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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 28, 2023 19:27:56 GMT -5
With unwavering confidence, Astrid snaps the visor of the helmet down over her face, and she stands with her fists pressed into either side of her body. She’s ready for something. Just as Veliky starts to protest, she finds that it’s too late. A shadow falls over Astrid. This is a test after all. Whether they’re testing the helmet’s capabilities or Veliky’s ability to control her emotions, it’s hard to tell.
There’s barely enough time to recognize the dull buzz of electricity crackling from above as a figure comes crashing down off the roof. A massive war hammer slams right down onto Astrid’s helmeted head. The enormous force of the swing sends a small gust of cold wind across the yard, followed by the loud ringing of the impact – metal on metal. Strong as she might be, Astrid’s knees buckle under the force, and like a half-dwarf pancake, she’s flattened under this other person.
When the dust settles, the figure hefts the war hammer that rivals their own size over their shoulder, revealing that this other figure turns out to be none other than Astrid herself. She has a triumphant grin like she’s just done something clever. The person wearing the helmet pushes themselves up, clearly dazed but otherwise unharmed. It’s obvious they’re seeing stars. But wait, that’s Astrid in the helmet, and that’s Astrid with the hammer. Hammerstrid pulls Helmetstrid up to her feet and dusts her off, patting her shoulder and congratulating her for taking the massive hit like a champ. Then she sets the hammer down with a soft thud in the grass and carefully pulls the helmet off to inspect the results.
The helmet, of course, is damaged. It just took a full-powered strike from a very strong tiny smith. As Hammerstrid feels the padding inside the helmet, she grins even wider. The top buckled slightly under the pressure, but the helmet is still perfectly wearable. It might not absorb another strike, but it took the hit effectively. In fact, despite the metal’s new concave shape in the crown, the interior of the helmet still feels comfortable with no sharp corners that would stab into the scalp. A successful test overall, she thinks.
“Here ya go,” she says, offering the helmet to Veliky to inspect.
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Post by Veliky on Mar 2, 2023 21:11:46 GMT -5
Stupefied. Veliky wouldn't know this word, but it's the most accurate term to describe her in this context. The sudden squall and detonation of dust are enough to activate the fight-or-flight function that's become such a staple in her life. Immediately, she's in a different mode, arm raised to protect her eyes as her mind races through dozens of possibilities. Some sort of natural disaster? A lightning strike, maybe? No - an attack. From who? Or from what?
Once the dust is little more than a puffy blanket on the ground, she uncovers her eyes and raises her right fist, ready to incant and eyes forward; only to find herself watching in baffled silence as Astrid helps Astrid to her feet.
'Part of the performance.' Veliky interpolates as she gradually settles into a more regular (albeit somewhat disquieted) bearing. 'No danger.'
...She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't a little annoyed. If she didn't know any better, she'd think that Astrid was intentionally trying to panic her, and she's starting to question if she knows better. Why's this girl so hell-bent on mocking her? Does Cantio get this treatment...?
Or maybe she just wanted to show off this new trick. Even as the helmet is offered to her, Veliky can't help but look the apparent replicant up and down. It's just like her own magic. This is the copy, right? Not the original? Yes, it must be - Veliky knows from experience, that replicants are incapable of causing harm in the way that Astrid very much just did. And it can't be a clone, as those are distinctly non-corporeal.
'Where'd she learn this kind of-?' But that's when a realization occurs to her: that a certain legendary witch has recently become Cantio's quote-on-quote "mother" and, by extension, Astrid's quote-on-quote "grandma." And, at that recollection, Veliky can't help but become disillusioned. 'Teaching potentially dangerous magic to a child... Why am I not surprised?'
But even disregarding Kamille's dubious grandparenting sense, the fact that Astrid's been learning new magic *while* developing this equipment is...
'Impressive. Hell of a lot to get done in just a few months.'
And with that, she finally returns to her ordinary disposition and accepts the helm. "Right." is her only verbal acknowledgement of the whole affair. And only when she seems better-composed do the nearby bots lower their weapons. She, it would seem, wasn't the only one fooled.
Needless to say, the helmet outsizes her. Too large for her to even hold in her hands, it has to be rolled about on the ground in order to be properly examined.
"..." Silence: an unwelcome return. The energy of Astrid's theatrics sinks, sinks, sinks further until what's left is mind-numbing awkwardness.
'She wasn't holding back, that's for sure. A coif definitely wouldn't have stopped that; a spectacle would've been bent out of shape. This took a dent, but nothing too bad. A Sol knight probably wouldn't have gotten up, though they probably wouldn't have let it happen in the first place. Regardless...'
Her eyes narrow, examining that dent for far too many seconds.
