It's a quiet Monday afternoon at the library. There's a few people reading, a handful of folks using the computers, and the librarian and assistant making the rounds, ready to hush people, and checking to make sure that all the books are in their place, and everyone has what they need.
Soleil is...mostly pretending to read. So casually. Just, you know, here for the reading. She keeps a close eye on the librarian and assistants, sitting on the edge of her seat, though she does occasionally get /actually/ lured into the interesting topic of apitherapy, which is the subject of the book she's got on hand.
Yuuki is bouncing around, finding fun little short stories to read and picture books. But mostly pestering Soleil. Enjoying be a pain to his elder cousin. The small, cute boy is in a pair of jeans and a hoodie. His bright blue eyes scanning for mischief and he bounces about. Eventually plopping next to Soleil with a biiiiiig picture book. He giggles softly as he reads it.
Damion is here at the library for a very good reason! He's here to read a book. A book on...something. Something booky. And very intellectual. Movint through the buildin, wandering the shelves, he at first doesn't spot the other two Lost already there. Then he hears rather familiar giggling, and leans past a shelf to see Soleil and Yuuki sitting together. "Christ, Yuu. Just how much do you get around?" He steps out fully, and approaches the two of them carefully. The big Draconic is wearing his typical button-up shirt and jeans, nothinig about him standing out to most eyes. The scales and whatnot probably would if normal people could see them. But as hig-Wyrd looks go, he's not that strange.
The wise ones mask themselves once they reach the heights of power. Wise, intelligent, or dull. Let's stick with dull, which is one thing the figure stepping into the library can certainly never be.
With flesh as glossy and transparent as the purest ice, a slender, graceful frame and a brow crowned in sharp spines of hoary frost, she isn't the most readable of creatures. She is, however, colourful. Bold streaks of vivid violets and sapphire, emerald and smooth, springy greens swirl slowly through that icy flesh, spilling out in a full-body aurora to tint everything seen in her near vicinity.
What IS in her near vicinity? Power. Unalloyed, unmasked, and quite, quite unashamed of its existence, near though it be to that of the True Fae. The woman's bearing is one of perfect confidence and inbred authority; others will obey, or oblige, because that is the natural order. Not a whit of arrogance to be seen.
That said, the very noticeable and very expensively dressed creature waits by the desk for the librarian to arrive, leaning idly against it and turning to survey the room. Just who is in sight of the desk...? Dun dun duunn.
Soleil treats Yuuki with a sort of patient, friendly disinterest. She's got other plans, and isn't going to be distracted by the hyperactive cousin who's decided to attach themselves to her today. However, other distractions? Like unknown Lost? Those are distractions that are hard to ignore. She gives Damion a friendly smile when he speaks to her cousin, and November, well, November gets a curious look and a friendly wave, if she happens to look that way, a silent invitation to join.
"Hey Damion!" A smile to the man, and then the new lost... the unknown one. Yuuki's demeanor changes, blinking. He.. he can't seem to tell the difference. He steps back. Shaking a bit, biting his bottom lip. "I...I...I n-n-need t-t-to go pee..." He turns to start to leave, passing by Damion as he does. And looking like he has seen a ghost.
The smiles from Soleil is met with a broad one of his own. He gives an impression of confidence with how he carries himself and moves. Also an impression of weight, with his tall and broad he is. Damion's eyes drift towards the entrane to the library. The Fairest stares at the sight of November entering, and as she draws closer and that feeling of power coming from her becomes more noticeable he tenses up. Wondering for a second or two if it might not be one of the Gentry deciding to take a jaunt into the mortal world to grab some wayward Lost. But he soon enough recognizes that it's just another Changeling, and raises a hand towards her.
He calls after Yuuki as he passes him, "It's alright. You can come back after you're done." Then he turnds towards the two female Lost again. "Damion. New to town. Met a few other people..." Pretty clear what he means by people. "But been looking to meet more. Maybe find out where folks tend to congregate."
No stranger to the librarian, November smiles her way and murmurs a quiet, "I'd like to extend the date for The Pillars of the Earth, if no one else has requested it." When a check proves that, yes, that title has no one else looking to borrow it, the librarian makes a note to extend the due date and November flashes another smile, bright and swift.
