genessia | On the fifth Daein

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On the fifth Daein | For the Hoard

[[Genessia Library | Video ]]

[ The video feed flicks on to a view of the Genessia library. Micaiah's feed seems surrounded by books, most of them neat but at least a few with open, messy pages. And then suddenly, a scaly, clawed hand slams onto one (somehow without damaging the book's pages). And then another. The video gives way to Micaiah, now sporting draconic horns, mouth glistening with the heat of flames yet to be released. She lets out a proud roar!

...actually no, she's just yawning. ]

It seems I've become a draconic laguz for a while. I've at least heard some announcements that this is temporary... [ Micaiah now steadies herself and leans back onto a couch. A bowl of fruit is on a table nearby. ] ...but more concerning is that I can't stop collecting books. It seems unfair to the other patrons, but an angry, protective feeling swells within me every time I see someone check out a book. I can't bear to do any unjustified violence, so I've wound up holing up here every night, collecting enough of a mass of books until I'm satisfied. I've at least read a few.

[ She gives a sigh. ]

Until I confirmed that this was just a temporary thing, I was looking for a possible means to keep my impulses under control, but I just kept looking and looking...

At least the library staff has been understanding of my afflictions...

[[While this is mostly a video post, you can also have action with Dragon Micaiah if you visit her here in the Library or at her job at Genessia Theater's reception area.]]

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You mean some of them are understanding.

[Baldur's a dick though.]

If you decided to lie on them I am going to take them away and put them back on the shelves.

[ Micaiah looks alarmed. ]

I'm sorry! Please don't!

[ She dreads getting angry enough to do something about it. It's already a monumental resistance not to breathe fire on her fruits. ]

So long as you don't droll on them.

[Because he doesn't want to deal with that of all things.]

That could just ruin them... apart from the whole fire thing, I suppose. But I'm sure that you have control of.

…right.

[ Micaiah quietly makes a note to never sleep with her head resting on an open book. And maybe double check a few just to make sure she hadn’t already gone back on her word. ]

Strangely enough my fire breath hasn’t been much of an issue. Plenty of water has kept it in check.

That's because water is good against fire in general as it cuts off part of what makes a fire burn. I assume you know how fire works, right? What it needs to burn?

[ While she won't meet his obvious rudeness harshly, let it be said that Micaiah was not without retort. ]

While it is indeed obvious what stops fire from burning, all the water in the world won't make a difference if you're nowhere close enough to it while your throat burns.

I apologize to the books for my lack of experience as a dragon, but I'll make up for it with plenty of care.

It's called a water bottle. You carry it around next to you. It's something I learned here.

I can always bring one since I tend to anyway now.

[ She'll give him the benefit of the doubt this time and assume he's actually being helpful here. ]

I could always use a bigger one.

[ The one she has is just a regular 16 oz. one, or so it's labeled. ]

You could and I guess someone might be smart enough to bring you one eventually.

Understanding? Try "completely cowed"! You've terrorized them, haven't you? You're a week too early for scaring others! No way would those puritans let you be so loud without a single chastisement! Have you even read any of those books, or did you just want to start a pile?

Don't make me come over there you tyrant! I've read a great many books about dealing with dragons, and I'll be happy to apply what I've learned!

[He says, being very loud indeed through the phone.]

Edited 2018-10-27 05:41 (UTC)

[ Wait, that wolf person talking to her... is that a laguz? He sounds familiar but Micaiah doesn't recognize his looks, neither does she recognize the animosity for dragons.

She tilts her head in confusion. ]

I don't have any quarrel with you nor the people in this library, so please stop being noisy and shouting threats.

And of course I read those books! Crest of Flame is a wonderful adventure book! [ ~~It's also very similar to home.~~ ]

It is? Well, I'll have to borrow it. Which is what you do. At the library. From a shelf, and not, say, under your royal duff.

A likely defense for a book-pervert! Well, let me check in on them, see how they like their state of affairs and whether they appreciate a fire hazard making itself comfy in their confines.

I-I'm not a book pervert!

[ Micaiah's face is flushed, and steam billows from her mouth. ]

This is the safest thing I can do with this desire to collect things!

[ She now notices the steam, snatches a cup of water and guzzles it down, the hiss of fire being put out just audible enough for Ted to hear. ]

I imagine we'll both be much happier when this creature curse ends.

If only saying made it so!

That's heathen talk! Sin is not defeated by concession and appeasement!

