03: In Like A Lion

[theriflespiral]

01: Pancake Week (Elysium)
Much as she despises the Orthodox Church, there was one tradition, Natalia thinks, with which she can truck, and that is the week before Lent being Pancake Week.

She has a small Ether stove and a little chalk sign: IT'S PANCAKE WEEK! Deliver a pancake! Ask me how!, with a small list of fillings, and a drawing of a penguin carrying a pancake wrapped around little herrings and a pleased expression.

Although, the ability to deliver a pancake, still warm, without breaking it, is a hell of a statement for a shipping company to make...


02: To Dance As The Queen Does
Once more, Natalia listens to distantly piped jazz and taps the rhythm carefully, gathering Ether, ice swirling in her hands as she moves to the beat.

And, once again, as her mind fills with other things, the spell breaks, sending little bits of powder snow all across the improvised dance floor, to evaporate.

She hums in annoyance. Of course, by now, surely someone would hear soft or hard jazz and come to investigate.


03: Unfurling Inner Lotus
While much of her time is given to maintaining her front or honing her marksmanship and spellcraft, time must be given to conditioning her body.

This is risky, because unlike the other forms of training, to do it she must engage her energies at their fullest. This is less a risk of her being hurt-- no more than usual-- but rather a risk of discovery; for no one notices a girl with black hair and black eyes, but a girl with blue stars shining in her eyes? Now that has been seen once or twice, to say nothing about how it might touch on the senses of those sensitive to Ether.

But it's the only way to make sure she's training to her utmost, and so utmost she must go-- keeping up with others, never mind the Empire, demands it.

Thus it is that someone as apparently light as Natalia Koutolika is now lifting sacks of shot that are obviously as heavy as she is, and tossing them some distance, besides.


04: Special Deliveries

This was the spot. Natalia stood on the deck of the Humboldt in the little shelter the rocks of the island made, and waited to make contact.

As much as she wanted to recover and utilize larger ships, even ships that might be better suited to the line (intentionally), ships like the little sea sloop were too useful for Penguin Logistics' other purpose: smuggling packages, people, and information.

Was her chronometer wrong? She kept a weather eye out. Who is meeting her? And for what?

Comments

Re: 02

[theriflespiral]

"... You're not wrong. Before, it was just a way to help me blend in. You would be amazed how many forms of dance exist." In truth, of the options that had been given her for social camouflage, she'd taken most eagerly to dancing. If anything she ever did could be said to resemble a hobby, it was this.

"There's still something about it I'm missing... Maybe a different form of dance...?"

[testygirl]

"Something missing, huh? Hm." Aira taps her chin. "When I learned piano as a kid, I did it just so I could win one specific competition and beat the girl who got first place ahead of me the time before. Buuut, now that I'm more mature"—ha—"I think there are certain musicians and artists and dancers who aren't satisfied no matter what. Like, is there even a real end point when it comes to learning that stuff?"

"I don't know." She shrugs, then steps over towards Nat, adding a playful little hop with a flourish. "Maybe you just need to practice with a partner! Hehe."

[theriflespiral]

"It's true, there's no end to the ways a human body can move," Natalia nods. "But in this case I have a specific, actionable goal. I know it's not a one-off miracle, and I know it's something I can keep doing. I want to call the ice. Fully. Or, if not that, figure out how this capability is better directed."

She hums, kneels down, and sets up the record player again, winding its flywheels with abandon until she heard the governing spring winding. "That said, if you are volunteering to help me figure out this dance, I am glad to work with you. I'm not ready to give up for today."

[testygirl]

"Mm! I see, I see. I thought maybe you were just adding that in because it looked pretty. In that case, I totally should have brought my mittens."

That's pretty clearly a joke. The cold shouldn't be too much of an issue, really—particularly if she stays moving.

"And yeah, duh, of course I'm volunteering. We're friends? Sheesh, I hope you don't think I'm going to trample all over your toes or something!"

Declared with a bit of a pout, but her tone is still light and teasing. Aira has practiced some herself, though not a ton. Sadly she doesn't always have the energy, or time.

[theriflespiral]

"And if you did, you'd consider it a point of pride to keep going over it until your toes broke," Natalia said, with a nod. "Though-- perhaps you are not wrong. I have been concentrating much more on-- rhythmic and kinesthetic perfection, dance as recipe and consistent performance, than... matters of expression."

She sets the needle, listening to the familiar static of the record, and extends one hand, palm upward, a hint of a smug smile on her face. Her eyes are black, the inner lotus furled. "If you have a style you prefer, now is the time. Because I will be attempting swing."

[testygirl]

"It just make sense to try a new approach if what you were doing before wasn't working. Pride is pretty worthless if you don't get what you want in the end, and let's just say I wouldn't break my toes for nothing."

Aira ends up squinting a bit in response to Natalia's expression. Is she seeing things? No, she can read that look well enough. Aira takes her hand with a firm, confident grip, and even tugs a little so that they're standing a touch closer.

