[Training] Beautiful flaws

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies Her hand slipped, and the beveling tool scratched a jagged line over the surface that Maea had been so proud of. Mournfully she touched the ugly scar, regretting her lapse in koncentration, but quickly returned focus to Sam. "You're Evie's brother? I mean... I knew she had one, but the way she spoke about you... I had the impression of a complete stuck up who did everything to please her parents and nothing for her... That's how she told things at least. I never would have guessed." Sam was nothing like that in her eyes. On the contrary; here he was teaching a half blind farmer how to make books, offering up precious materials and time without actually needing to do so... It was kind, and generous, and... nothing at all like his sister. Red hair was not so uncommon, and her eyes being what they were... Maea just never made the connection. As for Amalia... "We... I used to play with them as a child. I was sick often, Amalia's mom was a healer, maybe you knew that? Well, she tended to me as I didn't have a mother, and brought Amalia along so she wouldn't be alone. And Ama brought Evie, because I was too sick to play Most of the time. So I watched them play with each other and with my brother, while I was stuck in bed. Drinking foul tonics and wearing smelly poultices." She looked off towards the window as if to gaze out of it, found it covered and sighed. "I don't think any of us were happy with the arrangement. Amalia thought I stole her mother, and I was jealous because they did things I was not allowed to do. I guess it still feels like that in many ways..." Amalia was attuned, favored by the gods they all loved, while Maea was abandoned. And Evie had her skill with herbs, had carved out a nishe for herself without caring what anyone else thought... Maea shrugged. Admiring people whom you could not befriend just made it more bitter.

"Oh -- sometimes marks in the leather can be made into features or patterns, so don't worry." Sam mentioned as he saw that Maea had ripped her cover. He had done so many times and managed to turn it around, change a tear into the branch of an engraved tree or the beginning of a cracked pattern in the cover. He supposed it wasn't a surprise that Evie had spoken about him in such a way, but it still wasn't great to hear it. "Well...hopefully you don't think I am like that. I can't say I have....good things to say about her, either." Listening to Maea's childhood tale as he finished wrapping the leather around his book, he tapped out a little nonsensical tune on the table with his fingers. As a child he had been so often 'grounded' for completely unknown crimes, had spent so much time hiding...he had not been out much or socialised. He supposed he knew Amalia had been a child at the same time as him, but they had never been close. "...Ah. I see. I'm...sorry. I'm glad you are out of bed now, at least. Has Amalia ever tried to apologise? I wish Evie would apologise to me for our childhoods, sometimes, but...I don't think it shall ever happen." Samuel How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies Hearing that the scar could be remedied, turned into something better and more beautiful was heartening. Maea tilted her head and considered the line that marred the otherwise pristine surface of the leather. Tucked a stray lock of ivory hair behind the ear. Hesitant, as if not entirely convinced she could still salvage the binding, she tried adding another line. "No, I dont think you are like that" she said softly. "I stopped believing everything Evie says a long time go. But Amalia... I don't know, Sam. We haven't really talked for years. Not since her grandmother passed." One line became two, two became three, and slowly a pattern began to take shape under her unskilled hands. Swirling shapes, like water spun by a fickle breeze or dark rags moving by some otherworldly wind. A face, a mask of nothingness stared back up from the surface with bottomless eyes, and though she had not intended to draw it the resemblance was still uncanny. For a while. Then she blinked, and the scratches faded into a mere mess of lines centered on an empty space in the center. Maea smiled ruefully. It really looked nothing like Ludo. Perhaps it was just as well. She had no idea how the fickle god would react to a drawing, and would not really care to find out. "I'm sorry too. For the way she spoke about you. For listening, even though I had no right to when I didn't know..." Looking up, she sought the green of the bookmaker's eyes and gazed at him in earnest. "I'm glad I was able to find out the truth though. A most pleasant surprise."

