
Peeking from under the covers, emerald green eyes stare out at the late morning light slipping in through the window blinds. Slowly panning her gaze across the room, Cideeda settles her attention upon the desk against the other wall. She marrows her stare upon the blemished chest plating resting on the table top. With a long, sad sigh, she groans out her disappointment, curling up into her bed sheets. Tossing and turning, she finds a comfortable spot on her bed, pulls her long, fluffy tail up to her chest, and wraps her arms around herself tightly. She exhales somberly through her nose, closing her eyes, and nuzzles her head upon her pillow. Bringing her tufted tail tip close, she hides the stale frown on her light brown face and lets her furry ears droop near her shoulders. Minutes of quiet pass on by, and Cideeda rests within her own thoughts.
A few soft knocks on the door stirs up Cideeda, and a furry ear flicks towards the bedroom entry. Waiting quietly, she finally opens her eyes partially to a second series of taps upon the wooden door. Sotalia's voice calls out from the other side. "Hey, Cideeda... You awake in there?"
Searching her mind, Cideeda quietly deliberates, draws in a reluctant breath, and directs her halfhearted reply. "Yes."
Sotalia's tone brightens a bit, and she pries from the other side. "You doing okay? You want anything for lunch?"
Snuggling up into her bed covers more, Cideeda sighs with a slight grumble slipping out and closes her emerald green eyes. "I'm... Fine. Just tired. And, still a little sore, today."
She curls up tighter upon the bed. "I'm just not all that hungry right now..."
Pausing a moment, she softens her frown with a slight smirk. "Thanks for checking."
On the other side of the door, Sotalia nods with a slight down turn of her smile and raps her long, black nails lightly on the door frame. "Okay. Let us know if you need anything."
Cideeda's voice softly resonates out. "Will do."
Walking slowly down the hallway with concern blatant on her light tan face, Sotalia brushes back her fiery orange, wavy hair over her swept back horns and hums thoughtfully to herself, walking out into the living area. Aristespha, Bach, Dretphi, and Sebastian shift their attention from random paperwork on the dining table towards Sotalia. Thinking a few moments along with her steps towards the kitchen, Sotalia meets everyone's gazes and twists her mouth into a grimace. "Yeah... She says she's just tired and sore."
The group exchanges glances, quickly arriving at a shared, unconvinced conclusion. Aristespha deliberates briefly and lifts an intrigued eyebrow, an unconvinced hint slipping out. "Admittedly, that was quite the hit she took. But... I think it is more psychological at this point."
The team ponders options quietly. Bach speaks up and motions towards the garage. "Yeah... Hey. Let's see how much more can get done on the..."
Furrowing his brow, he glances around to the nearby team. "Project... I think we can get it done by tomorrow."
Sebastian nods in agreement and drifts over to the hallway, assuming a watchful gaze down the hall. The others head out into the garage. Within the cluttered space, they quickly disperse to various locations, revealing hidden materials.
Near the secluded corner of the room, Trakenthin settles upon the floor, back against his bed. Holding up his aetherphone in front of him, he sighs deeply, thoughts condensing between frustrated rambles about various subjects in grath. A motherly tone sounds out from the device, and the video feed on screen displays a calm, older grath woman. She focuses her hazel eyes towards Trakenthin's side of the call and tilts her head slightly with a subdued curiosity. Twisting the corner of her mouth, she eases out a long sigh and lays out an explanation, tinges of regret slipping out. She slowly shakes her head, rolls her eyes at the past and herself, and frowns sadly, mentioning Trenannin by name. Old memories return to the surface of her mind, she wavers and draws in a long, thoughtful breath. Collecting herself, she exhales out a few remarks of wisdom, hinting at the hard earned experiences.
Slowly lifting his head up, Trakenthin faces the phone in his hand and slowly combs his free hand through his short dirty blonde hair, grimacing. Swaying his head with each part of the grath sentences from his mother, he visibly puzzles through shifting waves of anger, confusion, and sadness. He pleads out through stilted phrases, struggling to determine the answer he seeks, and pauses a moment in reflection. With incredulous scrutiny upon the video feed of his mother, he refers to his father,and poses a simple open ended question, running out of the words for the rest of the thought process.
