There was a certain irony to the situation that was completely lost on the young woman in the violet dress, which frankly, looked more like a night gown. Grasidia was much older than she looked and Bebe's inquiry into the petulant and wearisome nature of these said old folk was a spectacle of humor had she known better. But Bebe and ignorance were one in the same. Wherever she so decided to mosey about, it moseyed about with her it seemed. Ignorant was basically her middle name. But then, she'd be too ignorant to know that too. So here she stood; rather sat. Crossed leg at the table with her gaze bright eyed and engaged towards the woman as she spoke. In that moment, Blank plopped into her lap, swiftly from out of nowhere. This cat was an elusive creature. Quick to go about his business and then return to Bebe's warm lap for a nice rub when he saw fit. He curled up into the creases of her gown and purred as Bebe stroked his fur. Blank was particular about who he let rub him.
When Grasidia finished talking, Bébé seemed a bit dazed, but noticeably engaged, though maybe too engaged in a totally dreamy and spacey kind of way. Only Bébé could manage to listen to someone and daydream at the same time. But she had drifted off somewhere in the ether spaces of her mind, the words seeping into her skull like loose honey.
Learn for yourself...the short-haired woman said. These 3 little words held a certain weight to them.
"Learn for yourself..." Bébé mumbled, first to herself and then more audibly.
"Learn for yourself..." she repeated, bobbing her head as though she finally understood. She leaned on the table, cupping her chin in her hands, smiling brightly at Grasidia, who no doubt was probably seeing something of a cute little monster with eyes raging like the sea and a heart free like the air that which she breathed. Telling Bébé to learn for herself--you didn't have to tell her twice.
"Learn for yourself!" Bébé exclaimed.
Blank was unbothered.
But Bébé perked up. A eureka moment.
"You totally get it." she began, elated to have met a "same-aged" friend who
totally understood her plight as a young girl who needed more than an eternal starry night within gilded gates, or tents that perpetually reeked of centuries old star perfume, or the feel of a young boys puckered cherry lips against her own. Well, maybe the last bit was okay. Her last boyfriend was a good kisser.
And it's young lady to you; she liked to be referred to as a young lady, not a young girl,
thank you very much.
"I tell my grandfather that all the time. I need to learn and discover things for myself, otherwise I'll never gain the experience to overcome adversity. Or... discover the marvels that this world has to offer." Bébé suddenly grabbed thick locks of her long brunette hair and pulled them over her eyes, shaking her shoulders like a fangirl and squealing,
"Oh I just can't wait to try something new! Something adventurous!".
After freeing her eyes from the veil of her hair, she paused. The bustle and cacophony of the guild was noticeably slowing as mages left on quests and the novelty of the morning was waning for guests who were not mages and had no intention of staying if their favorite mages were no longer present.
"I know...." Bébé cooed at Grasidia, emboldened by her ignited inner flame. Sitting a napping Blank on the seat and rising up, she looked away from Grasidia and out towards the general direction of the job board. She noted a few things. Her grandfather, Ollivander, moving away from Torys towards stairs that lead to a higher floor of guild, most likely scurrying for a quieter location to set up his portable work station so he could get to work; undoubtedly after giving Torys his donations and a curt greeting. Ollivander wasn't generally one for small talk, as he found he had better things to do with his time. He still had a medicinal recipe of stars to perfect. She noticed Ria (the girl who saved her) engaged in conversation with an unidentified male with dark skin that contrasted nicely against his blue garments, she thought. Bébé waved to Ria cheerfully, though wasn't sure if the violet haired mage noticed. She'd made a mental note to talk to her soon. For now, she strolled over to the job board and took a gander.
She scowered the jobs and wondered which one she should try to take. There weren't many left, so she simply nipped the one she was closet to and read it carefully. Certain words stood out to her more than others;
Karlomene Karling, Karl, mansion, koi fish tattoo, housekeeping.... "Housekeeping!", Bébé yelped, clearly unsatisfied with such a descriptor being used for a quest. How was cleaning toilets an adventure? This was not an idea she wanted to entertain, but as she scanned the job and then quickly looked over what remained on the board, she saw that this was the only thing left that she could do and was qualified for. All she could do at this point was roll her eyes. And so she did, like the expert eye roller that she was.