Coincidentally, she is still smiling when Yuuki begins to flee, alien eyes alight with fey mischief. Soleil's welcome is met with a long-legged stride the other woman's way, queerly liquid strands of the walking rainbow's hair swaying forward to lap about her body and a nearby bookshelf when she halts nearby, attention first on the title of the book in the other woman's hands. It's difficult to tell precisely where she is looking, but it does seem that a glance is cast toward Soleil's face before the title. "Do you tend them?"
Damion's introduction is .. not quite ignored? He gets a gesture, a curling of transparent digits, which appears to acknowledge his existence, but no offer of a name in return, that presently vivid violet focus locked on Soleil and on Soleil alone.
Soleil offers a vague sort of noise as Yuuki runs off, then gives Damion and November a queer little look and a shrug, "She's tetchy, isn't she?" November gets a grin, "Oh yeah, I tend bees. I've got a honey sample in my car if you want some on your way out." She has a bit of wariness lurking under her cheerful friendliness, but even November's high Wyrd and Gentry-stylings can't shake her urge to make friends. Damion's comment has her eyes lighting up, "Welcome to town! People congregate all over the place. Depends on who you are and what you're into, and who you like, really." She waits expectantly, as if Damion is supposed to rattle off all his interests and the sorts of people he's prone to associating with.
The lack of response to his introduction makes Damion frown, albeit not very intensely. He gives his head a shake slightly then says, "A minute." He jogs after the fleeing Yuuki, angling to cut him off before he can reach the front door. He's somewhat quicker than the hyper little Lost, so just manages it. Then he scoops the Beast up and tucks him under an arm, returning to the two women. He nods to Soleil. "A bit. She's very, very new to things in general." He gestures at November with his free hand. "And the lady here....well. I think you can figure out why she might un-nerve him a bit." He says down to Yuuki, "She's not what you're thinking, Yuu. So try and calm down, alright." He watches Yuuki briefly to see if he calms down, then looks at Soleil. "Me? Well. I've...never really been part of a group since I made my way out. Been wandering the country mostly. Now I'm opening a gym here, and looking to get involved with things in a more serious manner. In the past I've mostly helped with, ah... pest control. You might have heard about what happenned in Chicago? No? Ah well."
"Aren't I?" the Ancient archly inquires of Damion, colours brightening, voice soft in respect of the library's quietude. She blinks, a slow slide of frosty lashes and transparent lids which...uh, really, how useful -are- transparent eyelids?
Attention returning to Soleil, November nods, appears to consider something, then pats at her hip in an all-too-human gesture before tucking a finger below the waistband of her charcoal leather trousers to pull out a hair elastic. Why? Unclear. Possibly because she just accidentally painted several of the books nearby an eye-searing blend of fluorescent orange, sapphire and chartreuse. Thigh-length hair gets ponytailed, then looped up in a messy bun which really shouldn't be possible, as liquid as it seems. It never drips, but it sure does try.
"Why here?" This, again, to Damion, with an innocuous curiosity, colours shifting again. Yuuki is ignored entirely.
After being set down, Yuuki immedtially bolts behind Damion, preffering to be ignored, by everyone.
Nathania walks into the library and looks around--until she sees a familiar icy rainbow. A smile splits plush, stitched lips and she walks toward November, giving everyone else a friendly wave. "November," she says, warmly, skipping the woman's surname entirely out of respect. "Where... is Yrrh?" She is so happy to see her friend of old that she's fidgeting, doing a little dance of glee in place. Some Winter. And yet, button eyes still hold a sadness. "How have... you been, my dear... friend?"
The silence and stillness of the dolly's mantle erupts. Well, the silence remains, but the stillness? no. It explodes into a riot of color and psychedelic patterns, sixties-style tie dye. And she doesn't seem to care. "November." She's beaming, quiet, but still pleased.
Soleil watches Yuuki for a moment, giving her cousin a slightly worried look before turning back to Damion, November and now Nathania, who gets a friendly smile and a wave of recognition. November's question to Damion gets a laugh, "Hey, yeah! What about us? We're totally interesting. Some more than others, maybe," this, with a deferential nod of her head toward November. The Polychromatic's inadvertent book painting gets a curious look and a grin, "That's a neat trick," she notes off-handedly. Her own mantle, usually fairly stable in its expression, wobbles a bit, the colorful crocuses and daffodils that spring up around her changing to fruiting strawberries and tomatoes, the honey scent and pollen haze swirling away as if in a wind, replaced by the sensations of a dewy morning.