The maternal figure on the other side of video call sighs. Twisting her face thoughtfully, she quietly deliberates, her darker brown, silver streaked braids shifting with her rocking head. Smiles lovingly, she gazes her hazel eyes into her camera. She briefly points towards Trakenthin through the call and addresses Trakenthin directly with a simple loving word. A calm motherly smirk bright on her tan face, she emphasizes thankful, endearing terms at Trakenthin.
Silence settles down in the moment. Trakenthin gazes at the screen blankly for seconds. Closing his similarly hazel eyes tightly, streams of tears run down his dark bronze face, and he sniffs. Emotion finally pushes through the fallen facade, and Trakenthin surrenders to sobbing. Fumbling through attempts to constrain his feelings, he apologizes to his mother. With each comforting and calming grath word from his mother, Trakenthin regains more of his composure, and a smile graces his face. Releasing a final sniffle free sigh, he gazes into his aetherphone display at his mother, a bit of embarrassment persisting, and wanders the conversation over to other recent events.
A few other women's voices rise out of the background of the other side of the call. From the other side of the call, the video feed angles up and away from Trakenthin's mother, revealing three other older grath women nearby. Blinking in surprise, Trakenthin greets his house mothers with respectful, endearing terms. One calls out to Trakenthin and points, referring to something. Trakenthin glances around the room, spots his handmade bedroll, and nods with an appreciative reply. The aim of the camera returns to Trakenthin's mother, and she cracks a mischievous smirk, a glint sparking in her eyes. Trakenthin lifts a warily curious brow and carefully poses a question. His mother smiles reassuringly and mentions the Next Adventurers of Nexus in her explanation, a few choice grath terms intermixing. From the other side of the call, faint, dark chuckles rise out of the background just enough. Trakenthin slightly nods wide-eyed, furrowing his brow uncertainly. A confident grin plain on her face, his mother moves onto the next subject with a reassuring wave of her hand.
The humvee slows to a halt in front of the stoplight intersection. Sinking back into the cushioning of the driver's seat, Cideeda droops her furry ears down towards her shoulders and stares ahead, the bright red light prodding her frustrations. Drifting her gaze upon the hood of the vehicle, she narrows an annoyed glare at small dents shadowed by the late afternoon sun and highlighted by the overhead stoplight. Tightening her claws into her steering wheel, and she grumbles to herself and groans, aggravation tipping her words. "GODS... I can't believe how much that asshole wanted for all these parts."
Sotalia glances over from her aetherphone, sighs in commiseration, and shakes her head. Shifting around in the passenger's seat, she grits her teeth briefly and rolls her golden eyes. "Seriously, girl. I mean, how often does he have anyone wanting those parts anyway? You'd think a discount would be worth having the shelf space back again."
Cideeda combs her fingers through her short, multi-colored hair, and narrows her emerald green eyes ahead, twisting her mouth. "I mean... Yes. They are rare. Yes. Someone else might come along to pay out more money for them. But..."
Bearing her sharp teeth, she growls out. "DAMN IT! I'm offering decent money TODAY to take them! Gods damn it. There's more dust on them than the shelf they were on! Do you NOT want to make money?!"
The stoplight flicks to the bottom lamp and casts a green hue over one side of the intersection and humvee. Pushing accelerator hard, Cideeda studiously eyes the diagnostic output from the in-console display, sighing. "Fuck... What the hell is that drive motor lagging behind for..."
She resumes the conservation with Sotalia and shakes her head with a long roll of her emerald eyes. "They're NOT vital parts. They are exterior accessory parts. People have figured out retrofits, and I KNOW I can craft something that'll work."
With snort, she contorts her upper lip into an annoyed sneer. "Well, gods damn me for wanting to keep to proper replacement parts and taking advantage of a local source."
Sotalia smirks derisively, settling back into her seat, and chuckles to herself. "Visiting that stupid place was an act of fucking charity. Gods, I'm surprised that building was still standing. He should be happy if anyone bothers to even look at that dump up."
