Room for Rent: Spacious, Good View [IC]

[Fox]

April 24th, 3:02pm

"Alright, let's try this again."

Gaian Knight stood in his basement, surrounded by the usual assortment of rocks and dirt he used for practice. He was pretty sure what he'd done to the foundation of this house violated some zoning law or another, but it wasn't like he hadn't reinforced the groundwork every time he punched a new hole in it. Really, by now, his house probably had the most solid, anchored, earthquake-resistant foundation in most of the city. Well. I guess those Hanover types probably have something fancy for their big sciencey buildings. Best foundation in this part of the city, then.

He hadn't really known what the anchor stones were, at first, when he started making them - they just seemed right, and important, which honestly bothered him more than if they'd been weird and useless. Goodness knows they didn't look like much: just a worn, shaped rock with a weird symbol on it. And then one day some punk from the future trapped him and some civilians in a room with a fancy time bomb, and.... He shook his head, planting his feet and concentrating. Nearby rock and dirt pulled together into a tall, wide circle, the middle filling in with the same soft brown-gold glow his hands and eyes were giving off as he worked.

------------------

Somewhere on Sanctuary, between Fleur's plant home and the massive beehive, a smooth rock pulled itself up out of the ground. The dirt it trailed as it raised into the air fell not down, but out, framing a ring identical in size and shape to the one a long distance and a dimension away in Gaian Knight's basement; he took a deep breath as a muddy image of grass and stone formed on his end as the link was made and stepped through the portal, trying very hard not to think about how completely normal and intuitive it felt to do so.

[Electra]

There was a moment of quiet before a giant bluebell cup opened up a few yards from GK and trailed its petals on the ground to allow Fleur de Joie to step out. "Ah, there you are!" she exclaimed, sounding very pleased. "Your transit made the plants around here feel very weird for a few seconds, but I assumed it was probably you. I'm so glad you got the portal working!" Today Fleur had eschewed her uniform and its colors entirely, trading them in for a pink maternity smock, black leggings, and comfortable tennis shoes. She was all tummy these days, so that the outfit made her look a little bit like a bubble gum lollipop on a stick, but it would've been unwise to say that to her. "How did it feel?"

[Fox]

Gaian Knight reached up to pull his hood back and run a hand through his short brown hair, glancing back at the dirt ring that was clearly inactive, but seemed perfectly happy to defy common sense and continue to hold its shape. "I'm...really not sure," he admitted. "Most of what I do feels...very natural. Which is great until I realize that I'm lifting two tons of granite or making portals to other dimensions, and then I'm kinda freaked out by not being freaked out. Er, if that makes any sense at all. It's a weird thing."

[Electra]

Fleur laughed. "I'm not sure I ought to understand that, but I really do. Half the time anymore I forget that plants aren't supposed to be able to do half the things I do with them as a matter of course now. But really, why shouldn't it feel natural? It's natural to us, we can do it with a thought, and I suppose it's better than it feeling horrible. Now that the portal's working, you should be able to come here whenever you like! The bees will be ecstatic."

As though her words were a summons, a spot of yellow and black appeared over the nearest hill, heading in their direction. It seemed to be very far away, but as it approached, GK realized that it was instead much smaller than other members of the species he'd seen. This one was about the size of a Shetland pony, with eyes that dominated a head that was nearly the same size as its body segment. The small bee had short antennae and a small stinger, and bumbled even more than usual as it flew. Stesha noticed it too, smiling and waving. "Gaian Knight," she said cheerfully, "this is Bay-bee, one of the new generation growing up at the hive. She just came out of the larval stage last week, and she's taken quite a shine to me. And I like her, too."She patted the giant baby on her fuzzy head, Bay-bee responded by nuzzling Fleur's shoulder.

[Fox]

Looking awfully amused, Gaian Knight bowed - formally, at the waist - to the 'little' bee. "'Bay-bee' - of course she is. A pleasure to meet you, Bay-bee. I hope you and your siblings aren't filling up that hive too quickly - it's fun to build, but I wouldn't want to make all the bees vacate their home for renovations too often!"

"And speaking of babies," he added, gesturing easily at Fleur, "how are you doing? I'm sure you're getting sick of hearing that question, but you have to be getting pretty close to delivery."

[Electra]

"Hi!" Baybee chirped, her voice tinged with the characteristic buzzing of her older relatives, but not nearly as loud and booming. "Hihihi!" She flew closer to GK and examined him, close enough that he could see his own reflection in her multifaceted eyes. "Hi!"

