RING RING RING!
“Alright, who’s joining the shit list?” Shouri growled as the ringing of three tuners woke the room.
It was around 6 AM or so and nobody was happy to be awake so early after a night working the fields.
“Kill me,” Rebecca groaned, trying to hide under the covers.
“Ucciderle.” Taika joined her fellow fox under the blankets.
“Shoooo make it stop,” Pacifica whined, shaking her very annoyed Maestro.
“Mmmrgh…” Shouri grabbed one of the protesting devices and answered. “What.”
“Shouri! Come get us from the airport!” Colette demanded from the other side.
“No,” and then he hung up.
Almost immediately the tuners began ringing again.
“They’ll figure it out,” Shouri decided, turning the ringer off.
Peace returned to the land as the great evil had been slain. Shouri lay down, having earned this cool pillow to rest his weary head on.
KNOCK KNOCK!
“Hey Shouri! Colette says you’re not answering her calls!” Vince shouted from the other side of the door.
“Rebecca?”
“Yeah, Shouri?”
“Is murder still illegal?”
“Let me check… still illegal, bossman.”
“Damn it…”
“I’m just saying Rebecca, if we ever get a license to kill…”
“I know bossman, I know…”
Shouri and Rebecca sat in Tuesday morning traffic on the way to the airport. It wasn’t too bad, but it grated on the sleep-deprived pair who was forced to endure the horrors of the waking world. The airport lay within the Dalliva city limits, making it a cool thirtyish-minute drive. While not nearly as big as O’Nare, airports still needed a lot of space. As such, they cleared the buildings and infrastructure of Dalliva and traded it for the large swath of land reserved for air traffic.
There were all manner of statues and honors that stood around the entrance to the terminal that one could take in as they drove in.
“Huh? What’s all this stuff?” asked Rebecca, stealing the sights while she could.
“Apparently distinguished pilots get memorialized when they pass,” Shouri noted. He glanced at the passing statues.
“Interesting,” Rebecca hummed to herself.
The drive up to the arrival terminal was bog standard – they waited in line, and Rebecca got to play the tricky game of navigating around all the other cars picking up their people. Finally, they found a spot to park.
“There you are! What happened to your tuner? You stopped answering!” Colette exclaimed upon Shouri opening the door.
“Oh you know, sudden aurora borealis, meteor shower, lunar eclipse, take your pick,” Shouri grumbled. The confusion on her face said plenty, and he decided addressing her traveling companions would fare better for his sanity.
Joining Colette this fine October morning was of course Kaira, but also Miro was there too. The fox Natural’s eyes were brimming with curiosity, his tail wagging as he took in the sights.
“She give you any shit?” Shouri mumbled to the fox.
“Non! Signora Colette has been good!” Miro nodded eagerly.
Shouri hummed. “Alright, I guess she can come with then,” he said with a shrug.
“What do you mean I can come with?” Colette’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“Just get in the car so I can sleep.”
Eventually, Shouri did manage to get some actual rest and got up to deal with Colette.
“Thank goodness you’re up,” Colette assailed him as soon as he left the confines of his room.
“Colette, it is too early in the morning to deal with you.” Shouri pinched his brow.
“It’s 1 PM,” she pointed out.
Shouri simply sighed. “Okay, what is it?” he asked.
“What’s for lunch?” she fired back.
The guildmaster stared. “What happened to your stove?” he questioned.
“I don’t know how to use a stove,” she stated with a smile.
Another loud sigh. “Colette, have you ever done anything on your own?” he asked.
“I lived in my dorm,” she said, arms akimbo as she puffed out her chest with pride.
Shouri nodded slowly. “Bring me Kaira.”
“Okay? Not sure how that’s going to help with lunch, but I’ll grab her, wait here!” Colette ducked into her room three doors down.
“What’s even going on?” Rebecca asked, finally feeling it safe to leave the comfort of their bedroom.
“Colette is useless,” Shouri groaned, nursing the building headache.
“Ah.” Rebecca nodded in understanding, retreating into the bedroom once Colette’s door opened.