"Come on. It's jazz, so what else? If you think I can't keep up, then too bad, because I've got a secret weapon. But I'm only gonna use it if you make me."

[theriflespiral]

Ah, yes. The trouble with dancing with other people. Now she remembered, too late to back down. Surely, though, if it was as simple as a heart-warming touch, the magic would have flowed from her easily.

"I'd take that as a challenge if I didn't already know better." The first song is gentle, a sort of warm-up for later, wilder pieces, both for the musician and the listener. She'd liked starting with this one because it was easy to follow and gave her room to enact Ether flow and channeling while keeping the beat.

And so, a basic Lindy to start, as perfect as a metronome, fading from uncertainty into leading if Aira doesn't insist on taking the lead.

But, leading or following, her focus is on reading Aira and looking for room for expression within the clockwork.

[testygirl]

"Maybe it is, smartypants."

The Aira from a few months ago would insist on taking the lead, without a doubt, but the time she's spent with the Corsairs has taught her the importance of playing a supporting role—and revealed the unique sort of satisfaction that comes with it. Natalia has more experience, and she's the one with (in her words) the 'specific, actionable goal.'

All Aira promised to do was keep up, and for that, she appreciates the warmup. Her style bends towards loose and playful, with particular strength in the legs. Her rhythm isn't perfect the way Nat's is, but it's quite good. In an effort to crush that aforementioned piano competition, Aira remembers spending hours and hours practicing with a metronome. At that time, perfection had also been her goal.

[theriflespiral]

She feels the energy, though she would be the first to say that there was no such thing, and what she was reading was Aira's expression, comfort, and skill level.

And so, when that number ended, in the space between it and the next, Natalia nodded. "Rock for two, loop-de-loop, see where we go?"

That gives her time to unfurl the Inner Lotus and consider lining up stunts.

Natalia's rhythm starts to slip slightly, but more uncanny than this, she starts to match Aira's rhythm.

[testygirl]

"Hehe, sure thing. Let's boogie-woogie, scooby-dooby!"

Part of her does wish she'd been more prepped for this, but such is Aira's nature. She's having fun, even if she only half knows what she's doing—and regardless, it's best to learn by doing, right?

Still, she's plenty sharp enough to recognize what Nat is pulling, as far as matching her rhythm. Which earns her a brief shake of the head, with Aira part impressed and part incredulous. This is the first time she's really seen Natalia in action, so to speak.

If anything, her expression/energy/what-have-you is goading Nat into trying a lift, or whatever else she's feeling.

[theriflespiral]

"Hm." In, around, into a somewhat deep cradle. Then Natalia's eyes flicker into blue more fully. Her arm reaches the small of Aira's back.

There is a moment of sudden force. Aira is in the air, separated, and then weightlessness that hangs for at least a beat longer than a normal free-fall would.

From Natalia's perspective, she is, all at once, feeling music, her partner, the Ether flows. It's all a bit overwhelming, but as she catches Aira in a cradle on the opposite arm, her expression betrays very little of her shock.

To Aira, there's a rush of energy, even past whatever excitement she got out of what Natalia just pulled.

To the improvised dance floor, there's a burst of cold wind that rattles the boxes.

No time to stop and analyze; Natalia settles back into the initial choroeography.

[testygirl]

Whoa! There's a pleasant, tingling twirl in Aira's stomach as she floats, and that it lasts for all of a second adds to the dreamlike quality. Magical is probably the best word for it, separate from the actual magic at play. Aira also feels the bite of cold—or more like a nibble—and the tingling runs to her fingertips and toes.

There's no point where it feels like Nat is going to mess up and drop her. That's intriguing on its own; Aira isn't that trusting of a person, but she's also fought in life-or-death struggles, so the risk is comparatively small. Though its more that Natalia has managed to earn some trust just from the low key time they've spent together. Even though she's often inscrutable, there's still the sense of a deep, earnest strength and competency.

"Whoo..."

Back on her feet, Aira's breath hitches, and it takes an off step or two to regain her form.

"Damn. You really do have some moves, huh? That was slick as heck."

[theriflespiral]

She nods dumbly and, for her, anyway, she's having trouble keeping the song's rhythm and starts experiencing her own, the ringing of cracking and shifting ice, the touch of a solid anchor, the way everything-- everything-- is expressing its own Ether and energies... And the pulse, undeniably the beat to the ice's off-beat--

of determination

and anger

beneath so much beautiful nacre.

This ends up expressing itself in a sudden change in her dance, sharper footsteps, quicker turns, the air pressure lowering, and a distant expression, like she can't quite see Aira-- not in the way she's used to.

Natalia will be sorry later, but she is having a somewhat intense experience right now.

[testygirl]

Aira is committed to matching Natalia's movement, even as it grows more chaotic and surreal. The intensity prompts a shift, and Aira taps into her yokai power—the 'secret weapon' she mentioned earlier. It alters her appearance and gives her a vital boost of agility and endurance.

That pulse. Either Aira can feel it too, or she's able to so closely follow Nat's tempo with some uncanny force of her own.