Cideeda grits her teeth briefly, tenses her shoulders, and releases a long defeated sigh. "Well... He's a bit richer than he should be. So..."
Lowering her eyelids, she stares out down the road. "Whatever... I got the parts. Despite him getting a better deal than he deserves."
She squints and snarls up her upper lip. "Last time I go THERE."
The humvee speeds down a long stretch of two lane highway. Behind, a white sedan with a light bar pulls out from a side road and closes the distance gradually. Maintaining her speed, Cideeda watches the road ahead, slowly relaxing in her seat, and glances over to the diagnostic data on the console display. A minute of closely following behind later, the white car turns on its blue flashing lights and chirps out a few seconds of its siren. Cideeda and Sotalia reflexive tense and glance over their seats, exchanging confused expressions. Pulling the humvee over to the shoulder and slowing down, Cideeda peers through the rear view mirror, snarls her upper lip, and spouts off a fvalian curse. Sotalia sneaks a peek over her shoulder, narrowing a glare to the local police officer in the white vehicle, and directs her voice towards Cideeda. "What the hell does this asshole want? You weren't speeding or anything?"
Cideeda contorts the frustration out upon her light brown face, thinking a moment, and shakes her head, turning off the powerplant. "NO. At least... Well not enough to pull us over. It's the beginning of the month..."
Wrestling down her souring expression, she exhales a calming breath. "What is he even doing? Getting a head start on his quota?"
Sotalia grimaces, shakes her head, and drops back upon her seat. "I wouldn't be surprised if they've all been warned about us. Probably trying to hassle us out of town now."
Stepping out of the white sedan, the fvalian policeman adjusts his hat, straightens his posture, and authoritatively walks to the driver's side of the humvee. Cideeda rolls down the window, waits with her eyes ahead, and hands on the wheel. The officer glances down with a neutral, plain expression. "License and registration."
Cideeda promptly retrieves the vehicle registration card from the center console, sorts through her wallet for her license, and hands the two bits of documentation over. The officer takes them in his clawed hands and pauses, carefully surveying the inside of the vehicle through Cideeda's window. Moving away, he slowly steps towards his car, visually scanning the humvee on his way back. Sotalia crosses her arms and silently eyes the fvalian man. Cideeda tightens her lips, and maintains her cool demeanor with soft breaths through her toothy grimace. Long minutes later, the officer arrives back at the side of the humvee, returns the vehicle registration, and shows Cideeda's license to her. With a routine, monotone drone, he points to her card and explains. "Your driver's license is an outdated version. You'll need to get it updated as soon as possible to meet the new GAA requirements."
Presenting a faux smile, Cideeda flutters her eyes endearingly and holds her hand out to accept the license. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll remember to do that. If that's all, I really wouldn't want to take up any more of your time-"
Interrupting, the policeman continues his presentation, deposits Cideeda's driver's license onto her palm, and retrieves his ticket book from his side, filling out a few final details. "Your tail light cover is broken and the running light is out."
Mustering up a cheery tone, Cideeda smiles brightly with a toothy grin and motions to the box of parts in the seat behind her. "Well, THAT you don't have to worry about! We just got the parts to fix it and are on our way home to take care of it. Won't even be a problem in an hour."
Sotalia glances around her area, picks up a receipt on the center console, and points out the piece of paper to the officer. "We even have the receipt. We made this trip today just to take care of that."
The fvalian police officer continues to fill out information on his paper pad. He pauses a moment to stare unmoved at Cideeda and Sotalia and finishes the ticket with a rehearsed tear of the perforations. Presenting the piece of paper to Cideeda, he drones out his official explanation. "This is a citation for operating a vehicle without proper road safety equipment. Bring proof you have resolved the issue by the indicated date to the central courthouse, and the citation fine will be waived. You will still have to pay the court filing fee."
Cideeda firmly pinches onto the offending ticket, her smile gradually twitching into a snarl. She narrows an inquisitive stare towards the officer, her tone slinking towards accusatory. "Okay... Well... Explain this to me..."