"She doesn't know much English yet," Stesha explained with a laugh. "But she's enthusiastic. Most of the little ones are shy and stay inside the hive, learning how to clean the cells and watch over the larvae and such. This one's an explorer, though. I can respect that." She gave a little sigh to the second question, patting her round tummy. "Four and a half weeks to go, and don't think I'm not counting. I feel pretty good, aside from the backaches and swollen feet and the nagging feeling that I'm never, ever, ever going to get the nursery done on time. It's coming along, though! The house grows much more easily now that the weather's getting nice. Have you got your plans set?" she asked.

[Fox]

Gaian Knight nodded. "I think so. I actually took a day or two off and did some sightseeing for ideas and a little research into the finer points of structure. I can cheat and all, but I figured it might be good to know how it was properly done, just in case, and it doesn't get much better than real, old structures in Europe. I'm just glad I remembered to put a portal anchor thing at home - I can move pretty fast underground, but you don't really appreciate how big the Atlantic is until you spend half a day underneath it."

He paused, and chuckled. "Well. Maybe more than half a day. I really need to find a way to navigate down there - the lithosphere's not big on landmarks."

[Electra]

"That sounds promising," Fleur agreed. "We can cruise around a bit if you want, find just the right spot to work in. I've been expanding my sphere of effect here, though not quite as fast as I'd intended to before so many other things started happening! It seems like it might be nice if you wanted to settle in a little bit west of here, make something of a little square between me, you, the bees, and the refugees, but anyplace you want is fine. If it's outside of what is healthy now, I'm sure you and I can rehab it in no time."

While Fleur spoke, Bay-Bee continued studying GK thoughtfully, waggling her antennae at him. The bee didn't seem to have a lot of concept of personal space , and parked herself next to his shoulder, so close he could almost feel her fuzzy face on his cheek. "Flowerzz?" she asked clearly, sounding hopeful.

[Fox]

"Ah. Rocks," Gaian Knight answered with a tone of regret. He held out a hand, a couple small and shiny - though worthless - stones lifting up to slowly spin in mid-air. "Sorry, miss. I don't really have much of a green thumb...no flowers. All I have is dirt, and rocks, and more dirt - if you want flowerzz - ah, flowers - you should talk to nice Mrs. Fleur."

Speaking of which. He turned back to the plant-grower in question, and nodded. "That could work. Honestly, I'll probably park whatever I make in mid-air. That way I can just move it later, if I need to - I'll certainly keep it from floating over anything that can't survive having it fall, though. A floating castle over empty land or water is neat, and useful. A floating castle over plants or homes is one big hazard waiting to happen."

[Electra]

"Bay-bee," Fleur chided gently, "it's not nice to bother people for flowers when they are busy talking." Even so, she tossed a seed onto the ground a few feet away, which immediately unfurled into a giant yellow buttercup. With a high-pitched whine of excitement, Bay-bee deserted her new friend to disappear entirely into the cup of the flower. Her pleased humming was amplified and made echoey by the shape of the massive bloom.

Fleur chuckled, then turned back to Gaian Knight. "That should hold her for awhile. I can't wait to see this floating castle business, it should be very impressive! The refugees and the bees will no doubt want to get a look at it. Luckily, there's just not a lot around here that can get ruined. It's all just plants and trees, and wasteland outside that. If the castle ever were to fall down, I could just fix anything that got crushed." She smiled at him. "And if we're going to be neighbors now, you should call me Stesha. Half the time I forget to use the codename anyway."

[Fox]

He laughed, pulling his goggles down around his neck to rest on the red mouth cloth he hadn't even bothered to pull up into place before arriving. "Tarrant, then, please. And I certainly hope it'll turn out well - it'll be a bit more complicated than putting together the beehive was. But it should be very interesting, at the very least, and...well. I admit it's a little self-indulgent, but who doesn't want to own a castle?" He grinned. "It seemed appropriately thematic, and should offer a decent amount of spare room if anyone ever needs it."

[Electra]

That drew another laugh from Stesha. "I'm not going to complain about anyone else's self-indulgences when I'm here fixing up my own planet and building myself a fairy-tale cottage. I can't wait to see what your castle looks like when it's finished. Are you going to get started on it today? It's a beautiful day for it, no wind to speak of, and the sun is out." The sun on Sanctuary was never very bright, like an early morning glow or a cloudy day, but it was certainly brighter in the areas where Stesha's trees were clearing away the low-hanging toxins in the air.