'Is it good enough?'
...
She looks up, but her eyes are closed. She lets in a long, congested sniff... and then exhales as her ice-blue irises glow again.
She lets go of the helm, allowing it to rest upon the ground.
"Astrid." she begins plainly, without hint in tone nor expression to betray her thoughts. It's the same that it's always been, stoic and calculating.
But it's another moment before she continues. Finding the best way to say whatever it is she's about to say...
"I asked you to make a helmet - a masterpiece - to prove that you have what it takes to work at Platinum Corp."
She glances at the resting helm, and the dent at its cap, and then back to Astrid.
"...You made me a helmet. And you also made me a mouse. And drill. And, apparently, some things I haven't seen yet. And," She glances at Bstrid. "you learned some new magic. And, despite my warnings to the contrary, you've been making a name for yourself by getting into all sorts of havoc. Hell, rumour for rumour, more people are talking about 'the prodigal smith of the house of lightning' than they are 'the pint-sized CEO of the boogeyman corp.' You, as it turns out, have been extremely busy."
With both hands, she lifts the helmet up. It gleams in a ray of stray sunlight. "...And it's a pretty damn good helmet, too." She lifts it up to be taken by one of the pawns, nearby. "You have exceeded all my expectations, including ones that I didn't know I had. Your talents far surpass near every engineer, near every adventurer, and damn near every smith I've ever seen."
She steps forward and extends a now-free hand, in an offer of a handshake.
"You're hired."
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Mar 15, 2023 20:41:50 GMT -5
As confident as Astrid is in her creation and her performance, the heavy silence that follows while Veliky inspects the helmet does nothing to quell the pit that’s been growing in her stomach ever since first unveiling her creations. Veliky’s unwillingness to show what’s going through her mind makes things a bit uncomfortable. If things go poorly when the quarterling finally does speak, then… This is going to be awkward. Soul crushing, too, but definitely awkward.
What would she even do in the event that Veliky rejects her and her efforts? If she rejects one, does that mean she rejects the other? The glee starts to fade from Astrid’s face with the energy falling from her smile in the silence. What happens if this doesn’t go how she expected? Nothing today has gone as she expected. Maybe it was foolish to expect kind words from Veliky. That’s not the kind of person the businesswoman is.
With each passing moment, the tension in Astrid’s shoulders grows. She runs out of energy to maintain the dazed replicant and lets it fade away in a shower of sparks behind her. She’ll need every ounce of energy to maintain herself in the face of rejection. Hearing her name break the silence sends a jolt through Astrid, and she anxiously watches Veliky. Here it comes.
P-Praise? Huh? Astrid falls a bit slack-jawed listening to Veliky to the point that she almost doesn’t process the final words nor the handshake extended to her. It’s a thousand yard stare without focus. Finally, she realizes there’s a hand extended in her direction, and she blinks a few times, meeting Veliky’s eyes properly for the first time in several painful minutes. “Huh?”
Veliky blinks twice. "You're hired." she reiterates. "You passed the test."
Everything Veliky said finally works its way through Astrid’s mind, little pieces of information jumping through the electrical currents that power her brain. For a moment, she, in essence, short-circuited. It clicks, and Astrid seems to return to her senses. She looks at Veliky then at her hand then at Veliky again. A moment of clarity crosses Astrid’s face, and she takes a breath, lets the tension out of her shoulders, then opens her mouth to speak, standing as properly as she can manage in the moment.
“Miss Veliky, I’m glad I impressed ya, but…” What’s left of Astrid’s energy falls. Is she really about to say what she thinks she is? “I can’t.”
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Post by Veliky on Mar 15, 2023 20:42:21 GMT -5
...
There's that silence again -- that silence of unspoken thoughts, and of unreadable intent. Veliky's hand falls to her side, even as her expression remains blank.
'...She can't?' It's all Veliky can wonder. She'd like to complete the thought, somehow, but nothing comes to mind that could possibly elucidate Astrid's words. Why would the little smith have brought her here, shown her all of this work, if not to fulfill her part of the bargain?
Veliky finds herself inclined to ask a question that she wouldn't ask anyone else. For those other candidates, she would've dismissed them immediately, but this is... simply too perplexing.
"...And why is that." Somehow, it's spoken more as a statement than a query.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Mar 15, 2023 21:21:56 GMT -5
“I–”
Astrid loses her words. This is something she wanted for a long time, ever since she met Veliky months ago in Sky Peak. Why would she turn it down? Her eyes drop to look at her hands. Even through her thick work gloves, she can see them trembling slightly. The pent-up anxiety finally forced its way out, huh?
