Clockwork Fragments

sweetearthSo much could happen in so little time. The others had gathered - how strange though, he counted so many of them. How many elements were there? - relatively quickly. Well, with the exception of who seemed to be the last addition, a tall fellow with shocking white hair like the young lady who had introduced herself as Eveleen. To his complete shock, the youth had marched straight up to the door and hammered at it with his foot before it had frozen over. Manitou! Was this a demonstration of the elemental powers they had been bestowed!? It was vague in concept but incredible in reality, almost like true magic. If it was, that would most certainly leave that particular male's element totally disclosed. Ice. Was it just ice, though, or was it water in general, and he had only generated ice because of the frigid temperatures? So many questions unanswered.

sweetearthEveleen was on the newcomer in an instant, and while the response she and the little waif of a girl with white-and-black hair had received was far from polite, Takoda had to admit that her tone... hadn't exactly been pleasant either. Still, the brunette felt himself reflexively move forward when he noticed the fighting stance the mocha-skinned girl had taken. No, they were allies! They shouldn't fight--!

sweetearthBut before he could do anything, the door burst open, sending bits of ice everywhere. Reflexively Takoda's arms lifted to shield his own face from the shards even as he jumped, startled. Light streamed in through the open doors, and people were talking. The bronzed-skin brunette opened his eyes to see that the intrusion had thankfully dissipated any mounting tensions, as everyone's attention was now turned to the little blond boy standing at the entrance. Despite himself the Native had to blink in surprise. This was Trismegistus? Or was he the son? Surely someone so esteemed by a deity-like entity would be older, mature, well-versed? This bundle of gold and emerald didn't strike him as anything of that sort. What's going on...?

whitedragonIf the dark-skinned girl being a fighter had been intuition, there was no doubt left in Yorishirou's mind when he noted the fluidity of her movements to bring out weapons. Trismegitus's arrival had distracted her, however, and she had returned them (tonfas, he recognized) to their hiding places before going over to speak to the midget. With the two of them standing close together, it really put the blond's short stature into comparison. The girl herself had to be no taller than five foot two at most, but the twerp was a few inches shy of being parallel. How old is he? If we're really going to be stuck learning from this kid... we're all fucking screwed.

whitedragonBut like always in a group setting, the Japanese youth kept quiet, moving only to step inside and replace his shades in his pocket. After acclimatizing to the frigid outdoors, he noticed that steam was rising off of his clothes and body where the warmth of the house caressed his body. Or perhaps it was because the cold from what had happened just moments ago at the door was still clinging onto him... Whatever the case, it wasn't hot enough to be uncomfortable for him, so he merely side-stepped the two midgets at the threshold and surveyed the interior.

whitedragonIt looked like something taken out of a movie. The foyer was massive, yawning upward to reveal a wrap-around balcony that was cut out from the second floor. A crystal chandelier sparkled multi-faceted light down on them, the light glinting off the golden arches of the lighting to give off an even more yellowy glow. Lush scarlet carpeting had been laid out before them to catch the melting snow and dirt from their shoes, but beyond that was marble tiling, so smooth that he could see the reflection of the chandelier. Classical landscape paintings hung in gold and wooden frames on the walls, while statuettes and expensive-looking vases sat on low tables or impressions in the walls.

whitedragonDominating the foyer was a grand double staircase, sweeping like great wings upwards to the second floor. Scarlet carpeting, gold-trimmed but otherwise identical to that which he stood on now, covered the steps. As if it were being embraced, a solid door sat beyond the base of the stairs, silent and imposing. Two more doors sat on either side of the stairwell, unmarked.

whitedragonOn either side of the foyer were a pair of French doors. Through the glass, Yorishirou could see what looked like a dining room on his right, and some sort of sitting room on his left. Overall, he had to be impressed. A single person - even if he was a pipsqueak - owning and maintaining all of this himself was a pretty decent feat. He couldn't hear anyone else besides them, and no one else had answered the door, so the teen assumed that Trismegitus lived alone. Still, his face remained impassive, devoid of any emotion apart from the faint perpetual frown that was his neutral.

