Nightshift 35: F21-F30 Hallway

[neutral_jing]

Okay, so the day more or less completely sucked. The only consolation Toph had was in regards to the conversation with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and the upcoming meeting with Renamon for her file and possessions. That is, if she could even find the woman. Renamon never got a chance to tell her the location of her room; the staff had intervened too

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F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

[from here]

With pipe filled sheet over one shoulder, Beatrix stopped at the door to F30. She looked down the hallway a moment before she knocked on the door. As she waited, she shifted her weight and the long blue broom skirt she was still wearing caught on the handle of the knife she had taped to her leg. With a mild look of annoyance, she leaned down to smooth it out.

Re: F30

[bewarethecute]

Ururu hadn't talked during dinner. She'd had fun for most of the day, but at the end, it looked like Kurogane got in trouble with the staff, and that wasn't good. Ururu wanted to go check on him now that it was night time, but she didn't know where Kurogane's room was. She could check on Orihime and Shiki and Fai-san though, and that was good.

But just as the little girl was getting ready to go, someone knocked on the door. Thinking that it might be one of her friends come to check on her, Ururu answered it. The person wasn't anyone she recognized though. Just a tall woman who looked kind of like Jinta-kun did when he wanted to play baseball instead of doing chores.

"Um, hello." Ururu didn't know what this woman wanted, however. It wasn't too bad though; more like greeting a customer at the shop. "Can I help you?"

Re: F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Beatrix looked up from adjusting her skirt and blinked. She had not been expecting to see a child that looked even younger than Hanyuu in this prison. A moment later and she smiled.

"Hello," she replied. "I'm looking for Skuld. Is she here, honey?"

A child like this should be at home playing on the swings, not fending off monsters. She was really going to enjoy killing Martin Landel.

Re: F30

[bewarethecute]

Ururu felt better when the woman smiled. She looked nicer that way, or at least less angry, and that was a good thing. When she asked about Skuld, Ururu nodded, pointing to where her roommate was. "Skuld-san. There's a woman here for you."

Ururu pulled the door open wider, stepping to the side so the new woman could get by. She'd have to leave soon to find everyone, but for now she also wanted to be polite. Besides, she couldn't get by while the lady stood in the doorway, and Ururu didn't mind going through second instead of first.

Re: F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

The Bride's eyes moved past the little girl to look into the room a moment before looking back at her.

"Thanks," she said, her words warm and sincere. She really was a mother amidst all the blood and anger. She stepped inside, noting the girl's manners. She set the bundle down on the floor with a metallic clang and then knelt down so she wasn't towering over the girl.

"My name's Arlene. What's yours?"

Re: F30

[bewarethecute]

The clang didn't bother Ururu so much, since it wasn't particularly loud, or a sound she wasn't used to. She also didn't mind the lady kneeling, though not many people did that unless they were about to say something very serious to her.

"Ururu." She bowed, more used to doing so now that she hadn't worn a skirt for a week. She still missed her skirt though. "It's nice to meet you, Arlene-san. I can't stay for very long enough. I have to go make sure my friends are okay."

Re: F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Ah, the girl was Japanese. If she hadn't already learned about the unusual language effect that seemed to be going on (another bizarre thing to add to her list of Hell No) she would have found using the honorifics with English odd. She was curious, so she shifted her language into Japanese for the moment.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Ururu-san," she replied, barely managing to not use the -chan honorific. "Thank you for letting me in. Skuld-san and I have some things to take care of right away. Take care tonight and if you ever need some help, just let me know. My room's F33." She couldn't - wouldn't - refuse Ururu help if she ever needed it. She was a child, after all...

Re: F30

[bewarethecute]

Ururu wondered just then if Arlene was okay. The little girl had been hearing Japanese all along, like she almost always did, except now Arlene's Japanese sounded a little different. She didn't know why though, and the woman didn't seem to be in pain or anything, so Ururu just let it go.

