Seven

[pendantry]

[Raven is late for work this morning.

She's hard on herself about it all morning long, working on her projects with hardly a word to anyone else, because things like that are unacceptable. Especially when she's in this kind of mood. When it comes around to lunch time she stalks out of the smithy, bag in hand, sore on top of being frustrated with herself.

Usually she sits on the bench outside the building if it's a nice day; this time her feet take her all the way to the plaza, to sit by the fountain and break the bread of her sandwich bun into little pieces for the local birds. She's just not hungry. They are, so why not share? A small cluster of them shares her bench with her until or unless someone walks by to disturb them.

For a while, she sits there and stares at nothing. Lately everyone is whispering about that going-home stuff. And while she misses home...is Luceti really so terrible? It's like a bigger, weirder Sharance sometimes. Thinking about this too much is giving her a headache, though, so she rubs her temples with a low irate sound and gets up to go back to work.

Then lightheadedness kicks in, she overbalances too much to one side, and into the fountain she goes, cut off before she can finish shouting.

Thus, she is wet and disheveled and heavy-eyed by the time she does get back to work. Late. Again. And at last, obviously not feeling well after all.]

[[ooc: I do not mind timeline-breaking this or that in here! There are lots of places to cook up shenanigans or have a chat.]]

Comments

[pendantry]

Why do you care so much?

[Stranger. Persistent and annoying boy. Stupidly worried.

All of those apply, right now.]

[zeropoints]

Why? [Uhhhh...] Well, isn't it normal to care! I think I should be asking you that--kinda. Why do you care so little?

[pendantry]

I care. [Of course she cares. She is just stubborn and loyal to her work and thinks it matters more to be there.]

[zeropoints]

Then let's go!

[Your work won't matter if you're dead from pneumonia or something equally horrible.]

[pendantry]

I'll go home and sleep.

[Then will he leave her alone about the clinic? Or maybe she'll just crash on the smithy couch for a while...]

[zeropoints]

[RAVEN, PLEASE]

And then what??

[pendantry]

Wake up, eventually.

[What was he expecting? She starts walking with a half-shrug. Maybe heading for her house. Maybe going back to the smithy.]

[zeropoints]

[He was and still is expecting her to then go see a doctor--or nurse or healer or whatever they call them in this weird place!]

Eventually... More like "hopefully." [He sighs and then follows her.] Can I walk you home, then? Just to make sure you get there safely. Without falling into any more fountains.

[pendantry]

[Sigh.]

That's fine, I guess.

[Except she was going to sneak to work. Oh well. Once he's gone she'll return to the smithy right.]

[zeropoints]

[All the sighing up in here. No need to sound so enthusiastic, everyone.]

I promise I'm not a creep or anything, miss... Ah--what's your name, by the way?

[pendantry]

[This time she manages not to sigh.]

Raven.

[zeropoints]

Nice to meet you, Raven-san. Ha, probably could have met on better terms though. My name's Tsuna Sawada.

[Tuna and Raven. A fish and a bird, huh. No wonder they haven't been able to get along swimmingly. But at least it's not a T*m and J*rry situation yet.]

What were you doing at the fountain before? Er, besides falling into it and stuff.

[Idle talk because walking with a stranger is awkwaaaard.]

[pendantry]

Having lunch.

[For a fish, he chatters like a songbird.]

[zeropoints]

Oh, I was having lunch, too. What a coincidence, huh? Aha... ha... ha... [Cue awkward laughter trailing off.] Well, I guess not. I mean, it is lunch time after all...

[pendantry]

Then I was going to go back to work.

[It's obviously still on her mind.]

[zeropoints]

[what]

In your state?!

[pendantry]

[Of course. There might be customers. Anyway tuna fish it is really not your business!]

Mmhmm.

[zeropoints]

[INHUMAN]

Uh, well, I guess I admire your dedication...? [Kinda.] What do you do anyway?

[pendantry]

I'm a smith. [This guy must be really new, to not know that. Or he doesn't like weapons. But so few people come through the village that don't like weapons.] I make accessories.

[zeropoints]

[If it weren't for video games, he wouldn't know what a smith was. It makes him a little excited to know they really do exist!]

Like mythril circlets and steel helms and stuff like that?

[pendantry]

Sort of. [Circlets and helms aren't really asked-after around here.] Most of it is more like jewelry.

[She lifts her current pendant - sun-shaped and set with goldish crystals - out of her shirt.]

[zeropoints]

Wow, that's amazing! [He takes a moment to admire the pendant.] A sun flame...

[pendantry]

...You think so?

[She rests somewhere between complimented and incredulous. Tsuna-fish looks so stunned, hasn't he ever seen jewelry before?]

[zeropoints]

Yeah! I mean I can barely fold paper airplanes--[In fact, he's not even sure he can do that well.]--and here you are making stuff out of metal.

[pendantry]

It takes practice.

[And yet she doesn't think he wants to become a smith of any sort.]

What is a paper air plane?