Gritting her teeth, she cocks her head slightly to the side, eases her frustrations with a long sigh, and sternly inquires, tinges of sarcasm slipping out. "What is the proper procedure to address this issue upon discovery on a vehicle... if said vehicle is my only means of transportation to facilities that would either provide parts or service to remedy the problem? Do I have to arrange for a delivery service to get the parts? Do I need to call one of you to drive my vehicle over there? Is there some random temporary tag that I need to fill out completely arbitrary and inane paperwork to get?"
Blinking at the fvalian policeman with a wide, toothy grit of her teeth, masquerading as a grin, Cideeda silently exchanges stares with the officer for seconds. The officer presents Cideeda with a small business card and repeats a well-worn phrase. "If you have any complaints, please contact the number listed, and you may file any and all grievances."
The policeman quickly pivots and walks over into his white cruiser. He hops into his vehicle, starts up the machine, and quickly departs down the road. The white sedan disappears into the distance over a small hill. Sotalia gazes over to the silent Cideeda. "You okay?"
Cideeda's grip clamps tighter onto the citation, a claw tip piercing a hole into the paper. Drawing in a long breath, she pulls back her lips and growls out a long string of fvalian curses, her long fluffy tail puffing out with each infuriated phrase. Sotalia watches in a wide eyed surprise, blinking in astonishment. The long rant subsides, and Sotalia sorts through the words in her mind and curiously restates. "They should have cut your tail and stuck it in front so you wouldn't be an embarrassment? Did I translate that correctly?"
Recovering bits of her composure, Cideeda settles into the back of her seat, turns her head towards Sotalia, and nods. "Um. For the most part..."
Sotalia twists her mouth, glancing down the road mischievously, and perks her eyebrow. "Want to stop by that vice store on the way back?"
Starting up the powerplant of the humvee, Cideeda releases a long grumble and smirks through the aggravation. "Oh. Yes."
On a nightstand, an aetherphone rings out nearby a bundle of covers upon a bed. Peering out from the mass of bed sheets, Cideeda's emerald green eye spots the device rattling on the wooden top. She reaches out, snatches the phone back into her pile of blankets, and taps the screen to answer. "Hello?"
Listening to the caller, a smile gradually appears on the groggy Cideeda, and she slowly pulls down the sheets. Blinking at the late morning light, Cideeda rubs the sleep out of her eyes and chuckles lightly. "Thank you, mom. It's good to hear you, too. Sorry, I haven't called you lately..."
Furrowing her brow, she averts her gaze off to the side. "It's been a little crazy... To say the least."
Laying out on the bed with her phone next to her furry ear, Cideeda listens to her mother's voice, her mood brightening. "Yeah... To think... Today, twenty nine years ago, eighth of July, I surprised you and dad by coming a little early."
She snorts with a sly grin. "Always been special like that."
Slowly rising up to a sitting position, Cideeda draws in a long breath and sighs with a roll of her eyes at herself. "I'm feeling fine. Like I said, it's just been a bit crazy with everything going on. I'll get into THAT later. What have you and dad been up to? How's the scrap and art sales doing?"
In the living area of the ranch style house, Aristespha sits, studiously sorting through another stack of paperwork. Sebastian's ethereal form hovers nearby, and he occasionally points out a section of literature questioningly. With his aetherphone upon the dining table, Bach reads an article. Sotalia's fork wanders too far from her own, and Bach slides his plate of breakfast away, thwarting the poacher. Dretphi cleans off a plate and stores leftovers away in containers. Spiking through the peaceful ambiance, Cideeda's utterly shocked voice penetrates down the hallway into the area. "YOU'RE WHAT?!"
The abrupt question startles the rest of the team, and they peer towards the archway leading out of the living room into the hall. With all waiting and listening carefully, a flurry of bewildered fvalian blends together between the reverb and muffling of the house structure. Sotalia slides back her chair, slinks closer to the entry, and aims her pointed ear towards the source. Her golden eyes search her mind, and she furrows her brow, deciphering the fast spoken, native dialect of fvalian spewing forth from Cideeda. Piecing together some understanding of the conservation, Sotalia tilts her head to the side, and her eyes widen in a mix of comprehension and surprise.