whitedragonThey were all here; even though he hadn't acknowledged them, he had quickly counted their numbers as he passed them by. Four females, four males, five if you included the half-pint that was supposed to be Trismegistus. Well, at least they HAD gotten here before he had; a slowly-smoked cigarette usually took him about forty-five minutes to finish, so if he'd crushed the butt under his heel just before he broke the cover of the trees he'd given them that forty-five minute window to get to the... mansion. Plus what had to be at least an hour between his turtle-slow amble from that rather comfortable tree and his first arrival in the forest. So almost two hours - if time had been running - for them to find the gods-forsaken edifice.

whitedragonSo they weren't incredibly stupid, just stupid. Hopefully. And hopefully they would use whatever atrophied laughable iotas of smarts they had and figure out that he wasn't going to be friendly with them. But who knew what kind of idiocy people could get into? The general public was basically prone to stupidity. Best-case scenario, maybe they'd just keep their distance when they talked to him. Though he had a feeling there would be plenty of attempts to "draw him into the team spirit". Whoop-de-fucking-do.

trismegistusO-oh... it seemed he'd made them wait outside longer than he'd expected. The gigantic grin on the blond's face visibly wilted under the gathered stares in his direction, his expression changing into something akin to that of a puppy that had been kicked and scolded. He hadn't meant to take so long. And they didn't know it, but not everyone was frozen in time. There were dangers that lurked everywhere, and the alchemist himself had had one too many an encounter with them to want to risk anything. Locking the door was only one of the few defensive habits he'd picked up over the years. When you lived alone, you got very cautious very easily.

trismegistus"Are you Trismegistus?"

trismegistusThe speaker was the white-haired, dark-skinned girl who'd been angry with the tall Ice boy earlier. Her anger had dissipated for now, her attention focused entirely on him. She was taller than him by a few inches, and she seemed hesitant, as if she wasn't sure whether or not she really wanted to know the answer to her question. However, the short male smiled brightly at her.

trismegistus"Nui-Nui-saa~! Nunu, you're pretty smart, Miss, nuaren'tcha~? Nuahaha~~!"

trismegistusA carefree laugh, and he stepped inside to allow the others who hadn't already come in to do so. One, two, three... yes, all eight were here. Now that he had guests over it wasn't possible to get back to working on his invention. No, these people were far more important! Figuring they were probably tired from waiting, he padded over to the living room doors and pushed them open before gesturing to the room beyond.

trismegistus"Nununu~ Looks like we're all here, nunu~ Come in and have a seat and warm up~ Would anyone like nunu-nummy hot cocoa~?"

whitedragonTrismegitus's voice offering a place to sit and warm up prompted Yorishirou to pause in his scrutiny of the place. The pint-sized blond was now standing at the open doors of the large room to the left, confirming the Japanese's guess that it was some form of sitting area. Personally, the youth couldn't care less. He was comfortable as he was now; the cold no longer affected him, and being seated was optional. Still, the teen had a feeling that the others would be welcoming the luxuries, and once they'd thawed out a bit, questions would be flying. And gathering information was never a bad thing. Taking the most advantageous option, the pallid teen sighed through his nose and slipped off his shoes and tucked them against the wall before stepping onto the shiny marble.

whitedragon"Ojamashi..." (Excuse my disturbance.)

whitedragonAs he neared, he noticed that Trismegitus had bare feet. Though this wasn't surprising - this was the midget's house, after all - it was just something that seemed out of place for a person who was supposedly an inventor. Or maybe those shoes were close to his workshop, assuming he had one. Frost blue regarded the puny male with skepticism, but Yorishirou otherwise remained silent as he strode past their host and into the living room that he was gesturing to.

