Episode 2
Laying on the bed in the furnished bedroom, Bach stares above at the ceiling fan blowing down a gentle current. The wooden, matching bed, nightstand, and dresser fill in the smaller space. Bach studies the well-made furniture and wanders his gaze around the room. He plays with the alarm clock on the nightstand and refreshes himself on the functions of a dedicated device, glancing over at his old flip aetherphone. Surveying the space, he nods to himself with a faint, approving smile at the neutral color, holeless walls, water-stain devoid ceiling, and clean hardwood floors. A knock sounds from behind the entry door, and Dretphi's muffled voice bleeds in from the other side. "May I come in?"
Bach sits himself up on the bed. "Um... Yeah. Come in."
The door opens, and Dretphi steps in. She deftly balances a large stack of clothes in one hand and holds onto the straps of a backpack in the other. With a quick twist and slide of the hand, she places the clothing on top of the smooth, finished dresser. Walking towards Bach, Dretphi calmly holds out the backpack. "I have recovered your belongings. I apologize that we went through them. Our practice from experience with capturing bounties."
Bach holds his hands up in front of him and shrugs his shoulders. "Well... I mean... I did run and try to escape. I honestly can't blame you there."
Grasping the backpack with both hands, he pulls it into his lap and unzips the top. He inspects inside, sifting through the items. Dretphi drops her head slightly, sighing. "I have not recovered your holoplayer. Cideeda has it. Refuses to let it out of her possession. She is..."
She wrestles a grimace on her face. "Stubborn... When obsessed about something."
Bach pauses from arranging stuff along bed and gives Dretphi a slight smile. "Hey, uh, I'm glad to get anything back. I mean, apart from the holoplayer, it looks like everything is here."
Placing her hands on her hips, Dretphi frowns, a hint of irritation sneaking out. "We may have luck retrieving it when she finds another technological curio to obsess over."
Bach sighs and puts the backpack down on the floor next to the nightstand. "Honestly, I really haven't felt like listening, reading, or watching anything lately. I'm just, uh, trying to process everything that's happened in the last..."
He pauses in thought and blinks. "Two days? Wow..."
Concern colors Dretphi's face, and she crosses her arms, a long frustrated exhale slipping out. "That was not how we wanted our initial meeting to go. Should have been a respectful proposition."
Moments of silence punctuate the unease. Bach holds his hands up and pulls an awkward smirk at the corner of his mouth. "Well, yeah, it wasn't my finest moment either. Half an hour after I promised to help my brother, in his time of need... The first opportunity to actually get into adventuring... I tear off running like some chicken shit coward."
He lowers his face into his hands, shaking his head. Dretphi examines Bach and cracks a small smile. "You are not a coward."
Tilting his head up, Bach peers over his fingers with a prominent furrow of the brow. "How do you figure?"
Dretphi thinks for moment and meets Bach's blue eyes, and Bach lifts his face out of his hands. Smirking, Dretphi levels an explanation. "After years of little contact, your ghost brother demands you help him defeat the man that defeated him. Knows you have never adventured. Your brother's party is at your front door. Have little time to pick up what you established to join him. Seems you have no choice."
Bach's eyes sorts side to side thoughtfully, and he aims his intrigued gaze up at Dretphi. "That... Sounds about right."
Dretphi nods and continues her explanation. "An undesirable situation. Retreated. Hoped to get into a good position. Force a beneficial change in the situation."
Sighing, Bach grimaces, curling his upper lip. "Some would still say I ran like a coward."
Shifting her weight towards her other foot, Dretphi perks an eyebrow. "Those who have never been in unfavorable situations."
Bach tilts his head to the side and focuses on Dretphi, fighting the confusion on his face. "I still might run away some more-"
The slight smile on Dretphi's face morphs seamlessly into a smirk. "You will not."
Bach's bewilderment taints his tone with an incredulous twist. "As demonstrated, I'm perfectly capable of making a good effort to escape."
Dretphi's smirk edges towards a grin. "Indeed. Still here."
Straightening his posture on the bed, Bach attempts a retort. "Well, um, I-"
Maintaining her gaze upon Bach, Dretphi focuses her steely gray eyes. "There have been opportunities for you to escape. You can dismiss your brother. Outrun me. Dodge Cideeda. Resist Aristespha's magic. Hold your own against Sotalia. There is a your vehicle in the garage. We are in an area we are not familiar with."
Bach opens his mouth briefly, a phrase stalling out into silence, and contorts his face indecisively. Crossing his arms, he slouches forward and breaks eye contact with Dretphi. He idly scans the floor, pondering to himself. Dretphi observes carefully and resumes her breakdown. "Did not attack us. Did not try to harm us. No attempt to sabotage us."
She motions a finger around the space. "You did not look for escape routes last night. You came back from practice with Sotalia today. I stand without armor, a weapon, in my casual clothes."
Leaning down, she scrutinizes Bach. "Do not see a desire to attempt escape."
Bach blinks blankly and stares, confirming Dretphi's attire of a simple dark green tank top, blue gym shorts, and socks. Summoning up some semblance of defiance, Bach straightens up his posture upon the bed. "Well, what's to say I'm not just waiting for my best opportunity?"
Dretphi squints briefly and lifts a humored eyebrow. "Fair."
Quiet moments pass, and Dretphi glances over her shoulder towards the door. "I need to finish armor repair. Continue laundry for everyone."
She gazes over at Bach, cocking her head. "I wish to start on good terms. Your training with me tomorrow will be demanding. Wanted an understanding beforehand."
Blinking to attention, Bach leans over to the side, searching around Dretphi, and squints at the stack of clothes. "Wait. Did you wash my clothes?"
Dretphi pivots towards the clothes on the dresser. "Yes. They had a smell to them."
Bach averts his eyes, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Dretphi smirks slightly with a humored tint. "You need a change of clothes after what Sotalia did to your current ones. I gave your laundry priority."
Holding out his current shirt, Bach inspects out the holes and damage. Prominent burn rings discolor the fabric and faint magic miasma drifts off the surface. Bach's light skin shows through the gaps in the shirt without a sign of injury. Poking his finger out the hole, he chuckles appreciatively. "Thank you. Really. I... Really do mean it."
Dretphi adopts warm smile and walks towards the door. "We will start early. Rest up. I will fit you for armor afterwards."
Bach watches Dretphi step through the doorway and close the door. Standing up from the bed, he moves over to the clothes stack. He sorts through the pile, finding a fresh shirt. He peels off his old shirt and works into the clean garment. Returning to a seat on the bed, Bach stares out the window towards the dark evening sky. Minutes of occupying thoughts steal his attention, keeping his eyes towards the night. He shudders back to the present and glances around the room. Settling his attention upon the clock on the nightstand, he flops over the bed, reaches out, and plays around with the alarm settings for a morning time.
Mid configuration, he furrows his brow. He eyes the bedroom door, glances outside through the window, and settles his stare back upon the door. Bouncing his attention between the clean clothes, his backpack, and the exit, he sweeps up his old flip-phone and navigates the menus to the clock function. He sets an alarm time much earlier than programmed in the nightstand clock and turns down the alarm volume low. Placing the old device under his pillow, he stands up and walks to the window. Slowly unlatching the lock, he pulls up the lift handle. The sash slides slowly against age, friction from old mechanisms growing audible. Bach halts wide-eyed, darts his eyes around uneasily, and gently reverses course. Securing the sash lock, he stares at the door, nodding to himself. He picks up his clean clothes, steps to the bed, and places the pile next to his other belongs. He retrieves his backpack from the floor next to the nightstand, sits on the bed with it in his lap, and starts packing up.
