Echo and Wings have Breakfast

Characters in this scene: Echo, Evelyn

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Light shines through Evelyn's blinds. There is a gentle knock on the door and a young woman on the other side speaks. "Are you up, Miss?"

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn isn't, actually, but something inside her is. Unnatural cold coaxes the poor nocturnal girl to wakefulness. "What?" she mutters. She stirs quickly, at least, blinking and sitting up. "Did someone say something?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"I was asking if you are up, Miss. Breakfast's in half an hour and I'm to get your preference."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

"Uh, mice?" Evelyn blinks to herself, then alone in her room she goes bright red. "Sorry! We'll be fine with most things." There's a note of panic, and she shrinks down a bit, shame running through her. "I wouldn't want to be a bother." She slides out of the bed, looking around; anxiety is tempted to run all through her, but Chill pulses again, more gently this time. The room is very cold.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"Would porridge sound good then, Miss? It's what Laird Cypren normally has."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

"I'm good with eating that." Owl wasn't, but for once Evelyn wasn't willing to give into her preferences. "Half an hour, you said? I don't think I know where to go." The artificial calm of being cold lets Evelyn find clothes, all the necessary things for starting a day, instead of panicking and completely losing track of things.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"I'll be back to show you the way, Miss, right after I tell Lucas what to make." The young woman on the other side of the door walks away quickly.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Without someone nearby to hear them, Chill retreats, coiling deep in her stomach, and Evelyn... panics, a little bit. *We're in Britain,* she thinks. *We're in the house of a 500 year old Practitioner and we swore to be their apprentice.* It sounds insane. Evelyn mechanically gets through the morning rituals, bathing and clothes, coaxed along forcefully by Owl's intentions. Even if it was just porridge, which Owl strongly disagreed with, they weren't going to look *foolish* in front of their new master or their people.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

The sound of footsteps return and there is another gentle knock on the door. "Miss, whenever your ready." It is the same young woman from before.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

A breath. Its cold again, very cold. "I think we're ready," Evelyn says, half to herself, and she opens the door.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

A young woman wearing a simple blue dress is standing there. "Just this way, Miss." She starts walking towards the left.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn follows. She keeps a cautious distance; right near her its distinctly *cold,* but any further and there's barely a chill. For a moment the awkwardness is that of someone trying to figure out how to talk, but she falters, and its quiet.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

The young woman walks up to a door in to the right of the corridor and opens it, gesturing Evelyn in. Inside the room is a square table for six people, one at either end and two on each side. Elfrida is sitting to one of the sides with a bowl of porridge, enjoying it slowly, and another is on the other side, steaming. There is sugar, honey and salt in the middle of the table. "Come on in, that's yours so dig in." He gestures towards the second bowl.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn enters and walks over to the suggested bowl. She's trying to hide it, but she's still clearly nervous as she sits down and picks up her spoon. "Good morning," she says. As she pushes the spoon into the porridge the cold... transfers. The porridge is still steaming, but not from heat. Even this cold, Evelyn somehow blushes.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Speaking between mouthfuls of porridge, "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

"Ah, yes, I think so." Evelyn reaches for the sugar, sprinkling some onto her porridge. After a moment's hesitation, she adds more, and then stubbornly mixes it into her quite-cold porridge and begins to work her way through it. "And you?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"I slept well although I admit that I was up quite late making sure that I had some things ready for you." He takes a folded piece of cloth out from somewhere. It is about six inches long and three wide. Elfrida puts it on the table and slides it towards Evelyn.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn pauses in eating; she eats quite quickly, even if its cold and not quite to her taste, so she's already mostly through it. She studies the piece of cloth, tentatively reaching for it. "What's this?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"A set of knives and some other tools. You've got some for keeping various Other's off of you, that'd be the silver and cold iron ones. They're useful in some rites as well. Then you've got a couple of good whittling knives and a file. If you look in the back there's a small wooden tap, that should come in useful later but it's better if you get a good claim on it before then."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn tugs it over and opens it, looking over the items. Her eyes widen. "Actual good quality - this is nice! I've been having to make do with stolen kitchen knives for my Practice." Evelyn finally relaxes a little, and the chill around her retreats entirely, the lazy spirit done with her for now. "These are mine?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida smiles. "They are. Once you're finished I could take you to the workshop if you're interested in seeing some of the other tools we've got here."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn rolls it back up and hugs it to herself, looking at Elfrida. "*Thank* you," she says, utterly sincere. "I would love to see them, I think. It sounds *awesome.*"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida stands up and walks to the door, "Let's go and see them, then."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn scoops up a few last bits of porridge - it would be a shame to waste it - before nearly running to follow in Elfrida's wake. She's nearly bouncing with eagerness, but she restrains herself to almost-calm.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida leads Evelyn through the house to a sturdy wooden door which he unlocks before stepping through. The workshop is a sizeable room with machinery around the walls. There are lathes - manual and powered -, pillar saws and drills, sanders, a powered whetstone and various clamps. In one corner there is a rack of hand tools. "So, what do you think? I find that there's little as rewarding as making the things you use yourself."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn looks around, eyes wide. She laughs a bit. "I don't even know what most of these *are.* Do you use them to make bodies?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"Bodies? They'd be made in my Demesne, which'd be the tower and surrounding area. I suppose I could just use that for this as well but I find it much more satisfying to trust in the skill of my hands. Those tools I gave you were made here. Most of the bed in your room was made here."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn honestly seems a bit dumbfounded. Tentatively she circles the room, reluctant to touch any of the strange machinery. "Huh," is all she seems to come up with to say. "It's... weird to think of being able to *make* things."