Happy!? I'll be happy when you forsake your shameful conduct this instant!

[Not that Ted doesn't understand letting the costumes take over really, really well. No one sympathizes more. That's why he can't let this disgrace go on any longer. His own happiness is reaching its burning climax.]

Ah, I see it all so clearly now! How like a dragon to demand tribute to satisfy its decadence! And how like a distressed damsel to suffer those demands! Yet I almost failed to realize they're one and the same! The dragon hasn't merely got the library in its clutches; it has you too! Yes, I finally hear the cries of Micaiah within the monster's maw!

Take heart; like St. George before me, I shall right wrongs and liberate the innocent from the wicked. Just wait! I'll drag you by my teeth if I have to!

[This is it. This is what he was born to do. Now's the time for knightly valor. Now's the time for chivalry]

[ Ted's rousing speech made Micaiah realize three things:

1. He was correct in that she couldn't be weak enough to fall prey to her new form's... desires.

2. This madman might actually show up in the library and fight her. This is beyond embarrassing.

3. This madman is... ]

...Ted? Wait, I can't believe it took me this long to recognize that voice!

Ted, you can't pick a fight here! You'll destroy the books AND hurt the people inside here!

[ Because despite her current state, no one's been worried enough to flee the library. ]

Oh gods how am I going to resolve this?

[ At least, with her sanity intact. ]

[True, his voice is huskier than usual, yet he's still very blonde, in look and spirit. The screen only shows a rollicking background; he's on his way.]

Ah, a chink in your scales! How charitable of the dragon to permit recognition. I wonder what other allowances it will make?

[Much as Ted, especially as he is now, would relish the prospect of throwing down with a dragon, that's not his primary intent. It'd render the whole spirit of the thing moot if he didn't mind the threat of collateral damage. Dragons are naturally selfish creatures; he can't fight that if he's selfish too.]

Not all fights are against flesh and blood. Those are the ones that must be won most of all.

[He's very swift on all fours, and arrives moments after that resolute conviction. The patrons give him concerned looks, not used to one so large or furry bursting on the scene. What further chaos must they endure?]

Let me borrow-!

[He was summarily shushed, and he remembered the rules of this hallowed sanctum.]

Sorry. Please let me borrow...ah, there it is. This. No, I don't expect to need it, but best err on the side of caution. Now, can you tell me where she's--never mind; I'll follow my nose.

[The burning scents, even faintly, were easily sniffed out. Fire extinguisher in hand, he made his way to the dragon's makeshift lair. Little Mic, little Mic, let him in!]

Edited 2018-10-29 18:44 (UTC)

[ Micaiah hears him inside before he even makes his request. Just as she feared, he was definitely going to make a big scene inside the library. She wondered if this werecreature business got to Ted somehow ~~(read, she'd never seen him pursuing his passions)~~. Still, as she quickly set her collection safely on a cart, Micaiah looked around for a safe place to confront Ted, ideally where they wouldn't cause a horrendous disturbance.

She'd have to settle for just outside.

She looked for a window or alternate exit to escape from, or rather, one where it would be easy to circle around and get Ted's attention. She settled for spying a back entrance... though now she also realized that she still needed to get his attention.

It pained her to be away from her collection. But the alternate was terrorizing the librarians... ]

[Yes, this is Ted's brain on werewolves. However quixotic he was before, he was doubly, instinctively so now. Everything he thought to do seemed like a good idea. So good that it had better be done at once, lest he miss an opportunity.

Just outside it is! Ted's attention is the easiest thing in the world to get, as he's deliberately prowling around explicitly for her. He spies with his lupine eyes the damsel in distress he wanted. Once he saw her unmistakably white hair, he whispered conspiratorially.]

Psst. Hey, Micaiah! Found you. Let's do this the easy way and avaunt, okay?

Edited 2018-10-31 15:08 (UTC)

[ She noticed him just as he saw her. How fortunate then, that he seemed less aggressive than she first suspected.

She was still a bit nervous after being separated from her hoard and having to make such a noisy exit from the library though. At the very least, they are fully outside before she speaks. ]

Ted, what is the meaning of this? I have no interest in a conflict with you.

[As he handed off the extinguisher to one of the employees, Ted could smell the sighs of relief when the sprites realized the two freaks were leaving the building. Finally, Ted could have resume his excitable, natural volume.]

An overweening question; most meaning we'll not know till we reach the other side.