At the end of the dark hallway, the bedroom door quietly parts open. Blue eyes peer out, and a white streak of hair shines the faint moonlight glow within the room. Poking his head out, Bach cautiously scans down the long hall and waits in the idle silence of the house. Faint noises of the split-unit air conditioner in the living room blends with the soft whisper of the refrigerator compressor and the night-time domestic ambience. Spotting no movement, Bach places his sock covered foot onto the hardwood floor of the hallway, gently applying pressure. He steps ahead, softly resting his weight onto the floor. Shifting his mass carefully, Bach balances his backpack over his shoulder and shoes in the other hand. He creeps by the open bathroom doorway, sneaks by a bedroom door, pivots carefully towards the archway, and enters the living and dining area.
Panning a wary stare over the dining table on his left, the front windows and door through a wide archway opposite, and the couch and chair on his right, Bach locks his stare upon the sliding glass door. He creeps along, weaving in front of the coffee table, and inspects the exit. He undoes the lock on the handle and gently pulls. The door slides a few centimeters and stops to a firm wooden thud. Bach's entire body tenses. Frantically searching, he traces the source of the sound to a large wooden broomstick jamming the travel of the slide in the track. He eases back the door, kneels down, and gingerly moves the pole out of the way. Waiting a moment, Bach pivots in place and checks the living area. He squints into the darkness, the faint moonlight beaming in from outside providing more shadow than light into the space. He waits expectantly. The seconds creep anxiously by. Shrugging his shoulders, Bach shudders his head and softly sighs to himself. He slowly parts the sliding glass door open and slips through. The exit gently closes back up, and Bach works on his shoes outside on the back patio.
A door further down the hallway silently parts, and a pair of emerald green eyes pierce through the dim space. Low to the hardwood, Cideeda slinks through the shadows without a sound. She peeks over the top of the couch arm, narrows her stare at Bach outside getting his shoes on, and creases her brow. She ducks down, spots the nearby bedroom door, and glides on over. Turning the knob deftly, she slips into the room.
Outside under the partly cloudy, moonlit night, Bach steps off the brickwork into the grass and scans the huge open field. He squints into the distance, searching the amorphous darkness mixing with the bordering tree lines, and frowns uneasily. He shakes his head and creeps over to his left side, following the adjacent red brick wall closely. Reaching the corner of the house, he peeks around and studies the scene ahead. His eyes trace down the paved walkway, note the decorative, thorny shrubs underneath many windows, and spot the large front door with dim porch light. Bach grits teeth and hisses out his dissatisfaction and glances behind him. Turning around, Bach lurks against the red brickwork, peeks through the sliding glass door, and hunts for activity within. Seconds pass, Bach swallows, body tensing. He nods to himself, swiftly creeps past, and reaches another stretch of wall leading to the other side of the long house. Leaning around the corner, Bach studies the long stretch of grassy space, high up wide bedroom windows, and rural highway in the distance. With a nod to himself, Bach stays low and close to the base of wall, care in each step, and sneaks forward. He passes under the third window in the row, his focus fully ahead. From a corner on the other side of the pane above, a steely gray stare locks onto Bach, and a hand briefly appears in view, motioning towards something in the room. Bach lurks further down the long stretch of house and clings to the vague moon shadows from the trees above, proceeding closer to the highway. In the space behind him, a shadowy figure silently darts from far wall corner to a large tree, a hint of orange upon brown showing in the moonlight.
Bach clears the side corner of the house, checks the humvee in the gravel driveway, and maintains a low profile along the grassy edges towards the two-lane highway. A smile grows on Bach's face, his blue eyes widen, and hope speeds up his pace. He reaches the mouth of the drive, next to the faded red, steel mailbox, and stands upon the rough shoulder of the highway. He stares down one long stretch of the road. Seconds pass, a light wind sweeping down the lone, empty highway. He swings his head over and focuses into the distance down the opposite stretch. Seconds pass, again. A sole street lamp barely lights up a far off section of pavement. Bach blinks blankly, resting his hands on his sides, and wrestles an uncomfortable grimace on his light tan face. Spotting the full moon up in the partly cloud night sky, he stares up, his white streak reflecting the light above. Bach swallows hard, drifting his distant gaze down, and flutters his eyes distantly. He draws in a deep breath and eases out a long, strained sigh, contrasting the near silence surrounding the vacant roadway. Shaking his head, Bach pinches the bridge of his nose and winces, whispering to himself. "...what are you doing..."
Gritting his teeth, he stiffly shakes his head and stomps a few steps onto the empty highway, muttering. "...just pick a fuckin' direction you idiot... ...doesn't matter just pick one..."
He pivots, facing one winding stretch into the forest and field bordered distance, and throws his arms out. Swinging his weight, he faces the opposing direction and waves his arms towards the long, dark route. He deliberates between the two possibilities, alternating his far off stare with the indecision. Slapping his arms down to his sides, he stares up to the night sky, a glint of tears at corners of his eyes. He combs both hands of fingers through his shorter, shaggy brown hair and sniffs loudly. "Then what... Fuckin' genius..."
His arms hang loose, shoulders slump low, and head hangs down. He steps next to the steel pole supported mailbox, squats down, and plops himself onto the gravel shoulder of the highway. His wincing face drops into a hand, and he mutters to himself. "What's the plan... What's the fuckin' plan... ...you gods damned idiot..."
Rubbing teary haze from his eyes, Bach sniffs and sighs heavily. "I... I... I, uh, yeah... Don't have one."
He blinks blankly, revelation flushing out visible emotion. "I. Don't. Have. One..."
Leaning back against the mailbox pole, he snorts and huffs. "Shit..."
Catching his dropping head with his hands, Bach derisively chuckles between wet sniffs. "Brilliant... That's what you are... Thirty year-old... Loser... Dropout... Unemployed... Broke... Worthless... Dumbass..."
He shoves the heel of his shoe against the roadside gravel, digging into the damp pebbles and dirt, and grumbles to himself. "...'bout to abandon you're brother... again..."
Slacking his body, he rests against the steel tube and levels his vacant stare into the forest surrounding field on the other side of the highway, silent. From a shadowy corner of the humvee, a pair of furry ears droop slightly, and Cideeda frowns sadly and gazes on quietly. Minutes of the early spring night echo out, nocturnal critters stir though grasses and trees, and thin clouds drift across a stars and moon backdrop. Bach stirs from his stupor, gets his feet back underneath him, and stands back up. Drawing in a few deep breaths, he shudders himself back into the present and slowly pivots, facing the ranch style house. He releases a long sigh, shrugs his shoulders, and slowly steps along the grassy edge of the gravel drive. A figure slinks from away from the humvee corner, fades into the shadows, and darts away. Focusing his full attention ahead, Bach eases his profile low and quietly sneaks along the long wall, underneath the line of bedroom and bathroom windows. He passes the third window from the end. Dretphi peers out at an angle from inside, catching a glimpse of Bach returning around the corner, and smiles softly.
Early morning sun drags slowly across the trimmed lawn and reflects off the drops of dew upon the blades of grass. With each step, Bach drags his feet and plods towards the spot in the backyard where Dretphi stands. Wincing against the bright light from the sun in his eyes, he grumbles to himself and shudders against the last remnants of sleep. "...gods... ...haven't been up this early in... a while."
He groggily searches around the vicinity and furrows his brow at the plain, open space next to the large field. "Huh. I thought you'd have some training gear, some kind of equipment, or something set up..."
Shaking her head, Dretphi straightens her posture to her full, imposing height, darker tips of platinum blonde braids settling on her shoulders. "Not at this time, in the future. Today, we focus on an exercise routine for you, first."