She looks at Veliky again, trying to figure out how to explain it. How does she explain that the cold unimpressed stare after presenting something she considered her crowning achievement made her feel small and unimportant? How does she explain that as confident as she was going into all of this, she spent the last half hour caught in a state of mild panic that months of hard work wouldn’t have been good enough? Would she have had the energy or drive to do better? All she has to give is her best, and if her best wasn’t enough, then what would she have done?
Does that matter? Veliky just said it: her best surpasses almost all others. It’s clearly the highest praise that Veliky could ever offer. She should be ecstatic. So why doesn’t she feel better about it?
The tremors in her hand pull her attention again. Oh. That’s why. She’s just… chasing praise from someone who might never give it again. If Veliky becomes her boss, then she has more reason to nitpick things and demand better. Astrid wants to create things because she likes to do that. She put her all into the few things she unveiled, and she has more ideas, but what happens if those run out? Will Veliky toss her aside like a broken bot?
Astrid’s eyes pull up from the ground to meet Veliky’s ever icy stare. “I don’t wanna hafta keep provin’ meself to ya,” she finally says. “I don’t wanna feel like I’m not good enough. I wanna work fer ya, I really do. I wanna build amazin’ thin’s that wow people the way the bots inspired me.” Her hands move animatedly as she speaks, then she looks at them in front of her and balls her hands into fists before letting them fall to her sides with a sigh. It takes a moment for her to continue, trying to find the courage to say the next words. “I… don’t wanna be afraid of the way ya look at me. I don’t wanna feel small or like we can’t be friends…”
The little mouse returns with its quarry: one of Cantio’s socks, and it bumps into Astrid’s foot after having dragged the much larger object through the yard. Astrid reaches down and carefully picks both the mouse and the sock, looking at the tiny, fragile creature that she designed to work when tension is applied to a spring. But the tension’s nearly run out.
“I made this fer ya because I wanted ta, an’ ya just… didn’t really react…” Astrid says, looking at the mouse sadly as the last life sputters out of it. “I worked really hard on it, an’ I thought ya’d really love it. Maybe ya do, but I couldn’t– can’t… tell…” She walks over to Veliky and offers to set the mouse in her hand. “I wanna build stuff, I wanna make ya proud, an’ I wanna feel good about it.”
It’s hard to meet Veliky’s eyes when she says her last piece. “...I don’t wanna remember times when someone made me feel unimportant when ya look at me."
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Post by Veliky on Apr 1, 2023 22:42:49 GMT -5
A cold breeze rolls through, carrying sounds of marketplace chatter from below. It only accentuates the silence present as Veliky stands, eyes blank and unmoving at Astrid's heartfelt words. Clicks from the bots' mechanisms fill the air that is otherwise only saturated with smothering awkwardness.
A cold breeze rolls through.
...
"You want me... to be proud of you?" It's an earnest question -- as earnest as anything Veliky has spoken -- suffused with a confusion that sounds so unfamiliar on the businesswoman's voice.
Astrid manages a small, defeated nod. “Aye, I do,” she says quietly, almost as if masking shame or embarrassment. It’s honest, though. For whatever reason, she’s chasing that feeling of being told she’s done well, the high of validation that lasts as long as someone allows it to. With a shrug, she continues, “I dunno, maybe I just wanted ta know I was worth yer attention, ta show ya I was takin’ ya seriously an’ doin’ me best ta be worthy of workin’ fer ya, ta be worthy of the help ya gave me before…”
'Worthy...?' With calm, deliberate motions, she accepts the little mouse into her cupped hands. It twists its little neck with a buzz, just to look up to her with gleaming eyes. Still, its key turns in place.
Veliky is not unfamiliar with this feeling, that need to attain affirmation -- that little scrap of evidence, whatever it might be, that she's on the right path.
'But why me? The results should tell her all she needs to know. She's build things, and they work well; and she's made a killing in mercenary work. Every solar she's earned is proof of her success. Why would she need me to validate that?'
There’s a long pause as Astrid recalls all the things Veliky has done for her: helped her off the streets, rewarded her a bot, gifted her a home, and is now offering a job. Veliky's efforts have given Astrid a lot of stability. And yet as far as Astrid can tell, Veliky sees her as an investment for her company and nothing more.
“I guess I just wanna know ya care about me fer me, an’... an’ not just an investment.”
Veliky draws a quiet, but sharp breath, and goes silent. And silent, she remains for some time. Not once does she take her eyes off this little machine that whirrs cowers in her hands.
'But she is just an investment[1].' she tells herself. It's this belief that's allowed her to interact with Astrid at all. This is business. She's a professional. She can't be biased toward any of her employees; she can't hold anything that would sway her. A corporation is a machine of which she must be only a part.
