Day 281 :: Open/Log

[treasureling]

Who: Malak
Open: Open!
When: Day 281
Where: The Apartments, near the blacksmith/forge, wandering around
What: Malak tentatively ventures out of his room, is not actually gross sobbing everywhere anymore.
Format: Log, but I’ll match
Warnings: Malak is still SUPER SAD about the fact that his daughters might be/probably are dead. There might be some moping.

Malak only ventures tentatively out of his place in the Apartments. The room looks starkly different from what he would have at home, and he finds it less comfortable - no homespun, none of the blankets he carefully made, none of the numerous comforts he had accumulated over time. But it's livable. The indoor toilet, especially, is a luxury he never had before, and Malak had stared at it blankly for several minutes before attempting to find out how it worked.

Occasionally, if someone passes in the hallway, he peeks out the door. If spotted, he closes it immediately.

But eventually he goes out of the building entirely and goes to find the blacksmith that was mentioned to him. He wants a job.

Beyond that, he explores, in slow and tentative circles, looking around himself wide-eyed.

Comments

[daughterofursa]

Don't mind the young woman out and about with the baby dragon perched on her shoulder.

Actually, do mind her. She can tell when someone is new and she's approaching to say hello. Her face may not be the friendliest (she needs to work on that smiling thing), but she means well.

"You look a little lost."

[treasureling]

He's never seen a dragon before, and that makes him stare, admiring - there are old legends about such things where he comes from, but he didn't think they were real. It's fascinating, and it's beautiful.

That she isn't smiling makes him assume that she has a serious job, and that she has some authority.

"I know the way back to the Apartments," he says. Which isn't quite the same thing as saying he isn't lost in a general, cosmic sense. He is the sort of man who desperately needs some kind of anchor, and nothing has gripped him here yet.

[daughterofursa]

Her expression softens a little when she notices him admiring the dragon. She's like a proud mom, really.

But his answer at least tells her that he isn't fresh off the Skyway, which should mean she doesn't have to deliver the awful end-of-the-world news.

"Are you looking for something? I've been here a while. I could probably help."

[treasureling]

Malak catches the look on her face. That must be the way to her heart, then: the dragon.

"I'm looking for everything, really," he admits. "I have a lot of questions." A beat. "She's beautiful," he says, of the dragon. " Or - he?"

[daughterofursa]

"She," Zuko confirms, actually smiling this time. "This is Kizuna."

Frankly baby dragon seems a little sleepy, but she perks up when Zuko pets her snout to let her know she's being talked about. "Did you hear that? He just said you're beautiful."

[treasureling]

He steps a little closer, holds out a hand to the dragon. "May I?" He is careful to ask before he's close to touching. But he wants to admire it. Is there anything wrong with taking joy in such a strange little thing? Dragons, forges... the Skyway is dangerous, they say, but is the rest of this place so bad?

[daughterofursa]

Zuko nods. "Let her smell you first, but it should be fine. She's getting used to the attention."

Because she's completely adorable and who wouldn't want to pet her?

[treasureling]

He holds his hand so the little dragon can huff her breath over it.

"I've never been in a place like this before," he says. "It's - too strange."

[daughterofursa]

Kizuna sniffs his hand and doesn't seem alarmed, so it is probably safe to pet her.

"It takes some getting used to," Zuko agrees. "The people, the technology, the magic. It's all different from what I knew before."

[treasureling]

His touch is gentle, despite the strength in his arms and hands.

"Your world is," and his throat closes a little on the word. "Gone?" Tries to focus on the dragon, to skirt around the edges of the emotion he still can't confront.

[gianthobo]

A small furry creature runs up to Malak, sitting in front of him and looking up with wide eyes. Hello friend!

... The man lumbering up behind her looks a little out of breath, but he's keeping up okay. It's been a while since he's had a Pokemon so full of energy.

[treasureling]

It's adorable, and only the fact that he's never seen anything like it stops him from actually going to touch it. He looks around for a probable owner, instead, and the sight of the man relieves him a little. "Is this yours?" he calls.

[gianthobo]

"She's only 'mine' because I hatched her, but yes." AZ finally sits down in the grass near Eevee so he's not looming over Malak.

"... Hello there."

[treasureling]

Malak doesn't mind large men; he's fairly muscular himself, if only in a wiry way. Women put him more on edge.

He crouches, and offers his hand out to the little creature, a hint of a smile on his face. Nothing wrong with taking joy in small things, is there?

"Hello," he remembers to say, a hint belatedly. "My name is Malak."

[gianthobo]

Eevee nuzzles into his hand, trilling cutely.

"I'm AZ. This is Eevee. And now she'll never leave you alone, since she knows she can get you to pet her."

[treasureling]

He settles in the grass himself, facing AZ. His legs are curled next to him.

"What a terrible fate," he says, dryly. "What is she?"

Easy questions. Easy small talk.

[gianthobo]

"She's an Eevee. Though more generally, she's a Pokemon. They're creatures that inhabit the world I and a few others are from, though she was born here."

Eevee curls up in the grass near Malak. Yep! Bastion born and raised!

[treasureling]

Malak breathes in, sharp. "How long have you been here?" he asks, his hand going still on the Eevee's fur, dreading the answer.

[gianthobo]

"A hundred and fifty two days. She's been around for almost all of that. Her egg showed up sixteen days after I got here."

As long as his math isn't off... he may have lost a few days when he was sick.

[amphibian]

If the whole hospital debacle had been too...well, everything that it was for Malak to remember Aoi as the loud girl who carried the dragon kid around, he's probably become vaguely acquainted with her presence through the numerous times that she's passed by his nearly-open door on her way to or from her room over the past few days and tried to wave before the door shut.

Well, not this time.

She's on her way downstairs early in the afternoon with a volleyball tucked under her arm when she spots the cracked-open door, starts to say hi, and watches it close. Again. For about two seconds, she stands there and pouts.

And then she marches right over to the door and knocks.

[treasureling]

This makes him cringe.

Okay, it was really stupid, what he's been doing. Granted. But he just keeps panicking, not sure what to do or say, shy and alone, and that's why he keeps retreating. But he can't, anymore. He obviously can't pretend that he's not here.

So he opens the door, just a hint.

He recognizes her from the hospital, which is mostly a blur of chaos in his mind. If she said her name, he doesn't remember.

"Hello," he says, tentatively.

[bastionpc]

The clanging of hammer upon metal, the hiss of steam and heat from the water trough, and the crackling of the furnace are all common sounds in the direction of the Forge. It seems that the beefy-armed man responsible for it rarely takes a break from his work, constantly crafting, creating, making whatever he can for whoever asks and for whatever purpose might suit their home in the sky.

Intimidating as he might look, clad in that heavy leather apron with beads of sweat upon his brow, Stuart is actually far more kind and gentle than one would guess.

Still, it takes approaching him to even get that much out, so Malak is going to have to take the first step in this case.

[treasureling]

Malak finds women far more intimidating than men, and everyone in the world more intimidating than smiths, so he doesn't mind at all. There's no hesitation in how he knocks, and he slips inside, curious to see what the forge itself. For perhaps the first time since his arrival, Malak's body language isn't tight and knotted, but open.

"Hello?"

[bastionpc]

That's a plus, then. Stuart may be nice but he doesn't want to spend time trying to get some one to loosen up in his presence.

Straightening and dragging a hand over his brow, he offers a surprisingly warm smile.

"G'afternoon!"

[treasureling]

It draws a slight answering smile from Malak.

"I'm new here," he says. "I'm - my name is Malak. You have a wonderful forge."