[Fox]

Tarrant shoved his hands in his coat, giving the sky a critical gaze - a gaze with eyes whose irises shifted to a golden brown for a moment as he sunk his senses down as well, somehow compelled as he always was to see how the ground was feeling. "Yeah," he answered, smiling. "Yeah, I think I will. I might not be able to get everything done today - some of what I need will take some digging, heh. I can't make everything out of rock, much as I'd like to. But I can make some pretty good progress before I have to head back, if I put my mind to it."

[Electra]

"Would you mind some company?" Stesha asked. "Watching you build is always so exciting, and this should be a special treat. I'll bribe you with lunch if I have to," she added with a grin, "I've been baking bread again, and have plenty of sandwich fixings." The ground under Tarrant's feet felt a little strange, like it always did here, full of the ghosts of an old city that was no longer visible on the surface. But now roots were breaking through the old pipes and concrete foundations, sweeping away the old to make room for new growth. If Stesha's plants continued their prodigious expansion, in a few decades, there might be nothing left to see or feel of the dead city.

[Fox]

"Not at all!" Tarrant grinned, giving Stesha a short bow as the earth - very carefully! - split apart to let stone and dirt through, almost seamlessly closing back up to leave only slightly-disturbed grass behind as the raw material spun itself into a solid chair attached to a platform of heavy-looking rock. It wasn't majestic or grand, but was remarkably throne-like, with details here and there resembling ivy, roots, or flowers. "Because," Tarrant said with a great deal of amusement in his voice, "no pregnant woman should have to walk anywhere if she doesn't have to. The seat's just dirt, I'm afraid - it's certainly better than granite, but you might want to fill it with grass or something to save yourself the discomfort."

[Electra]

Stesha examined the earthen throne, smiling broadly. "I love it!" she told him, giving him a quick round of applause. "It's so pretty, and my ankles are going to be eternally grateful after about ten minutes." She waved a hand at the chair and a cushion of moss quickly grew up to cover the seat and back, making quite a regal looking outdoor throne. "Bay-bee!" she called, "you can come with or go home, but you're not allowed to wander by yourself!"

There was a rustling sound before Bay-bee popped out of the giant buttercup, covered from antennae to stinger with yellow pollen. "Yoooouuu!" she caroled, flying in a woozy pattern towards the two humans.

[Fox]

Tarrant hid his chuckle behind one hand, the still-freestanding portal ring dissolving into a flow of soil, which itself recollected as a broad, rough rock for the elemental to hop onto. The anchor stone, without anything to support it, fell back down to the grass.

He took Stesha and himself up into the air at a pretty leisurely pace, happy to just enjoy the day and the company. Happy, too, to let Bay-bee fly or ride along at her whim - he wasn't sure how fast giant baby bees could fly, but he'd have felt pretty bad if he'd left the poor thing - Poor girl? 'Thing' is probably pretty impolite. Sorry, Bay-bee. - behind just for the sake of getting somewhere a few minutes faster. Besides, even a slow pace makes pretty good time when you're flying through the air and in short order (and under Stesha's directions) their goal was in sight.

[Electra]

The little giant bee was surprisingly fast, given her erratic flight, though not nearly as fast as her older siblings and cousins. She tired quickly, though, and soon came to rest on the flying platform next to Stesha. Stesha sneezed once from the pollen overload, then helped the bee pick out and name landscape features they were passing. From the sky, it was possible to see the ruined lands beyond the oasis, desolate wasteland to the west and ruined buildings falling into a grime-smeared sea to the east.

It didn't take very long to reach the northwestern edge of the oasis, a rockier area than the one where Stesha had built her home, and one with some concrete and steel building detritus still left laying around. "I didn't know if you could use any of this to build with, so I hauled some of it over here when I was clearing the other areas," Stesha told Tarrant, pointing at the debris. "If you don't want it, I've got a refuse heap a few miles north where I've been putting it all."

[Fox]

Tarrant's rock tilted forward, giving him a better view of the collected rubble and ruins. He frowned thoughtfully. "The concrete I can break down, I think - I don't know if I'll use it too much right now, but with a little time I can at least take it back to limestone and aggregate and the like. Heh, though I bet you have plants that can do that, too. I'm afraid I don't have much I can do with the steel, though. It isn't...."

That was a little harder to explain, and he fumbled with a rock in his coat pocket for a moment as he tried to explain. "It's not...earth, if you get me. Not exactly, or at least not anymore. I couldn't tell you why, it just doesn't seem to play by the same rules; raw ore I can at least move around, but refined metal might as well be plastic. I can't even really feel it, after it's been processed. It's kind of a shame."

