Re: Whirlwind Move-in

[Astra Creed]

Astra didn’t know what tea was for sure. She was pretty sure she knew, but she also wasn’t actually sure about much, so that wasn’t really a guarantee of anything. Still, she didn’t point this out. She could figure it out when it was brought to her, right? If not she could ask better questions then, at least. “Well I want to try your favorite first!” she decided, not knowing if there was any tea around or not, but still declaring what she wanted to try. “Oh! And I’ll try one of your books soon too. I promise I’ll be careful. Maybe you can show me one of your favorites? You seem to have smart tastes and I could use some more smarts I think.”

She nodded to herself, clearly convinced that this was a good idea. Well, it wouldn’t hurt anyone at any rate. She had promised to be careful with Ava’s books, after all. They looked so fragile, but she liked how they looked and smelled. She thought they might be good to explore when she was tired of exploring the real world. After all, it required less running around, right? “My hair is starting to look so nice! I can’t believe it…” she told Ava in surprised as she snapped out of her thoughts.

[Ava Brooks]

Ava would gladly bring Astra some of her favorite tea. Maybe Astra would like it as much as Ava, although Ava didn’t have that strong a preference. She liked many teas, but what she would call her favorite was a bit better to her. Then it came to books, “Heh, thank you,” Ava said, appreciating the compliment although she didn’t react to it much. She’d been called smart before. It was something she liked to hear, but not something she needed to hear to feel that she was smart. “I’ll try to pick a book you will like. Mostly historical, or classics, I have some romantic novels, and a couple books or poetry though, you might like those better.”

Ava focused on Astra’s hair again for a little while. She could get lost in that. There was so much needing to be done. She was sure Astra’s bathed, it wasn’t as if she felt like a ball of grease. If she had, Ava would not let her touch Ava’s dresses, let alone wear them. No, she cleaned up, just didn’t do the fine grooming details. Ava was getting almost all of the tangles out when Astra popped back into reality and commented on it. “Well you’re a pretty girl, its not a surprise you would look nice. Are you really that surprised that you would clean up well? Or I suppose this way?” She didn’t imagine Astra thought she hadn’t been just fine before. However this reaction as worthy of a comment.

[Astra Creed]

Astra considered Ava’s book collection while her hair continued to be worked with by Ava. She figured history and classics miiiiight be the best idea, though the others sounded interesting. She wondered what she thought of romance. She supposed she would find out at some point. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t know what I could do with myself. Or something like that,” she told Ava with a slight shrug. “Even if I don’t like frilly things that much most of the time, I guess I do look pretty good in it,” she told her with a chuckle. Most of the time was the entirety of this one week, but it was what she had decided when she was looking at clothing.

“What do people do in Lamia Scale?” she asked Ava suddenly as her brain shifted gears. She hadn’t actually asked before she’d decided people were nice and joined. She put her hand on the spot where the tattoo she’d received that morning was stamped. “I didn’t ask before I joined, but that’s okay I figured I would learn that like everything else, right?” she decided aloud. Ava was a big help with Astra’s appearance and reading materials and roommate…ness. Even though Ava didn’t consider them friends, Astra was rather glad this girl had been her roommate. She wouldn’t have gotten to talk to her like this if she hadn’t.

[Ava Brooks]

Ava had a complicated view of romance. She liked the thought, but she didn’t actually go looking for romance. She was only sort of interested in one man, and that wasn’t going to happen. It didn’t really help that he was older than her, and most of the people in her guild were older than her. She liked the idea of romance, but she didn’t get much of a chance for experiencing said romance. Ava listened to Astra instead of thinking of those things. “Well you are a pretty woman, so if you ever want to get dressed up for anything, even if not with my dresses, but just all cleaned up, I would be happy to help you.” She knew her parents would not approve of things like this. Oh well.

Astra then asked what people in Lamia Scale did. “Oh… mostly what we please I supposed. The guild isn’t like a job, or like the military, it is just a guild. You are a part of something and it gives you opportunities. The opportunity to live here, the opportunity to get jobs that people have asked this guild to take, and the opportunity to form bonds with people here. Of course you don’t need to be in the guild to make friends, but it does help with the camaraderie,” Ava explained, “As far as our personal hobbies… everyone has their own interests. Sometimes when it rains several of the guild members will go slide around in the mud… its….” she resisted saying disgusting, “quite a mess, but they seem to enjoy it. Also some people train together. Do you know what you might like doing around here?”

[Astra Creed]

Ava’s explanation of a guild sounded like exactly what Astra would like. It appeared she’d made a pretty good call joining up with her rescuers. She wanted and needed friends to help her figure things out again, and she was happy to know that she wasn’t going to have to do anything in particular, and could focus on her own goals. Whatever those ended up being. She apparently had an independent streak for some reason. Discovering things about herself like that was always fun. A big grin crossed her face at Ava’s words, just as she asked what Astra would like to do.