"Housekeeping..." she mumbled, disgruntled at the prospects of her first job in the guild placing her as nothing but a glorified babysitter or maid. But then she clasped her hands together, crumpling the paper of the job,
"Maybe its haunted. Please be haunted!" she pleaded to the quest gods. Slowly she unfolded the paper as she approached Torys.
They exchanged words in a pleasant manner, Bébé doting on how cute she thought Torys was and Torys simply smiling graciously at the compliment. Then Torys briefly discussed the quest with Bébé after approving her for it, though the latter vocalized her initial discontent with the remedial unadventurous nature of the quest before being expertly convinced by Torys that there's usually more than meets the eye to quests like these. And so Bébé, filled with a newfound vitality for this quest at the Karling mansion, ventured back to the table where Grasidia was sitting, the quest paper in one hand, and Bee being tugged by the ear in the other. At some point along the journey back to the table, she nabbed him as he was about to dive deep within someones pocket or hair. She could tell by that look in his eyes when he was about to hitchhike like a little flea. And so she propped him down on the seat and then plopped down beside him, crossing her legs over each other (Blank took this opportunity to lie back in her lap), scanning the quest paper again for any details she may have missed.
Bee took out his gaming lacrima and turned it on,
"Think I can tagalong on the quest?" he asked Bébé, having spied on the paper while she was lost in it herself. She looked up from it finally and furrowed her brows at her little booger headed brother,
"Ummmmmm...no." she said with a cheeky grin before looking back to the quest paper.
"Come on! I can help!" Bébé chuckled, looking at him,
"I don't think so. Only capable mages can go on this quest." she boasted, leaning closer,
"I hear there's more to it than meets the eye." She whispered this bit to give it an ominous and mysterious effect, raising her eyebrows at him playfully. He rolled his eyes, a skill he no doubt learned from her, and started playing his gaming lacrima, though his countenance remained visibly...feathered. Bébé for all her own carelessness, saw the disappoint on his downward facing visage and she frowned softly, sitting the quest paper on the table and rubbing his head affectionately.
"Look, Bee, I would have loved for you to tag along on this quest, but you really can't come. I think only members of the guild can go on quests." She pondered this rule as she was unsure herself, but remained steadfast, not wanting to give him hope in case that really was the rule. But she and rules didn't always work hand-in-hand either, so she understood his feelings.
"But I need to protect you. In case there really is something else going on there." Bee mumbled, though he didn't look up from the game.
Bébé sighed, sweetened by the sentiments of her brothers motives, though unwavered in her own resolutions to the matter,
"I'll be okay. And so will you. Stay here and keep an eye out for grandfather. I think he went upstairs somewhere. Okay?""Ok", hardly audible from him.
"Please? No hitchiking while I'm gone. Promise.""Yeah, Yeah...I promise." he relinquished, nudging her slightly in the arm while remaining focused on his game lacrima.
Satisfied, Bébé smiled and looked at Grasidia, having practically forgot she was there throughout that entire sibling interaction.
"Anyways, where were we?" she said kindly,
"Oh. That's right." She slid the quest paper over to Grasidia,
"What do you think about this one? Would you like to join? I know it seems boring, but I think..." Bébé leaned in closer to Grasidia, grinning through a whisper,
"I think it could be haunted."Her little furball remained characteristically uninterested. Blank only opened one eye, staring up at his owner as if shaking his head disapprovingly, and then went back to sleep.
Unbeknownst to her however, two mages, one of smoke and one of feathers, both with the strange koi fish tattoos, stood just beyond the front door. An adventure was finally upon her.
Member
Punished GN,
FernStone,
Ti,
Crimson Flame,
CollectorOfMyst,
NoriWasHere,
Izurich,
Benzaiten,
YummyYummy,
Teyao
