1975/Dragon's Gold

Dragon's Gold
Date of Scene:	07 April 2015
Location:	New York-199999
Synopsis:	Ryu heads to Malibu to enlist Toph's bending skills.
Cast of Characters:	20, 636

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Ryu (636) has posed:
    A bland Sedan-ish car parks in the nearest parking lot to a certain beach -- thankfully with very little parking issues because of where the beach is -- and a decidedly not-mundane young man steps out of the vehicle. He pushes blue bangs out of his eyes and looks up at the sky, which is thankfully clear of any poor weather. He frowns at it, though, because the climate in California is not the kind of climate that he enjoys. There's warmth and there's more warmth. He steps around his vehicle after this to retrieve a ball of gold from the trunk, which is exactly as heavy as it appears to be judging by how the vehicle shock absorbers wobble, yet he only has mild trouble lifting it and carrying it. Beach breezes mitigate this feeling as he walks down to the beach.

    His boots thump against the sand while he tracks down Toph, looking for her based off of his one encounter with her. As he walks, he begins to look around, checking out the terrain with his blue brows raised.

    "Hmm." Seems he's impressed by how nice the beach is.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The beach doesn't remain pristine for long.

    A rumble can be heard from behind up near the massive house that is situated on the point of the cape. And then there's the sound of earth shifting, and a shadow can be seen as /somebody/ lleaps through the air!

    A moment later Toph Beifong crashes into the ground, sand and dust whirling up into the air. And there's a big grin on her face. "Heya! The beach isn't so nice anymore, with large cracks spreading out from the point of impact. It seems Toph is accustomed to changing the ground whereever she goes.

    Her hair is quite a mess now, and she's dressed rather casually. Pants that reach down below her knee, as well as a t-shirt... with a rather artsy design with butterflies on it.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    The immediate reaction from Ryu from the startling reaction is not visible. First he stops in his tracks, and then he turns around to face her, seemingly very calm. But she would be able to tell that had startled him almost to the point of violence, the dragon clearly someone who has been in a lot of fights and more used to someone attacking him when they show up like that.

    "Here," he says, holding out the sphere of gold that Toph had bent off of his scorched scales with such ease. He smiles at her in that mild way, matching his mild tone, "I've got some designs, I had them pressed into metal plates to make it easier for you to work with." He pulls those metal plates out and holds them out toward her. They have raised designs, along with measurements and words that clarify the 3D picture they are supposed to represent.

    "You sure know how to make an entrance," Ryu comments, looking at the ground damage with that same impressed gaze. It makes him wary, as most powerful people do, an instinct from being brought up in a harsh country.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The blind girl seems rather at ease and rather relaxed, clearly not about to do anything troublesome nor sinister. She can't see the smile on his face, but she can hear the mild tone in his voice better than most.

    When she is handed the sphere Toph takes it, remembering the feel of the gold well enough, though she blinks when he presents the metal plates as well. "Huh, okay... so what kind of jewelry did you want me to make for you anyway? Bracelets? Pendants?" she inquires curiously.

    If there's one thing Toph learned in Earth Rumble VI besides fighting, it was how to make an entrance. "Heh, gotta do a proper job, you know?" she smirks. "I /am/ the greatest earthbender, after all. I gotta make sure to remind people so they don't forget it!" With that the girl flops down on her butt in the sand, keeping the gold in her lap while she starts studying the metal plates with her fingers.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    When Toph sits, Ryu decides to sit as well. He picks a nice sand dune to rest on, looking toward Toph with that continuing mild gaze. His response comes slowly, like social interaction requires some thought or concentration on his part.

    "A collar," he begins, "With a chain and a pendant. The pendant should have this embedded into it..." When he says that, he pulls out the Izzet signet out of one of his coat pockets and holds it out to her as well. "In the center. Then there's bracelets and anklets, as well as this tail coil right here..." He taps the corresponding plate lightly with an index finger.