Damion stares at November a few moments then says, "Aren't you actually one of the Gentry? You're not trying to kill any of us, so I assume not. Am I wrong? Should I start attacking you? I wouldn't pick a library for a fight with one of them, but I guess you don't really get a say in these things." Then Nathania is coming in, and the dragon nods to the ragdoll in return before saying to the icy rainbow woman, "Why here? Well. I was trying to get away from the life that the...other me had going on, so I looked for a city that was somewhat out of the way, but wouldn't bore the hell out of me. This place seemed nice enough, so I decided on here." He's not standing THAT close to November, so his own mantle is so far unaffected. Just wavering heat, warm breezes, and the smell of baking stone.
As always, the air of quiet anticipation, of SOMEthing about to happen, lingers in the Dawn's vicinity, and in this case, that something is a Nathania! The tall punk's colours shift, flickering through shades very similar to the doll's fabric flesh -- and, notably, bearing a streak the bright hue of her ribbony blood. Because. "Nattie, some secret-keeper you are," she chides, offering a sooo dramatic sigh of disappointment. "Here I was, trying to be mysterious and inscrutable." Her accent, it should be noted, is a blend of New England and Ireland, the Irish most notable in a certain musicality of speech. Certainly not a native Vermonter.
Hearing Soleil, the Ancient glances at the books, then follows .. something? There isn't anything visible, really, at least not to the others' eyes, but whatever it is, it holds her interest. Still, her response is prompt enough, a light, "Thankfully a temporary trick," preceding a bland, "Their seeds blossom within us all," toward Damion. Or, more accurately, directly toward Yuuki, alien gaze intent, unblinking and, for one brief instant, quite entirely colourless.
Yuuki tries to figure out Novemeber, watching, and then is hiding, and.. well he's doing it well, everyone KNOWS he's there, but really, no one can see him.
Nathania grins at November, not at all ashamed. "Well, maybe... you should have warned me." Somehow. She winks and asks again, "Where... is Yrrh?" because she has a weird fondness for the Bird of Snark. "Ameratsu... is no longer... with us." The dolly sounds strangely dispassionate about the loss of her Hedge Beast Companion. She nods to Soleil, Damion, and Yuuki then. "How.... are all of you?" She peers in Yuuki's direction, tilting her head a bit--oddly, flopping her head to the side like, well, a rag doll instead of a person. "What's.... the matter?" Because she's not understanding why he is hiding from anything. "November..." She regards her friend for a long moment. "That would be... a lie. But. You're safe... enough for the moment." And then Nattie leans into the Ancient and hugs, sighing. Rag dollies of Winter don't mind hugging popsicles.
SOleil grins and stands, setting aside her book and,darting a glance at the /finally/ distracted librarian, says, "Well guys, it's been real, but I gotta get going." Pointing to Nathania, she notes, "We have party planning to do, right? You're totally on board for that Winter blow-out I suggested you throw, right?" Totally, that's exactly how it was, at least in Soleil's memory. "Nice to meet you," she offers to Damion and November, and to her hiding cousin, "Don't let the big bad ice rainbow scare you, cuz. There's worse things in the world than her, and we've all faced 'em and lived to tell the tale." And with that, she darts toward one of the back stacks of the library and disappears.
Damion pulls out a chair and settles down into it, after pressing on it to test its strength. Settling into a comfortable sprawl on it, he watches the interplay between the female Lost for a time, his lips curled up. "Mmmhmmm. We all have a potential Gentry growing inside of us. There's a difference between that, and actually being one. One is still sort of a person. The other one is nothing but madness and bizzareity." He has no idea who Yrrh is, or Ameratsu for that matter. So just looks curious when they're mentioned. Then he replies to the doll, "I'm doing alright today. Considering having another poke around the area soon." When the Winter asks her question of the hiding Dawn, he glances over his shoulder down at Yuuki. "She's only been out a month. She has trouble telling the difference between somebody with as strong as.... presence, as November here and our former hosts. So she's afraid of her." Then he gives Soleil a wave. "Nice meeting you too. I'm sure we'll see each other another time."
