[Seasonal Event] Spring Cleaning

The great library had weathered many Long Nights before Jigano had arrived, but this was the first for their new guildhall. He had locked the metal-sheathed door tight, and the main hall and inner rooms had survived intact, but the two rooms against the edge of the Atheneum, with the high windows, had suffered some damage. The dirt that filled their window wells had trickled in through the broken one and cracked the glass of the remaining window, and made a bit of a mess of the floor, with worse in the future now that the spring rains were returning. There was work to be done now that the snows had melted, and the lorekeeper was eager to begin, buoyed by the return of light and life to the world, and the retreat of the monsters.

Buoyed, too, by what he had done with Amalia and Edy and Rory, and the joy that they had brought to those who sheltered in the Sanctuary. It had been bought in madness and pain… but, in the end, it had been worth it, he thought. Not just for people they had helped, but in how it had bound three of them closer together. There was something there that he was only beginning to let himself explore, a possibility he had closed himself off to long ago. Something fragile and precious and warm… something he had lost, and something else he had never found. Something… that deserved time, to unfold slowly.

And he was keeping it deliberately vague, for fear of putting too much pressure on himself or anyone else, to try and make what was happening be something it was not. Which meant, rather than dwelling on it too deeply, he needed distraction. And what better distraction than physical labor?

So it was that the elegant bard bound back his sleeves and was found at the outside of the Atheneum with a shovel, starting to dig in the dirt in the bright Flowerbirth sunshine – a task he didn’t look terribly well-suited to at the best of times, slender as he was.

Sam was on a long, contemplative walk. The debris left from Longnight seemed a fitting melancholy backdrop to his depressed thoughts of things lost and things yet to do. Truthfully the guild he had joined was barely on his mind, the responsibilities long forgotten in the sudden rush of his heartbreak and the change of season. But as he passed the Atheneum he looked up at the sound of Jigano's shovel and upon seeing the other man work, a shot of guilt passed through him. He had not even asked if any help was needed...! Immediately, shaken from his dreary sadness, he walked over and looked at Jigano from under the rim of his large hat (necessary for sun protection). "J-Jigano! Don't do th...that yourself. I'll help." He insisted, holding out a hand for the shovel. "I'm...st-stronger. I can take it." This was not meant as an insult, just a statement of fact; while he didn't like to mention it or use it much, he did possess more strength than the average person his size because of his Ascension. Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

The long night har ended, but Maea felt like she was wrapped up in a waking dream that never ended. The sunlight did not seem real, nor the warm winds that melted the snow. Before, the sound of running water and the budding of flowers had brought her nothing but joy and sweet relief... these days though the water was carried over into her nightmares, and the sound made her want to clasp her hands over the ears and scream.

Unable to stand the empty house, full of ghosts and guilt and memories too fresh to be deserving of the name - because it was only a week ago that she saw her family, so how could they be gone? - she had drifted back to the Sanctuary. There too she meandered, aimless amidst the bustle of spring cleaning and repairs, and every laughing face was a reminder of why she couldn't smile anymore. It was too much, and Maea could not bring herself to talk to anyone.

Her feet carried her past the Temple, past the Rathskellar and the disassembled perch, empty now that the Spark Bird had departed, and without knowing how she got there, she found herself by the Atheneum. Voices carried over to her about the vaulted building, it's grandness lost on red rimmed eyes. But the voices... maybe Jigano was here. Maybe doing something would help stop the images of the broken door and the empty rooms from replaying in her head.

"Hello?" she called, hoarse from too many tears and too little talking. Not sure where to go exactly, she hazarded a few steps towards the sound of a shovel, hoping she would find the distraction she was craving.

Jigano had managed a few shovels of dirt in the area he'd determined was above the old window wells before Sam's familiar voice tried to bring him to a halt. The bookmaker managed it - though not, perhaps, in the way he'd intended. The bard whirled, eyes wide in concern that was only slightly assuaged by the large hat. "Sam!" he scolded, a flicker of fear in his eyes. "Is it really safe for you to be out in this sun with just a hat?" They were on the south side of the building, receiving the full force of the light, and an errant breeze or wrong movement could expose the delicate Ascended's skin to burning fire. Having lost one friend over Long Night, the lorekeeper was in no mood to lose another!

Before he could properly shoo his friend into some sort of sheltering shade - though there wasn't much to be found nearby - a second familiar voice called out. Jigano hesitated for a moment, then gave a defeated sigh. Burying the shovel blade in the earth he stepped past Sam to call out: "Maea? We're over here. Watch your step, the ground is a bit rough..." He walked down to meet her, extending a gallant hand to help balance her over the unkempt ground that had once been a lovely manicured lawn, in centuries past. He looked up at Sam again with a smile, nodding to the pale woman at his side. "Ah, Sam, by chance do you know miss Maea?"