The fvalian dialog stops, and silence fills the area. Sotalia moves away from the archway, turning to the rest of the curious team, and starts to open her mouth. The sound of a door opening resonates down the hallway into the living area. Soft footsteps and claw clicks echo out, and Cideeda plods into the room. With a blank expression, she maneuvers around Sotalia, through the living area, and into the kitchen space in front of the refrigerator. Opening the door, Cideeda's eyes acquire targets, and she grabs hold of a bottle of beer in each hand. With a swift pivot pushing the fridge door close, she runs the glass container sharply down the edge of the counter top, and pops the metal cap off, passing by into the living room.
Hovering out in front of the archway, Sebastian perks an awkwardly curious brow and approaches the question, summoning the most graceful effort can at the moment. "Sooo... Everything okay, Cideeda?"
Cideeda pauses before Sebastian's visage, takes a long chug of her beer, and blinks back to some awareness with a neutral tone. "Yeah... Just. Fine."
Glancing over to the rest of the team, Sebastian grits his teeth briefly and attempts to pry a bit more gently. "Okay. That's good to hear. Any news we should know about?"
Thinking a moment, Cideeda turns towards the group, searches her mind with her eyes, and shrugs her shoulders ambivalently. "Well. My mom's pregnant. And. She asked if she could turn my old room into a nursery. So..."
Pouring back a long swig of her beer, she muffles a belch. "That's a thing."
Pivoting towards the hallway, Cideeda departs around Sebastian, walks with soft footsteps and claw clacks to her room, and shuts the door. The rest of the team stares between each other in utter bewilderment and awkward silence.
Standing in front of Cideeda's bedroom door, Sotalia rests her hands on her hips and calls out. "Come on out! You can't stay in there all day. It's your birthday!"
Cideeda's voice grumbles out from the other side of the door. "Exactly! It's MY birthday, and I'm choosing to spend it in HERE."
Furrowing her brow, Sotalia crosses her arms incredulously, shifting her weight, and taps her foot on the hallway's hardwood floors. "And, what? Watch reruns of old cartoons on the holoplayer in a nest of alcohol and snack food?"
Quiet fills the area, and Sotalia stands defiant next to the door, faint clinks of glass and crumples of plastic bags slipping out from the other side. A thoughtful pause later, Cideeda defensively snips. "Well... YES. It's fine."
Confidence fading, she winds down to a loud mumble. "I just need a day for myself. That's all."
With an unconvinced smirk, Bach leans in from the living room archway and projects his voice down the hall. "Yeah... Um. From experience, that's a REAL slippery slope. Days become weeks really, REALLY easily."
A brief moment of quiet settles in, and defiant growling sounds out from Cideeda's side of the door. Drawing in a long breath, Sotalia tosses her fiery orange hair back, sighs out loudly, and explains in a stern tone. "Well. Here's your options. One. You come out willingly. Two. Sebastian phases in there and bugs you until you leave. Three. Dretphi DRAGS you out."
She leans close to the door and firm states. "Regardless, you sit down, enjoy the wonderful protellow pie that Dretphi made, and open your gift from us."
Turning her head, Sotalia presses her pointed ear against the door and listens to movement and grumbling behind the door, curling a satisfied smile. She steps back and waits, resting her hands at her sides. Cideeda opens her bedroom door, musters up her composure, and sighs. "FINE. I can't very well let a good protellow pie go to waste."
Resting her hands on Cideeda's shoulders, Sotalia guides Cideeda down the hallway into the living area with occasional nudges. Sotalia pulls out the chair for Cideeda at the head of the table and slides her in. Everyone settles around the table. Blinking in surprise, Cideeda observes a small box magically slide up in front of her. A smile appears on Aristespha's ivory face, and she states. "We decided to let you open this one first, before we reveal what the rest of your gift is."
