• Solo • Focus

[Amaris]

Cylus 5th

The duties of an assistant were well laid out. Amaris had no preconceptions of what was done working as Mr. Witchburn’s assistant. They, in fact, had looked forward to it. It meant interaction with a variety of people and exposure to the other members of the council on some occasions. While nothing more than pleasantries were exchanged, but it was a start. One could say that they were truly in this for the connections, something they would not mind admitting. It wasn’t a bad thing. Their thoughts on the mattered were disrupted by the nudge of their chair. They peered down at the small pair of eyes that gazed back up at them as a soft mewl filled the space. Right; they were supposed to be working. The black cat perched under their desk was quite the reminder. And, not exactly supposed to be there.

They scratched the top of the feline’s head before they pulled their chair closer to the desk. There was supposed to be a schedule organized, and Amaris had yet to start it. There was meeting after meeting to be considered as they stared down at the sparse details of the current itinerary. At this point, there was only the basics of the day. Lunch, dinner, a briefing; nothing that wasn’t planned regularly. On a separate sheet of paper, scratched out yesterday, was a list of consultations, interviews, and assemblies. Mr. Witchburn’s schedule had begun to fill up as the colleges had opened.

More than once, Mr. Witchburn had commented on their handwriting. While neat, it was immaculate to the point of illegibility. Amaris swore they would work on it, but not much progress had been made. They were lucky to have such a gracious employer in this regard, as they assumed it would have been different if they had been employed elsewhere. Again, they caught themselves. They couldn’t get distracted. The cold made their mind wander as they worked. They closed their eyes and tried to focus. It wasn’t that much work. Tedious, but not an overwhelming amount. It was, after all, just scheduling. Of course, there was more to it than that, but the simplified version made it bearable.

They opened their eyes, trained now on the papers before them with determination to get it done.

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[Amaris]

Not long after their mental declaration of doing work, their eyes began to droop.

The mixed blood jerked backwards, a feat to behold with them as swaddled up as they were. Despite the Ellune blood that flowed within them, they didn’t much care for the cold. Or rather, they weren’t inclined to favor Cylus weather. While Scalvoris Proper had not been cursed with the heavy onset of snow that the rest of the island saw, they received warning in the form of flurries. The flakes sometimes stuck, usually in clothes where they melted and caused displeasure. They had walked into the office in the midst of a flurry. It had taken them nearly a bit to shake out the unmelted flakes from their coat. Said garment had dried, but it’s absence had been noted in that time.

Amaris sucked in a breath as they looked at the papers before them. The hand the quill pen was in began to move as if by some Immortal blessing, though they knew better. They had gone without their dedicated meditation to the Immortal of intelligence, who would have been a great help in this moment. Maybe they could do that now. They halted their progress, the quill set down as they bowed their heads. Their eyes remained open for a trill before they slid shut and Amaris attempted focus. They inhaled, centering themselves. A soft purr disrupted them for a moment, an eye opened to see the hidden cat rubbing against their leg. They couldn’t work up the required annoyance for the moment and sighed instead. This was headed nowhere. They needed to get this work done today, or be behind when they next came in. And that would only mean more work to be done.

Their finger wove through their hair, gaze still trained on the paper. One at a time; they could do that. Quill in hand once more, they wrote down the first task, a small annotation of location and participants. One down, a dozen more to go.

It was a break into this work that a shadow was cast over their desk. When they looked up, they found themselves facing a stern faced woman. Thin gray hairs were pulled back into a tight bun, and seemed to pull all her other features with it. She gave the mixed blood a tight-lipped smile, regarding her for a trill. When she looked away and did not speak, Amaris hazarded to ask if they might be of help. They had hardly gotten the words out before the woman spoke.

"I’m here to see Witchburn,” the woman stated.

Amaris blinked, then glanced down at the papers in front of them. Had they missed some important meeting? They couldn’t have, they were doing scheduling for the next trial. The meeting would have had to be scheduled for this trial. They shifted through the papers on the desk, tidying up quickly. After a moment, they found the page they were looking for.

"Your name?” Amaris glanced up at the woman expectantly.

"I should be the only name scheduled for today,” the woman declared.

Such was not the case. There were a number of names littered over the page, all at different times. She could have been any one of them. Their shift had started well into the day, and thus they would not have been around for the earlier meetings. Lips pursed, they stole another glance at the woman. It didn’t appear that she would be cooperative in rescheduling, and thus they would have to figure out who this woman was.

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[Amaris]

Amaris had heard tales of these kinds of people, but never once had they been exposed to them. The woman would not budge in any way to give her name, insisting that she had made an appointment. The mixed blood was left to contend with her glaring for a bit or two before she threw up her hands and huffed, “I thought they’d hired competent people here.”