Leaving Yuuki to his excellent concealment behind Mount Damion, November's hand lifts in a graceful gesture which speaks quite eloquently of ambivalence, acceptance, ignorance and, most importantly in this case, waves vaguely toward the street. "Somewhere. Pining. He misses Clio."
Damion doesn't get any more clues regarding Yrrh's mysterious identity, either, given that the colourful Fairest simply replies to his remark with a polite, "You will understand it soon." He isn't too far from her, after all, in raw Wyrd. Thankfully, he lacks the subtle fingers of ancient energy which slip, oh so neatly, through one's gut to tug the hindbrain awareness of There Is Something Other Here.
Accepting Nathania's affection with a shift of weight and a brush of hair which, temporarily, stains the dolly's cheek in shades of mulberry-black-violet, the Dawn nods to the departing Soleil, and states, to no one in particular, and quite without being specific because hey, they ARE in a mortal library, "The child is in the river. It will swim, or it will drag you down." Such sympathy!
Wally comes in to the library bearing a big box of atlases, and steps up to the librarian, leaving the box there. "Returns! I'll get more later!" he says happily (albeit quietly) before somewhat belatedly noticing that holy Hell there's a lot of Lost here! He meanders up to them, leaving the librarian to their job. "Hi!" he says cheerily enough. "How are you folks? It's good to be back in town!"
Annnnd Yuuki is sneeaaaaakkiiing, but then he trips, falls flat on his face and blushes bright red. He looks around, looking unlike his normal self, his eyes hit November again and he just bolts.
Nathania cuddles her friend, not minding the temporary stains against her fabricskin. She may just be used to it from the rainbow Ancient. She smiles prettily toward Wally. "Hello, Wally West," she says, teasing him gently. "It's good... to see... you again. The fabric you... delivered was in... perfect condition; thank you." She nods. Then she looks to Damion and nods again. "I don't... understand," she admits, "but all.... right." She watches Yuuki bolt away curiously. "Fascinating."
Damion furrows his brows at November's words, shaking his head. "I'm hoping not too soon. I like being me just fine, thanks." The rainbow popsicle certainly is an odd one, even by the standards of the Lost. But, nothing can seem TOO odd after you remember even bits and pieces of Arcadia. The delivery fae gets a glance. "Wally. Nice to see you again." Admitedly, he only met him for a few moments before. When Yuuki falls over, he peers down at the Beast. "You okay there, Yuu?" And....then he bolts. He shakes his head again, though this time he smiles. "Right. Be safe."
November's alien gaze follows Yuuki's unorthodox departure with mild disapproval. The fox made stompy running noises! In the -library-! Her focus lingers, following something, again, the others just don't see, before the Ancient turns her head back to the group. "Don't coddle him," she instructs Damion, especially. "He can't afford it."
And, with that cheery prediction, she touches Nathania's wrist with icy digits and turns to brush past her, hair freed from its messy bun to drift, weightless, and splash yet more colours over the doll. Because. MOST of those colours fade.
Most.
If Nathania happens to glance down at her skirt any time soon, she may notice that one of the spiraling pink curves is now fluorescent peach. Only one of them.
Smiling slightly, icy fingers twinkle-wave a farewell Wally's way, and the Trickster slinks herself out of the library: mission complete.
Nathania's laughter follows the Ancient rainbow, which gets her a stern look from the librarian. She shushes, and covers her mouth, eyes wide. Then she looks to the Lost remaining. "Gentlemen," she says softly, with gravitas. "November's right... about Yuuki. Coddling leads... to death." Her eyes get wider. "Maybe not right.... away. But death is.. always around." Sighing, she turns toward the library bookshelves, the 'stacks' as they're called, and moves toward them slowly. It seems she came here for a reason, and she heads for -- where else -- the crafts section. She is gone in the stacks a few moments later.
Wally waves to November and says, "Hi! Bye!" and then, as the two N's leave, to Damion, "They're both pretty gloomy about this, but they're also right--coddling is bad, but it can lead to positive change if you manage it right, I think." The scarlet speedster seems pretty upbeat about this, if concerned.
Damion looks November in the eye and says, "He's a friend, not my child. It's not likke I'm raising him or anything." Then the colorful ice fairy is departing, and Damion is rising to his feet as well. "Like I said... he's not my kid of anything. Sorry to keep disappearing as you arrive, Wally. But I need to go as well. It was nice seeing you again." Then he's turning and heading towards the exit of the library.
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