Video, Action for Sleeper Car 3: Fiddlesticks Day 2, Night

[oripyrothy]

[ Late into the night, far past the point everybody should be asleep, Sleeper Three is rudely awakened by the fire alarms - previously unused and untested - now blaring loudly. They might also hear a girl's scream.

Those stumbling out of their own cabins will shortly find the door to Cabin D popping open, and a flaming pile of fabric being thrown out into the hallway. It's shortly followed by Ifrit, a teenage girl with demonic black stone horns and tail, who proceeds to try and stomp out the fire, to mixed success.

The fire alarm doesn't go out right away, even after Ifrit (or somebody else) extinguishes the fire, as the smoke rises to the top of the car and keeps the alarm going until it can be properly dispersed after a couple minutes. ]


[ It's about a half hour later, well into the dead of night, when a video post gets put up to the network. Ifrit, wearing a purple nightshirt that's sporting a couple small holes with blackened edges now, looks irate and tired as she gazes into the screen. ]

Okay. I guess it's time I asked for...... [ cringe ] ...help.

Does anybody have some fireproof cloth, or clothes? Or blankets. Or like, something they can spray over all the furniture? I'll take anything.

My name's Ifrit, I'm in Sleeper... 3? Cabin D.

And I... [ Her face contorts a bit, as if she just ate something unpleasant. ] ...I'm sorry about. All the fire. There, I said it, okay!? [ She turns the video feed off very quickly following the 'apology.' ]

Comments

[emerald_mirror]

Yeah, just by the way Ifrit reacted, Xander could tell he'd put his foot in it. He felt guilty for making her so scared, even before Sven doubled down, and he cringed just a little bit, shoulders and wings curling in.

"Elemental mages use that to teach control. But we can belay it..." Especially since Nita was explaining her idea. If that was one that got accepted better? He could work with that.

But he turned to Ifrit, and bowed to her--only slightly, considering the cramped quarters, but a bow nonetheless.

"I'm sorry for frightening you. I was not trying to harm you, and scaring you was not my intent. Please forgive me. I was trying to help, that's all." And thinking about the rest of the train too, but it wouldn't help to bring that up.

[oripyrothy]

"Yeah well, let's just... worry about the fire shielding." Her voice might carry a hint of agitation. She doesn't mean to sound rude, not really, but she doesn't hide her emotions very well, and she doesn't know how to react to being flustered very well.

Sven was probably more right about blocking up her powers than he knew, and the prospect worried her, which fed into that mood of hers too. There were times she barely kept the other voice in check, she did NOT want to see how the 'shield' held up to it running amok.

She turns from Xander to Nita- "Whatever you guys think'll work best for that fireproofing. At this point, I just want to get back to sleep. We're all tired, right?"

[aggressivelygood]

Sven nods to Nita. "Sounds like a decent idea, Nita. If you can make it work, do it."

Now that they've established the spell, making adjustments to boost its effect should hopefully be easy. Emphasis on hopefully.

"Let Xander and I in on your notes once you've figured it out, then we'll each pick an area of the room and get to work." Xander looks like he needs a morale boost after both Ifrit and Sven cut him down, so Sven goes and gently nudges him in the side with his elbow: "Xander, you did real great with figuring out how to change the properties in the towel before. You up for taking lead on the bed linens? They're probably the most immediately flammable thing in here, after all. I'm used to having to enchant all my clothes with fire protection spells, so I'll take Ifrit's wardrobe."

You're forgetting something, idiot. Sven catches himself, looking to Ifrit. "Ah...so long as you're okay with that, kid. Actually, Nita might be better for the task if you don't want a guy nosing in your stuff."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita gives a thumbs up, at the same time doing a mental check-in with her silent partner.

Bobo, think you got a handle on it?

/Of course./

Sharing that load would go a long way to her not being passed out for an entire day, for certain.

She looks to Ifrit for her opinion as to who should do the 'nosing about'. "I don't mind handling clothes. Pillows, too."