A reflexive cringe grips Bach, and he drops his head, dread crawling up his body. "Okay. Oh man..."
Crossing her arms, Dretphi steps in front of Bach, her head craning down, and hunts for direct eye contact. "When was the last time you exercised?"
Bach raises his head back up and averts his face from Dretphi's examining gaze. Dretphi's narrowing steely gray eyes follow Bach's dodge from scrutiny. Bach wrestles an uneasy grimace, squirming under the attention. "Ah- Um... Well..."
Taking another step closer, Dretphi tilts her head gradually down and intercepts Bach peering up at her. She stares through him, constant attention beaming down. Frantically seeking refuge far from Dretphi, the truth escapes Bach. "D-Dammit- I guess three-"
Dretphi's head tilts unconvinced, braids framing her scrutiny. Bach swallows hard and sighs. "FOUR... Four years ago when I got on some self-improvement kick. I went fully into it for a day, ached for a week, and never did it again."
With a simple nod, Dretphi thinks for a moment and curls her brow curiously. "Stand up straight."
Bach ponders the notion, contending with the unfamiliarity. Rising out of the slouch, he straightens his legs out, squares his shoulders, and pulls his head back. Second pass on by. Bach struggles against physically manifested bad habits and settles into a posture, blatant discomfort in straining muscles. He stiffens his form and holds the stance, sureness waning into uncertainty. Dretphi circles around, reaching out, and adjusts Bach's form with firm, gentle directions. She stops in front Bach and tilts her head down. "You may be taller than your brother."
Bach darts his eyes around and quirks his brow in disbelief. "Really?"
Dretphi stands tall next to Bach and gauges the height difference with a level hand near bottom of her nose. "Hard to judge. Close."
A hint of command slips into her voice. "You need to stop slouching."
Lowering his gaze down to his now more apparent gut, Bach acknowledges his embarrassment, and a disappointed sigh slips out. Dretphi reaches a hand out and firmly pokes Bach's midsection. "If this bothers you, do what I say."
Dretphi pivots and steps away. Bach relaxes his posture and rubs the prodded section of his belly. Dretphi halts, turns towards Bach, and points to the ground. "Set up for sit-ups. Do twenty five of them."
Bach blinks blankly at Dretphi. Returning a stern glare, Dretphi motions to a clear section of trimmed grass near the back patio. Bach warily walks over to the spot, lays down on the ground with his knees up, and puts his hands behind his head. He breathes in and out a few times and attempts to hoist his upper body up. Closing his eyes, he grits his teeth, grunts, and groans. The meager momentum dies short of halfway through the sit-up. Straining in place for seconds, the remaining hold-outs of pride and honor abandon Bach. His upper body drops onto the grass, punctuated by a sad breath forced out of him. He keeps his eyes closed, shame plain on his face. "You know you probably have your own exercises you need to do. I'll try to work on this."
Wincing against his embarrassment, Bach sighs quietly. "I mean... No one needs front row seats to witness this."
Easing down to a spot beside Bach, Dretphi prepares for sit-ups. Angling an ear to the movement beside him, Bach turns his head and opens his eyes. Dretphi gazes right back. "You are correct. I need to do twenty five sit-ups."
Without a bit of hesitation, Dretphi cleanly and properly performs a sit-up and calmly sets up for the next. "Your turn."
A mix of emotions contend for a place upon Bach's face. With an exhale, Bach steels himself for another attempt. "You realize I'm about to embarrass my all of my ancestors with what's about to happen."
Dretphi nods calmly with a reassuring tone. "Let them be embarrassed now. You will impress them later."
Closing his eyes, Bach grits his teeth. He grunts and tugs his upper body towards his knees. Similar to the prior attempt, he runs out of strength right before the halfway point. The last bit of effort surrenders to the strain. Bach springs open his eyes, a hand now upon his back. Gradual force pushes him forward, and the help eases him over the halfway point. Summoning up the little strength available, Bach pulls himself the rest of the way up. He holds up for a few moments and lowers himself slowly back down. Sniffing and closing his eyes, he rests upon the grass and stares at the passing clouds above him and Dretphi. "I... Uh... I knew this was going to be demanding, physically. But, the psychological... Not something I quite expected."
Gazing at the sky, Dretphi smiles reassuringly. "When we take a break, I will tell you of my first time training with my birth father."
Bach glances over at Dretphi and perks his eyebrow. "Does it include embarrassing the family name?"
Grinning slightly, she executes a sit-up and readies for the next. "Does almost stabbing one of my house fathers with a magic sword count?"
Amusement flashes upon Bach's face. "I'll count it."
Dretphi rotates her head towards Bach. "Your turn."
Bach shakes the grimace off into fledging determination and strains himself against another sit-up, Dretphi's hand supportive hand at the ready.
His body trembling and rising to the apex of the push-up, the strain squeezes the last bit of air from Bach's lungs. "Twenty- URK. Five!"
He collapses face first into the grass. Coughs blast long mowed grass clippings on the ground out from under Bach's face. Turning his head to the side, he gasps for breath and sputters into exhausted pants. Dretphi swiftly switches from a push-up stance to a seat upon the lawn next to Bach. "Your other exercises need work. Push-ups, not bad."
Bach summons up the strength and rolls over, facing the lone cloud in the sky. He breathes heavily in his sweat drenched shirt. "Thanks... I'm just glad I... Didn't have to resort to... The cheater push-ups."
He tilts his head towards Dretphi. "I'm going to ache... SO MUCH... Tomorrow."
Dretphi calmly breathes deep and wipes a few beads of sweat off her forehead. She leans forward and lifts herself up. Holding down a hand to Bach, a knowing smirk appears on her tan face. "Yes. You will be sore. You should still do the stretches I showed you."
Bach clumsily raises a hand and grabs onto Dretphi's. He throws himself up, and she pulls him up the rest of the way. Steadying himself on his feet, Bach pulls in long deep breaths. "I'll try. But, I'll be honest, the pain might be too much right in the morning... I'll try in the afternoon."
With a nod, Dretphi strolls towards the house, stretching her gray-hinted striped arms and muscular back along the way in her sweat dampened T-shirt. Signaling Bach to follow, she reaches into the side pocket of her shorts, pulls out an aetherphone, and taps on the screen. She inspects the time and glances towards the sun's position. "That is all for now. Lunch will be soon."
Bach shudders to attention and snaps his head up to the sky and the sun directly overhead. "R-Really?! Did I really take THAT long?"
Dretphi glances back and nods. "We did walk the laps meant to be ran in between the exercises."
Frowning in defeat, Bach hangs his head. "Yeah... Uh, yeah... THAT does make sense, now that I think about it."
Slowing down, Dretphi waits up for Bach and pats his back. "Hold yourself to high standards. Do not hang yourself with them."
Bach's eyes drift along with thoughts in his head and settle upon Dretphi. "Is that another one from your birth father?"
Nodding with a smile, Dretphi sighs. "Yes. Has many. Despite all he taught me, certain he has more saved, for the right moment."
Bach tightens his smile and chuckles, short of breath. "Still can't believe you nearly harpooned your house father."
Twisting an uneasy grimace on her tan face, Dretphi huffs and tosses back a few darker tipped platinum blonde braids over a shoulder. "My birth father warned him to not sit close when we sparred. Not the worst that has happened to him. Have heard tales from my mother about the wild adventurers they were."
Lifting a hand up, Bach counts off with his fingers and ponders out loud. "So, three fathers and one mother in your house?"
Dretphi nods plainly and nonchalantly glances over to Bach. "Yes. My mother and birth father are the heads of it."
Churning over the concept in his head, Bach furrows his brow. "That sounds like an... Interesting... Childhood?"