[So much mystical sense-making.]

You don't? That's wonderful! Pliancy's preferred. In that case, here's my meaning: let's run away together.

Run away? [ Now Micaiah’s even more confused. ] What for?

What would we run from? Everything is peaceful as it can get for now.

To flee temptation; 'tis the only way to overcome.

[A chilly wind blew as drops of rain pattered along the streets. Ted himself was decently soaked. Ted thought that if Micaiah needed some way to quell flames, the heavens might succor her circumstance.]

From the library, of course! And anywhere else that might destroy you. My hearing's very keen, you know; not a word you've said escaped me. How the healthy, decent sight of others borrowing books stoked your wrath; how you were driven by a desire you'd fain deny to greedily, vainly hoard them. You even implied you'd resort to violence if you weren't appeased!

The Micaiah I know could only consent to such a sorry state of affairs under the heavy strain of temptation, and then but faintly. You're living on a knife's edge. Is that the only peace you hopelessly proclaim possible?

You make that sound so simple... no. [ Micaiah shook her head. ] Things are simple, but you make them sound so easy. It never is.

[ Micaiah could at least understand where he was coming from, though. ]

I see your point at least, but how do you run from the temptation of hoarding in general? I might stop hoarding books, but what if I start hoarding things like jewels? I haven't threatened anyone, even while like this.

I know full well the difficulty, and the only solutions to it: escape, and perhaps redirection. First off we've got to away from here. It's evil to you now. A book store, especially one with many on clearance, might do you better. No one evidently wants them, and by the end you'd have a collection, however questionable, that you could share instead of hoard. My parents did something much like that.

Or perhaps a wide, empty place, with nothing around. Just as nuns forsake the company of men, so you'd forsake the company of baubles. Something like that.

There may be another way, with high risk and payoff both. Are you any good at finding books, or just gathering whatever's on hand?

[ Now that she thought about it, wasn't it good that she could still go to her job, knowing that her books were safe? Maybe Ted was right and buying good books no one else wanted would work better. But Micaiah did have tastes. ]

I don't just hoard whatever I can get my hands on. Like I said before, I take books I intend to read. There's so much to read in a library.... it's only now, as a laguz dragon, that it hits me, and with an affliction to greedily keep. And I don't think the dragons from my world have this... hoarding affliction. They'd rather stay out of trouble.

But your most risky proposition... do you know of books that I'd actually read?

[They are standing still and it's driving him ka-razy.]

Come on. Let's walk while we talk. You may hop on, if the prospect pleases you.

[No saddle, but on all fours, he's large enough to make a serviceable mount. He'd set the pace towards Fayren and motion to follow.]

Perhaps. Do you like rare ones? I know of a place whose raison d'etre is finding those out. If your hoarding's any help to the purpose, you may put evil desire to good use.

[A very dangerous wager, spiritually speaking, but Ted's not the most careful guy...]

[ Micaiah doesn't hop on so much as glide alongside him. It takes her a moment to get her wings to cooperate, and there's a moment where she's awkwardly shifting between walking and lightly floating until she gets an equilibrium. ]

I'm fine, but... thanks for the offer.

I suppose... rare ones would be alright. But it's difficult to judge how that works around here in Genessia. I don't know what's rare around Genessia and what's common.

Aheh, well, the rare ones have yet to be found. That's where you might come in.

[The rain lightly patters upon the two fantastic freaks, prompting a few whispers among the pedestrians. They made an odd couple.]

"Scribes and Scripts", it's called. Have you heard? In addition to collecting a fair few tomes themselves, they employ book hunters to find any others want. Mavis, the current Guardian, heads it up, and would likely be happy to fill you in.

I think I've heard of that store, yes.

...but I'm already employed. I still go to work when I'm not at the library. Would that person consider temporary employment?

[ She notices the rain, but for some reason, it doesn't really bother her. Maybe having tougher skin makes her feel less soggy.

The people she's more wary of, their whispers remind her of the times where they'd be hostile. Her ear pick up no such thing, but scars run deep. ]

Aha, I don't think they're picky. Probably more of a commission basis, like the way I'm paid out whenever I go bounty hunting, or whatever vain enterprise the BBB would have of me. Besides, this is Mavis we're talking about. She's too lax to hold to any strict standard.

[His hackles raise a bit at the information that she wasn't always at the library. If she can break the habit for work, why not break it entirely?]

Please say you won't go back. Or at the very least not acting that way.