"Well, I'm glad you don't believe her." And he really was. One of Sam's longest standing fears had been that Evie would poison the world against him, or his parents; systemically go through each happiness, every friend, make sure he could not access them. He had meant what he'd said about the pattern, but Sam's approach had always been slow, gentle, careful; Maea slashing at the leather with seeming gay abandon made him raise his eyebrows with a cringe. Upside down and not looking for it, he did not see the mask, just a potential mess and a lot of stitch work that would be needed to fix it. Still...he was too awkward to complain to her about it. Sam smiled and looked down at her kind words, scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn't know how to respond to his sort of thing, not really. "...Thank you. Um, so...now we just need to leave the glue to try. Put something heavy on top. I put some sacks there, next to you. They should be heavy." The sacks were filled with rocks, would weigh the books down. Sam bent down to pick up a metal cube to weigh down his book, something that didn't look big enough to do the job but as soon as he placed it on the cover, sank down the pages to a more compact shape. "Are you excited? For the reading lessons?" Samuel How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies Oblivious to the pain she inadvertently caused her teacher, Maea finally set aside the tool the had abused the leather with and did as instructed,  weighing the simple book down with the bags. The whole process had been simpler than she throught; she marveled at how generously the secret to books had been revealed, and how even someone as clumsy as her could make one. Even half blind, clumsy and lacking any artistic sensibilities... yet there it was. A book. All that was missing now were the words inside. "I am, very!" she said. "I always wanted to read... When I was little I did learn some, before my eyes got too bad... but I could never sit for hours in the Atheneum like Ama did." But soon, if Ludo was pleased with their bargain and Sam managed to rekindle the smoldering sparks of her vocabulary, then... the library would be open to her. Every book, every scroll, every hidden world that lay trapped inside that stone palace... "I really look forward to it." She noticed the cube he used to compress his own book, and raised a brow - a habit picked up from a mutual silverhaired friend - as she leaned in closer to look at it. "What's this?"

Honestly, Sam usually spent far much time on each book than this; usually they were things that took him days, far more pages than these and with intricate stitches or designs on the covers...but for a first job, Maea had done very well. Eventually they would be making the next great tome of stories together, he hoped. "Well, our lessons can be as short as you need them to be. And we'll have a lot of light, and I'll be sure to write large." He didn't have anything on hand, but spending a couple of hours creating a book with large text for Maea to read from sounded like a fine way to use the evening. Maea asked after the cube; Sam looked down and smiled. "Ah. I found it. In the labyrinth, with Remi. I think it is something to do with The Voice...it has a special ability." To demonstrate, he picked up the cube, which easily came up in his fingers, then placed it on the table between them. "You try." When Maea tried to lift the cube, she would find it absolutely impossible, the little device seemingly weighing far more than it made sense for it to. Samuel How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies With Remi? Maea had met the man, or boy rather, but had no idea the two of them were acquainted. Though, considering that Remi was a alchemist she supposed it made sense. A bookmaker would need glue and ink and other substances to do his work... A collaboration between them was only natural. "I met Remi not long ago... he planted some seeds in my garden. Apprently I have a debt to collect on for that, but I have no idea what to ask for." She reached for the cube and tried to pick it up, like Sam had done. But the first attempt merely had her fingers come up empty, as she had expected it to be light and come off the without resistance. Surprise spreading over her face, she tried again, with a firmer grip this time... But the thing wouldn't move. No matter if she lifted or tugged, pushed or even stood up to try from a different angle... Gaping at it in astonishment, Maea pushed a stray lock of ivory hair behind an ear and stared at the cube, hands resting on slender hips. "I can't move it. I don't even know that it's heavy, it just... won't budge. How did you do it? I wonder... is it really made of metal?" It certainly didn't behave like any lump of metal she had ever seen, and Maea traced the surface of it with a finger, fascinated. That it was related to The Voice was creepy, but... The object was intriguing.

"Did he? Hm." Sam had no more comments on Remi, though he did smile just slightly. He was a bittersweet topic for the bookmaker, but the idea of him helping Maea plant a garden helped him to smile. After all of the pain recently, it was nice to bring to mind a pleasant image. He watched with an amused expression as she struggled to pick up the cube, as he knew she would. "I think it's made of metal, yes. And only me...or at least, maybe only Ascended can lift it. It isn't heavy at all to me." Easily he reached forward and picked it up, placed it back on his book. "I'm not sure what use it will be to me, but...it is a good paperweight, for now." With the cube aside, their books were finished. "Well. All we need do now is leave these for a while...if you come back tomorrow, they should be ready then. Would you like to finish off your tea with me?" Taking his cup, Sam went to sit in one of the two chairs by the fire. When he was sat there with a friend it was a nice space, somewhere cosy and easy to begin a conversation in. And so he did, asking Maea of her life, her work. Gently, he avoided the topic of her family. Sam was beginning to learn the secrets of friendship, the ways to swerve negativity and keep things light and easy. Their books gently sank down as the flames did, Sam saying goodbye to Maea after another cup of tea. Samuel How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.