Dretphi rocks her head side to side, gauging her thoughts, and blinks indifferently. "I do not know. Such seems normal to me."
An irritable frown twists towards a near sneer, and she flicks her eyes to the side, stale frustration coloring her tone. "Only problems I experienced were from my two younger brothers getting into trouble. Having to keep them out of trouble."
She sniffs in a short terse breath, squinting ahead into the past. "Both proved... Challenging."
Bach nods understandingly and groans out his sympathy. "Yeah... I know how THAT can go. But, gods, I can't imagine what having TWO brothers would be like."
A subtle, sly smirk grows on Dretphi's face, and she narrows her attention at Bach with a seeking gaze. "Any tales to share about your brother?"
Bach chuckles evilly. He flashes a devious smile to Dretphi and nods eagerly. "OH. YES. I got PLENTY. I'm sure he's told you about his heroic exploits in High Alton?"
Dretphi slowly rolls her eyes and nods begrudgingly. "Yes. Numerous times. Proud of his part in them. Easy to tell."
A sinister grin roots itself in the corner of Bach's mouth, and he laughs to himself, old memories rushing to front of his mind with glint in his blue eyes. "Did he ever tell you all the time he called me at three in the morning from the bathroom of another dorm with two Fvalian women fighting over him in the bedroom?"
Dretphi's steely gray eyes shoot open wide in genuine shock. Her interested gaze lights up with intrigue and snaps to Bach. She points Bach at a worn path in the grass near the house, leading away from the back patio. "Could we walk around the house first? I would like to hear this, BEFORE we go back inside."
Bach grants a simple nod and grins. "OH. YES. Yes, we can."
Bach and Dretphi walk past the brick patio and sliding glass door and follow the thinner grass leading between the front of the long, brick ranch-style house and a patch of old, tall trees shading a secluded gazebo. Bach presents a wide grin and chuckles darkly. "So, this is also the story of how Sebastian learned the importance of checking little details... You know, like, time and day of dates you are setting up..."
He turns his head and gazes up to an expectant Dretphi, rubbing his hands together. "And checking if the dorm and room numbers happen to match."
Dretphi gawks, mouth hanging open, and covers her face with her hands. "NO."
Bach exaggerates his nodding, eagerness growing. "YES."
The bathroom opens and a sparse cloud of steam drifts into the hallway, rolling up onto the plain white ceiling. Squirming in the loose fitting shirt and shorts, Bach steps out onto the hardwood floor of the hall. He flexes his body and stretches out the aches between winces and foreboding grumbles. Adjusting the towel wrapped around his head of wet hair, he glances down at the dirty clothes under his arm and ponders idly, searching the area. He walks through the archway leading into the living area and spots Dretphi sorting through laundry. Glancing up from her chore, she points to a basket. Bach tilts the basket up with his foot and reads his name written on it. "Nice. Thanks."
Dretphi shrugs and resumes sorting through the freshly laundered clothing. "Makes it easy."
Bach deposits dirty clothes into his basket and the towel on his head into the community basket. "So, when do you want to fit me for armor?"
Finishing the last stack of clothes, Dretphi sweeps it up and onto the couch. She reaches for a large toolbox nearby and slides it along the area rug next to her. "Now. Stand here. Straight posture with your arms out."
Bach side steps under Dretphi's guidance. Flipping the toolbox open, Dretphi plucks out a cloth tape measure. Standing up, she pulls out a length of the roll, studying Bach. Tucking an end between Bach's toes, she leads the rest up to near the top of his head. "One hundred and eighty five centimeters? Hmm."
She narrows a stare at Bach's posture, grabs a shoulder, and pushes his lower back. She takes another measurement and nods satisfied. "One hundred and eighty nine centimeters."
Continuing her examination, she writes down other various measurements on a notepad upon the coffee table. The sliding glass door opens, and Sotalia casually and happily strides in. "Ah... I was dubious about spending the extra per month for a hot tub. But..."
She stretches out her light tan and dark gray patterned arms and back, tensioning the fabric of her red and orange bikini. "I. Am. Sold. Now."
Pausing mid walk, she ponders the situation ahead and studies Bach standing still with his arms out. Noticing Dretphi taking measurements, she shifts her attention over to the clean laundry in her basket behind Bach. She flings off the neon palette, wavy patterned beach towel draping over her onto Bach's outstretched arm. Strutting on by Bach in her two piece bathing suit, she curls a hint of a sinister grin. Bach blinks in brief confusion and twists his head, checking the towel now hanging off his arm. He mutters to himself. "Really..."
Dretphi leans away from Bach and motions Sotalia towards a hamper. "Got the stains out of your cloak."
Quickly digging through the basket, Sotalia pulls out the red and black cloak, opens it up with a flourish, and excitedly smiles. "OH! Thank you, girl! The enchantments on this thing always interfere with any cleaning spells I try. What did you end up using?"
Dretphi returns to writing a few figures in the notepad and readying the cloth measuring tape. "Denatured alcohol. Worked the best. Armored fabric layer required scrubbing."
Sotalia holds the cloak away from her, flips it around to each side, and admires it thoroughly. "Wow. That was tougher than I thought it'd be. Amazing work as always."
Dretphi resumes her attention upon Bach, takes more measurements, and writes them down. Bach stares idly forward and allows his attention to drift inwards, the late afternoon sun filtering in through the back sliding glass door. In the idle stupor, he relaxes his arms down a little. Another object flops onto his arm upon the prior beach towel. Blinking back to awareness, Bach turns his head towards the side and glances down at the new addition. Cocking his head, Bach furrows his brow and squints confused. A rush of recognition bursts forward from the back of Bach's mind and onto his face. The red and orange top to Sotalia's bathing suit lays upon the beach towel. Bach eyes widen between bewildered blinks, other parts of his mind confirming initial suspicions. The matching bottom of the bathing suit lands on Bach's outstretched arm. Tensing his body, Bach carefully pivots his head forward and stares out into the backyard, the spring breeze washing over the waving grasses in the field. He keeps his eyes firmly affixed ahead.
Sotalia's voice oozes with a provocative tint behind Bach. "Yes... Nothing like putting on freshly dried clothes!"
A pair of strong hands firmly grip Bach by the waist, and he immediately freezes. Bach snaps an unnerved stare down. Sitting upon the large room rug, Dretphi narrows a scrutinizing gaze at a few measurements on the notepad upon the coffee table. She furrows her brow, tilts her head of platinum blonde hair, and mumbles unsatisfied Grath to herself. Leading with a light, nervous chuckle, Bach inquires uneasily. "Um, huh, what's going on?"
Squinting at the written measures on the notepad upon the coffee table, Dretphi grimaces, her full focus upon the math playing in her head. "Need to double-check measurements on your other side."
Bach eyes both parts of Sotalia's bathing suit draped on his arm, grimaces at Dretphi's tightening her grip, and whispers down. "Um, yeah, if you can just wait a moment and-"
Dretphi firmly torques Bach into a pivot, her attention fully diverted to solving the measurement discrepancy. Spinning around, Bach greets the almost clothed Sotalia. Finishing up slipping on a shirt, Sotalia pulls it down into place, lifts her head up with a sly grin, and playfully narrows her golden gaze between hanging dark red locks. She steps up, reaches for her towel and bathing suit on Bach's arm, and smiles, guiding stray hair over her black swept-back horns. "Thank you. I didn't want these to pick up dust and fuzz from the floor."
Moments pass, and Bach allows air back into his lungs and manages a reply. "Not a problem?"