Team gathers closer around her. Cideeda grasps hold of the package and carefully examines it, tapping with her claw tips curiously. Lifting off the box top, she angles the opening of the box and studies the contents. Intrigue driving her exploration, she slowly picks up a wooden articulated figurine of a fvalian. She blinks and puzzles at the object, carefully examining each joint. Pausing a moment, her emerald green eyes widen, catching the glint of familiar shards of crystal. Her mind quickly pieces together a theory, and she glances up to the others for confirmation. With the nods from everyone else, Cideeda seats the fvalian figure upon the table top. Methodically gesturing through an incantation, she concentrates. Holding her hands to open on either side of the wooden figurine, she wills faint flows of magical energy down her arms into the palms of her hands.
The miasma settles, and she narrows her gaze upon the to fvalian. Contorting her face with strain, she twitches her fingers, feeling out an unseen force. The wooden figure stirs. A few erratic movements, shudders, and twitches later, Cideeda grimaces, focusing fully upon the little wooden doll. The fvalian figurine slowly, stiffly moves, and lifts up its arm.
With a few slight finger movements, Cideeda strains and concentrates her will. The wooden figure slowly waves repeatedly, shuddering intermittently. Cideeda gawks in absolute awe at the little toy figurine before her in motion, following her commands. Tears well up in her emerald green eyes, and she sniffs loudly, a smile overwhelming her. In between sobs and attempts to wipe the water off her light brown face, she chuckles with a persistent grin. "It's... Wonderful... I don't know... What to say..."
Sotalia stands behind the chair, wrapping her arms around Cideeda, and gives her a gentle hug. "When we heard the idea, we figured it'd be something you might like."
Cideeda releases the spell, pats Sotalia's arm, and gazes out to everyone. "This is using the golem crystals. You all made this?"
She furrows her brow and ponders out loud. "When? How?"
Standing back up straight with a proud grin, Sotalia points to the rest of the team. "Well. Sebastian was the lookout. Dretphi did a lot of the wood carving for the figurine parts. Aristespha and I got the crystals ready to use. And, Bach had the idea and helped us out in all the fine details."
Picking up the little fvalian figure, Cideeda examines it, marveling at the construction. She carefully rests it down in its box with a smile, slides back in the chair, and stands up. She walks up to each tangible member of the team and hugs them tightly. She hugs Bach and squeezes her claw tips gently onto his forearm, lifting her eyebrow with a sly smile. "Really good idea you had."
Chuckling, Bach awkwardly averts his gaze with a bit of embarrassment showing on his faintly tanned face. "Well, I mean... To be fair, I kind of got the idea from that puppet show a while back. Just modified the idea a little to use the golem crystals."
Cideeda grants Sebastian an appreciative, toothy grin with a humored wink. "Huh. I was starting to wonder why I kept seeing you just around every corner lately."
Sniffing the air, she briefly follows the delicious aroma of protellow pie and settles back into the dining chair. She gazes upon her wooden figurine with a happy smile. "You'll have to show me how to make another one of these."
The rest of the group joins in laughter, snickering and snorting at Cideeda's confusion. Rolling his blue eyes, Bach slides the larger box on the tabletop closer towards Cideeda and lifts the lid. "Well... Don't worry about THAT. You'll have all the parts to do so..."
Dretphi bites her lower lip and shrugs her shoulders innocently. "We overproduced parts. Under estimated time required."
Shaking her head, Aristespha sighs, curling a faint embarrassed smirk. "As we have found out, the individual parts were not the bottleneck we thought they would be. Assembly, on the other hand, was significantly more involved than our original predictions."
Bach pulls the lid off fully, shrugs his shoulders, and grits his teeth briefly. "But... I mean, in the end, I think it'll work out better this way for you."
Cideeda stares in wide eyed wonder at the box of small figurine parts, small golem crystals, and other components filling the entirety of the container.
Sitting on her bed, Cideeda gazes at the display of her aetherphone with drooping ears and frowns apologetically with a sniff. "I'm really sorry I freaked out like that, mom. It's just... It's been a rough few days, and..."