'But if that means that she doesn't want to work for me, then...'
The little mouse' key turns slower and slower. Its movements are more sluggish than before, as if it's ready to fall asleep...
But then she brings a thumb just behind its metal ear, and rubs it gently with her gloved hand. At the simple touch, it raises its head, almost pushing into her finger and seeking more.
...
"Wait here, Astrid." she suddenly says. It's a quiet command, but a forceful one. She hands the mouse off to one of the bots, turns around and begins walking toward the house.
But then she stops, halted by a feeling at the back of her mind. She can feel something radiating from Astrid, like an aura of doubt.
A realization comes grimly to her. 'Someone who made her feel unimportant...'
She looks over her shoulder. In her eyes, there's a quiet ferocity.
"Belay that." Her fierce reprimand toward Astrid seems almost to come unprovoked. "Give me three minutes. And if I'm not back by then, I'll let you keep track of the interest. 20%, compounding every minute."
She holds Astrid's gaze, her eyes maintaining that flame -- stalwart passion that says she won't move until Astrid believes it. It's a fierce gaze; not quite one of anger, but intense nonetheless.
"I honour my deals. If I don't, then I'm not worth your time."
With that said, she turns away and marches off. With a simple wave of her hand[2], she commands the front door to open, and then she disappears inside.
...A minute passes. And then another. Not a word is spoken among the bots, who stand like palace guards, almost as if keeping Astrid prisoner. She's left only with the faint clicking of their mechanisms, and of the sounds and smells that occasionally drift up from the marketplace. It's a quiet day. And at the forty-seventh second of the final minute, the door to the manor opens, and a tiny businesswoman steps out. Down the steps she comes. There's an uncertainty in the way she walks, and she keeps her gaze down with a sudden timidness.
But then she extends her arm, offering Astrid a strange little device[3] of bland metal, consisting of a small bead with a crescent-shaped hook.
"Put this on." She commands, looking away. "Hook it around your ear so that the bead is resting just inside the lobe, and then lightly tap it. Understood?"
1. Smooth Talking 2. Minor Trickery 3. (Red Rogue's Hood) Clandestine Rogue's Earpiece
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Apr 1, 2023 23:55:22 GMT -5
She said it. She poured her heart out. She said everything that she’s been feeling since Veliky first arrived and looked upon her inventions with an unwavering, unimpressed stare. She just wants to be good enough to deserve everything that Veliky has done for her, but she wants to be looked at as she is: a kid who just wants to be loved.
So when Astrid says as much, and Veliky inhales sharply, followed by a long silence, she prepares herself for the worst. To lose her opportunity, to lose whatever attention she’s garnered from a notable businesswoman, to lose a friend. The silence is uncomfortable. Astrid draws her eyes up to see Veliky looking at the mouse in her hands with a surprising softness to her person.
The moment is suddenly interrupted by a simple command. A simple, harmless sentence.
“Wait here, Astrid.”
Somehow, all emotion falls from Astrid’s face, replaced by an empty, thousand yard stare. Three simple words take her back to a moment years ago. Her mother’s tired face looks upon her after having sat her down on a bench in Sky Peak. “Wait here, Astrid. I’ll be right back.” At that time, the half-dwarf was chipper, confident, and unafraid of the consequences of sitting and waiting. But now? Well, she’s just a scared little girl, isn’t she? Her vision flashes between her mother’s back and Veliky’s as they both walk away from her.
Until she’s suddenly met by Veliky’s icy eyes, fierce but not angry. Astrid blinks away the memory. Despite her small stature, Veliky commands presence. It’s hard not to focus on her. Three minutes. Okay. Astrid nods hesitantly.
"I honour my deals. If I don't, then I'm not worth your time."
The way that affirmation sinks like a rock into the muck that makes up Astrid’s emotional state manages to ground her too. That’s right. Veliky has invested time and money into her, and to a businesswoman, those things are important. But… That sentence shows that Veliky values her time and efforts too.
There’s something about the whole exchange that’s been a little weird, hasn’t it?
So she nods again, one solid motion of her head with a slight furrow to her brow. “Three minutes.”
And a long three minutes they are. Astrid doesn’t bother counting. She doesn’t mind waiting – she waited five years for someone who never returned, didn’t she? If a few agonizing moments go by, she can decide to stop waiting. The clicking of the bots’ mechanisms seems to count the seconds.
Finally, Veliky returns and offers Astrid the strange bead on a hook. Is it an earring? Before she can ask, Veliky explains what to do, so she follows instructions like a good little intern. With her finger touching the bead, Astrid looks at Veliky expectantly, but also with confused curiosity. What the heck is this about?