Sotalia strides towards the archway and exchanges a glance with Dretphi out of sight of Bach. Dretphi perks her brow at Sotalia and narrows a stare. Sotalia holds her hands up dismissively in the air in a grand, dramatic shrug, heavy with playful sarcasm. Dretphi rolls her eyes and resumes business. "Sotalia. Could you bring out the backup equipment chest?"
Sotalia stops and alternates an uncertain point between two opposite directions. "Is it the one in the utility room or that small office?"
Dretphi searches her mind for a moment. "Office."
Sotalia slips into the hallway, loosely gripping the side of the archway, and raps her long black nails on the wooden trim. "Be right back, then."
Shaking her head, Dretphi taps Bach's arm. "You can rest your arms."
Bach drops his arms to the sides and idly rolls the aches out of his shoulders. A few muffled curses in different languages slip out from the archway, between moments of struggle and hard rubber wheels on wood. Leaning her weight back, Sotalia drags in a large metal, wheeled, machined chest of many thin drawers. "SO. What are you going to put him in?"
She tightens a grimace, presses her toes firmly on the hardwood floor, and tugs the huge container further along. "Gods know. We have plenty to choose from."
Dretphi pulls the chest close to her with little signs of strain and slides out one of the shallow drawers, peering inside the deep space within. Bach's curiosity leads him closer to the chest. Dretphi reaches her whole arm into the few centimeter thick drawer. Bach's gaze widens in surprise, and he cranes his head around for a better view. "Wow! A chest of linked aether pockets?!"
Sotalia quickly shakes her head and rests her hands on her hips. "Nah. Nothing THAT fancy. Expanded space frames."
Bach moves closer to the chest and examines it. "Ah! Yeah, I've heard these are becoming popular. Well, uh, those who can afford them, at least. Those types of enchantments aren't cheap."
Sotalia eases down to her knees next to the chest and opens the top lid. Beyond the magically inscribed frame, the space inside occupies a volume slightly larger than the chest itself. Bits and pieces of armor, weapons, and tools fill the deceptively deeper space. Sotalia digs around and holds up a wearable, adjustable flashlight to Bach. "That they AREN'T. We actually had a few bags of holding and a chest of storage. But..."
She bites her lower lip slightly and lightly winces her cheek. "After one bag lost connection to its aether pocket, we all decided to switch over to the expanded space frames. Thankfully, Cideeda was able to work a very nice trade for our old bags and that chest."
Taking the flashlight in hand, Bach peers into the volumes beyond the framed portals. "Ouch. Yeah, I guess it's better to have your stuff launch out than have the pocket drift away in the aether."
With a roll of her eyes, Sotalia groans and shudders with a stale, frustrated frown. "You don't know how right you are. GODS, it took Aristespha a month of her communing with few different kinds of spirits every night and astral projecting before we tracked that pocket down and relinked it."
She crosses her arms and shivers. "Almost lost my arcane book collection."
Leaning back from the space frame, Dretphi pulls her arm out from the deep dredging and reveals her find. "Almost lost a rare rifle in that pocket. Expanded space frames are reliable. They fail GRACEFULLY."
Sotalia and Bach settle their attention upon the object in Dretphi hand. Sotalia hoist up her brow in surprise and smirks with recognition. "That's Sebastian's OLD helmet. The first one I ever saw him in."
Bach reaches his hand out to it, a smile on his face. "Wow. He kept it."
Dretphi passes the helm to Bach. Dretphi and Sotalia exchange intrigued glances. Rolling the high-tech, military helmet in his hands, Bach pauses and inspects signs of battle damage, nodding. "Yeah. This is it. Sebastian spent all his summer job money getting his first full suit of armor. But..."
Bach snorts and smirks. "He didn't have enough money for a good helmet. So, I did some research and got him this one. Titanium mesh construction, ceramic plating armor, a kevlar outer coat, ballistic visor, and attachable respirator mask. I did some basic magic deflection enchantments, too."
Holding the helmet upside down in one hand, Bach clicks on the flashlight and shines a beam of light into it. "Hell, I even personalized it a bit for Sebastian."
Sotalia grasps the helm and tips the interior to her view. Her golden eyes widen briefly and squint. She reads the text out loud. "With a skull as thick as yours, you probably won't need this. But every warrior needs a helmet to hold in photographs. Love ya, you shithead. Bach."
Dretphi leans close for a peek and furrows her brow in surprise. "Never knew this was written here."
Sotalia settles back, propping herself upon her hands, and shakes her head, snorting into a laugh. "Well! THAT explains why he would NEVER let anyone else hold that helmet for very long."
Bach gazes at the helmet, rotates it around in his hands, and sighs. "Yeah. I don't know how much he used it."
Pausing from searching further within the void of the expanded space frame, Dretphi glances at Bach and smiles reassuringly. "All the time."
Sotalia grins at Bach and nods in confirmation. "Gods. You have no idea. First sign of trouble, that helmet went right on his head. It outlasted a few suits of armor. I think he was looking for a suit to go with it for a long time."
A smile slowly grows on Bach, and he feels the battle marks upon the paint, the faint dents in the exterior, and wear in the fabric straps. Dretphi rummages around within the next drawer and glances at Bach. "There is armor that can go with the helmet. Think you should try it."
Bach familiarizes himself with the helmet again and adjusts the fit enough to get it on his head properly. "That sounds good to me. I'll give it a try."
The alarm clock on the nightstand beeps constantly, the shrill sound bouncing off the walls of the small bedroom. From under the bed covers, a hand emerges and pats around the small tabletop, seeking out the source of the jarring din. With a groggy strike, the hand slaps down roughly on top of the alarm clock, hitting the snooze button out of coincidence. The limb remains motionless for a few moments and flops upon wooden nightstand. The body attached to the arm stirs under the sheets, fending against the morning light beaming into the space. Defiant grumbles slip out, and someone annoyed tosses under the covers. The bed linens slide away from the head board and reveal Bach's morning adverse face, white streak and brown hair scattered. One blue eye opens and lazily wanders towards the alarm clock. In the quiet backdrop with faint sounds of activity leaking in from other parts of the house, he slowly scans around the room. His barely conscious gaze settles upon a coat rack turned impromptu armor stand. Studying the eclectic ensemble of armor, Bach's attention wanders between his brothers helmet, a synthetic fiber duster, and composite shoulder pads. Drifting his gaze lower, he stares at a segmented kevlar breastplate, a pair of plain plate bracers, and leather gloves. He spots the combination shin and knee guards and a pair of old alloy plated boots upon a chair seat next to the rest of the equipment.
Bach eyes the combination of gear and blinks out the remnants of sleep. Between uncertain grimaces and dismissive sighs, Bach turns his gaze up at the ceiling fan. Wincing against the morning light flooding into the room, Bach concedes defeat to the early daylight and sits up in a surge of determination. He freezes. His eyes widen, face twists, and brow contorts. A faint strangled yelp of pain squeaks out. His seized body falls to the side upon the bed. Bach groans and winces, tensing with every post workout ache in his body. "...every... ...thing... ...hurts..."
Rolling slowly on top of the mattress, Bach gurgles out. "Fuck fuck... Fucking OW. Gods damn it."
Heavy footsteps put pressure on the hardwood near the bedroom, faint creaks sounding out. Knocking on the door, Dretphi inquires softly from the other side. "Are you okay?"
Blinking back to awareness, Bach sucks in a breath and chuckles softly, gritting teeth betraying his calmer tone. "UH. Yeah. Just fine. I'm good."
Seconds of silence hang in the air. Dretphi's muffled, unamused snort slips through the door, and she states in a plain, firm tone. "May I come in?"
Bach gathers the blankets around him and covers up. "Sure."