The need to have a collection is more intense than the need to constantly safeguard it. I can't really have one at home because I live in borrowed space.

Still, it's a challenge to go to work every day when I feel like the books I've collected are in danger of being stolen... even if they belong to the library and not me.

Sure, it's not consistent... but neither are these transformations in the first place. I'm amazed that I'm not mad without a dragonstone.

The library, a space utterly beholden to the public weal, permits no possession either. What is it in its entirety if not borrowed?

No, for a mercy, not all dragons act alike. As you say, 'tis a further mercy that your dragonhood is fleeting.

[She still hadn't said the words and made the peace he wanted. Here comes the "gentle, but firm" routine.]

Will you give me peace too, and give the abstinent vow?

[ Micaiah trembles at the thought. But she knows that he is right. She hasn't thought too hard about her books since talking to him. Maybe now is the time to break that system over her. ]

I vow to never hoard books from the library, and break this draconic hold upon my mind.

That's the spirit! Hallelujah; good for you! Oh, I could kiss you!

[There's a bounce in his trot now. Nothing, but nothing makes Ted happier than anything approaching the soterial. It's furthered all the more by his wild blood. He barely restrains himself, wagging fiercely.]

But I won't. I mean, unless you'd like me to.

[Restraint is the order of the day. Musn't be the hypocrite.]

I ummm… let’s not do that.

[ Micaiah actually giggles a bit, just as likely to disarm her own worries as it did for him. ]

No offense, but I don’t think my heart is ready for romance.

For now, let’s move.

None taken, though you certainly look the part. Your hair is so white and lovely; happy's the man who has it. Well, as you wish.

[Happily he continues to pace towards Fayren, happy ending well in hand. So happy, in fact, he's bidden to verse in the rain.]

‘Nearly they stood who fall;
Themselves as they look back
See always in the track
The one false step, where all
Even yet, by lightest swerve
Of foot not yet enslaved,
By smallest tremor of the smallest nerve,
Might have been saved.

‘Nearly they fell who stand,
And with cold after fear
Look back to mark how near
They grazed the Sirens’ land,
Wondering that subtle fate,
By threads so spidery fine,
The choice of ways so small, the event so great,
Should thus entwine.

‘Therefore oh, man, have fear
Lest oldest fears be true,
Lest thou too far pursue
The road that seems so clear,
And step, secure, a hair’s
Breadth past the hair-breadth bourne,
Which, being once crossed forever unawares,
Denies return.’

[All sang in the cheeriest werewolf baritone she can stand.]

Edited 2018-11-10 01:59 (UTC)

[ He's... he's singing?

Oh my goodness he's singing. Is this how Ted the Wolf Man howls? Micaiah feels embarrassed, but less of Ted's behavior and more that she doesn't have her own odd showy means of dragon. Why couldn't she have hoarded fruit or had Thani breath?

...on second thought, Micaiah was thankful she wasn't that crazy.

It's in Fayren that Micaiah dares speak again. ]

It's been a while since I last came here. Where is that place you spoke of?

[~~No that's normal for him.~~ No shame is being not dragonish, says Ted. Quite the opposite, really. He's never known any good that belonged to them exclusively.

He took her query as a motion to hurry.]

Oh, it's this way! Follow me!

[Then he's off, dashing through the wheat fields of an outlying farm before pounding through cobblestone streets, deftly swerving through the medieval town, giving the citizen no small shock; a werewolf on a tear rarely bodes well. But if Micaiah wants haste, who is he to refuse? Dragons are fast and flighty too, aren't they?

Once the knightly authorities are brought to bear--and gently pacified again--he skids to a stop in front a modestly sized book store.]

Here we are: Scribes and Scripts.

[Why not wax sentimental while he's at it?]

Levy, one dear to me who worked beside me in halcyon days, was the one who made it. A nostalgic pang affects whenever I pass. Well, ladies first. You'll see what I mean in a moment.

[Like most things in Fayren, it's quaint and old-fashioned, as though the wooden shelves were living oaks whose leaves were the shop's namesake. It had an inside almost as natural as the outside. Ted sniffed the air and caught a whiff of birch and ash.]

Cozy place, eh? Well, if you're looking for work, that might be the thing.

[He'd fatefully point to the sign at the front counter: "Book Hunters".]

If ever your greed could produce a good, I think that would be the best avenue.

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On the fifth Daein | For the Hoard

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