tranquilforest | IC Contact: Atacalepsy

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.

[ daylight's winglets flutter in joy, his smile more soft than shine in this moment. ]

Yeah- Me too. I'm happy we met each other. [ there's a thoughtful pause on his end. a flicker of a thought that crosses his face like he's about to say something else but-

baaaaaaa!, go the lambs. so sudden and loud - so, so loud - with their displeasure that it causes daylight to startle and squeak.

and now daylight tries not to die from choked laughter in this moment ]

[She just shakes her head with a smile before making soothing, placating noises at the lambs, rubbing their heads again.]

Can I see your drawing, if you're finished with it?

Of course! [ it'll be pretty rude to not show the sketch to the model.

-actually. now that she mentions it: ] I'm done with the draft! Kinda done. Just need to finish this bit on the pattern but- Yeah! Done enough.

Do you want to look at it now, Miss Jing?

I just know some artists who are very particular about when people can see their finished works. But I'd love to see what you've done so far.

Great! [ his optics bloom in excitement, though his smile is a touch shyer now. ] Hang on-

[ daylight makes a few more corrections to his sketch before he feels like he's confident enough to show his draft to present his work to miss jing. even then he's nervous about her reaction, evident by how he shutters his optics as he flips the sketchpad over to reveal his work so far.

it's clear that daylight is struggling to get a better grasp on humans - miss jing isn't that tall, daylight - but.

but what also is clear is the amount of detail and care that daylight has put into the sketch. where he may lack in expertise, he makes up for it in raw talent and a care to try and capture what (or who, in this case) his subject is. it's shown in the patterns and textures of miss jing's clothes. the way the lights and shadows fall across on both her and the lambs are both. the smile on miss jing's face when the lambs have her attention. ]

So... Um... What do you think? [ daylight, hilariously enough, still has his optics shuttered the entire time. ]

[She can't help but peek a glance up at Daylight, smiling to herself at the pattern in the devices that made up his eyes that seemed to demonstrate that he wasn't looking directly at her - or anything else - for the moment. It really was amazing how expressive he was, though she had no real way of confirming some of her assumptions other than by his reactions.

She reaches out for the sketchbook, taking gentle, firm hold on it - not quite tugging it from Daylight's strong grasp, but wanting to get a closer look.]

It's almost hard to believe that you managed to take in all of this detail and capture it so perfectly just while we were standing here. [She answers, her voice quiet and sincere. There are variations to the work that she can only assume are due to Daylight's own particular sensory experience of the world (that must vary in many ways from her own), but the amount of effort and attention he had put in is very clear. She opens her mouth to say more, but is interrupted by an insistent baa-ing from the two plant lambs who are clearly curious about what had taken their attention away.]

[ he willingly angles the 'book so miss jing can get a better view of the draft, still keeping his vents to himself as he waits for her verdict.

and when he hears the kindest words he’s ever word about his doodles, daylight visibly sags in relief as his winglets twitch in excitement. ]

Really? [ his winglets begin to, honest-to-the-saints, flip and flap up and down from joy. ] I'm- I'm happy to hear that, Miss Jing! I wanted to make sure I got your presence accurate on the first try.

[ baaa! ]

Oh. Looks like some lambs wanna join us. So— What do you guys think? [ he whistles to bring the two lambs closer to where miss jing and he were, lowering his arm so the lambs could get a better look at their likeness.

for a few seconds, the lambs stare and seem to be deciding something. they could be described as being pensive, even.

… aaaaand that illusion is ruined the instant cotton tries to chew on the paper, chomping on down the sketchpad without any warning.

poor daylight makes that can be best be described as a squeal, strangled shriek, and the sound of someone’s dialup connecting online. ]

Cotton…! No!!

[Her expression doesn't change to any significant degree, but the movements of her hands are deft and quick as she takes firm hold of Cotton's face, just enough to still the movement of the little lamb's jaws in the midst of chewing, coaxing its mouth open to try to extract the thick pad of paper from inside.]

I'm almost surprised Cotton finds paper to be appetizing at all. [She notes wryly, wiping at the abused book with her sleeve. It's a little worse for wear, but the papers inside aren't too damaged, at least.

~~And she's pretty glad for the distraction because she was a bit at a loss for how to answer Daylight anyway.~~]

Guess they were curious. [ not that it stops him from sending a baleful look towards the direction at the now innocently baa'ing lamb.

yep. you're definitely going to be renamed after auntie epps... if he goes through with that choice, of course. but that's for later. daylight is more focused on inspecting his sketchapd, only allowing himself to vent in relief when the damage is revealed to be minimal. ] Thank you so much, Miss Jing. I mean it.

I think I would have cried if this had been ripped or something. Or, you know, tried to cry. [ it's one of those things he can't do. a weird hiccup of biologies being unable to reach a compromise with the other. ] I'm still working on this sketch of mom and dad and I think-

I hope it's finally looking like them. Going back to square one would have been awful. [ a pause, thoughtful one. ] Have you worked with farm animals before? I haven't seen anything like that since Uncle Art.

Edited (enter key please... please let me finish a tag before you send it.) 2018-10-01 04:36 (UTC)

I have some small experience with them. [~~Especially with water buffalo~~ Mainly in passing though; she's relying mostly on common sense with things like this.

It's a little strange, hearing Daylight talk about his parents in this context, though she is very much capable of holding her tongue about things she has no business interfering in, however difficult that might be.]

Like most things, it's important to be gentle and decisive. I'm glad they didn't manage to do too much damage to something of such great sentimental value.

Do you have any experience working with animals, Daylight?

Yeah! I do! [ daylight’s winglets flutter at the question that miss jing asked, a fond and nostalgic smile blossoming on his face. it helps him keep calm enough, even when his inspection reveals there is some crinkles and crumpling on his parents' sketches.

it fades a bit when he gives the question more thought, finding himself needing to add: ] Er... Some animals.

I have a lot of experience with dogs! Uncle Roderic and Uncle Art had this dog sanctuary that I could come and visit when Auntie Laura or Uncle Leeds could take me. It was really nice. [ spending his summers there were the best summers in his life, honestly. being able to walk the dogs and help at the kennels and just hear stories about his parents from uncle roderic.

he would give anything just to have one more day there. he wonders if it's still open... oh! focus, day. come on- ] I never interacted with farm-farm animals, though. Besides Mr. Darrison’s cows when they decided to run off. My guardians made sure I stayed within the range of Dust Tumbles, if possible. Parents' orders.

[Oh Daylight. She's just glad your childhood sounds mainly like a happy one.] That does sound wonderful. Dogs as a whole are considerably more tractable and trainable than most farm animals I've had experience with, but the principle is still similar.

[She tilts her head thoughtfully.] At home, my son also has a dog [wolf]. He would bring Foya with him whenever he was away on campaigns. As a mother, that eased some of my concerns for his safety.

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sunborne - 2018-10-24 02:52 (UTC) - Expand