The door opens, and Dretphi concentrates an examining gaze upon Bach, hands upon her hips. Bach glances around and presents a smiling facade. "Good morning."
Focusing her stare, Dretphi hoists up an unconvinced eyebrow. Bach sighs loudly, signaling defeat, and chuckles weakly. "You got me."
Dretphi nods, a hint of smirk forming at the corner of her mouth. "What muscles?"
Bach exhales into a lingering groan. "It feels like all of them."
Dretphi smiles warmly and points to Bach. "Stretch. SLOWLY."
Blowing out the tension, Bach nods slightly and grumbles. "I'll try, but I need to get ready for class with Cideeda."
Crossing her arms, Dretphi snorts and angles a glance through the hallway archway, catching a glimpse of groggy Cideeda filling a very large coffee mug up. "You have time. She is not ready."
Bach breathes out a bit of relief. In the quiet moment, Bach scratches his head of brown hair in thought and smiles at Dretphi. "Hey, uh, just wanted to say... Um, thanks for being so supportive and straightforward with me."
He swallows a hint of pride and wrestles down a grimace. "It's been a really, REALLY wild few days for me. I'm still trying to figure all this out."
Dretphi frowns softly and sighs, a sad tinge slipping out. "Understandable. To be honest... The last weeks have been OFF. The Anta fight. Sebastian's state. We have NOT been on our best behavior? Mindset? Mode of operation? Americ does not have the Grath equivalent."
Shaking her head of platinum blonde braids, she huffs out and grumbles with her frustration. "Not an excuse, regardless."
Bach furrows his brow thoughtfully and studies Dretphi, reading her face. "Have no real idea what you all are doing, and just doing what little makes sense at the moment? And not really sure it's a good thing?"
Dretphi's steely gray eyes meet Bach's blue, and she smiles warmly, drawing in a deep breath. "THAT is a sentiment I share these days."
Gently stretching his leg out under the covers, Bach smirks, chuckling wryly. "Yeah. Strange times I guess."
Dretphi glances over her shoulder and watches Cideeda plod down the hall to her room, both hands gripping her huge coffee mug, furry ears drooping, and long, fluffy tail dragging behind. Between toe claw clicks upon the hardwood, Cideeda sips the brown brew from the cup. Pausing mid stretch, Bach furrows his brow and searches for an explanation from Dretphi. Shrugging her muscular shoulders, Dretphi smirks humored. "She is getting ready. Still."
Stepping further into Bach's room, Dretphi closes the door behind her and sighs, tinges of regret lingering. "I hoped I would have caught you in the forest. Talked to you alone. Explain the situation properly."
Bach slowly sits up to a seat upon his bed, expectantly waiting. Crossing her arms, Dretphi huffs and shakes her head. "Wish Sebastian had adopted my recruitment plan."
Narrowing his intrigue, Bach angles his head to the side. "Which was?"
Dretphi pulls in a long breath. "Lunch, dinners with everyone. Acquaint you to the team gently. A chore quest from the guild for sample of adventuring. Offer to join us on your terms."
Bach twists his face pondering and slowly nods. "THAT... That probably would have worked on me. I mean... I really didn't have THAT much going on, and whole lot less next month. So... Why wasn't THAT the plan?"
Rolling her eyes, Dretphi stretches the frustration out of her shoulders. "My birth father would say, sprinting to finish a race that might be a marathon."
Bach snorts and shakes his head, a laugh creeping out. "That actually sounds about right. He's definitely been prone to running with the first decent idea he sees when the pressure is on."
Genuine amusement brightens Dretphi's face. "Believe that is not recent behavior."
Bach exaggerates a series of nods, wincing at the further stretches of range. "You are most correct in that belief. Got stories to back that up."
Dretphi slowly parts the door behind her open and motions her head towards the hall. "Need to get ready for the day. You should, too. Slowly, of course."
A grin gradually grows on Bach's light tan face, and he squirms against his stiff muscles. "Don't think I have much of a choice, right now."
Bach quickly rinses a cereal bowl and spoon under the kitchen sink faucet and places them in the dishwasher. He stiffly steps over to the dining room table and watches Cideeda lay out weapons, boxes, tools, and other parts out upon the tabletop. Suffering through a pained wince, he fights against strained muscles and settles into a chair across from Cideeda. "So, what's your training going to be about?"
Cideeda blinks blankly at Bach and searches her mind. She tilts her head of short orange, brown, white, gray, and black locks. Large furry ears on the sides of her head twitch in sync to her thoughts, and she furrows the brow of her light brown face. Her ears perk up, and her emerald green eyes flit open with a shimmer of an idea. She dons a sharp smile and reaches down on the floor, leaning off the chair. She places three small stylish wooden lockboxes on the table one at a time and slides them over to Bach. Balancing her small frame upon the dining room chair, she reaches down under the tabletop and grasps hold of something within a satchel. With a deft twirl in her hand into a flip of the bundle, she unrolls a very worn and old set of lockpicks and grins toothily. "You can help me unlock these things."
Examining the tools before him, Bach rolls a pick between his fingers and inspects it apprehensively. "You want me to open these... With these lockpicks?"
Cideeda cocks her head, lowering her furry ears gradually, and narrows a suspecting stare upon Bach. "And... What's wrong with THAT?"
Furrowing his brow, Bach holds the pick closer to Cideeda and twists the end of the tool around. "This pick is almost worn to nothing! I mean, I'll try... But, uh, don't expect results any time soon."
With a sly smirk, an amused quirk of a brow, and intrigued lift of the ears, Cideeda reaches out and pushes Bach's hand back to him with a claw tipped finger. "GOOD, you do have some knowledge. I still want you to try. And..."
She points at him and parts a grin. "No cheating!"
Grumbling, Bach pulls his hand back, studies the arrangement of tools in the roll-out set, and plucks a torque wrench from a cloth sleeve. "Fine. So, what are these anyway?"
Cideeda carefully glides a metal chest on a thick rubber and felt mat along the tabletop and sets it up in front of her for the next operation. "Those? As far as I can figure, they're old personal chests we found in an old ruin a while ago. They probably don't have that much in them, especially since Sotalia and Aristespha didn't sense anything magical. BUT..."
A greedy hint curls the corner of her mouth. "The chests are in good shape, and early era artifacts are REALLY popular, right now."
Bach drops his head down and studies the chests with an apprehensive perk of his eyebrow. "Really? I mean, I can understand some things. But, old chests?"
Cideeda lifts her head up from rummaging for something below the tabletop and nods excitedly at Bach, an entrepreneurial spark in her eyes. "Oh, yeah! I've got buyers willing to give me a couple hundred for each one, even before I do any clean-up on them. People these days are into anything retro and antique. Even these chests, since they're likely from the Second Period, from the style and aging."
Bach uncertainly rotates one of the small chests around on the tabletop, examining the aged grime in wood detailing in disbelief, and flashes an incredulous glance at Cideeda. "A few hundred for this? Dust and stains included?"
Shrugging up her shoulders in her loose t-shirt, Cideeda dons an indifferent smirk and rolls her eyes, her long, fluffy tail flicking up behind her. "Hey. I don't make the fads. I just sell to the people who follow them."
Rocking his head side to side, Bach examines the old chest and nods in reserved acceptance. He focuses upon the small box in front of him and pokes around the hardware upon the container. Inserting the torque wrench loosely in the old lock, he fumbles around the inside of the lock with the pick in his other hand. Concentrating on the task at hand, he pauses in thought, waiting for his mind to dredge up old lessons. Glancing up from her project, Cideeda levels an inquisitive gaze at Bach and smirks with a prominent canine. "Need a refresher on what to do?"
