tranquilforest | IC Contact: Atacalepsy

From what I've seen of your drawings, I don't think you're getting rusty [What an amusing and appropriate turn of phrase, especially in Daylight's case] but practice is important to maintaining your skills, so I would be happy to help with that, if I can.

Thanks for the compliment, Miss Jing! It's a real honour to hear those words from you! [ it is, it really is.

she struck daylight as a lady of taste and class. so hearing her opinion is doing wonders for his confidence in this hobby of his. ] Are you busy now? I would love to discuss details with you face to face if you are! :D

I'm not busy now at all. Should I meet you somewhere?

[Now that the festival was over, anyway. She was honestly just trying to anticipate where Lady Astoria would send them to next.]

[ though miss jing can't see it, daylight's winglets are fluttering the happiest of flutters. ] Awesome!

I'm actually heading to the gardens right now to check on Julius' plants and my to start working on my flower garden. Do you want to meet over there, Miss Jing?

[Wow, this courtyard is getting quite busy with all the gardeners in the Temple :).]

Of course. Just give me a few moments and I'll meet you there soon.

[ daylight quietly hopes against hope that, if possible, all the work everyone is putting into the gardens means the circle can have a g a r d e n p a r t y.

(listen a boy can dream of having another flower shower, okay?) ]

Awesome! See you in a bit, Miss Jing. I won't be hard to miss. :D

[ considering he's just over ten feet tall and is going to stick out the greens and browns thanks to his red-gold armour, yeah. he won't be hard to miss at all. ]

[She is totally willing to help with this goal!

She really hadn't been busy, so she just takes a moment to change into clothes that are more suitable for working outside before she heads to the courtyard. It was her favorite space in the entire Temple, and where she spent the most time when she didn't have other projects she was working on.

Daylight, of course, isn't difficult to find and the space wasn't large, but she's already smiling before he turns around.]

Hello Daylight. [Glancing around him to peer at the plants he's working with.] They look like they're coming along nicely. The rain must have been good for them.

[ daylight looks up from his tending, optics blooming in delight when he sees one of his favourite people in the temple. ]

Miss Jing! Hi! I'm happy that the rain has been nice to the sheeps too! They seem to be flourishing in the weather.

[ right now, daylight has been focusing on raising some barometz after seeing them wander about the gardens and seeing them interact in the forests and the gardens. they’ve been coming along nicely, their 'wool' soft and fluffy thanks to daylight's attempts to take care of them from both weather and menace.

the barometz - 'plant lambs' as daylight privately dubs them, finding it difficult to pronounce their official names - seem spooked by the arrival of someone new. they huddle behind daylight when miss jing approaches, peering from behind daylight's frame. ]

Hey no— Miss Jing is awesome, little buddies! Don’t be scared. [ he turns to her, sheepish. ] Sorry. They’re a little shaken up since those little dragon things keep trying to nip at them when I'm not here.

[She shakes her head, staying well back so as not to disrupt or terrify the little plant-sheep further, offering them a smile and trying not to look intimidating.]

I'd be wary too, if I had to contend with the wyverns on a day-to-day basis. They're just clever enough to make nuisances of themselves in the most disruptive way possible without causing too much harm.

[Ah well. Daylight seems to have things well in hand. So to speak.] Do you need to care for your charges still? I can do some work myself if so, but otherwise I am at your disposal.

I would really love to be able to sketch you while you're at work on something! So, ah, you can work on your garden while I sketch you doing it! I've been meaning flex my muscles- [ cables. wires. same thing. ] -when it comes to capturing movement.

Plus! I think this could be a chance for Wool and Cotton and the gang here to get used to you. The plant lambs need more interaction with the others here in the Temple. [ aforementioned plant lambs are now being quietly encouraged by daylight to come out from behind him. they do need to stretch their legs and roam about the gardens - well. far as they can roam, given that they're attached to their vines. ]

Is that okay?

That sounds fine with me, Daylight. I've never really been a model before, so please feel free to instruct me as you like.