Sam glanced up, surprised, at the way Jigano said his name. "It's f-fine. I have gloves-" He held up his hands to show a pair of thin gloves. "-A-and I can take a small b-bit, enough to know if it'll hu-hurt..." But still, to calm Jigano's nerves he obediently stepped back towards the Atheneum's shadow, a small sliver that offered some meagre protection. There wasn't much tidying he could do from there...but...moral support? It appeared he was to be saved from his scolding by the arrival of a woman, though. He didn't recognise her, but Jigano seemed to know who she was; Jigano knew a lot of people. Sam admired his ease of making new friends. It took Sam at least several times seeing somebody to become comfortable enough to be likeable. ...Unless your first adventure involved being sucked into a book, he supposed. "Oh, no. H-hello. Are you in...in the guild too?" He asked, holding out a hand to the newcomer. "I'm S-Samuel. I...k-keep records." Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

Following Jigano's voice, she found him easily enough.

"Hello, Jigano. I hope this is not a bad time..."

The white haired man with his calm demeanor and easy manners was a welcome sight, and as she made her way over the rubble Maea accepted the steadying hand with a disproportionate amount of gratitude. Not so much because of the help but for the gesture, the fact that she was welcomed with such natural acceptance, as if her being there was neither strange nor unexpected. She could have kissed him for that, if such casual frivolity har been in her nature, but as it was the pale-faced young woman settled for the ghost of a smile, all the was able to manage right now.

It died off soon enough as she faced Sam, but though instinct and old habit told her to keep her distance with new people, her emotions were too numb for such things at the moment. Raw, bruised, bent out of shape... Perhaps not the ultimate time to make new acquaintances. Then again, why not. If they could see her at her worst and still stand to linger, it was all anyone should really ask for.

"Hi" she greeted him back, and took in the thin build and ruddy hair with a squint, coaxing her failing eyes to wrestle details out of the general blur. "I remember, Jigano mentioned you the other day..." She glanced at the tall outlander, briefly wondering where Isuma was before the continued. "I'm not... Not yet, though I think I'd like to be? I was hoping there was something I could help with."

Something away from home, anything that did not leave her alone in that place.

Manipulative and controlling, wasn't he? Well. If Remi could change, so could he, albeit slowly. "I... forgive me, Sam," Jigano took a breath, then let it out, finding a wry smile for his friend. "After Long Night I suppose I'm still a bit... overprotective. I'd rather not lose any more friends - or even see them hurt. But you know your own limits better than I do." He bowed his head graciously, accepting the Ascended's assurance that his protections were sufficient.

Maea's arrival kept things from becoming too awkward, though perhaps it just changed the type of awkwardness. Between the pale-skinned ginger man and the paler-skinned albino woman there was enough social anxiety to strain even a bard to his diplomatic limits.

Isuma was downstairs in the guildhall, providing him occasional fuzzy glimpses of what the 'cave-ins' looked like as he was digging - when she wasn't playing with her toys in the main hall. At the moment, however, Jigano was more concerned with the wear and weight Maea seemed to carry, not unlike that which had borne him down over Long Night. Solicitous of her balance and eyesight he guided her to where the work had begun, making introductions and then raising a brow in quiet delight at her interest in joining the guild. He glanced to Sam with a smile, hoping that the bookmaker would get along with the quiet huntress, and pleased that he now had more help than he had expected when the day began.

"Well," he began, gesturing ruefully to the borrowed shovel, "although our hall is below ground level, two of our research rooms have window wells to let in natural light, but they filled in with dirt after the hall was abandoned centuries ago. One of the windows was already damaged when we found the place, and I had boarded it up temporarily from inside, but during Long Night the earthquakes the monsters used to try and knock the perch over must have shifted the dirt here and knocked things loose. So I want to dig the dirt out of the wells and shore things up before we fix the glass," he explained. "I know where the windows should be, roughly, and I can mark them out. Sam offered to help with the digging, and I'm going to take him up on that. I..." He hesitated, tilting his head at Maea curiously. "Forgive me. I know you are a huntress and a farmer, but I don't know your other talents. If it's not too forward of me to ask, do you have an animal form or a magical ability that you'd be willing to assist us with?"

