[PRP] Are You Lost Too? [Bastion/Kithryn]

[nessy]

It was all so much to take in. Touching the brand on her skin given to her by the crystal Kithryn sat in the center of the floor that belonged to her Clan. Home, Nirva had said, this was home now. Yet it was so strange and different from the home she'd left behind, the home she'd lost in the cataclysm that even now made no sense to her. How had it happened? How had she survived? Over and over fingers traced the design and wondered at its meaning.

She'd been told it meant conviction which she had in spades. Conviction in the ways of her Clan, conviction in the teachings of Death, conviction that the oldest ways were the right ones. Medea had, apparently, unearthed teachings older than the ones she'd ever been taught.

What should she think of that?

Quiet and looking horribly lost the petite priestess simply sat and wondered.

Nio Love

 

[Nio Love]

"-So much larger, with a furnace that size, why I could finally take that commission for the longsword I've been turning down, oh, oh yes I could!" Bastion was in a hurry, having just come from taking another good, long look at the forge that their new home allotted him and his craft, and he was day-dreaming audibly of all the new opportunities available to him. He started counting on his fingers. "I'll need to get a whole bag of sapphires from Ch'thal, that's for sure, ah but he will haggle deeply now, that son of a dung pile-"

It was here that he realized he wasn't alone, and he froze in mid-step, dropped his jaw, and let out several repetitive choking sounds. He hadn't really expected to always be alone, as he wandered the new grounds of the Death Clan - but he also hadn't been expecting to be caught talking to himself to adamantly.

And more importantly, he hadn't expected to say the phrase son of a dung pile in front of a lady. His black skin went ashen for a moment, before darkening with a terribly embarrassed blush.

"A thousand apologies, my lady, please - " He dropped to kneel on the floor, his head touching the ground. "I am so, so very sorry." He rose up, and rested his hands on his knees, but his face was still wrought with guilt. "I let my excitement get the best of me, I swear on my lady Medea's honor that I do not normally have such a filthy mouth."

He was already getting back up, but his head kept ducking in awkward, apologetic bows. "Please don't hold it against me. I will not sully your presence with my own any longer. Good day, fair kin."

nesshime

 

[nessy]

For all that it was overblown Kithryn was comforted by Bastion's sudden apology and bow. It was familiar to her and something that had carried over from one life to the other. Her manners had always been impeccable when not in the safe company of trusted friends and family and, even then, she'd often gotten requests to let herself be a little looser. A little more real. This had always seemed ridiculous because what was more real than the chill of the stone beneath their feet?

Pulling some of that into herself, though the stone here was too far from the ground and too far from the north to ever emulate its chill, Kith extended the hand that had been stroking the mark on her skin. "No, stay." No please. Just stay. Looking up into Bastion's face she saw nothing that marked him as someone she'd known from her previous time in the Clan and it made her curious. Gave her something to think on other than the past or the future.

"I am Kithryn Sen. I am, was I suppose the term ought to be for now, a priestess of the Clan. I take it from what you were saying that you are a craftsman?" It was somewhat pathetic how desperate she was for conversation, for something to engage her mind, but it was better than putting herself through misery with no end result.

Nio Love

 

[Nio Love]

Bastion's heel did not hit the ground on his last step backward. He couldn't ignore the request of a lady, even if he did feel unworthy of her presence at the moment. But he came closer, keeping enough distance to be proper, and returned to kneel on the ground, resting back against his legs in a respectful position. His hands were back on his knees, ready to bring him to the ground if he should do something unseemly once more.

Or, should he find he was in the presence of a priestess.

"Ah, I should have known. It is an honor, Lady Kithryn Sen." His body bowed, and his head touched the floor once more, just for a moment. When he sat back up, his hands touched his heart. "This lowly souls name is Bastion Leto, and you are correct in your insightful conclusion. I am a craftsman. I specialize in jewel encrusted weapons by trade, but my passion is jewelry itself." He grinned, just thinking about it. "And this new home has me full to the brim with inspiration. My hands ache to cut and mold. It is a gift, truly."

The grin faded, and his head dipped as he got a good look at her. "Have you found yourself settling in well, my lady?"

nesshime

 

[nessy]

After so long true formality was a bit of a shock and made her feel the same echoing sense of loneliness she'd been investigating through trance when everything had gone wrong. Death was something that could generally be only experienced alone. To desire the company of others ruined the special bond that existed between Death and the soul at the moment of expiration, a bond she strove to emulate in her life. There could be only her and the moment -- it was her focus, her area of study, her obsession and it was wavering.