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Post by Veliky on Apr 2, 2023 1:24:38 GMT -5
For whatever reason, Veliky flinches when Astrid taps the earpiece, as if someone had placed a needle to their arm.
At first, nothing else happens. Tapping the device made a peculiar sound in Astrid's ear, but nothing that seemed intrinsically magical. But then there comes a sensation like being showered in freezing water. It's a strange, exhilarating and visceral instant; and then it's gone, replaced by a peculiar and mystifying feeling of enlightenment. It's the sort of euphoria that one feels after solving a challenging riddle. It's as if she's suddenly developed a sixth sense; she's aware of hundreds, maybe even thousands of presences all across the continent, each one shining like a star, but close enough to touch!
And one of them is standing right in front of her. At a closer look, around the quarterling's ear is a device[1] that's identical in all aspects but size. And yet the look in her eyes is full of remorse.
Veliky breathes deeply, gathering courage... and then taps the one in her ear, as well. That sensation, though somewhat lesser now, returns to Astrid's mind; and in a dimension beyond sight or sound, words form in her thoughts.
Can you hear me, Astrid?
Astrid's taken aback by the strange feeling flooding through her mind. The curiosity from before only increases. At first it feels a bit overwhelming, but that subsides as she focuses on Veliky who... looks sad?
"Aye, I can hear ya," she responds aloud, not quite understanding how to will the words from her mind into Veliky's. It's so weird to have her voice in her mind like this. The magic to make this happen seems incredible. "Um, why are ya... talkin' in me head?"
Now, it's Veliky that's taken aback. Reeling as if she'd just been punched, she grits her teeth in frustration.
Not out loud! the voice snaps back. I gave you the earpiece for a reason!
The half-dwarf startles at the viscera in her mind from Veliky. In all the conversations they've had, she can't recall a single time Veliky's ever... well, been angry like this. After a moment to recover, Astrid focuses hard and responds to Veliky, this time within her mind. I-I figured, I just... It feels weird ta use. Why'd ya give me this?
The halfling takes another breath, this one clearly done moreso to calm herself than to prepare for anything. Her arms are crossed, though there remains a certain hesitance -- or perhaps a certain timidness -- in her posture.
...Because there are things I should say, that I'm not allowed to say out-loud.
Astrid looks Veliky up and down with a more furrowed brow than before. This kind of behavior seems out of character for Veliky, and she's struggling to decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but... Well, Astrid has always been convinced Veliky is soft and squishy behind a hard, businesswoman façade. It's just strange to see it in actuality.
The fact that she can't say it aloud causes some confusion, but it doesn't take long for Astrid to lean into this strange, silent conversation. This is Veliky opening up to her for the first time; this is something Astrid's been hoping for since they met. So she nods again, resolute in her expression. Alright. I'm listenin'.
Veliky's eyes remain closed for a time, ponderous and apprehensive. One can see the formulation of a hundred words behind her eyelids -- a hundred abandoned ideas before anything surfaces at all. By the time the voice returns, Veliky has turned away.
I'm sorry. Brief and forceful, like ripping off a wax-cloth and sounding just as painful. In the confession's wake, Veliky's body shakes with a mix of relief and regret in equal measure.
And the confession continues, spilling like a flood through a ruptured dam. What you've shown me today, was incredible. I've never seen someone so young, able to produce such innovative products in so little time. Every invention was more surprising than the last: the helmet was everything I expected, and then some; the drill is an astounding improvement over the prototype that was already an achievement; and the mouse demonstrates a level of artificing skill that I've only ever seen once before. And...
Her shoulders sink, defeated.
And it isn't just today. Your performance in the Zeinav operation, and at the mine, and at all the other jobs that I wasn't even a part of; far surpassed everything I ever expected of you. The truth is, I... She pauses. And then looks over her shoulder, if only slightly -- enough to see that her expression is full of remorse. The voice, as it comes through, is cracked and weak. I was always proud of you, from the moment we met. Even seeing you on the streets, I knew that I was looking at a survivor. And everything you've done since then has only made me more proud... But...
She turns away again. A cold, unpleasant breeze brushes her little golden locks, carrying the citric scent of begonias to Astrid's nose. We can't be friends -- not in the way that you're saying. I'm supposed to be a businesswoman -- a leader. And above all, leaders need to be impartial. To me, you just need to be another employee; and to you, I need to just be an employer. That's how this works, and that's why I couldn't say anything.
