Shaky Beginnings

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The Six Kingdom's most prestigious university and the de facto cultural capital of Anaxas.

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Fionn
Posts: 298
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2018 11:17 am
Topics: 31
Race: Passive
Occupation: Misery
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Sun Apr 21, 2019 5:19 pm

Vortas 6, 2718 | Afternoon
Professor Keyes' Room
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It was amazing the number of places that the by-products of wood carving could get into, all those little splinters and shavings, wood chips and dust, so easily caught underfoot and traipsed to all corners of a room, swept under furniture and left clinging to material. It didn't matter if Keyes took a break from his whittling activities, even if days had stretched to months or even years, Fionn was certain that there would always be debris from his activities, hidden away and forgotten about, splinters in particular ready to surprise you by stabbing into bare and vulnerable flesh. The passive had found that it helped to use multiple tools for clean up. A large brush picked up most bits but he also had smaller brushes to manoeuvre into trickier spaces. Brushes had their failings, requiring him to dig through their bristles to loosen what they were meant to collect. The thing that irritated him the most was when he tried to sweep it into the dust collector and it always left a line of dirt and dust, a line of resistance that remained, unwilling to rise over the lip of the collector no matter how patiently he worked to move it. There had to be an easier way to gather this stuff up but the passive hadn't had a chance to consider it. One day perhaps. Maybe there was technology that could suit such a purpose. Maybe one day, he'd have the chance to do research but at the same time, that was possibly the most pathetic thing he could consider. If he had the opportunity to research and invent things then did he really want it to be something to use to clean up dirt? How utterly life-changing. Only a servant would consider such a thing.

It was a task that the young man had set himself after he'd inadvertently stabbed himself in the finger with a splinter when he was picking things up off the floor, left to dwell on methods of cleaning while his employer was away teaching. Professor Keyes had left him with a number of tasks to complete in his absence and the boy was working through them diligently. He had given himself a little bit more work than he'd originally been tasked with but when everything was done, he should still have some time to himself before the engraver came back. It'd give him time to peruse some of his books, something that Fionn had begun to do in a sneaky fashion. Keyes hadn't suggested that he couldn't read if he so desired. But he was a gated passive and he knew it, knew that even though he'd been given this opportunity as the professor's personal assistant, he didn't think that he would ever be trusted. How could he be? Considering everything that he was, how could anyone ever trust him like that?

Given that he wasn't expecting the professor back until the evening, the last thing that he expected was company of any sort. Those who were looking for the professor would know his schedule or would locate him in more appropriate places so the blond didn't expect any visitors. As such, the knock on the door came as a surprise.

The servant paused in his duties, remaining perfectly still as he considered the situation, contemplated just remaining still and quiet until they gave up and went away. If he didn't make a sound then they might not think that anyone was in. He let moments pass by, each one going by with aching slowness and yet at the end of a minute, maybe more, another knock came. It was soft and timid as if the person making the sound was almost afraid that their knock would actually be answered. He stayed still and the knock came again, sooner this time, a little louder, a little more insistent. It was a bit more difficult to ignore it and there was something about it that suggested that the person behind it didn't intend to leave soon. Being ignored wasn't a sufficient deterrent obviously so he was just going to have to answer the damn thing.

Leaving his kneeling position, he straightened up with a slight grimace, brushing off his knees as he went to the door. He encountered the field before he got to the handle but he hadn't expected anyone other than a galdor if he was honest with himself; he didn't expect a persistent passive. Did he notice the familiarity though? He had started to pay a bit more attention to these things, more to his passive fellows rather than their fully magical brethren, searching for the nexus that Moore and Devlin had talked about a month before. He'd never paid enough attention to galdori to notice anything specific about their fields, never interacted with enough of them. That they had individuality and that this one was one he'd encountered before didn't occur to him and so he got an even greater shock when he swung the portal open and saw the field's owner.

"Sweet Lady, you!" Fionn gasped, hand gripping the edge of the door frame hard.

Niamh.

He'd known when he'd last seen her that it was her and he'd since had it confirmed, asking the professors very tentatively about her. And now here she was after what he'd said to her, after the vile name he'd called her. Here she was looking nervous and uncertain in her uniform looking unimaginably pretty, hands behind her back.

"I- Professor Keyes isn't here and you aren't- You can't be here to... to see me, Niamh, I-" he broke off, lost for words, eyes roving in their sockets as he sought for some explanation for this, some reason why she'd be here after their last encounter. To see him, not Keyes. His free hand found the back of his neck, rubbing it awkwardly.

"Well uh... hello."