It was odd hearing -san after her name though. No one ever used -san with her, especially not people who were older.

"Okay. Thank you. This is my room too, so if you ever need help, you can let know too." She thought it was very nice of Arlene to offer her help, and being a person who liked to help, it was easy for her to make the same offer. Feeling rather good about how night was starting, Ururu bowed again, then waved to Skuld before leaving the room. She'd go to Shiki's room first, then Orihime's, since those were closest.

Re: F30

[innovator_skuld]

Skuld finally finished double-checking the array she'd just drawn up; anything that made them more precise was worth a try, and Arlene giving her such exact dimensions for the sword and sheath might mean she didn't need to use as much energy as she usually did

Re: F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Beatrix wasn't sure which was cuter, Ururu offering her help or that ridiculous thing Skuld was wearing. The girl was trying too hard, she decided, barely hiding a smile as she walked over to the symbol Skuld wrote.

"I wasn't sure how much detail you needed, so I thought it prudent to be as thorough as I could," she replied, her voice carefully neutral. "Can you explain this process to me as you go? I wish to understand it better?"

Re: F30

[innovator_skuld]

"Mostly, but I can't do the chant in Japanese." Skuld sat down and studied the array for a moment, trying to think of where to start, before looking back up. "What I have here guides the energy--I'm kind of shaping the magic into a mold so I can shape your materials. Usually I don't need to get this precise, but here even I need all the help I can get.

"I'll explain the placement of the lines if you want," she said, tapping the array, "but... um, how much higher-level math do you know?" She could only simplify what she said so far...

Re: F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Mental notes were made as the Bride's keen eyes moved across the array. She was quite pleased Skuld was willing to explain as she went along. As for higher math...

"I was taught Calculus, though it has been eleven... no... fifteen years since I was in school," she answered. She hoped Skuld hadn't caught the momentary hesitation as she tried to recall the years. That damn coma had a tendency to mess with her like that.

Re: F30

[innovator_skuld]

Skuld was a little confused by it, but didn't ask. "Well, this--goes beyond that, since basically it's right up there with rocket science. So... I'll just say I'm calculating all the angles and the full volume of the finished pieces, then inputting that into a formula that tells me where to place all the array's lines to best guide the power. I don't need to, but if I don't I have to direct it all myself and that wastes energy."

Really, it was all pretty simple--it was just alchemy. Explaining the power itself if she was asked about it would be harder, mostly because she would have to go into concepts Arlene had probably never heard of.

Re: F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Which, sadly, was exactly where the Bride's thoughts were going next.

"You summarized that well; I believe I'm following," she said, finally kneeling down next to Skuld instead of standing over her. Her eyes never left the array as if she was trying to memorize it, though that wasn't the case.

"You said your alchemy was different than the others here. How does one actually take a solid substance and change it as if it was liquid being poured into a fabricated mold. You've explained how the mold is made, but what about the melting?"

Re: F30

[innovator_skuld]

Oh, man... Skuld thought for a long moment, trying to figure out how to put this. "Alchemy's more or less rearranging things on a molecular level," she said finally. "Like shaping the contents of a bucket full of sand into a sandcastle. Normally I'd refine the metal too, changing the molecules themselves, but here I can't summon that much power at once."

And if Arlene was still wondering about what was different... "That's mostly how the other alchemists work, too, but I get my power from another source. I don't know where they get theirs, but my power's--well, divine." Obviously.

Re: F30

[quickdrawbkiddo]

And there was that whole being a goddess thing. The Bride was still rather skeptical about that. She may be willing to accept the existence of working alchemy but she was more of the opinion that Skuld's alchemy was the same as the others and the girl just thought it came from Heaven. Or, rather, Asgard since Skuld was supposedly one of the Norns.

Yes, that was a much more acceptable explanation if she was going to allow herself to believe in the alchemy. Well, she still needed to see it herself.

"Ah. Well then, anything else you can tell me about this process?"