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida smiles and walks over to the grindstone "It's something people don't seem to think of enough these days. I'd like you to learn some at least, even if it's not directly Practice related." He taps the grindstone "This here is a grindstone. It'd generally be used to sharpen knives. Want to see?" he asks slightly more excitedly than before.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn nods excitedly, bouncing on her toes and running over. "Yep! I definitely want to see."

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida takes a pair of goggles from the side and passes them over to Evelyn. "Grinding metal generally makes sparks fly so it'd be best to wear eye protection unless you have something else to stop yourself from getting blinded." He takes a knife from an inner pocket and presses it against the grindstone - which isn't moving at the moment, "The way you'd normally do this is to take the blade and press the edges of it against the stone. That way you're basically removing some of the metal to make it sharp again. Run the blade on one side, take it off the wheel and do the same to the other side." He demonstrates the actions while talking. "Once you've got your eyes protected then I'll get to sharpening it."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn puts on the goggles, taking a cautious step back but watching attentively.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida turns on the machine and goes through the motions again. Sparks fly and it is soon over. He passes the knife handle first to Evelyn while cleaning up the machine and checking the grindstone.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn takes it, looking over the knife. "Useful," she murmurs. After a moment, she tests the blade on the tip of her finger; looking closer at her hands, one notes a variety of similar marks, pale and white. The cut is only slight. She laughs a bit. "*Sharp.* An actually sharp knife. Very handy."

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"You should always watch out for the hair if you're using anything that spins quickly like this. I have heard that it is somewhat more than uncomfortable to get it caught in the machinery. Until you're used to using them you should have me or John here to help. John's more or less a handyman but I'd trust him to be safe with all this, just ask any of the staff and they should be able to point to you him. If you'd like to know what the other machines or tools do I could explain now. If not then I think it's time to show you to the library."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

She ducks her head. "I mean. I would like to know what all of them do. But I think I'm more interested in the library?" She looks at Elfrida, earnest.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"This way then." Elfrida leads the way back towards the centre of the house and up to an heavy iron banded door. Using one of the larger keys he unlocks it and it opens smoothly and quietly. The library takes up two floors of old, simple woodwork that is still in good repair. Books of all types cover the walls, many in languages other than English. Several of the bookcases have solid shutters over them, locked. Each bookshelf has a short phrase engraved into the wood above it describing what it contains. Elfrida breaths in deeply and steps into the room. "Most of this is mundane in nature. The ones about Practice are in rooms off to the side, you should have keys to the beginner ones - don't go leaving the doors unlocked." He points to an alcove on the left "that's where the books on language are, you'll probably want to start with the ones on Latin, Old English and Gaelic. Those are useful to working out a fair number of tomes in here and they'll be useful for understanding out some of the older Cynewiþþan works."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn seems... intimidated, staring around at *all* of this. "So *much.* All of this is yours? And I can read a lot of it?" She blinks, and her eyes are amber. "When I figure out the languages, at least, I presume." She looks at Elfrida. "How much of this do you think I can *learn* in ten years?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"It's almost all mine. There are a few things that I'm keeping here on behalf of the Trendel so they don't get destroyed if the main archives were to fall or get damaged. I'd think a good amount of the ground floor. You wouldn't necessarily have to stop being my apprentice after ten years and as a member of Cynewiþþan you'd be welcome to visit or stay."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

"And there's more in the rooms off to the side." Evelyn stares around again. "And this is... there are other places with *more*, aren't there?" She pauses, and she whirls to look at Elfrida. The amber is gone from her eyes. "When do we start? *How* do we start?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

"I'd recommend starting at languages and some of the English books on beginner Hosting, that might help with the cold issue you had earlier. I'm in the process of writing a paper for the Trendel so I'll probably be spending most of the day here unless you have anything else you end up wanting to do that needs my assistance. If you get any questions just ask and I'll see about answering them. If anything catches your eye as something you'd like to try then ask and I'll see what I can do. But to answer your question, pick a book and start reading. Your theory's probably behind from what I know of you so that should help to start with."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

Evelyn ducks her head, but the temptation to be embarrassed is greatly overridden by the sudden desperate curiosity. "So - so I can start *now*?" There's a fluttering noise, though nothing's quite visible to be making it. "I can just - start reading books?" She's drifting towards the books even without a 'yes', but she hesitates - "Is there paper here? Some way I can take notes?"

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida points to another alcove which has a desk in it. "Yes, you can start now. There should be paper in there, help yourself."

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

The fluttering noise happens again, and as Evelyn nearly runs to start looking through books a spirit in the shape of a snowy owl wriggles its way out of her heart and takes flight, heading up for the second floor, looking. Under Sight the spirit has a clear, strong Connection to Evelyn, and in fact doesn't seem very different *to* Evelyn. Evelyn skips over most of the bookshelves, but she still rapidly accumulates a pretty reasonable pile... and she hasn't actually checked the Practice alcoves yet. Or checked out anything of what the owl was looking at on the second floor.

August Эхꙮ of the Blazing Green — 03/14/2021

Elfrida smiles while watching them, shakes his head, walks to another alcove and starts writing at the desk there.

WingsWhiteThatGleam — 03/14/2021

The girl collects up a pretty massive pile, after conferral with her spirit, which results in her alcove having a *lot* of books. Most are very carefully stacked on the floor around it, while a particular few are stacked on the desk. Evelyn is soon busy with the books, owl-spirit perched on her shoulder, scribbling notes. They read slowly. It's pretty clear, with attention, that they're not especially *good* at reading. Evelyn takes a number of notes, but not actually in readable English - primarily nonsense symbols, but she seems to understand them just fine. Nonetheless, she's very, very clearly hungry for knowledge. She does start with the Hosting book. She doesn't seem overly impressed with said Hosting book, but she reads it.

It's certainly a promising start for the apprenticeship.