    "So you live out here?" he wonders, "How did you get used to the hot climate?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "A collar... I thought you were a dragon, not a dog?" she jokes with a light chuckle, clearly teasing. She takes the signet and feels it, narrowing her eyes as she concentrates. "Got it."

    With that she /tears/ off part of sphere and begins shaping it into a pendant with the Izzet signet on it. It only takes a half minute for Toph to shape it, then she hands it over before she begins shaping a collar. "Gonna use this for anything specific?"

Ryu (636) has posed:
    "I want it to be the collar because a chain would get caught on things too easily," Ryu explains to Toph, seeming to brush off the Dog comment and the teasing with a strange ease. "Just more convenient. And it looks better on a bestial form like mine than normal jewelry."

    As she shapes the gold, and hands him the pendant. He examines the work, marvelling at how smooth it is compared to a jeweller's work in the same amount of time. He is, yet again, impressed, though this is just pure awe with no background of unease. "I'll wear it around if I have to attend anything official or fancy," he tells her, "I might also wear it into major battles. Dragons have to be flashy, right? Part of our pride as beasts of power."

    Now he's grinning, though it has nothing to do with humor. Just plain pride in the fact that he's a dragon.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Got it," Toph nods, kind of pleased that he actually has a sense of humour. "I'm not much for flashy jewelry myself, but I can guess it's more fitting for seeing people."

    The earthbender continues metalbending the gold, her small fingers willing the metal into taking shape into something more firm and smooth. "There's always official crap going on, isn't it? I gotta dress up for that too."

    She does look a bit curious. "You didn't seem to like being a dragon at first, did you...? What changed? And what's it like being a dragon anyway?" Hey, she is allowed to be curious, right? And it doesn't seem like a bad question to ask either.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryan is fascinated with the way metal bends under the command of Toph's fingers. It's a sight he's never experienced in his own world, due to the profoundly different nature of magic there. They still need to use hammers to shape metal there. When she inquires as to his nature as a dragon and his change in behavior toward it over his stay in the Union, he looks up to her face with some surprise.

    "I was raised all of my life to think that dragons were demons and monsters," he explains, the same thing he's said over the radio, "I felt afraid that I would end up hurting innocent people, or even the people who relied on me. But I discovered that it did not change what I believed, and did not change who I was, only what I am. I was forced to think about it when Nael tried to turn me against those that got in his way with that damnedable power of his."

    He picks up some sand with one of his hands, playing with the grains with his fingers, watching them slide off of his glove. "Imagine being weak. Ordinary. Inconsequential. Imagine that you couldn't bend earth, in your case, and that everything you learned about how to fight or how the world worked depended on other people also being like this. Then imagine that being pulled out from under you like a rug trick, and the world being revealed to be even less fair than growing up told you, and you were the one who had the power this time."

    "You already know part of it, I can tell. Knowing you have more strength than most people will ever know. Strength or power that you could use for whatever you wanted. I feel like that."

    "I feel separate now. I feel even more alien to the people around me. I feel too powerful, and my feelings have changed in ways I don't understand."

    He scrunches his brow and frowns. "It's hard to explain, I guess... I'm sorry, I was rambling." He waves it iff, and rests back against his sand dune seat, feeling the cool earth as contrast to the warmth of the sunlight above him.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The collar is bended rather slowly compared to the pendant for some reason. Partially because her hands come to a halt when Ryu tries to explain matters and gives her that mental exercise.

    "... I wasn't even ordinary. I was just weak," Toph points out. Blind, tiny, fragile and helpless. Until she learned how to bend.

    "Just because you change doesn't mean you will be a whole different person, you know. Sure, you're a dragon, but you're still you. And I haven't heard you doing anything monsterific either, so relax. We won't let you become a bad guy either. There are good dragons in the Union too, like Parthuwhatever his name is. And he is a general!" If that doesn't mean something, then what does?

    "Stuff changes upon unification, and well... get used to having the rug pulled out from under you, then you might not fall on your face or ass so much," she grins in good humour. The collar is now done, and she hands it over. It's smooth and not fully closed, with the back being open so it can easily be slipped on and off. The size seems to be right too, thanks to Toph's precise seismic sense. With Ryu sitting next to her it's rather easy to know his size, after all.