The auburn Maestro returned with her jackal in tow. The Resonator was wearing a mask over her nose and mouth and an apron covered her everyday attire.
“Suddenly I understand a lot more about your relationship.” Shouri shook his head.
“Maestro Shouri, you wished to see me?” asked the earth element.
“She doesn’t do anything does she?” he asked, pointing the accusatory finger at the other Maestro.
“What?!” Colette shrieked, not appreciating the tone.
“Well, my sand manipulation does make it easier for me to perform all manner of mundane work without concerns of my physical capabilities deflating,” Kaira spoke up in defense of her Maestro. “It only makes sense that I would handle the housework.”
“But is that what you want?” Shouri questioned.
“Well…” Kaira trailed off.
“What about you?!” Colette pointed at Shouri. “Your Resonators have been cooking, cleaning, and driving you around!”
“Taika likes cooking and cleaning, Pacifica helps Taika, and Rebecca wants to drive. I help where I can, but they usually shove me out of the way to do it themselves,” he countered. “In exchange, I take care of all the other logistical guild work and don’t get them involved,” he stated. “It’s a give and take.”
Colette huffed, folding her arms across her chest in a pout.
“Taika!” Shouri suddenly shouted.
The door to one of the second-story rooms opened and the vixen in question leaned over the rail. Her beads floated around her, but despite the telekinetic work she was doing she shimmered with sweat. “You called Sho?” she asked, wiping her brow.
“Teach her how to cook and clean.” He pointed to Colette.
Taika appraised the young woman looking up at her. “Ha occhi di un inesperto,” the vixen muttered to herself. “Okay! Paci go grab her!”
With an “Aye aye captain!” the assault otter was on the way.
“Wait, me? Why?!” Colette shouted.
“I’m taking Miro, Kaira, and Vince to the grocery store so you all won’t starve to death. You get to learn how to take care of yourself without your Resonator,” Shouri decided.
“But you-!”
“I can if needed, you cannot. Enjoy.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Before Colette could get another complaint out, she was grabbed by Pacifica and dragged away (literally) kicking and screaming.
Once the protesting Maestro was removed from the scene, Shouri and Kaira were left alone. The jackal kept her head down, a hard frown gracing her lips. “It’ll help if she at least can pick up after herself and make you both a meal,” he said. “I’m not very good at cooking, but Taika taught me some things in case they’re under the weather.”
Kaira nodded slowly, but the unease never left her eyes. Shouri placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go grab the others,” he told her. Another slow nod.
First up was Vince’s room, the fifth and final room on the first floor of the building. A couple of raps on the door had Mila answering. “Oh hey, what’s up?” The cat noticed the company Shouri kept for this visit.
“And uhhh, what’s your face,” the fire element tried to greet the jackal, but only had a passing familiarity with her.
“Kaira,” the jackal greeted giving a bow and slight curtsy.
“Right, what’s your face,” Mila repeated. “What’s up?” she asked again of Shouri.
“Taking Vince shopping. Taika’s teaching Colette how to cook and clean in the meantime,” he informed the fire cat.
Mila hummed, mulling that thought over. “Maybe I’ll ask her for some tips while she’s already teachin’,” the cat mused to herself. She turned back into the room. “Hey! Beansprout! Get dressed! You’re going shopping with the boss!” Message conveyed; she faced Shouri. “He’ll be decent soon,” she advised.
“Thanks, Mila,” Shouri smirked.
“Someone’s gotta keep an eye on him.”
And with that, she shut the door.
“Their relationship is… interesting,” Kaira noted.
“Everyone’s different.” Shouri motioned for her to follow. They took to the stairs on the side of the building and found their way to the second floor.
“You like reading and folding paper, right?” Shouri asked as they walked down the second-floor hallway.
“You noticed?” asked the jackal, surprised.
“Of course I did, you’re always doing that when you have a moment of reprieve from Colette,” he chuckled.
Kaira considered that and nodded. “I like reading, but if my hands aren’t busy I uhh…” the normally composed jackal was flustered, that much was obvious. “I bite my nails,” she admitted quietly. “I think I picked it up from Colette,” came another admission.