Bach blinks back to awareness and shakes his head slowly, bubbling knowledge guiding his hand motions. "Not yet. It's SLOWLY coming back to me. I mean, I haven't had to do anything like this since adventuring school. And, even then, I only got any real practice when getting my brother out of weird and really awkward situations."
Flicking up an interested furry ear, Cideeda quirks her brow and reaches down with both hands below the dining table, her long, fluffy tail counter-balancing with subtle wags. "Hmm... What kind of weird and awkward situations?"
Twisting his mouth with the growing focus on the lock, Bach chuckles lightly and squints his blue eyes at the progress of the lockpicks. "Well, I'll tell you after I get this one done. But, it does involve him and a date getting locked out."
Cideeda rolls her eyes dismissively and snorts playfully. "That sounds pretty common and normal."
With devious curl at the corner of his mouth, Bach smiles. "Without clothing."
Intrigue perks up Cideeda's furry ears, and she nods understandingly. "Ah. There's the key detail."
Sifting through relevant knowledge between squints, Bach sinks himself into the task at hand. The torque wrench applies gentle pressure on the cylinder. The pick lightly slides across the heads of pins within the device. Applying the right amount of force, a faint click sounds out, and the tool shifts slightly. In the moment of progress, the whine of a high speed motor yanks Bach from his trance. Searching around the area bewildered, Bach snaps his stare across the tabletop. Cideeda wraps a bandanna on top of her head and combs the locks of white, orange, gray, brown, and black out of her face. She snatches up and flips out a pair of safety glasses. With an excited, toothy grin, she hoists up a cordless power drill with one hand and slides a drill bit into the chuck.
Indignation manifests a sneer of the upper lip upon Bach's face, and he holds his hands upwards in disbelief. A huff of disgust leaves Bach, and Cideeda's furry ear flicks towards the source. Glancing over to Bach with a confused blink, Cideeda secures the drill bit in the chuck with a slow spin up. Meeting Bach's stare, she wraps her claw tips around the polymer chassis of the power tool. "What? These metal chests aren't worth THAT much. I totally can get a far better price for them after I drill out the old lock and replace it with a new one."
She waves a clawed finger around the three smaller wooded chests. "People like the wooden ones for their looks."
She taps a knuckle upon the chassis of the large metal locker next to her. "They seem to like the metal ones more for function."
Glancing between the pick and torque wrench in his hands, Bach settles an incredulous stare upon Cideeda and furrows his brow in disbelief. "Um... NO. CHEATING?"
Cideeda pauses a moment and draws a smug smirk with an amused hint in her emerald green eyes. "OH. THAT. You see, YOU are a beginner and need to learn these skills. YOU need the practice. But, I am an EXPERT."
With a swift squeeze of the trigger, the drill briefly spins up and glints against the flood of late morning light radiating into the area from the back sliding glass door. Cideeda flashes a toothy grin and a proud wink. "And experts get to cheat."
Examining the small, stamped gold token in his hand, Bach lifts an apprehensive brow, light above reflecting off the faded yellow sheen. "Are you sure? This seems really valuable."
Rapping her claws tips upon the small wooden chests, Cideeda nods, inspecting the construction of the lock hardware. "Yes. You unlocked all the chests and kept the locks working. That's at least fifty or more a piece I can charge on top for them being historically intact."
She waves a hand off to the side and curls a smirk. "I wouldn't call them functional, since there's no keys. BUT, they could be... In theory."
Bach ponders the small treasure in hand and swiftly pockets the token. "Well, no objections here then."
Cideeda rummages around the floor near her chair, the orange highlights hidden in the light brown of her tail occasionally flicking up into view. "Also, I saw how little you had in your wallet when I was going through everything."
Silence punctuates Bach's unamused grimace, and he narrows a mildly annoyed glare at Cideeda. With a deep breath, the irritation fades from Bach's face. Cideeda brings up another assortment of tools up onto the tabletop. Setting Bach's holoplayer off to the side, she places a small bolt-action rifle, energy pistol, sheathed knife, and accessory pieces upon the table. Bach focuses upon his player and glances over at Cideeda searching the floor below between at the different containers of gear. She dips down well below the tabletop, and Bach slowly reaches his arm out, carefully watching Cideeda balancing upon the chair. Glancing between his hand and Cideeda's tail twitching up in the air, Bach hovers his fingers over the holoplayer. Firmly planting his hand upon the device, Bach feels five sharp points digging around his forearm near his wrist. He halts in place. Spotting Cideeda's hand, he feels each claw tipped finger curl tighter and press harder onto his skin. His gaze follows along Cideeda's light brown arm, and he finds a soft hair filled, furry ear perked towards him. A pair of emerald green eyes greet Bach's blue eyes. Narrowing his determined stare, Bach tightens his grip on his holoplayer and pulls it back. The pressure from five claw tips increases with his efforts, pushing upon his skin further. Bach relaxes his grip, and the clawed grasp loosens. Seconds of staring deadlock pass. Bach releases his hold of the holoplayer, and Cideeda loosens her grip fully. Rubbing his arm, Bach examines the five pressure marks still visible.
Cideeda draws an evil, toothy grin and hoists up a victorious eyebrow. "Not today?"
Bach shakes his head in defeat and sighs. "Not today."
Sitting back up in the chair, Cideeda's grin fades to a happy smile, and she nods. "Good! Because, today I want to give you a gun."
Blinking off-guard at the statement, Bach awkwardly stumbles to an amicable tone. "Really? Okay. I mean, that sounds good. I wouldn't mind having one given I'm not able to throw that much raw power around."
Cideeda happily perks her furry ears and slides a pistol over to Bach. "Now that's what I like to hear. Here's one I picked out for you. I think this might work best for you right now. We can change it up later, if you want to try something else. "
Bach pulls the weapon closer to himself and inspects curiously. "It... It's uh... I think an Arc and Spark Plasma- Um. Damn, what model is it- Ah... Crap, um..."
Furrowing his brow, he twists his face uncertainly. "It's been awhile. The Plasma Power Pulse Six?"
Fidgeting out a spark of excitement, Cideeda lifts her brow and smiles. "That's correct! And, it's yours to use if..."
Cautiously picking up the pistol, Bach checks the routine areas. "If?"
A curious air hangs around Cideeda, and she dons a sly smirk. "If you can get it to work again."
Bach sighs and resumes examining the pistol. "So. What's wrong with it? I mean, what's it not doing?"
Cideeda glances off to the side and grumbles, contorting the corners of her mouth. "Well... Sotalia says she doesn't know. But, I think she tried experimenting on it based some guide she read on the aethernet and fucked it up."
Gazing up from the weapon, Bach cocks his head and furrows his brow at Cideeda. "Okay. What exactly did she fuck up on it? What was she trying to do?"
Cideeda coyly rests her chin on her hand and winks with a widening, toothy grin. "OH. That is for YOU to find out. You seem to have some basic mechanical understanding. Now, let's see how much you know about tech."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Bach groans out hints of hesitance. "Okay. FINE. Can you at least give me some decent tools this time? Then, I'll see if I can get it fixed."
Sliding over a flat rectangular box to Bach, Cideeda bites her lower lip with an apologetic tone. "Well, good luck on that. Here's the service kit I got back from her. There definitely was some struggle and frustration involved when they were last used."
Bach flips the lid of the kit, and his suspicion deflates to incredulous disappointment. "What the-?! I mean, I guess these will work. But, damn... I don't know how you expect me to use these-"
Leaning in towards Bach, Cideeda focuses her stare and bluntly addresses. "OH, I expect a little bit from you. BECAUSE... How did you do the mods to the holoplayer?"