    The cuffs and anklets are next, and Toph begins working on those. "So what design did you want on these again?" she asks and nods at the metal plates.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    "The problem was that I was afraid that being a dragon would make me into a demon," Ryu told Toph with that lighter voice. "It was dragons like Bahamut, Rhapsody, Fang and Paarthurnax that showed me that it wasn't true. Rhapsody is a guild leader, and she had a family that loves her. Bahamut is practically a king. Fang is a warrior who cares about his people. Paarthurnax is very wise and good..."

    "I guess, ultimately, they are what changed my mind."

    He sat up again, to retrieve the collar, attaching the pendant to it, carefully. He changes into his dragon shape and tries it on, his mass and shape changing considerably.

    "The other pieces should have those names on them, on the inside, and they should be simple rings like it shows on the plates. Rhapsody, Bahamut, Paarthurnax, Fang. The tail coil doesn't need any fancy pattern on it." His voice changed from human to a copy of human speech as spoken through a mystical dragon voice. It's a very big difference.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Dragons? Demons? Toph snorts at that. "Maybe some demons are dragons, not the other way around," she states firmly as she works on the cuffs.

    Yet she blinks when he states he wants the names on the inside. "Those are letters...?" she asks, then sighs. "I guess you won't settle for Braille, will you...?" Paarthurnax seems hard enough to spell as it is! It does appear that Toph seems that is a bigger deal than Ryu changing into his dragon form in front of her.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    "Braille is fine. I don't have to read the words, just know that they're there," Ryu tells her, his tone warming up when he says it as if he's smiling. He's not, since his draconic mouth doesn't allow for that, but he can still sound like it. He seems pretty genuine about this feeling. He gestures to the gold she's still working with. "I've got the spellings on the plates, too. You can translate it over, if it's easier for you, or just copy the words over if you want it to be proper or something like that."

    After this, he plays with the pendant just to hear it rattle like a dog tag, smiling at the familiar jingle.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "I can't read anything but Braille," Toph clarifies to Ryu. "These letters mean diddely squat to me." But whew, it's a good thing that she can write the names in Braille and that it's good enough for him. "I wonder if Jarvis will accept this as part of my lessons today..." Probably not. "It could be a Braille lesson for you. Besides, your skin can make out dots far easier than lines. Jarvis explained the whole Braille alphabet to me and why it's the way it is."

    It does take a few minutes for Toph to finish up the entire order, but soon enough two cuffs, two anklets and an extra fancy tail decoration is done. It seems the girl has had fun making the border on the things a bit fancy and wavy, though most of it is smooth and even. "Here you go!" she beams, holding up the items for him to take one by one.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu is, thankfully, a patient creature when he has reason to be. He watches silently when she's concentrating, and she might notice how slow his heartbeat is as a dragon, and how silent his breathing is. The difference from human sounds is drastic. When she's done, he receives the jewelry graciously, and puts it all on, examining each with a happy rumbling noise.

    "I like the artistic touch you gave them. I'll remember that you did this for me," he tells her, conveying gratitude in his voice when it grows more hushed. "Thank you."

    Then, for a moment, he closes his eyes and rubs one of his scaly digits over one of his bracelets, enjoying the smooth surface and the incredible quality.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph rises to her full height of five feet, looking rather pleased that he likes the job she's done with the jewelry. Heck, if she wasn't so awesome at fighting and loved doing it, perhaps she would have made a decent jewelrer? "Hey, Union has to look out for one another. You can owe me a favour sometime if you want, it was a good chance to get a break from my guqin practicing." Though she really ought to get back to it and finish it up before it gets too late. "Take care, both of yourself and your fancy new bling!" she tells him before she turns and heads back up the beach in a light run towards the fancy house. It does seem the girl is used to the warm weather here at least!

    If she had gotten used to asking how names are spelled, then perhaps all the names on the inside of the cuffs would have been correct too.