1. (Red Rogue's Hood) Clandestine Rogue's Earpiece
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Apr 2, 2023 2:11:04 GMT -5
The apology comes as somewhat of a surprise to Astrid. There’s a number of things Veliky might apologize for, but what is it that she finds the most important? Before Astrid can ask, the quarterling continues. What falls from her mental mouth is only praise for everything the half-dwarf presented to her today. Unbidden tears spring into Astrid's eyes. She does her best to keep them from falling, but the last hour has been emotionally exhausting, and for it to culminate into this..? A simple “this looks good” would have sufficed, Astrid thinks. That's what she expected, anyway. As long as whatever was said was genuine, it wouldn't have mattered what it was. Even critical feedback would've been better than silence. Instead, the words Veliky has for her are so much more than she imagined ever hearing from the businesswoman.
So why does Veliky look so pained in expressing it? Why does she have to express it in this strange, silent way? There must be a reason, but what it could possibly be evades Astrid. Maybe Veliky just struggles to say things out loud? Either way, everything she says brings a wash of relief through her system, one she doesn’t necessarily expect, and she rubs her eyes to keep the tears from staining her cheeks.
When Veliky turns away with a face full of regret saying that they can’t be friends, that the businesswoman must be impartial, a purely transactional relationship between employee and employer, Astrid’s brow furrows and a deep frown crosses her face.
It doesn’t have to be that way at all.
That’s only how it works if ya decide it is, Astrid says with a familiar warmth and confidence in her telepathic voice. Thin’s don’t hafta be all business all the time, do they? No one’s around here ta judge ya or get upset with ya fer havin’ a personal life. Havin’ people ta care about’s important. It helps ya get through the tough days knowin’ ya have folks waitin’ on ya at home ready ta lift ya up… Astrid’s own eyes drift down as she shrugs. That helps me a lot, anyway.
Her fingers come up to play with the bead resting in her ear, a bit of an anxious fidget while she considers what else she could even say in this situation. It’s so utterly bizarre; it feels good, affirming, but so confusing. There’s no one else around, she finally says. We’re just in the yard. There’s only the two of us an’ the bots… I guess I don’t get why we couldn’t just… talk out loud. I s'pose I get it a little bit. All that stuff might've been hard ta say out loud. A-And don't get me wrong, I'm real happy ya said it. Real, real happy... She wipes a stray tear again. It um... It felt real nice ta hear.
As she recovers from the moment, Astrid's green eyes glisten in the afternoon light when she looks at Veliky again, her own friendly ferocity on her face in the form of an obnoxious grin. If we can’t be friends, then family’ll hafta do.
She might be testing her luck too much.
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Post by Veliky on Apr 3, 2023 18:40:37 GMT -5
There's no one else around.
Veliky grimaces, still facing away. How can she tell Astrid, without telling her? How can she explain that Astrid's wrong in a way that the kid will understand or, at least, accept? How can she tell Astrid that it *does* have to be this way, even if she wanted it to be different? How can she explain that she isn't allowed to be close to people; whether it's Astrid, Sylva or anyone else? How can she explain that there's a reason they can't speak out-loud?
How can she explain that they might not be alone?
...
She made Astrid happy. She can still hear failed attempts to stifle tears. Veliky never understood why people cry when they're feeling joy. Aren't tears reserved for sorrow?
Still... It makes her feel warm, inside. It's a selfish form of joy, and she already feels the regret accumulating like sedimentary sugar in her lungs. Is this a normal feeling? She feels so disgusted with herself.
They can't be friends. Maybe Veliky can be a little more open in her praise of Astrid's accomplishments, but even that is pushing boundaries. She has to tell Astrid that this will remain professional at all times, if she can just think of how to do so without breaking the poor foundling's heart...
If we can’t be friends, then family’ll hafta do.
It's as if Veliky were just dropped into a freezing lake. She feels her every muscle tense as her mind stutters to a halt, and her mental processes begin to criss-cross with her inner voice garbling as if it were underwater. It's as if her shield were just knocked brazenly aside, and Astrid's blade were now plunged into Veliky's heart. This must be how it feels when she throws a Nova Bomb at someone: she's utterly stunned.
Too much time has passed in silence. She slowly turns around, to face Astrid with saucer-wide eyes. A sentence forms in her mind -- something to question just what Astrid means in saying such a thing -- but all that she mentally utters is Huh?
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Apr 3, 2023 19:13:31 GMT -5
It’s very rare that Astrid sees Veliky emote. Granted, this is only their fifth encounter, but that doesn’t matter – she got adopted by Cantio on their second encounter. Finding a connection with someone is important, and she’s going to hold on to the people she connects with the best that she can. Sure, she made a bold telepathic claim in some attempt to quell whatever fences Veliky has to put up to keep their relationship strictly business, but Astrid certainly did not expect Veliky to look like she’d just been struck through the heart.
Quick, figure out a way to explain yourself.