[Electra]

"I thought it might be that way," Stesha replied, not sounding put out about it. "I'd just wondered if you might use it for reinforcement of your stone structures the way I might build a trellis for my climbing plants. It's not necessary, but sometimes it makes things easier. I can start clearing that off while you're building your castle."

"Cazzle," repeated Bay-bee, flying off the rock and doing a loop-the-loop around Tarrant. "Bay-bee cazzle!" She made a noise that it took Tarrant a moment to realize had to be a laugh.

[Fox]

Laughing, Tarrant watched the young bee zip around, lowering himself and Stesha to ground level. "You already have a castle," he pointed out, grinning. "I built it for you and your whole family not too long ago. But I'll tell you what: if Miss Stesha tells me you've been good, I'll see what I can do, and there'll always be a room in the castle for you and your friends." He gave an exaggerated wink, still grinning. "The place'll be too big for just me, anyway."

He turned back to Stesha to make sure her seat was settling down gently and on level ground. "Excitable little thi- ...girl, isn't she?" He shook his head, and chuckled. "It's a little contagious. Ah, the metal - no, I think one of the advantages of building things that aren't alive is that I can reinforce things however I want. I don't really have to be concerned with...I don't even know. The complexities of plant biology," he chuckled, "so I can just use solid pieces of really dense, really strong stone and tell it to stand up until told otherwise. It's cheating, sure, but it's useful!"

[Electra]

"Keep in mind, her diet is nothing but sugar," Stesha pointed out, chuckling. "You or I might act the same way under the circumstances."

"Zhugar!" Bay-bee agreed, very enthusiastically. That was a word she knew. "Flowerzzz!" She began scouting the area, perhaps looking for flowers, but didn't venture too far away from the mossy throne.

Stesha kept half an eye on the little bee, but didn't seem terribly concerned about her wandering. "It might not be a bad idea to have a bee receiving-room in your castle," she told Tarrant. "They're sociable. Now that my arena is empty again, I can go there to visit them if the weather is bad, or visit at the hive. And you should see what they've done with the hive since your last visit," she added. "It's amazing how motivated they've been since the mating flight and the arrival of the eggs. We may be on the verge of a mini population explosion." She seemed amused by the idea.

[Fox]

"Goodness." Tarrant shook his head, though he didn't quite look over - though his hands were in his pockets and his general stance was fairly easy, he'd planted his feet a bit and windlessly stirring dust and pebbles around his feet betrayed that he was doing something, even if it wasn't immediately obvious what. "If all I ate was sugar I think Freedom City would have a rash of sudden and unexplained sculptures and renovations. Doctor Metropolis would probably want to have...words."

He turned his gaze upwards a bit, though he didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular...just kind of considering the sky with two eyes that had both turned a shifting brown/gold from the edge of the iris in. "And yeah, I was thinking the same thing. My plan is to have a few guest rooms for...well, for guests, and a few larger ones for any bees that want or need to visit. And a tree," he added, chuckling. "Or at least space for one. Grass, too, of course, but a nice big tree should make for a pretty simple way for you to get up there yourself."

[Electra]

"Good landscaping is essential around any self-respecting castle," Stesha agreed primly, folding her hands in her lap. "I can help you with that much at least, you won't have to wait for it all to grow. Have you thought about how you're going to get power?" she asked. "My solar and wind generators have worked pretty well for me, you could probably do even better if yours is higher in the sky. And a water purifier, fog and rain collecting apparatus, you could be reasonably self-sustaining without too much effort." She watched in fascination at the subtle changes that came over Tarrant when he was using his powers. Despite his mild manner he looked more imposing, more like a force to be reckoned with.

[Fox]

Tarrant shifted a little, shrugging his coat into a more comfortable position as he listened. "Hmm. That's a good point. Water's pretty easy: you can make a pretty decent water filter out of earth, if you know how and have the materials handy. It's what I did for the bees - they get groundwater that's been taken through so much raw soil and carbon that it's probably cleaner than half the city's water supply. It's not always fast, but it's usually pretty reliable. A rainwater reservoir could do about the same thing, I think...it'll be worth experimenting with, anyway."

He kept talking, though something underground was starting to move - one couldn't see it, but one could feel it, Stesha probably more than most with her connection to the local plantlife. "The power's a bit less simple. You're right, I'll probably want to look into wind or solar generators. Wiring, too...thanks for reminding me. I'll need to keep that in mind as I build. It's a whole lot easier to make something than it is to remake something."