Sam smiled politely at Jigano's apology, which he found wholly unnecessary (he was used to being told off, at least this had been for a reasonable thing). It was more comfortable for himself to be out of the sun anyway; he was more than conscious of the fact that if he tilted his head the wrong way or lifted any of his clothes just an inch, it could be painful. It was why all the windows in his home were covered or painted, why his shop's desk was far from the storefront. He nodded at Jigano when he looked about at Maea's interest in the guild. His favourite page he had so far done for the records book had been the list of members, with each written in careful gold lettering with a representational flower as a flourish. He was excited for the chance to add another with small, delicate white blooms. The issue and solution was explained and Sam went to look at the piles of rubble more closely, moving a heavy piece of stone easily with his Ascended hands. He would need a shovel for the majority of the work, but it was easier to do the top parts with the gifts The Voice had given him. "You kn-know..." He mumbled, with a soft smile on his face. "M..Maybe we should ke-keep it. Make the gu..guildhall more mysterious with ju-just candlelight. And Ascended friendly." Sam was not a frequent joker and he looked up for approval for this weak attempt into humour. Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

Maea too hunched down to inspect the problem. Sam's suggestion was sound, and even if the main purpose of the windows was to let in light she couldn't imagine they  made that much of a difference. Of course, she had never been inside, so it was too early to judge.

"Either way, we need to clear out the rubble and make sure it is sealed up properly against water" she commented. "A new window will be needed, or brick and mortar if it is to be closed up..."

At Jigano's question about her abilities, she looked up. It was not really a strange question,  nor an unexpected one. Using magic was something common enough, though the reception to it differed between people. And yet.... it still made her uncomfortable. Because possessing the magic meant the gods would never smile at her in approval, and using it, no matter how convenient, felt like accepting her abandonment. As if she was proud to stand apart, when it couldn't be further from the truth.

But she would be no help at all without using the magic, with her thin arms and short stature, so Maea glanced down at the rubble and picked up a chunk of debris with her will, and sent it flying off to the side with a flick of the wrist. She could not pick up the bigger pieces or move them very far, but at least she wouldn't need a shovel.

"I am Abandoned" she clarified, with a measure of regret at the simple statement. "I have telekinesis... though not very strong." Perhaps because she so rarely made use of it. Glancing at Sam, the way he easily lifted the big rock despite his thin body was telling enough; Ascended for sure. But Jigano... She could not even begin to guess. "How about you?" she asked him. If they where going to reveal such things, better have it out and done with.

Jigano blinked at Sam's joke, then grinned. "One of the research rooms and the main hall should be safe enough for everyone, but that's still a good idea. Though, I think Amalia is trying to keep as much fire away from the books as possible," he teased back, remembering how badly things had almost gone when a swung lantern had set a paper wasp on fire. Which was reasonable, really. And Maea, who seemed to take his joke as a serious suggestion, responded with a practicality that had the bard chuckling. "The lady makes an excellent point. We don't want a whole pile of dirt and mud falling onto whichever unlucky soul happens to be using the room at the moment - or onto my desk!" Since he had claimed one of the windowed rooms for his office he gave Sam a teasing wink.

He had only meant to find a way for Maea to help them, without forcing her into heavy labor that her delicate arms seemed unsuited for, not to cause her distress. "You don't have to answer if you'd prefer--" he started to correct himself, trying to offer her a gracious way out of responding, but she seemed to come to her own conclusion, and a moment later a chunk of debris rose and shifted itself out of the way of Sam's shovel. The bard raised a brow, impressed, and gave her a half-bow of respect. "The old term was 'Acquired'," he said, giving her an encouraging smile. "One who has acquired power, rather than one abandoned by it. Though I understand the term fell out of use a long time ago." Around the time the barrier was raised, if 108's history was to be trusted.

Her own question in return was blunt enough that the bard had to hide a wince. He certainly deserved it, but that didn't make it any more comfortable for him to answer, even with his secrets slowly starting to come unraveled. "On my world I had access to magic both divine and arcane," he said with a lopsided smile. "But... unfortunately I lost much of what I was when I fell through the portal that brought me here. Now, I'm afraid, I have neither spells nor alternative forms which would be particularly useful in this endeavor." As a raven he'd be even weaker than as a man, and his dainty fox paws would get bruised and battered against the debris in the soil.

"I can, however, mark out the places we need to dig, and then see about finding a second shovel - or maybe an awning for Sam," he nodded to his friend with a wry smile. A number of shops were still cleaning up, just as they were. Surely he could sweet-talk one of the ones nearby into letting him borrow their shade for a few hours...

As he took a large stick and began to pace out the approximate shape that he guessed the first window well would be, he looked over at his two companions with a smile. "With the new year beginning, can you tell me what you two would like to focus your research on? That way Sam can keep track of which members have what specialties in the beautiful chronicle book he's making for us."