She rubs the temple of her head and shameful averts her gaze briefly. "Gods. I just really wasn't in the right frame of mind. I just let it get the better me, when I shouldn't have."
An understanding chuckle sounds out from the speakerphone, and an older fvalian woman with green eyes and light brown skin shakes her head slowly on the video feed. "Oh, Dee, there's nothing to be sorry about. There are a few gods I'll need to visit their shrines extra to make up for how badly I freaked out and cursed their names."
Wrestling an embarrassment grimace, she grits her sharp teeth and sighs. "And, I REALLY should have eased into THAT announcement far better..."
Cideeda rolls her eyes at herself, presenting a guilty smirk. "Yeah. And definitely not a good idea to follow up immediately with asking to use my old room. But..."
Slump her shoulders, she wrestles against a frown. "Still that doesn't excuse me for being such a..."
She mutters out a fvalian term, and her mother snorts amused. Cideeda pauses in thought a moment, lifting an intrigued eyebrow, and poses a question out of the corner of her mouth. "So, how did dad take it?"
Cideeda's mother perks up with a guilty smile. "What? My freak out? Or, the news?"
Puzzling at the response, Cideeda tilts her head to the side, mumbling. "Um, both? I guess."
Gritting her teeth briefly, the older fvalian woman rubs her temple and bites her lower lip, hinting of embarrassment. "Well. Nothing he hasn't dealt with before. I did grab him pretty HARD on the arms."
From the other side of the call, an older male voice calls out in the background. "I'll live. By the way, if you find a deal on some new welding gloves, message me, Dee."
Narrowing an inquisitive stare at her mother through the phone, Cideeda awaits a response, between flicks of her furry ears and tail. With a guilty shrug, her mother sighs and shakes her head. A few moments later, Cideeda snorts and relaxes with a long stress venting breath out. Cideeda's mother's furry ears flicks forward, and she aims an examining gaze at her daughter through the phone. "Everything okay, Dee?"
Fighting through a mix of emotional thoughts in her mind, Cideeda rocks her head side to side indecisively. "Yes? For the most part. Just feeling... Oh gods, this is going to sound SO whiny. But..."
She grumbles briefly and wrestles with a grimace. "Just not feeling as... Special as I thought I was."
Wincing reflexively, she grits her sharp teeth and cringes slightly, reviewing the words in her mind. "OH GODS. THAT sounds so awful. I don't know. I guess I took comfort in certain things that didn't change, and well... Being you and dad's special, only child was one of those things. So, uh, it hit me kinda hard when I wasn't that anymore-?"
Covering her light brown face with her hand, Cideeda groans, cringing with an awkward twist of her face. "Shit. It just keeps sounding worse the more I explain it."
Humored laughter rises from the other side of the call, and Cideeda's mother smiles brightly, shaking her head. "It's okay. I remember that happening a few times to me. Losing those little bits of status you've had for so long."
Moving the camera closer, she smiles with a loving, green eyed gaze at Cideeda. "So you know, when I was trying to figure out what to do... I thought about all the wonderful times I had when you were growing up. All those special moments, and how I'd get to share new moments like those... with YOU."
Mother and daughter both smile and gaze happily into each other's green eyes. Moments later, a sly grin appears on Cideeda, and she presents a prying question. "So... Mom. Have you and dad thought about names?"
Her mother blinks a moment, letting an uncertain breath slip, and groans with an eye roll. "Gods, Dee, YOU KNOW we don't plan things like this! I never even imagined having another child, especially when I'm almost fifty. I haven't even told my own mother yet-"
Cideeda's eyes widen, and she covers her mouth in humored surprise. "OH! You HAVEN'T told Grandma Garadra yet?!"
Embarrassment reveals itself blatantly on Cideeda's mother's face. She grits her sharp teeth, sighing with a faint hiss. "I KNOW! I know. Just... Just one thing at a time right now."
With a comforting smile, Cideeda hums to herself and thinks out loud. "It's okay. Let's see... Let's go through some boys' names first."