whitedragonIt was as comfortable-looking as it was grand, a sheer cavern of recreational space. There was a fireplace in the far wall, fire crackling merrily in the hearth. The mantle above was covered with decidedly steampunk-like structures, looking like miniature sculptures of brass, copper, and glass. To either side of the fireplace were enormous floor-to-ceiling bookshelves made of some dark-stained wood and crammed full of what looked like incredibly old but well-kept books. A deep crimson rug lay before the hearth, guarded by plush burgundy armchairs and little side-tables made of dark wood. A golden lamp with an emerald green shade dominated each table.

whitedragonCloser to him, on the opposite end to the miniature library, was a sitting area. A large, thick white rug was dominated by a glass coffee table, decorated by a crystal vase of white lilies. Several wooden boards and small boxes sat under it, and Yorishirou recognized them as board games - chess, checkers, Chinese checkers being a few - along with several decks of playing cards. Bordering the carpet were dark brown leather couches and sofas, stuffed with beige and chocolate brown cushions. Next to the windows that faced the front of the mansion were a few easels and a low cabinet, which the Japanese youth assumed to be stocked with art supplies.

whitedragonIn between the two ends was what appeared to be a home entertainment area. A long sofa say facing an enormous flatscreen television that dominated one wall, dark carpeting spanning the area in between. The television stand was occupied by an army of electronics. A DVD player, cable television box, karaoke machine, and almost every gaming console in existence, plus surround sound. A massive shelf of movies, games, and controllers sat next to the almost display-case-like plethora of hardware.

whitedragonIt was nothing short of jaw-dropping, though Yorishirou himself kept his physical jaw closed and neutral. But however amazing it was, he sensed that it was all for show, or perhaps created because they were to be housing here for an undetermined amount of time. Obviously all of this had to have cost a fortune, and setting aside his questions on how someone like the pipsqueak had managed to get so much money in the first place, it seemed... strangely unused. The sofas lacked any sign of long-term usage, and the easels were free of paint marks. Even the home entertainment system looked like they were just taken out of the box and placed there. Like a picture out of a magazine. Props for a set and nothing more.

whitedragonYorishirou took all of this in without a word, until a voice broke his thoughts.

whitedragon"Nununu~ Sore wa hontou ni kakkoii youso no shuuten da, nunu~~~" (That was a really cool display of elements) The runt was smiling at him, looking amused and faintly impressed.

whitedragonThe Japanese youth glanced down at him before giving a faint snort. "...Betsu ni..."

whitedragonAnd moving past him he headed for the sitting area. But rather than seat himself down on the couches, he situated himself next to a window, enough that he would be hidden from view if someone was looking in, but he could still look out. He'd chosen that spot for tactical purposes; from here, he could see out of the French doors to the main entrance, see outdoors, and be able to see everyone who sat down at the sitting area while still being in earshot. Yorishirou propped one leg up to rest his foot on the wall and shoved his hands into his pockets. What the others wanted to do now was their choice. He'd do his thing, and they'd to theirs. As long as they didn't try and drag him around in their conundrums, he might just tolerate their presence.

sweetearthLingering behind out of both uncertainty and timidity, Takoda had to stop and stare in awe at the sheer size of the interior when he trailed in after the others. Certainly, something worthy of such an esteemed person such as Trismegistus, whom, to his surprise, turned out to be the young blond child who had answered the door. Did he live alone? Surely he had someone to look after him... But did someone who was friends with a deity-like entity need supervision? Food for thought. He'd have to mull that later, for the others were already moving in. It was rude to stand there and gawp.

sweetearthAs he'd somehow expected, the Ice youth had moved to stand away from the group, an almost literal wallflower... or rather a distant, cold mountain. Takoda had the sense that he was a kind that was always watchful... but why? Only the Great Spirit knew, and he would leave the mystery be, but would the others be so receptive...? For all their sakes and sanity, he certainly hoped so.

sweetearthTakoda situated himself on the end of the couch closest to the doors of the living room. Emerald green eyes took in everything slowly. It was strange. Even though everything was wonderful, it seemed... empty. Lifeless. As if they were on display and nothing more. Certainly, Trismegistus had to live alone. Everything gave off that feeling of neglect, left there as pretty eyepieces but never actually used. But could he really expect a single child to use everything within this enormous mansion? How long had he been here, all alone? How... how sad.

sweetearthThe offer of hot chocolate. The brunette perked up a little. Hot chocolate... that brought back memories. They had it all the time at home during cold seasons to warm the body, and indeed, his body - and he was certain everyone else's too, except maybe that white-haired ice boy's - was in dire need of some inner warmth. The frigid temperatures outside had chilled him to the bone, and he could feel the heat from the ventilation nipping at his skin as he seemed to thaw. Really, his ancestors had always lived in temperate northern climates, but at least they'd had warm seasons too, and winters were never quite this cold...