[emerald_mirror]

"I'm on it," Xander agrees. He thinks he can handle doing Ifrit's, and any excess blankets that might not be in use. If there are any extra bed linens, too, he's just going to fireproof them all. Having the others in the car with a bit of fireproofing couldn't hurt, after all.

He'd just be eating like a horse in the kitchen before faceplanting in his bunk for a good eight to ten hours. No sweat. Though she's been quiet until now, a quiet squeak from his head reminds Xander that Cottonball is there, too--and willing to give him a bit more energy to see this through.

"Thanks, girl. I'll get you a snack or three, too!" She might need it as well, after all this was done.

[oripyrothy]

"I don't really care who handles the clothes?" She kind of gestures vaguely in a way that means nothing. But really, why would she care? Her preference for who touches her stuff is usually 'nobody but her' but that just wasn't feasible right now, was it?

"The blankets though.... right. I need to find a new one." Because her blanket burned up. That was what caused the fire in the first place. Well, there were more linens on the bed, and her roommates' stuff too.

Actually, could she just steal the blankets off of that spare bed? Okay, not 'spare' really, but. She'd only seen the tiny cat thing around like once, and it was almost never in the room, and why would a cat need blankets in the first place?

Yeah, that was a plan. She'd yoink the blankets off of that bed. "Okay yeah, this can work."

[aggressivelygood]

With everyone knowing their tasks, the gang gets to work. He makes sure to encourage Ifrit to sleep early on for her own sake, but it wouldn't make much difference to their work if she opted to stay awake and watch instead.

Sven looks haggard by the time that they finish. How long has it been? It felt like hours of tedious, grisly labour to Sven, but maybe it just dragged for him because of how exhausting their task was. The gusto he'd set into their mission with had waned around halfway when the fatigue had begun to set in...it's foolish, he realises, but he'd GREATLY underestimated how taxing it would be enchanting so many small items at once. Especially when applying a fresh spell to each item, one at a time, to ensure each got the full potency of the enchantment.

Sweat beads on his forehead and his white t-shirt is covered in black smudges where he's had to keep wiping off his hands between spells so to avoid dirtying all of Ifrit's clothes with soot. His arms are stained black all the way up past his elbows, but when the last is over he still sits back with a wide, triumphant grin.

"Done! Done, that's it. It's over. Right everybody, tomorrow is cancelled. Catch me doing nothing but sleeping for the next entire day."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita has tunnel vision in addition to what felt like a permanent extra bend in her spine - which was good inasmuch as it meant she'd focused on the lattice spell-layout, but also meant she wouldn't be good for much for the rest of the day, not to mention would be starving after the morning snapback-

"We, uh, might want to get back soon anyhow," she states, eyes snapping wide open.

"I think our nine-ish 'night' hours are almost up..."

[emerald_mirror]

"I'm gonna fight my way to the kitchen. I think I could eat an entire one of those boar critters that was brought back from the last mission, I swear." Cottonball, who is absolutely limp atop his head, just chitters briefly.

"No, no. Not making you eat that." Xander's used to not sleeping all that much--it was one of the reasons Nita had found him wandering the corridors anyway, but not the only reason. His job had been slightly easier, only because the way his magic works makes it simple to do multiple castings at once when needed...but Xander wanted to make sure everything remotely bedding-like in the cabin was made resistant.

"If I wake up before you guys, I'm crashing your cabins with breakfast foods." Even if Purple isn't supposed to cook this month, he's not sure any of them are going to make it at the normal time.

[oripyrothy]

Ifrit had spent the last several hours watching everybody work. Truth be told, she had actually nodded off once or twice as well. But she was awake now that everybody was finishing, and that's what really mattered, right?

"Glad this is all over." She pauses, looking sheepishly flustered for a moment. How does she phrase this? Uh, hm....

"Thanks."

Nailed it.

And now she was ready to go to sleep for real. Nodding off once or twice didn't really help all that much.