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Maximus
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Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 7:09 am
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Sat Jun 01, 2019 2:15 pm

Vortas 6, 2718 | Afternoon
Professor Keyes' Office
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How many days had it been since she found her brother? After all the years, after all the hoping, the casual inquiries made to passives visiting the lab, the subtle glances at every passive face that passed. To think that the boy she'd been searching for had just appeared so unexpectedly, walking into the lab one day with innocent looks and a hatcher-may-care attitude underneath it. What had it been? Two weeks? And yet so much had changed. She hadn't seen him in the intervening time but a lot had happened since then, more to him than to her and his whole living situation had changed as a result. He'd been singled out, given employment under a galdor professor and based on what she'd heard about his suffering, Niamh was glad. The boy needed kinder treatment, he needed a chance to breathe and potentially come out of the protective shell he'd encased himself in. The eldest Madden was particularly glad because the man he was working under did work that involved an artistic eye, something that she thought that Fionn would appreciate. He'd always liked to draw when he was younger although it was unlikely he'd had any chance to keep up the hobby.

It was the thought of that hobby that had pushed her to purchase a perhaps ill-advised gift. She'd bought a sheaf of drawing paper, simply wrapped but of good quality as well as some drawing pencils of varying grades from hard to soft. It was an attempt to reconnect with him, to offer him something that he'd been deprived of since his childhood. It was also intended as a peace offering. However, the young woman was worried about how it would be received following their last meeting. Niamh was worried that he'd simply slam the door in her face, possibly hurling abuse at her again first. There was a high chance that her younger brother didn't want to see her again - ever. Thus, paying a visit to him was a risk.

Of course, the student wasn't taking this action lightly and so there was no spontaneity here. The idea of buying the gift had been a bit spur of the moment but she'd considered things carefully since then, especially how she'd approach him. Hence, there was no chance of her arriving at Professor Keyes' room like a bolt from the blue, the redhead all too aware of how poorly that could go. Fionn might not be there, she might intrude on Keyes' work, she might find nobody there. So when her class ended and she was left with a free study period, the young woman hurried to seek out Keyes' in his classroom so she could gain his permission and ensure that her brother would be there to receive her. She was told that he'd be in the man's office and that he'd definitely be present to receive her. Whether he'd want to see her though...

Thus, when she reached the door and knocked, she knew that Fionn must be there in spite of the silence she met with. It had been a quiet knock but she felt confident that if he was in there, he must have heard it. The fact that there was no answer suggested that the passive didn't want to answer. He couldn't know that it was her though, he couldn't see through the door but perhaps her field... no, the middle Madden couldn't recognise it yet; there was no way he'd know it was her by the feel alone. Presumably, he just didn't want to answer the door to anyone.

Niamh chewed her lip, considering simply going away. She could knock again and if he answered, he could be sufficiently unhappy to see her that he shut the door in her face. Maybe it'd be better to avoid the possibility of rejection altogether. Her field pulsed, the mona within it almost seeming to squirm in response to her discomfort. But she hadn't come this far, hadn't planned so much just to slink away without really making an attempt. The young woman steeled herself, drawing herself up to her full height as she reached forward again. Between the onset of motion and when her knuckles struck the wood, the iron resolve she had mustered wavered somewhat so that she didn't knock very hard.

She was worried that he might answer and she was worried that he wouldn't. It was definitely a surprise when the handle turned and she was greeted with the face of her brother.

Her hands went behind her back once she'd knocked, holding her present out of sight so he couldn't have seen it, not yet and she offered him a nervous, uncertain smile, her field shifting nervously, almost guiltily as if he would know by looking at her what she'd done; she wasn't yet certain that it wouldn't be thrown back in her face. Fionn didn't look hostile though. Shocked, confused, nervous, and perhaps scared but not angry or hostile.

Both of them were understandably awkward. Both of them were understandably unsure how to handle one another. Fionn looked incredibly young in this moment, vulnerable unlike when he'd been flinging insults at her. He wasn't agitated now the way he had been then. He was just a scared boy who didn't know what to do. She was scared too but she was meant to be the older sibling here, the galdor who knew what to do. She had to take the lead, she supposed.

"Hello, I've already seen Professor Keyes, Fionn. I didn't... well, I didn't want to drop in without his permission or f-find you weren't here. I... I probably should have approached him before so that he could warn you. Sorry," she admitted softly. Her hands came forward, one set of fingers stroking hair back from her forehead while the other kept her precious bundle loosely against her chest.

"I understand if you don't want me to come in and if you don't... well, you can reject this too if you want but... I thought- You used to like drawing and you can do it again now so I thought- If you don't want it..." Niamh stuttered out awkwardly, offering the drawing materials to him a little hesitantly, looking for all of Vita as if she wished to use it as a shield.
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