Well, it’s just uh… she starts, immediately fumbling over her words. Astrid’s hands dance in circles around themselves as she tries to come up with a good reason why she said that. Why did she say that?
Oh, because it worked on Cantio.
Pivot.
I mean, wouldn’t yer other employees think it’s a bit weird fer ya ta… ya know, –Astrid motions to the manor behind the quarterling.– build a big expensive house fer 'just another employee'? Is that a stretch? It might be a stretch. I ain’t worried about provin’ meself ta no one else in Platinum Corp. If they claim I got in because of– uh– what’s the word..? Nepootism! If they think I got meself in ‘cause of nepootism, they’ve got another thin’ comin’ ‘cause I’ll outbuild ‘em all!
Astrid’s mental voice becomes sheepish with the follow up, her eyes cutting away awkwardly as her fingers fidget with the leather of her gloves. Erm, that’s ta say if ya… Well, if I didn’t just… screw meself out of an offer, I mean.
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Post by Veliky on Apr 7, 2023 20:35:02 GMT -5
Veliky is someone who knows how to glean the unspoken meanings in words. It's something that develops naturally from working in commerce: there is what is spoken; there is what is meant; and then there is what is neither spoken or meant, but revealed nonetheless. It's this skill that's made her one of the greatest diplomats in the world, and the knowledge of how to manipulate this third meaning is how she's able to lie so flawlessly.
Astrid does not possess such skill. When she speaks, someone like Veliky can read her like a book.
But what Veliky sees... The sudden change in tone, the backpedaling, the desperation to explain herself, the way she averts her eyes; it all points to a truth that Veliky could never have expected. At least, that's what she tries to tell herself. But she knew; deep down, she knew, however much she lied. Astrid wants Veliky to be part of the family. She wants to love Veliky, and... she wants Veliky to love her, too. And Veliky finds herself faced with the question that she didn't want to answer.
'Why?' Veliky is just someone she met, a cold-hearted mogul that's judged and belaboured her, and not even for more than a few months. She'd known that Astrid looked up to her, largely in thanks to the Blixtbots™, but... 'No. It makes sense; how had I not seen it before? Astrid's finally found a father, but just one parent is hardly enough to really raise a child. She wants a whole family... And she wants me to be part of it.'
Just what does the foundling see in her? A sister? An Aunt? It doesn't matter; there's a question far more pressing. It's one that Veliky's never really been able to answer -- not since she was a child, herself.
'How?' As Astrid waits, Veliky simply stands, frozen in place. She's a businesswoman. She hasn't been anything else since she was young. She doesn't know how to be a sister, or a mother, or a grandmother, or an aunt. Astrid wants for her to be more than a boss, but...
She's only ever been an employer.
...
She knows she isn't supposed to do this. She knows that she's meant to stay impartial, seeing all her employees as equal and judging them only on the quality and efficiency of their work. She knows that the bond that Astrid demands would be a weakness that the system will never tolerate... But if she needs to be more in order to win Astrid's loyalty, then what can she do?
She's been taught to hold the greater good above all, that small evils are sometimes necessary to benefit the world at large. She now faces a circumstance where the morals that she's learned would act against her -- a path that would lead to prosperity, but not designed for the ideals on which she treads. The greater good. The greater good...
'It's for the greater good[1].'
The decision has been made. It resounds like the ringing of a church bell, sending painful reverberations through her. She stands at the confluence of fates: regret for the past, and what she could've done differently; and apprehension for the future, what consequences might come of this. But here is the present, where anxiety now chokes her like saltwater in her lungs. But, for what it's worth, Veliky possesses a strong determination; breaking through that wall -- the wall she built herself -- she summons her focus and sends her decision-made-manifest.
Okay. And the silence is broken. The word leaves Veliky like a stone from her gut -- just as painfully, although the weight has been lifted. Her chest hurts so much that it feels ready to explode, and she can feel her face aflame and likely turning a soft shade of pink, but it's done. We... We can be family.
1. Smooth Talking
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Apr 7, 2023 21:48:25 GMT -5
We can? Astrid mentally blurts. She’s completely caught off guard by the fact that she didn’t even have to directly ask. Actually, she’s more caught off guard by the fact that Veliky was the one who came out and said it. In all honesty, Astrid expected some kind of negotiation to happen, so the fact that Veliky just relented and accepted the pseudo proposal was surprisingly…easy.
That was easier than I thought it was gonna be, she finally admits when all the gears stop turning in her mind. The surprise falls from her face in exchange for a head tilted grin offered to Veliky. I mean, I woulda taken ‘friends,’ but if yer gonna offer up bein’ family, I’ll take it!
