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[Feed on Mal, between missions and freshly washed, hair still damp, clothes clean and in place. The bruise over one eye is about the only evidence that she'd been out in the muck until a few hours ago.]

"Alright kids, time to see how many we can kill with one stone. You need your rooms painted, I need money and to blow off some stress. So. First come first serve so long as the pay is worth my time. You provide materials, money, and the wall, I provide the art. I figure I can do one or two when I get back from each mission. So, you got my contact info here. Zap me up."

[She was also considering painting on canvases for sale, but she needed to earn more than she was making doing hair first.... And you know, have more than one client at the salon... but that was a whole other issue....]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mal_contented

[Like... Audrey's horse? Ugh.] "Uh. Huh. Well you do that and let me know?"

From:

guitar_hero

No... You have to talk to them personally. Give them some ideas. Bring a portfolio.

From:

mal_contented

"Just to be sure... you mean the horses?"

From:

guitar_hero

"Well, I mean Samson Jones specifically, but yes. I mean they might ask for a stylized representation of them because they are rather full of themselves but..." He shrugs. "Who knows? They could surprise you."

From:

mal_contented

[She might have charged him more just for crazy., Except. Well. Snow White. Cinderella....]

[It was wholly possible he wasn't pulling her leg. Or delusional.]

"Fine. When?"

From:

guitar_hero

"Whenever you've got a moment. Just let me know ahead of time."

From:

mal_contented

"Day after tomorrow, in the morning before I head out again?"

From:

guitar_hero

"Sounds good to me!"

And he is there before she even stops by, getting Geraldine in a harness and whistling absently under his breath.

From:

mal_contented

She was exhausted from her last mission, and instead of getting a good night's sleep, she'd been working on commissions. Which meant she was less frantic than she often was since arriving here, but also yawning more. But she was in clothes she didn't mind getting paint on, and had her brushes in the bag with her spell book, ready to work. "Alright. How do you want this to start with the whole... translating thing?"

From:

guitar_hero

He eyes her. She looks exhausted. He doesn't know her that well, but has the feeling she's the kind that prefers to work until she drops in order not to think about anything else.

"Give me a moment to finish up. Why don't you take a seat." He gestures to a hay bale. "I've got some tea in the back if you want it."

From:

mal_contented

She dropped down on the bale and set her bag beside her. "Sure," she said. As for his read... she isn't. At least, not usually. She just has some control issues about leaving a threat looming. She wants to get in there and take care of everything, or even let someone else do it so long as she was sure it was done. The painting... well she hadn't expected so many people to want her to do custom jobs and didn't want to turn anyone down. So she agreed to everything, but still felt driven to deal with the threat because that was important too.

She really wished she knew how Evie managed without spells. After all Evie pulled in good grades in all her classes, ran a thriving seamstress business and was always available to help them save whatever needed saving on any given day. All without ever looking tired outside their bedroom. In the dorm, when it was just the VKs? Mal could see how tired Evie was some times, but she always had a bright smile when someone came in.

Mal wasn't aware that she was leaning against the wall, or that her eyes were closing as she tried to think of any clue as to how Evie managed to not fall asleep in class all the time.....

From:

guitar_hero

He hadn't expected that to work so quickly, but he's glad it did. She was growing still and growing humans needed nutrients and sleep...and things like that. So it was probably better for her in the long run. He magics up a light blanket to put over her and leaves a cup of steaming tea on a table in reach, that will still be steaming regardless of when she wakes-- And a note saying he'll be back around noon if she wants to try again. Then, with a soft click of his tongue, he leads Geraldine out of the stable to be hitched up to her ride.

From:

mal_contented

She'd only sleep a few hours at most. She'd wake up confused as the blanket slipped offer her and the unfamiliar smell worked its way into her awareness. She found the note and the tea and sighed, leaning against the wall again. Great. She hadn't meant to fall asleep on him like that. She took a sip of the tea and considered. Well. She had to wait till he got back, so...

She added the words "Wake me" in purple glitter ink to the bottom of the note, took another sip before setting the tea down, and then lay out in the hay. She pulled the blanket over herself and got a bit more sleep....

From:

guitar_hero

Around lunch, the Doctor returns, with Geraldine in tow, and, well, lunch. He deposits one beside her, taking a moment to read the note-- then takes his time to take off Geraldine's tack and rub her down and get her comfortable with a feed bag before settling down on an opposite bale of hay and playing a little song. Nothing like waking up to the sound of music, he thinks.