[She glances curiously at the plant lambs, who seem to be peeking out a little behind Daylight in approximately equal curiosity.] How did you come to start raising and naming them, if you don't mind my asking? [She takes a slow, smooth step closer, barely moving, and holds her breath slightly as the lambs don't immediately shy away from her increased proximity.]

[ cotton and wool, perhaps encouraged by miss jing's patience, begin to venture out from the safety of daylight's frame. the one who looks bigger (fluffier) is surprisingly the shier of the pair; the smaller one is the one who takes charge, extending their neck far as they can to get a good sniff of miss jing.

they then give a little sound, short and sweet, and the two begin to venture closer. so far, so good?

all the while, daylight picks up his cobbled together sketchpad and charcoal stick to start drawing the rough shapes of the scene before him. he babbles away at the same time, happy to fill the air with friendly chatter and a reminder to cotton and wool that he's here with them. ]

I noticed these cute little fells around the Temple while I was exploring it! They're pretty sweet, shy but sweet, and they seem like nice buddies. I also noticed the wyverns and other creatures picking on them, and if any of the plant lambs end up separated from their vines then... [ he shivers at what he saw.

yeah. ] Thought to myself, 'Why not look after some?' and took some of the seeds of theirs that's, like, scattered everywhere. Cotton and wool are from the first batch and they're pretty cute!

Don't you think, Miss Jing?

They are very lovable, Daylight. [She agrees, holding two hands out for Cotton and Wool to inspect, staying as still and quiet otherwise as she can while trying to encourage them to get closer.]

Do you know how big they might get? Were the ones you found elsewhere in the Temple about the same size and age as Cotton and Wool? [It was a little difficult to wrap one's mind around a plant-animal hybrid. If they had come from seeds would they mature in the way plants did? Or would they follow the aging process of lambs and sheep?

At least they seem to be more curious now, and she laughs slightly as the bolder one bypasses her hand altogether in favor of sticking its head into her trailing sleeve.]

[ daylight looks up from his first rough sketches of the lambs interacting with miss jing, laughing a bit when he hears cotton's happy (if confused) noises at the sudden change of view.

wool, perhaps intrigued by cotton's reaction, moves closer to figure out what's going on for themselves. this little lamb here opts to sniff miss jing's hand for now, seeing as her sleeve is occupied by a curious cotton. ]

My plant lambs still got some growing to do - the ones I've found by themselves were a biiiit bigger from what I can tell - but they've been doing great so far! [ he sounds very proud as he speaks, optics dropping back to the page while he tries to get the fluffiness of cotton and wool and the details of miss jing's clothes right. ] Especially now that I've been keeping the wyverns from bothering them! After shooing those lizards away, the lambs have been flourishing.

[ as if to emphasis his point, cotton finally finds miss jing's hand and gives a friendly headbutt and a happy sound in greeting. ]

Edited (enter key, please do not betray me.) 2018-08-07 04:32 (UTC)

[She laughs and bends just a little, hopefully not disrupting Daylight too much, so she can run her fingers over Cotton's head and stroke the soft fleece while Wool continues to sniff at her other hand.]

I wonder if they'll eventually need shearing, as the sheep back in my home do. I only know a little about spinning, but I learned about that in the villages I used to travel through.

I definitely think they'll need that sooner or latter. Either that, or I wait for them to, like, get caught on the brambles and have their 'fur' get tangled up there. [ judging by the way daylight wrinkles his nose at the thought, he's not up for that.

he does perk up when miss jing explains that she knows spinning. medicine and merchantile skills? miss jing is a regular jack-of-trades! jill-of-trades? moments like these are the times he wishes auntie eps was still around. ]

Like being able to use a spinning wheel and loom and everything, Miss Jing? You sure learned a lot of things while you were traveling! It must have been super exciting to learn all of this stuff.

[She laughs a little, half at Daylight's earnest response, and half at Wool finally gathering up enough nerve to start licking her palm curiously.]

It was almost expected, really. I'm no great hand at it, but almost all the girls growing up around my own age were expected to have some sort of handicraft skill. It's a part of running a household.

