Those Who Stay Behind [OTA and Closed Logs]

[stitch_witch]

WHO: Lark & Kaz, Lark & Omega, Open
WHERE: Temba Station and elsewhere
WHAT: Lark Through the Exploration Event, being Supportive Team Mom
WHEN: Exploration Event
WARNINGS: None?

1. A Gift Of Protection Closed to Kaz
She had made an oath, and today seemed the best day to deliver. Lark had wanted more time, to work on embroidery to make it look more impressive, to get some color in. But the announcement was enough for her to know that something was about to happen. And to give her word was something Lark took seriously. She bundled up the shirt she had finished the basic form of, and approached the station with all haste.

And once there, she waited, her eyes watching for Kaz.

2. Welcome to Temba Closed to Omega
New investigations and questions were raised, but that didn't change the fact that the Agrii could still bring someone new. And with people so scattered it meant there was a lot that still needed doing. The work today had Lark sitting in the diner first thing in the morning, sipping at tea and eating fruit and bread. This morning it was a stack of clothes before her, made for someone large with four arms. Her finger kept moving slowly over seams, and the threads that held those seams together. The thread just seemed to crawl out of the inside out shirt, and Lark only stopped in the very minor magic when the door opened.

"Good morning," she greeted, setting her tea aside.

3. The Day To Day OTA
The city seemed so quiet with people off exploring. Even this had not convinced Lark to leave. Hers was no longer an exploring nature, she'd given that all up years ago when she'd stopped tumbling for her meals. But with so many gone there were things to be done. In the mornings she was in the diner bring in fresh fruit and cutting it for easy food options, not to mention making small bundles of food for those who might have come back to the city the night before and intended to head out in the morning. In the afternoons she was easy to find around the farm looking after the glownies when those who would normally see to their care were not present. The creatures seemed to have an affection for her, perhaps because the loose wool on their bodies was so happy to jump to her own clothes and so she smelled so powerfully of them. And of course there was the night, when as often as not Lark could be found walking though the city with a heavy woven grass basket at her side, carrying supplies back from the Space Target. After all, how could she harvest the clothes and other fabrics there for material if she wasn't bringing the supplies back to where she could work?

[OOC: If you have other ideas, please reach out to me on Discord Churby#4290 or over on plurk churbooseanon

Comments

[small_compromise]

Considering that Omega's 'room' amounted to the gunner's nest aboard their ship, any space big enough for a proper bed and all hers was huge to her. "Can you show me how?" Using plants to make something sounded fascinating. Maybe she could make something small she could use.

Lark's decision was a fair one. Omega nodded. It wouldn't make much sense if everyone left to the new city all at once.

[stitch_witch]

"Gladly," Lark promised. A bit of simple weaving of a grass mat would be something any bright kid with quick fingers could pick up very easily. And turning the grasses in the area into lovely, fragrant rugs might benefit a lot people. Especially since Lark had no intention of wasting her limited thread on rugs for now.

[small_compromise]

Omega smiled brightly at that. It might be a small thing, but she was eager nevertheless. Her brothers couldn't teach her such things. Their specialties lay elsewhere. And the most she'd ever made was in customizing her Clone Trooper doll.

"I'll come by later for sure, then," she promised.

[stitch_witch]

"I'll be glad for it. I reside on the third floor of the hotel, and in the evenings my door is open and a light is on if I'm awake and welcome company," she offers with a smile. That would make it easiest for the young girl.

"Now, are you still hungry? I can get that salad."

[small_compromise]

"The third floor?" That meant a lot of climbing, but she wasn't going to let that keep her, so she nodded. "All right. I'll come find you."

She didn't have to debate too long as to whether she was still hungry or not, her stomach grumbling a little for her. Omega gave a sheepish grin. "If it's not any trouble," she said.

[stitch_witch]

Well, Lark had felt it had the best combination of view and light and security. All of it had made her feel comfortable in the very not-home location.

"It's no trouble," she insisted, rising gracefully and moving immediately to go fetch another plate and load it with salad from the food offerings near the kitchen.

[small_compromise]

Omega had opted for something on the first floor for the time being. Agrii-made steps made it interesting trying to go upstairs, and she didn't particularly like the idea of having to climb all the way to her room all the time. But Ezra had also mentioned the ships as a possible place to stay as well. She'd just have to have a look.

Settling in her seat as Lark went to go and get salad for her, Omega looked back at the pile of clothes there, fingering one of the sleeves. Such interesting colors. Probably not very practical out on the field, but then she'd seen some of the clothing people on other worlds wore for daily tasks.

[stitch_witch]

Once she had a plate filled with greens and other vegetables and some light oil and fruit juice dressing, lark returned and put it down in front of the girl.

"Would you perhaps tell me of yourself, Omega?" she asked as she took one of the shirts from the pile to resume the removing of seams.

[small_compromise]

Having a pile of leaves and things served to you was interesting, definitely. Omega arched a brow at it, but she picked at it all the same. At least it was more colorful than the foods served at the mess hall back in Tipoca city. She chewed thoughtfully on a mouthful of greens, expression brightening. The dressing made all the difference.

"Hm? Oh, sure. Where should I even start?" she asked, glancing at Lark as she poked at some of the veggies, trying to decide which to try next.

[stitch_witch]

Dressings often did make quite the difference when dealing with vegetables. Lark found they enhanced the fresh taste and thus was even more found of them than others might be.