It feels as if she's reduced purely to the motion, to the swing of limbs, to the press and strain of her toes. When she turns, it's like a pirouette of sleet in the wind. Their dance has become a storm.

[theriflespiral]

That storm is more than just metaphor, as hail and, not long after, icicles the size of one's hand, from fingertip to the heel of a palm, begin to crash around them.

One such does in the record player entirely, but if they were still listening to it, why? The ice gathers around them, and Natalia, in her uniform, resembles nothing so much as an icy night sky, whose aurora begins to be covered by a blizzard.

She claps, as if it's the most natural thing to do, and the gathered ice and ambient Ether burst outwards.

She winces as she hears the storm tear through some perfectly good crates, and only now realizes that the record player and the record she'd been playing have gotten a few of those icicles through them. "That..."

She looks around. "... I think it is a good thing I didn't try this with someone other than you or Kaitlyn."

Who knows what damage she might have done to lesser partners.

[testygirl]

It's good that she transformed. Instinctively, Aira extends her hair to ward off any icicles that fall too close for comfort. Then, once everything has settled, the hair recedes and she shifts back to normal. She looks vaguely stunned in the aftermath, but then she cracks a hyped grin that Natalia ought to be familiar with by now.

"Yowza! That was nuts." She looks over her shoulder at the impaled record player and whistles. "But, yeesh. Hope that wasn't too expensive. I know that some antiques can be spendy."

Clearing her throat. "Pretty sure I've met Kaitlyn! She can use ice magic too, right?" Aira frowns a little. "I asked her if she could use her powers to make snow cones, it was this whole thing."

Insert joke about her priorities, yadda yadda.

[theriflespiral]

She nods. "We're working together, here, on Penguin. I'm surprised she went along with it."

She looks over the various markings for the boxes, and is also inspecting the damage. At least they're decent quality wood.

... okay quality wood.

... they're wood, at any rate.

She hopes.

[testygirl]

"You shouldn't be! God."

Aira sounds huffy for the first time. Following Nat's lead, she crouches to inspect some of the other damaged crates. What kind of supplies are in these, anyway? Hopefully nothing too important.

"I've agreed to work with you, and I happen to be very picky. Oh, and I'm pretty sure we've talked about how it isn't cute for you to be all self-deprecating."

[theriflespiral]

She clicks her tongue as she starts looking through. "Might not after this. Several of these manifests are damaged, I'll need to reconstruct them. And none of this stuff is going anywhere until the boxes are replaced."

There's really no sugar-coating it this time. This was absolutely a miscalculation on her part. "... but before it was so small... How...?"

[testygirl]

"It'll be fine! I'll help. I can probably sweet-talk some randos into helping, too."

Though she is going to wait for some instruction from Nat before she touches anything.

"But I do feel kind of bad for you? I got used to controlling my powers really fast, and this all seems like a ton of work. I mean, how's that fair? Obviously I'm a natural, and it's a whole different type of magic or whatever, but still!"

[theriflespiral]

"Mm. The first thing is to get replacement boxes and wood shavings. We have a small supply over there; they'll be the crates full of smaller crates." Natalia starts piecing together the various papers. "I'm going to look through the files and make sure of the manifests. And no random passers-by until we've inspected and made sure there's no obvious contraband."

[testygirl]

This would typically be the part where Aira whines about not being made for manual labor, or something. But she doesn't want to let Natalia down! Even if it feels like her eyes might start to glaze over at any second.

"Okay, crates in crates..."

At least she has Acro Silky's power. Aira transforms again as she heads over, and her hair grows out into strong, thick locks. She uses them to grab up a few of the boxes and tote them over.

[theriflespiral]

She rushes back to the office, and starts rifling through, re-writing a form, and filing the cargoes away as Aira brings the boxes.

After the first load, when she's looking over the manifests, she finally says, with a note of despair, "-- Okay. Now we can hire randos."

These had all been legit. She'd nearly ruined a barely boasted reputation, and risked irreparable damage to the entire operation, and for what? Barely any more insight than before.

She taps in the cheap finishing nails, quickly, one strike of the hammer covering one nail, precisely calculated, each one; more like a living nailgun than a breathing carpenter.

[testygirl]

In the meantime, Aira is also able to locate the bags of wood shavings, and she sets them near the boxes. Then a frown.

"Yeah, hold that thought."

That despairing tone catches her off guard—though should it? She's probably not taking this mishap seriously enough; the distribution of supplies can definitely be a big deal.

"Are you okay? I don't wanna, like, distract you or slow you down. But if you're upset, it doesn't hurt to vent? I mean, I do it all the time."

She lets out a subdued chuckle. Quite a rare moment for Aira to make a joke at her own expense, honestly.

[theriflespiral]

"Trust is extremely important when you offer a service, yes? I risked that trust carelessly." Tap. Tap. Tap. Each nail lands perfectly flush with the crate, each time she brings the hammer down, no expression on her face. "This was... entirely my own miscalculation."

She is protected from joy, but also from sorrow. "I am beginning to think this entire idea is a dead end."