It was not the worst thing she could have said, but it did sting somewhat. They had previously battled their “incompetence” before the woman’s arrival. Their usual diligence had left them with the disturbance of Cylus to their routine. Something that shouldn’t have happened, at that. They could easily have handled their work better at any given time, but today had not been that day. To the woman, it would have appeared that her words had affected the mix blood, but they had only been the impetuous to a short episode of self-deprecation. They were sporadic, unpredictable things. If ever they could plan them, let alone sense their coming, life would be a lot easier.

They glanced up at the woman with quiet disdain, though the smile they had brought to their lips for the interaction remained. They couldn’t mess this up, even if they wanted to. There was no clerical error on their part because they had not been here when this schedule had been written up. But it still hurt to think the woman wouldn’t even reconsider her approach. Had she not noticed that someone different was at the desk? Did she even take a good look at Amaris? It was only proof of their own supposed insignificance. Even with their position in mind, they found that they had a way of being forgettable, sometimes invisible. But, they upheld their smile. This was part of their job.

“Do you remember when this appointment was made,” Amaris inquired tentatively, checking the times once more.

“Yes; this morning.” The woman sniffed, turning to look at them for a moment. “I am aware of my lateness, but I sent a note ahead.”

This decidedly narrowed down the possibilities. They focused their examination to the earlier breaks, brows furrowed. The woman continued to loom over them, though she looked elsewhere. During their life, they had not encountered anyone with a particular aversion to their race. It was unlikely that this woman was the same. Perhaps it was just her demeanor. She looked back at Amaris, staring her down momentarily over her pointed nose. The mixed blood ducked their head, using their quill pen to circle the names they had cut the list down to.

Small annotations in the curly script of the other assistant under the employ of Mr. Witchburn were by several of them. One was designated as a no-show, another as having gone over their allotted time. Yet another name had been crossed out as a cancellation, a crude doodle suggesting displeasure. They would have chuckled, if not for the woman in front of them. They shot her a glance before looking back to the page. There were two names left without any note. It was possible that she had given a note to the other assistant and that they had forgotten to give it to Amaris. They hoped that not to be true.

A cursory examination of the desktop turned up nothing. They could feel the woman’s gaze burning a hole through them as they moved to the drawers. Their own cheeks were on fire, though the color would hardly show on their skin. They tucked a loose strand of hair behind their ear as they held their breath, hoping beyond hope that the note would be in one of the three drawers. The drawers were not helpful in their quest for the note. As it was, they became a bane of their existence as their knee knocked against one that they opened.

Forgotten was the feline peering up at them from under the desk, until it voiced its presence. Both the mixed blood and the woman froze. Her eyes narrowed into suspicious slits as she regarded Amaris. They didn’t bother to scramble for an excuse, the chance lost as the cat peeked out from its hiding space. The cat, essentially, was out of the bag, sans the actual presence of a bag because Amaris had carried it in.

“I don’t recall pets being allowed in.” Was her tone softer?

“No, well, I found her on the way in,” Amaris began, only to never finish.

“My Caldwell is nosier than this little one,” the woman chuckled, looking down at the kitten as it sniffed at the toe of her boot. She let out what could only be described as a giggle when the kitten looked up at her. It was promptly scooped up into the woman’s arms.

Amaris mentally blessed Moseke’s name for the fortune of having stumbled upon the cat. The woman seemed a lot friendlier in the short while they had been exposed to the kitten. It would appear that juvenile animals tended to have a calming effect on most people, or at least softened hardened exteriors. They smiled at this develop and decided now would be the time to risk asking for her name again.

They never got the chance, though, as Mr. Witchburn himself peered outside of his office to see what the commotion was. The trio froze as he did so, before he bounded over to join in the petting shenanigans. Amaris watched as he and the woman started up a conversation that continued as they walked. It would appear that the assistant was no longer needed, and they watched the small head of the kitten dip into the woman’s scarves before the pair disappeared into Witchburn’s office.

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[Malcolm]

Amaris

Knowledge:
Scalvoris: Common weather themes
Detection: Sight
Detection: Sound
Discipline: Working when it’s cold
Discipline: Sticking to the task at hand
Writing: Note-taking
Writing: Lists
Intimidation: 'The look'

Loot: n.a
Injuries: n.a
Fame: n.a
Magic: n.a
Devotion: n.a

Story: 4/5
Collaboration: 0/5
Structure: 5/5

Comment: Hello there, apologies for being light on the knowledge, but there was a lot of observation going on which can always be tricky to reward. I'm not going to comment on the story; it sure wasn't an adventure, hey.

I respect the gender-fluid thing, but I say if you do it, you got to do it right. Using terms like brother (on profile) and woman (in this thread) for other people, which both single them out by gender before we know anything else about them kind of undoes the goal you're trying to achieve. I would have gone with the newcomer, or customer, throw in a few observations and then decided.

Enjoy the rewards.