His obvious passion for his work made Kith smile and she leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees so that their eyes were more at level as they talked. Poise was all well and good but right now it was difficult to maintain and better to look relaxed than to fail at looking elegant. "What is it that inspires you? As you've perhaps noticed I've not yet found a part of this tower that speaks to me in such a way as it does you." Her lips quirked in a small smile at a thought that she was not keen to share -- that the tower had spoken to her but only to call her to it.

Since then? Silence. It bothered Kithryn in much the same way her conundrum of desiring the company of those not her immediately family had been. "I just found my way home to the Clans, you see. This is all very strange to me but I suppose it is something you are accustomed to now, all the clans living together like this?"

Nio Love

 

[Nio Love]

Ah, the question made Bastion light up, and he bent in just slightly as he answered with an excited whisper. "The fire," He easily shared, anxious and always ready to talk shop when it came to what he loved. "The flicker and movement of it. The heat within, the way it never looks the same from moment to moment. I don't speak of it often, because I don't want other jewelcraftsmen to steal my inspiration, but ah, one day I hope to create a brand new jewel all of my own design. One that is not just the static beauty of a brilliant gem, but has its own life flickering within. An Eternal Flame Ruby." He shuddered and sighed. "If I succeed, even if it takes me hundreds, thousands of years, and I am an old and withered horse barely able to lift my hammer, I will be an accomplished man. I will be fulfilled by the light of that single flickering gem."

He sat back on his heels, having just realized how over-excited he'd gotten about the subject. "There are other things that inspire me, of course - it would be folly to just.. focus on that one pipe dream. I take inspiration from everything I can. I create jewelry pieces with people in mind, very often. If someone commissions me, I make a piece personal to them. Or if someone is dear to me, they are inspirational as well. My cousin Noni, for instance! I have created at least three different works using her as inspiration. Some have sold very well!"

nesshime

 

[nessy]

Bastion had not quite answered her second question but seeing his enthusiasm, feeling the force of it as he talked, explained enough. Either this stallion was so driven and creative as to be able to look past the shock of being found or he was used to the situation Kithryn now found herself in. Living side-by-side with the other Clans wasn't something that had ever really been done before and, if it had, never by the priestess herself.

Moving over on her bench the woman made a bit of a gesture indicating that Bastion ought to get up. "You should sit here so that you're off the floor. I've heard that your passion can be a rigorous one and I would hate to be the cause of your discomfort. 'Looking after the Clan' was one of the few jobs Kith was still sure she could do so she would do it, tirelessly. Getting Bastion up off of the floor wasn't much but it was a start, wasn't it?

Sitting back slightly, looking up towards the ceiling of their part of the tower, she thought of home. Of the cave she'd made full of the tapestries woven by her family, rugs and hangings, the jewelry she'd once had to adorn herself with. Kith still had a few pieces that she'd been carrying with her but nothing compared to what she'd accrued over the hundreds of years of life before the cataclysm that had destroyed their home.

"Do you tolerate others who are not craftsmen themselves watching you work? It's been such a long time since I've seen anyone work and I admit your passion is rather contagious." Certainly her smile had gone from polite to genuinely interested in what he was doing. "I would love to see it sometime, if you'll allow me."

Nio Love

 

[Nio Love]

"Of course, my lady!" Bastion would never ignore a direct request, and he scuttled to his feet to sit on the bench with her. He tried to sit at a respectable distance, however, but kept his posture fully poised towards her.

And then she asked to watch him, and his entire face darkened with embarrassed color. "I.. you wish to watch me work? I mean, it's really rather boring. I wouldn't even be.. I have to go and get.. I mean.."

Bastion's head dipped down, bowing in embarrassment. "Priestess, of course you may watch me if you please. I am at your service, always. I will be a terrible bore, but I could never say no to one such as you. If anything, your beauty will make the gems I work with shine brighter. I would be honored."

Embarrassed to hell and back, but honored nonetheless.

"I will be attempting some new pieces once I return from haggling at the market, and then.. well.. I will be in the forge for the next few days. If I am not eating, or sleeping, I will be toiling tirelessly there. You can almost always find me."

nesshime