Then the child steps toward the quarterling with purpose and confidence before she drops to her knees in front of Veliky and throws her arms around her – a brave move for someone who so deeply feared the rejection of the very woman she’s now hugging. Astrid’s hug is firm but not inescapable. The last thing she wants to do is make Veliky feel trapped.
Her voice comes gently, a hopeful whisper. “No take backs. Yer a proper businesswoman who won’t go back on yer word, ain’t ya?” Astrid finally sits back on her knees, grinning nervously at Veliky.
“Erm, is it too late ta accept yer job offer?”
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Post by Veliky on Apr 7, 2023 22:57:56 GMT -5
What'd she expect?
For all her understanding of how to speak with people, emotions are an unpredictable thing (the emotions of children, especially so). She didn't know how exactly Astrid would react to her acceptance, but she'd narrowed it down to the most likely options: confusion, tears, or sass. Lo and behold, it was the third one.
And while Veliky still feels as if a stone just vacated her chest... She hardly has the energy to be angry. Instead, she simply looks down in a combination of annoyance and embarrassment. Her face is so hot, it feels like the midst of Summer, or like Drakolt. The muscles in her face are aching; she doesn't think she's expressed herself this much in months. Where to go from here? She supposes all she can do is grit her teeth and bear it; there'll assuredly be much more of this jeering, if they're really going to be... family...
This isn't okay... She shouldn't be doing this. But it's too late to back down. And so she looks up -- only to see something makes her heart stop again.
Before she can so much as speak, it is upon her, wrapping its bulky arms around her little frame with...
...
No. It's just Astrid, wrapping Veliky in a warm, earnest embrace. It's much the same as last time; in fact, they're hardly ten steps from the place where Astrid first broke down and clutched Veliky in her arms, the day that Veliky first brought them here. 'So she meant it then, too...'
Before long, Astrid's broken away, rising to her knees and still looking down at the little quarterling whose paintingesque visage has been besmirched with many shades of red.
"...Of course it's not too late, dart." she practically mutters as she adjusts her collar, adding a certain vehemence to the Halfling word whose meaning need not be known to be understood. "And of course I won't take back my word. Just-... We need to establish some rules." Trying her best to maintain an air of dignity, she points to the bead now resting in Astrid's ear. "Whenever you want to talk about... family stuff, only do it through that. Understood?"
Without giving Astrid so much as a breath, Veliky turns away, arms crossed with huffy authority.
"And no doing what you just did without asking first, and only when we're somewhere private. You'll need to learn to restrain yourself if this is going to work."
Finally, she turns back, pointing an obtrusive finger close at Astrid's face and nearly touching her nose.
"And under absolutely no circumstances will you tell anyone about this, understood?! Not Cantio, not Wolfe or anyone else."
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Apr 7, 2023 23:41:14 GMT -5
Okay, even the hug went well. Good, good, good. There’s a certain amount of nervous energy that Astrid shakes out of her hands when Veliky turns away. The beet red shade to Veliky’s face goes unnoticed, but Astrid decides she’s pushed her luck a bit too much. “Dart? What’s that? Some sorta title or pet name or somethin’? I wonder what I’ll call ya…” She mutters the last bit thoughtfully. Hmm… Well, daughter isn’t right. Cousin seems odd. What’s parent-adjacent?
Pulled out of her thoughts, she looks at Veliky wide eyed and full of attention. “Rules? Aye, rules are fine,” Astrid agrees. She has to tread a line here and prove she can be a good employee. Oh, right, she should officially accept that. Maybe they need a do ov–
Touching the bead in her ear, she starts to ask, “Why only–” She can’t get the words out before Veliky continues, and Astrid wonders if those assassins she’s never seen or heard from will do something to either of them if they hear about this. That seems silly though.
Nodding vigorously to the next point, she says, “Aye, ask first. That’s fair. Sorry fer catchin’ ya off guard… again. An’ none of that when we’re workin’. Separatin’ business an’ personal stuff. Got it.” Suddenly, Veliky’s finger is in Astrid’s face, and the girl reacts very much in the way a pup being accused of getting into the trash. If her ears could lay back flat against her head, they would.
But she quickly becomes indignant. “Huh? Why can’t I tell Cantio or Wolfe? They’re me family, I tell ‘em everythin’. Cantio’s good at tellin’ if I’m hidin’ somethin’, an’ if he can’t, Melodia can. Ain’t gettin’ nothin’ by them, ya know.” Astrid looks cross-eyed at Veliky’s finger and lets the intrusive thoughts win. She leans forward slightly so Veliky's finger boops her nose. Then Astrid gets to her feet with an amused smile. "Might as well tell ‘em up front an’ then make them keep it a secret. Not that I really get why it’s gotta be a secret. Why is it I can’t tell no one?”
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