Bach blinks puzzled and darts his confused glances around, settling back upon Cideeda. "Uh, what do you mean? I just installed the mod chips some guides recommended and did the tweaks they instructed you to do. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Just the standard stuff they told you-"
Genuine curiosity overtakes Cideeda, and she levels an honest inquiry, focusing upon Bach. "HOW did you do it? I'm talking about the method. The warranty seals are intact somehow. SO, the mods are installed, BUT there is no sign of someone disassembling it to install them. The work, from what I can tell, is ridiculously clean."
She leans her scrutinizing stare closer to Bach, her short frame upon the tabletop further. "You SEEM to know enough, and you MAY have done this. But, I can't quite figure out how you could have pulled it off."
A smug smirk emerges on Bach's light tan face, and he confidently sits back in the chair. He places his hands together and taps the tips of his fingers, slyly smiling. "Well, I can show you. But, I want my holoplayer back-"
Cideeda narrows her hesitant glare and curls a lip up around a pronounced canine. Gauging the reaction, Bach tilts his head and eases into a compromise. "In a few months, after you are done BORROWING it."
Scratching her chin softly with a claw tip, Cideeda weighs the proposition in her mind with the sways of her tail's white, tufted end. Seconds of contemplation pass. Cideeda rolls her eyes playfully and nods in agreement. "THAT... I can work with. There's that collection of graphical novel files I want to go through and see what I don't have on my laptop."
Bach holds his hand out flat, places the plasma pistol on top, and hovers his free hand over. "Yeah, there's a few hard to find ones in there."
A blue glow flickers in his eyes. Bach remains motionless save a few facial twitches, tense silence spreading over a minute. Cideeda leans forward and watches for any signs of activity. She starts to shift back into her seat. Both her ears perk and twitch towards the pistol in Bach's hand. With a twist and turn, Bach spins his hands perpendicular to the table and slowly draws them apart. The pistol erupts in activity and floats in the middle of Bach's hands. Simultaneously in sequential orders, screws spin out, latches depress and release, components unlock, and pieces drift methodically away. Bach's arms stop moving. The components and assemblies of the pistol float in an exploded mechanical view of the weapon's entire composition. Cideeda's jaw drops, her emerald bordered pupils widen in astonishment, and her face brightens in sheer wonder.
Bach grins humored and squints his glowing blue eyes, donning a serious facade. "You know this is technically cheating. Right?"
Cideeda holds a finger up and smirks eagerly at Bach. "Well, you are under the supervision of an expert."
She darts her eyes around in thought and presents a hopeful smile. "After this one... Could we do a few more?"
With a faux sigh, Bach shakes his head and frowns playfully. "I don't know. I think I'm going to be a little busy with this. I mean, I do have to check out all these parts on this pistol you gave me-"
Snapping her full attention to a floating component, Cideeda holds up a matching part close. "She fried the main power coupling. Here's a spare."
The power coupling hovers out of Cideeda's fingers. The failed component drifts down from the part cloud onto the tabletop, and the new piece moves into position. Flexing his fingers, Bach slides his hands underneath the demonstration. In nearly perfect reverse, the pistol starts to reassemble. In the flurry of activity, components lock in place, pieces snap together, and screws tighten. The bits of casing lock into place, and the plasma pistol feather-falls down to Bach's awaiting hand. Toggling the main power switch on, he presses the self-test button. During the process, the pistol status lights blink different colors. Second pass, and they all turn on and stay green. A happy digital chirp signals the end of the self-test and tickles Cideeda's furry ears to her enjoyment.
The door in the kitchen cracks open, revealing a glimpse of the garage. Pushing through the doorway, Sotalia backs in, clears through it, and pivots around with a wrapped pack of brightly colored sports drinks. Hoisting up the pack on the bar counter, she opens the nearby fridge. Ripping open a pack with a poke into the wrapper, she loads them into the fridge and rearranges for more space inside.
From the bar window leading into the dining area, uncertainty creeps into Bach's voice. "Hmm. Um, something doesn't feel right..."
Cideeda chimes in. "You have to release the clip first."
A faint click echoes in, and Bach acknowledges. "Ah. There we go, and it's free now."
Grumbling on the verge of a growl, Cideeda eases down to a frustrated sigh. "Well. Shit. The sear spring bent, AGAIN! I'm going to have some words for Ralado next time I see him. That's the second damned spring I got from him that's done that. Well, here's the replacement. GODS, where did he get this crap?"
Metal contact clacks through the air, and Bach ponders out loud. "Okay. I think that's in there as best I can get it. And so, back together we go."
Stepping back from loading the fridge, Sotalia plucks a bottle from the pack and side steps over to the nearby bar counter. Cracking open the seal, she pours back the beverage, her attention wandering through the bar window into the dining area. Leaning over the tabletop, Cideeda lifts up a small bolt-action rifle and places it in Bach's hands. Sotalia curiously perks her eyebrow, watching Cideeda sit down expectantly. Golden eyes catch the blue flicker in Bach's eyes. Gawking wide-eyed, Sotalia mentally stalls out, the now floating firearm rapidly self-disassembling. A shocked gasp sucks in sports drink. Reflex squeezing her lungs, only a small portion of the beverage returns to the bottle, and the rest spews forth uncontrollably out of Sotalia's mouth and nose. Slamming the bottle on the counter, she launches herself to the kitchen sink. Hacking, gagging, and retching, her body sorts out air and fluid between sputtering curses in different languages. Bach and Cideeda stare towards the kitchen concerned. Maintaining the floating rifle disassembly, Bach's glowing blue eyes dart around for Sotalia. "Are you going to make it?"
Sotalia yanks off a run of paper towels from a nearby roll, wipes the orange sport drink and spittle off her face, and vainly attempts cleaning her splattered shirt. Darting in from the kitchen into the dining area, she points at the floating cloud of firearm pieces. "WHAT IS THIS?!"
Blinking uncertainly, Bach shrugs in confusion. "Uh, just something I've been working on since adventuring school. It was originally going to be my master's thesis, but... Yeah, I never got to really show it for that."
Sotalia draws in a few calming breaths, pulls a chair out next to Bach, and sits. She halts herself before speaking, holds up a finger, and turns her head towards the hallway archway. "Aristespha! Could you come in here? Like, right now!"
Aristespha's voice disapprovingly echoes down the hall. "I am in the middle of an important-"
Rolling her eyes dismissively, Sotalia interrupts louder. "Just get in here! You need to see this!"
Faint footsteps hit the hardwood floors, and the proper and dignified figure of Aristespha trots out into the room. "OKAY. What is this all about-"
Aristespha processes the scene, words halting in her mouth. Sotalia furrows her brow at Aristespha and motions to the floating disassembled rifle. Sebastian's ethereal form passes through the wall, and he glances around at everyone. Turning to Bach, he notices the target of everyone's attention and grins proudly. "Holy shit, bro! You've gotten really good at that. That's a whole lot better than you were back in school."
Sotalia and Aristespha exchange stares, and simultaneously grind their glares into Sebastian. Squirming awkwardly at a strange sensation, Sebastian shakes his head away from the spectacle and bounces his gaze between the condemning stares of Sotalia and Aristespha. He settles on Aristespha and tries to present a smile against his discomfort. "Don't look at me like that. I told you about his research! Even what it was-"
Aristespha narrows her violet eyes at Sebastian and lifts an eyebrow. "You said he was looking into ways to take apart things."
Sebastian waves over at the hovering rifle parts pleadingly. "Well... Was I wrong?"
Aristespha darkly furrows her brow, stiffening her posture. "NO. You were correct."
Sebastian grimaces uneasily and reflexively shrinks away Aristespha's cold glare. "How do you make that sound like a BAD thing?!"