From:

mal_contented

Oh the music wakes her alright. Actually, his moving around had more than half done the job. It was a gift of living on the Isle that she was aware but still from the first change in the sounds... and a gift from living in Auradon that her brain was able to process that she was safe and not rouse her fully. Until the music. She never could resist music. Yawning, she pushed herself upright, hay clinging to her hair and clothes.

"Not sure why I fell asleep in the first place, sorry about that."

From:

guitar_hero

"It happens." He shrugs, but doesn't stop playing. "Takes time and energy to save the world." A grin. "But if you're not careful, you'll run dry before you get there. And speaking of--" He nodded toward the brown paper bag. "There's a few sandwiches in there if you want them."

From:

mal_contented

She grabbed up the bag and pulled out a sandwich. "Thanks. Once we're done though, once we win... we can rest then. Once everyone is safe I plan to sleep for a week, trust me." She said unwrapping the sandwich and helping herself to a huge bite. She didn't have to be dainty and lady like here, so she didn't bother. Besides, she might have forgotten to grab food that morning. Or, you know, anything more than candy last night...

From:

guitar_hero

"And what if it takes weeks, months, years?" He gives her a look, not really caring how she eats other than being happy that she is. "We don't really have a measuring stick here. We don't know how much progress we're making or how much is left to go. We've been here three months and it doesn't look like much has changed."

He leans back against the stable wall, playing idly. Moonchild leans down and wuffles his hair and he leans his cheek against her muzzle briefly.

"It could be that we're only the start of it. The few pebbles that signal the start of the av avalanche...but when that avalanche comes?" He shrugs. "What if it's decades? Centuries? What then?"

From:

mal_contented

"Then we keep working, we keep trying," she said after she swallowed. "We don't stop just because it could take the rest of our lives, because that rest of our lives could be very short if we stop. Ours, and those of everyone else." She shook her head and took another large bite.

From:

guitar_hero

"Fair enough. But that also means you need to take care of yourself. Give yourself some time off. Space to breathe. You're young now but everyone is a candle. We only have so much to burn, and if you're not careful you'll burn out." He speaks casually, strumming another little melody.

"And exhaustion means mistakes. You work too hard for too long and you might make a misstep, or make things worse, set us back. You might even get killed. Or cause the death of someone else." Which is harsh, but it's true. "If you want to help you need to help everything, including yourself."

From:

mal_contented

She rubbed at her face, after setting down the food and cleaning her hands. "I won't set anyone back, but what is the point wasting time trying to rest when it won't be good rest until this is solved? Painting at least helps."

From:

guitar_hero

He sighed. "Suit yourself." It was like calling in a forest and there was no one around to actually hear what he had to say. Like all they heard was themselves. Maybe that was just the way things were. It's probably why he tended to only hang around with a few people and didn't try to tell them how to live their lives.

But whatever.

Maybe she won't come to regret it. Maybe it doesn't matter.

"Whenever you're ready."

From:

mal_contented

She shrugged. "Laying in bed staring at the ceiling isn't rest. It's just wasting time. Painting is restful though." among other things. "So now is good." she stood, shoving another large bite in her mouth before grabbing up her pack.

From:

guitar_hero

"I mean, I'm just saying, if you're passing out on a hay bale, maybe it's an indicator you're pushing too hard." He shouldn't have said it,but he did. And now it was out there. But never mind. He ducks into Samson's stables and the horse doesn't look pleased to see him, but more pleased to see Mal as they know they are about to be the star of the show.

From:

mal_contented

She sighed and shrugged. "Maybe it was just easier to fall asleep out here," she said with a shrug. Who knew.

She liked her roomate a great deal, and liked what they had done to the room, but some nights a bed could be too soft. Sometimes being in a room with stuff that wasn't broken and stolen, being in a place that was good and made for people to be comfortable in felt like a trap squeezing the life out of her. Especially when she had things she had to do to protect others. And sometimes clean sheets and soft pillows felt like a mockery, like they knew that she was lying, that she wasn't someone who should ever have clean sheets and pillows. Oh, it wasn't all the time, but it was enough that sleeping didn't come easy these days. And since she didn't want to upset Lydia, she always did her best to hide it, to pretend to sleep... But she rarely stayed in bed longer than she had to. Maybe once she felt like they were making some actual progress, maybe she could sleep better then. But until she did, every stitch in that thread count scratched at her, reminded her she didn't deserve nice things, wasn't meant for them.