"Wherever feels most comfortable for you," Lark answered as she turned a shirt inside-out. Then she set her finger against a seam and let her finger draw over the seam, the thread there starting to work itself as it followed her finger.

[small_compromise]

That didn't exactly narrow things down. Omega chewed thoughtfully. She'd never been asked to talk about herself, so she had no idea where to even begin. "Oh, I don't know," she admitted, gathering another bit of leafy vegetables. "I've been traveling with my brothers. For the most part, we live on our ship."

She was easily distracted as she fell to watching Lark work, eyes widening as she saw the bit of thread moving on its own, like a tiny little worm. "How...? Is that magic?"

[stitch_witch]

"You have brothers? Perhaps tell me of them."

Clearly the young woman needed guidance. That was alright. She was very used to coaching along even young children. If there was more than enough patience in Lark to work slowly.

"It is indeed magic," Lark agreed with a smile. "I'm an ambient mage in my world. My power manifests through things like this. When I do it this way instead of cutting a seam out, I can reuse the threads."

[small_compromise]

"Ezra told me about magic. Well, kind of. He showed me his." She'd never heard of a mage before, but it was fascinating to hear how Lark worked. "I didn't know magic could be used to make clothing."

Having something more direct to answer certainly helped. Omega smiled. "Well, there's Hunter," she began, her accent making the '-ter' sound like a 'tah', "-he's also our sergeant, so he's also our big decision-maker. He's very good at tracking. And then there's Tech, our information specialist and pilot. Like his name would suggest, he's also good at technological things.

"Echo's also good with technology and computers. He's been a soldier a pretty long time, so he's the one that pushes me to train harder. And Wrecker, he's the biggest of my brothers, and really strong. He likes to blow things up," she said, grinning fondly. It was a short-lived expression. "There's one more but things're sort of complicated, so right now we're not really... getting along well with him."

[stitch_witch]

"My magic is very uniquely suited to such a thing. In my world more mages are what we call academic mages. They go to the mage schools and learn the same spells, and often specialize in something, but in theory they could do things that any other academic mage could do to a degree. And there are other forms of academic mages too, trained not in schools but by the customs of their culture. I, though, am an ambient mage. More limited in what I can do, but the things I do are more... artistic for it."

Craft magic. Some people were disdainful of it. But that was something she had long since come to peace with.

Lark listens as the girl speaks of her friends, making note of what was said. She would bring them up again later, to ask for more details.

"Well, I hope that your brothers will rest easy knowing you're with people who will help teach you how to get by, as well as how to protect yourself."

[small_compromise]

"Well I think it's wonderful. If everyone learned to do the same thing then they'd all have the same problems. And it'd also be very boring, I think."

In a way it reminded her of the situation she and her brothers were in. "It's kind of like with my brothers. They're soldiers, but they do things a lot differently than the other troopers."

She shoved around the last bit of salad on her plate, not particularly fond of the bitter taste that particular leaf had, hoping that she could mop up what was left of the dressing to mask its flavor. "I hope so. But I also hope they don't worry that I'm gone. They won't know what happened, and I don't have my communicator to tell them."

[stitch_witch]

"Exactly," she agreed, beaming. What a wise young woman. Many youths she had met had not always been eager to see themselves as different. This one not only understood that it was important, but to be hoped for, or so it seemed.

"That is something I very much understand, the worry. I have a new student, and I fear for his training without me. But I shall hope he will do his best."

[small_compromise]

It was probably easier when you were always reminded right from the start that you were different. She and her brothers were considered abberations, not that she really minded. They were made different on purpose, specializing in different things. That's what made her brothers such an effective squad.

"I don't suppose we could ask the Agrii to pass a message on..." Omega murmured, kicking her feet back and forth under the table as she pushed the plate away to rest her arms at the table's edge.

[stitch_witch]

"I do not know," she admitted, and was sad that she could not give the young woman a better answer. "You may attempt to ask them. Those who have been here longer might know how to do so."

[small_compromise]

"I'd like to try. There's no reason not to, is there?" She'd just have to figure out how. That'd require finding someone who's been around longer, just as Lark suggested. "I'll ask someone about it."

[stitch_witch]

"If not, perhaps you can just write the messages you would want to send. For yourself."

Because sometimes the words being out there could be enough.

[small_compromise]

Omega blinked at that. Writing, while not unheard of, wasn't exactly a common practice when you had datapads. But she wasn't against the idea. How it would get to someone who might not even be on-planet was anyone's guess although not impossible, she supposed.

"Where can I get something to write on? And with?"

[stitch_witch]

"I keep some supplies in my workshop, to keep an inventory. I can happily part with some for you," Lark answered. "I don't doubt there are others here who might share as well."

Because they were all in this together, weren't they?

[small_compromise]

"I don't need too much. Something just to start," Omega said, but she was happy at the offer either way. "I don't know what I can do to make it up to you, but if you can think of anything..." Everything seemed to have a price, after all, and even if they didn't have currency here, there were still other things that could be done for payment.

[stitch_witch]

"Well, taking time every now and then to talk to an older woman who misses having a cottage full of young men and women your age to keep the place full of noise and activity, it would be appreciated."

Truly she needed no payment more than that. The longer she was here the more she missed the children.

[small_compromise]

The girl smiled then. "That, I can definitely do." Besides, she rather liked Lark. It'd be interesting talking to someone who made things like she did, which was quite different from her brothers' business.