Ohhh. So it was like a mandatory lesson then? [ that was a concept that he could kind of understand. home economics that was useful for the learner's life outside of the classroom. he had to learn how to take care of his living quarters as part of his sec course, for example. how to organise. how to clean. how to make use of the space provided. things like that.

(if the state of his rooms in the temples are any indication, the lessons did not stick. at all.)

still- ] My mom was good at sewing! Supposedly. The autographies I've read about her said she had a knack for it. And she liked it too because it was pretty peaceful but kept her hands busy.

Is that true, Miss Jing? [ the peaceful part. having to use your own hands to create something seemingly simple but intricate.

meanwhile, cotton and wool are beginning to warm up to jing's presence now. they begin to move about her more, taking their sweet time to investigate her clothes since it was a far cry from daylight's appearance. the more demanding of the two, cotton, even begins to bleat loudly so they can be petted. daylight laughs at the last bit. ]

I think they trust you now!

Ah...something like that. [Well, mandatory in that it was somewhat necessary for survival, at least.] I do find it somewhat relaxing.

It's relatively easy to learn and do, and there's something pleasant about focusing on a simple repetitive task that can result in something beautiful, if one is careful and precise.

[She is curious about Daylight's words about his mother, but before she can ask further, Cotton bleats imperiously and she moves to card her fingers through the soft wool.]

It's also a good way to pass the time. But I remember you mentioned that your mother was quite a busy and capable woman.

My mom? [ he looks up from his (almost finished!) preliminary sketch.

partly because of how loud cotton was being. mostly because of the mention of his mom. daylight will almost always respond to anyone if his parents are mentioned in some capacity, somehow and someway. ]

Yeah! [ his winglets wiggle, always happy to talk about his parents. ] She was amazing. She was, um, Earth's head representative for the Galactic Union of Worlds.

[ hmmm! even he can recognise that was a jumble of words. so! explanation: ]

Basically she was a diplomat and ambassador for space. She brokered for peace and made sure negotiations and agreements stuck. Stuff like that.

[She remembered getting bits of the story in fits and starts from Daylight, piecing some of the strange terminology together on her own based on other conversations.]

I used to know a person very much like that. That's a lot of live up to though.

You did? Wow. They must have been interesting. Like... Super interesting. [ daylight sounds intrigued by that, his winglets perking up from behind his back at this revelation.

he wants to ask miss jing about this person and her relationship with them but... er... he isn't sure how to approach the topic of other people in someone else's life. so far, his attempts haven't been the best. (if the kidnapping and shootout he's experienced so far are anything to attest.)

so he focuses on the more obvious topic (for now): ] It is! It's pretty... It's pretty, um, something- [ why did he think this would be more obvious? ] -at times. Knowing someone like that. Personally, I mean! Feels like you've gotta, I don't know, measure up to them.

[She's adding that to the pile of bedtime stories for later; it would probably be of great interest to Daylight, knowing what she does about his family situation.]

I think I know what you mean. At the same time, when the people in question are part of your family, one hopes that they would want you to do what makes you most happy with the opportunities that you have been given. If recognition or fame come with that along the way, then so be it.

Yeah. Exactly.

Um... This is pretty funny, to be honest.- I never felt this in synch with someone about these sort of things, if that makes sense? Not even with my friends. [ the closest he felt to was with dialup. and she, too, had difficulty connecting with him over some of his worries and concerns.

it could get frustrating at times but being able to speak with miss jing about it - and hearing her thoughts on this - is strangely... refreshing? yeah. something like that. ]

[She takes his words in carefully, waiting for him to finish speaking before she begins to consider her response, her hands stilling in the wool of the plant lambs, to their grumbled displeasure.]

I've felt much the same. [She confesses, her voice low and serious.] I can't help but be amazed that we can understand each other so well. It's strange, considering how different we are as people, and the seeming gap between us in time.

But... I'm glad for my experience, wherever it has been helpful for you.

IC Contact: Atacalepsy

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