“You know, I’m not sure yet,” the girl answered, trying very hard to resist messing with her bangs, since she wasn’t used to them being… normal. “I’d like to help people I guess. And I do have magic for a reason, right? I mean… I can do helpful things in addition to just pretty things,” she mused, opening her hands into a cupped position, revealing a pretty red glass-like flower. She was fond of making that particular flower when she got bored, but now she was doing it to show Ava, who she thought would appreciate pretty things. After a moment, she closed her hands, shattering the flower into glass-like shards that seemed to blow away despite the lack of wind and disappear.

[Ava Brooks]

Ava was pleased to have Astra in the guild. She’d felt rather miserable at the idea of her new roommate just earlier that day, but now she felt better. It was a good experience for the fifteen year old, having someone to learn from. Now, she didn’t expect too much learning, but socially she did. Learning to put up with and perhaps enjoy situations she wasn’t inclined to be a part of were good for personal growth.

Ava asked Astra what she would like to do and it seemed the older woman didn’t know. That wasn’t really very surprising. Actually it wasn’t surprising at all. Ava knew what she wanted, but not in the terms other people might prefer. She was much more focused than the scatter brained eighteen year old, so if Astra had it all figured out, especially with the amnesia, that would be surprising. Ava listened as Astra said she wanted to help, then mentioned her magic. “Oh, is that why you think you have magic?” She then laughed. In addition to just pretty things, yes, that sounded about right, and it was amusing. Ava saw the rose Astra made and she smiled, “That is quite beautiful, you are correct… I like to keep a flower in the window,” she admitted. There was one in a vase there now. When Astra shattered her flower Ava tensed up. Astra’s magic was much less…. Conventional that Ava might have liked. She had her key, which was all thus far.

[Astra Creed]

Astra didn’t really notice Ava tensing. Her ability to read people could only get better at this point; she understood very little, between finding proper thoughts hard in general, and not remembering so many things when she could. She just grined, watching the shards of magic disappear in what appeared to be wind, despite the lack of flowing air in the room. “Your flower is very pretty. And a lot more permanent than what I do. I like it better,” she informed Ava.

“But yeah, I don’t actually know how much I remember… so I guess I should work on that before I do anything too helpful,” she decided, fidgeting more than she should for a moment as she tried to think of the kinds of things she knew. The flower one was super easy. Maybe it was one of the first things she’d learned.

Astra stared at the mirror again, this time holding as still as she could bring herself to do. “Thank you for helping me,” Astra told Ava. Had she thanked her before? Thinking was hard. The thought had crossed through her mind at that moment, though, so she figured it wouldn’t hurt to say so again if so. “Why did you join Lamia Scale then? What kinds of things do you want to do?” she asked Ava curiously.

[Ava Brooks]

It wasn’t that big a deal to Ava that Astra didn’t understand. If she put forth the effort to be respectful, and she was nice, then Ava just considered it a trial. A trial she was going to pass. Astra was a child, she was just unaware of how to act because she hadn’t learned yet. That was okay, Ava could show her. It might even be fun. Astra informed Ava that she liked Ava’s flower better, because it was permanent. Or maybe she liked it better for some other reason, but the two things had been mentioned close in time, “Well, yours is magical, which innately makes it special. Still, I agree, I think I like mine better. Even if it isn’t mine, I got it from someone’s garden,” she admitted.

“Self-improvement is crucial. You cannot do anything if you do not focus on yourself. However, you can help others at the same time as you help yourself. Just food for thought,” Ava said simply. Eventually she finished brushing Astra’s hair. It looked much better now. Plus Ava liked the dress on Astra. She smiled.

“You are very welcome, Astra,” Ava said happily. “Oh… me… I joined so that I could practice magic and learn it in my own way. My parents felt like it wasn’t important for me to learn, but I wanted to learn it for myself, so I came here. What I want to do… I just want to make something of myself. I’m not sure what yet, but something good,” she said casually, putting her brush down.

[Astra Creed]

Astra admired herself in the mirror again, brushing some wrinkles she’d started to create out of the dress. “I think that’s a very noble goal,” Astra told her roommate when she found out that she wanted to improve and make something of herself. Astra supposed they were similar in that respect. She nodded. “I’ve got more to improve on than anyone here I guess. I should start with the basics… got any good books I can read?” For a moment she wondered if she could still read books, but then she nearly chuckled as she remembered she’d been reading things all week… just… signs and titles and things, rather than books.

Astra went and sat down gently on her new bed they’d put in. “Maybe I can do that and then we can decorate. And I can give you back your dress whenever, but since you went through all that trouble I thought I might read something and leave it on for a bit if you didn’t mind. Like I said… I don’t usually like dresses that much, but this is kinda special. It's nice.” Astra sat on the bed, her hands resting on her knees. One hand reached up and brushed through her now properly brushed hair. It was soft. That was another thing she would have to learn from Ava. Maybe they'd be good friends, after all, given some time.

-EXIT-

[Sponsored content]