“Ah,” Shouri connected the dots. “So if you’re folding paper, you don’t feel like chewing your nails down?”
“Yes,” she said at a squeak of a voice.
“Well as long as you’re happy.” Shouri patted her shoulder. They passed by the room Taika had commandeered with Pacifica. The steam cleaner was going and some choice Naturalian words were flying from Taika’s mouth (No doubt directed at Colette).
“She’ll be fine,” Shouri told the concerned earth element who stared at the closed door with open worry. Another slow nod showed her compliance.
A couple of taps of the room six door had Miro answering.
“Ciao, Shouri!” greeted the Natural.
“Afternoon Miro, we’re going to the grocery store, wanna come with?”
“Oh! A real Lyberteran market?! Let me get ready! I will be quick!”
SLAM
“He’s got that knowledge stave bad,” Shouri chuckled.
“Is that all?” asked Kaira, fiddling with her apron.
“Yeah, take your time getting ready. I need to take a shower myself.”
She bowed to him. “Thank you, Maestro Shouri.”
“Stop being so formal, just call me Shouri.”
Once more Kaira wore her confliction like a fashion statement. “R-right, I’ll try to remember that M- Shouri.”
And with that, she scampered off.
“Hrm…” Shouri’s lips curved down as she left his sight. “Something to work on I suppose,” he mumbled.
“I’m gonna have those fifty hours in no time,” Rebecca bragged as they drove down to the local grocery store.
“I fear for the day when you’re confident behind the wheel,” Shouri mumbled.
“Ehhh? Why’s that bossman?”
“I watch how you fight, I’m just imagining you applying that to your driving skills.”
“Woah woah, those are two entirely different things!”
“Eyes on the road.”
“They are!”
Kaira studied the pair in the front seat with interest. Her strong stave was emotion, so they were like an open book to her.
And it made her heart ache. The open affection between Maestro and Resonator; it made her tense, not with fear but some other undescribed emotion. It made her kind of mad? Why would she be mad at someone else’s happiness? It didn’t make sense to the poor jackal.
Looking over, Miro and Vince were happily chatting with each other too. They barely knew one another and yet they carried on a conversation like they were good friends.
It should be easy for her to be included. From a stave perspective, she should be able to insert herself easily into any of these conversations. Yet, she found herself locked up, frozen, left with a pit in her stomach for even considering the thought.
She cursed this stave. All it did was make her hyper-sensitive to anything anyone said to her. She could read them like a billboard, yet they could do no such thing to her.
Why was she so unlikable?
“Kaira.”
The girl snapped to. “H-huh?” her head whipped around, catching the eyes locked on her. “What?” she spoke quietly.
Vince opened his mouth to speak, but the guildmaster of the group spoke first.
“Let’s go,” said Shouri, opening his door.
“Oh, okay,” Vince followed along with his fellow Maestro.
Miro didn’t pay the Resonators any mind and followed along with the Maestros.
“What’s eating you up?” Rebecca asked.
Kaira kept her head down, not wanting to face the other Resonator. “I can’t hide from you,” guessed the jackal.
“You can’t, no.”
The earth element didn’t need to see Rebecca’s face to know her eyes were glowing red with strong emotional rhythm. The girl sighed. “I’m unsure of what I’m feeling.”
“Is it like a longing or maybe being mad at others?”
“Yes, in a way.”
“I see.”
Rebecca’s door opened, and she swung her feet out. “I’m not strong enough to know what you’re feeling, but maybe you should work up the courage to talk to Pacifica.”
Kaira considered that thought. “P-perhaps.”
“Think about it. Come on.”
The earth Resonator had a lot to consider. What came to mind at that moment was the mission statement of PTRS:
To rescue, rehabilitate and rehome Resonators in crisis, ensure their healthy lives through education, advocacy and affordable services, and inspire a community where the Maestro-Resonator bond is celebrated and nurtured.
Could she say her bond with Colette was something that was worthy of celebration?
She didn’t feel qualified to answer that question.