"I am n-not a fan of fi..fire either." Sam smiled, suddenly struck by the image of all of them sitting calmly reading as a blazing inferno came in from all sides. Jigano's wink made him smile again, glad that they had come past their earlier disagreement back into friendliness, that they could joke with each other again. He listened with a keen interest when Maea asked Jigano what his abilities were; it was something he had wondered about for a while. Of course, Jigano avoided the question with an expert level of dodging. With such a none-answer there was little to glean, but the wording did leave him wondering - no alternate forms...that would be useful. Did that mean there were alternate forms that wouldn't be? Sam frowned and considered Jigano for a long, quiet moment until the question directed at both him and Maea broke his concentration. "I...ha-have always wanted to keep a record of the..legends, and the st-stories. In the Atheneum. Something...n-neat, not all in d-different books, like it is now." Sam sounded shy, unsure about this endeavour, and didn't quite look Jigano in the eyes while he spoke of it. For some reason it felt unimportant, silly next to any other work that could be done. "As we-well as keeping the Loreseeker records, of course. Um. I just...I think it c-could be useful." Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child

The girl squinted back at Jigano, noticing the careful not-answer he offered. It made her purse her lips in a knowing way, and a pale brow rose in response.

"It's alright, you don't have to answer either" she shot back, flipping his words back at him with the suggestion of a smile to her voice. It was a tad hypocritical, to ask questions of others that you were not interested in answering yourself, but Maea let it lie; she too had things she would rather not talk about just now, and it was not really that important to know.

Turning her attention back to the task at hand, she focused her will on the rubble and began to move matter out of the way, sending rocks flying one by one to be stacked in a neat pile some distance off, where it would not be in the way. Though somewhat inefficient compared to the shovel as she couldn't focus accurately on more than one piece at a time, it was not strenuous work and she could stand off to the side with her hands deep in the pockets of her trousers and leave the digging and heavy lifting to the men.

Considering the question as it was given, Maea let Sam answer first and tried to pry her thoughts away from her own personal disaster enough to consider the future. Recalling what she had spoken to Jigano about when they first met, her own needs and interests...

"I might try to pick up where Isla left off and focus on medicine" she said thoughtfully. "I want to find a fix for my eyes anyway, and I'm sure there are many useful things hidden away that I'll uncover in the process." Frowning slightly, the confessed; "I'm really not good at reading though. Know the letters and most of the words, but..." A helpless gesture with pale hands sent a chunk of debris flying so that it missed the pile and rattled off along the alley, the clattering sound it made loud enough to make her wince.

Spectacles seemed more and more like a necessary item to acquire. But... "Does either of you know anyone who make spectacles? And what about you, Jigano? Still thinking about starting up a school?"

Both of his friends gave him looks which he returned with a calmly raised brow. He thought he'd been more subtle than that, but if they were going to call him on it, well... He was inclined to indulge himself in a little selfish stubbornness under the bright spring sunshine. Maea's flippant reversal earned a grave nod, gracious in the face of her teasing.

Maea went to work with a will, while the bookmaker stood around, taking the bard's initial scolding to heart it seemed. As Jigano marked out the window well he smiled at Sam's idea, nodding in agreement. "There's often a grain of truth to legends," he said, pleased. "And being able to more easily compare them to histories would come in handy indeed!"

Maea's suggestion was met with equal support, Jigano smiling reassurance at her plan - though he winced as the rock went skittering off. "Reading is something we would be glad to teach," he encouraged her. "Myself for a certainty. And perhaps Samuel and Amalia would, as well, as their other duties and time permits." He didn't want to answer for them without checking first, but he hoped they would at least be open to the idea of teaching people to read, whether those people chose to go on to become fellow Loreseekers or not.

"Spectacles... I know someone makes them," he said thoughtfully. "I've seen people around town wearing them. Sam, by chance do you know of any local glass makers who might do lenses?" He glanced to the Ascended who was crammed into the narrow shade and offered him a lopsided smile. "Sorry, I'll let you and Maea talk for a bit. I'm going to see if I can get you an awning or something to shade you while you work. Be back soon!" So saying, he waved cheerfully and headed off the Atheneum lawn and back down to the paved street to poke his head into the nearest shop that was closed for cleaning.

He was glad Jigano thought his mythologies idea was worthwhile; Sam had always looked for validation wherever he went and getting some so easily felt wonderful. "Then...then I'll st-start working on it soon." He loved working in the Guildhall, actually. The soft candlelight and quiet atmosphere underneath the Atheneum was really everything he could ask for, the kind of working space he'd dreamt of. He could only shake his head to Maea's question about spectacles. He'd sometimes wondered if he needed them himself, squinting close to the pages to get things right, but had never gotten around to actually looking into it. As for teaching people to read...he wasn't sure he'd be a good teacher, but he'd be willing to try. He gave Jigano a faint nod. Jigano suddenly thrust him into a social situation he hated, forced conversation with a stranger. He awkwardly smiled at Maea, then looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet. "So...u-um...how..um..no." Failed question cut off he looked up and sighed, tried to think about what normal people used for small talk. "...Wh-what do you do? When you're n-not...here?" Samuel He took a step but then felt tired He said, I'll rest a little while But when he tried to walk again He wasn't a child