So many things happened at once, Tessa found herself standing there with a bemused expression, not bothering to keep up with the action but enjoying the excitement anyway. The second a large-ish group had gathered in the snow, the apparent "final" member of their party showed up and...froze the door over, which resulted in the silver-haired girl named Eve chewing him out, only to have Snowball respond by flipping her off. The redhead ignored everybody else during that exchange; Snowball and Eve were much more entertaining than anything else going on at the moment.

That is until the door burst open, flinging frozen shrapnel across the yard. Some people ducked and swerved to get out of the way, Tessa stood there and let the ice fly past--one piece grazed her cheek, but it didn't even hurt, just left a little red mark on her skin. And considering all of her skin was red from running around in the woods, it wasn't even noticeable. Besides, Tessa was far more interested in the little, blonde kid standing in the doorway, whom she thought was Trismegiter's little brother or something, until Eve helped them all find out that the midget was actually their resident genius inventor. Huh, she thought. Didn't see that one coming.

Snowball had gone in before everybody, but nobody else (including Tessa) moved until Tris stood aside to let them pass. She even hung back until most everybody else had entered, not feeling like elbowing her way through a crowd just yet. One more minute wouldn't kill her, it wasn't too cold.

When at last Tessa entered, kicked off her shoes and tucked them away with all the others, she was mystified by just how enormously huge the place was; it was way too big for a little guy like Tris to live in all by himself, there had to be other people here, right? Tess couldn't imagine living in a house this large all by oneself, that would be horribly lonely.

Although at least a person would never be starved for entertainment, she remarked when she saw the plethora of books and art supplies and videos and games (both video and tabletop) organized around the sitting room. It would take years to even get through half of the stuff Tris had collected here, even longer if he reread favourite books dozens of times like Tess did.

"Hot cocoa?" she repeated, hoping she hadn't heard wrong. She was meandering around the sitting room, taking everything in. Her blood was still pumping from all her dashing about, so she wasn't ready to sit just yet. Being inside had made her cheeks even more ruddy, and the wind had left her a wilder mess than it had been in a long time. "Yes please, I would kill for something hot right now."

Reed sniffled. Everything happened rather quickly. Though, he was too cold to really join into whatever had just happened. The least he did was listen in on what was going on. Of course, he hadn't bothered to check how long he had spent outside in the snow. Anything longer than 10 minutes outside in what he was wearing was undesired. Granted, being outside in what he was wearing was at least better off than if he were to be wearing summer clothing.

At the bursting of the door, Reed took the liberty of ducking to dodge the ice. Though, it would be more accurate to say he bundled into a ball before standing back up after. He shook his head to get the smaller fragments that landed on his head to fall out.

He was rather surprised to see a short blonde. For the most part he was expecting an older man-- more of someone that looked like he was at least in his 40s. The fact that he was the Trismegitus was a larger surprise. From the guy with the old-man coloured hair, Reed assumed he spoke some Asian language. He didn't know which, nor really cared. For the most part, the only language the teal-haired male understood was English.

More than happy when welcomed into the mansion, Reed jumped out of his shoes in a heartbeat when he got inside. His socks were soaked and he wasted no time peeling them off and leaving them in his shoes. The heat from the indoors was a relief. He could finally warm up again. Though, at the first few moments, he felt his limbs burning from the sudden change in temperature.

"Hot cocoa would be good," nodded Reed as he clasped his hands together before sticking them back under his armpits.