[ Action ] .063

[markofthebrave]

Part the first:
[Katara fell into the shower after a long day of confusion. All the confused introductions in the morning had left her with little time before she had to take care of Ikki. She couldn’t cook, sure, but she could make sandwiches. And there was something that felt more natural about showering in the evening as well - it felt wonderful, actually.

She was just bringing her arms down from lathering her hair when something extraordinary happened - the water froze around her, encasing her in ice. Katara let out a startled shriek.

She was trapped! And naked! And cold! And where had the ice come from??]

Part the second (and every single other day):

[After her little adventure in the shower, Katara had discovered, much to her wonder and delight, that she could make water move when she moved her hands. She still hadn’t figured out how she’d turned it to ice that first time, but right now she was more interested in the beautiful fluidity of it than anything else.

Whenever she has a moment of free time, you can find her practicing with it, making it move over her arms or hover just above her hand or - wow, she can even fling it at things! This is so cool.

She decided that she was a water dancer, and it was a wonderful, wonderful thing. In the evenings, after helping clear up from dinner and making sure Ikki was tucked in, she wound up a small box that played music (Did you know that there are devices that make music?) she found in the shop with all the things. She took it outside, lifted the lid and practiced dancing to the music.

Feel free to run into her anywhere! Maybe as she runs errands about town or even that moment on the path by the river when she first discovers she can take water and make it smaller, shattering into hundreds of little raindrops that catch the sunlight, and laughs with delight.]

Comments

day the second.

[breezing]

[ Ikki's taking a short break from her ongoing attempts to return Prince Petunia to his rightful form - she can't remember his rightful form, just like she can't remember anything else, and she feels really, really bad about that, so she's doing everything she can to figure out his curse! This break involves being outside the house, watching Katara practice her water movements, which are curious and really strangely pretty. Ikki tried it herself with water in her bath (it looked fun!) but nothing had happened, although she'd gotten bubbles all over the place, which she'd cleaned up after.

It's really weird not knowing a lot about who she is or who anyone in the house is, but the cards and name tags are useful, and anyway, Ikki just doesn't feel that worried. Okay, yes, she's concerned about Petunia, who didn't even get a card (she checked!), and if she remembered more maybe she'd be able to do more, but in general - well, in general she feels...comfortable.

She knows her name and that she doesn't eat meat (she's allergic!) and that she had a grandfather, and that Katara is family and is in charge, and can do magic with water (and also can't cook, apparently?). It's not a lot, but it's enough.

After watching for a little while, Ikki interrupts with scattered applause, bouncing nearer. ]

Katara! Can you do the ice stuff on purpose now?

[markofthebrave]

[Katara stops what she's doing turns to Ikki.]

Not yet! I haven't really been working on it. What about you? Any luck with Petunia?

[breezing]

Nope! [ Ikki looks down for a second, gesturing at the pink bucket of water and starfish she's been carrying around. You know, in case she finds someone to turn him back. ] Oh, but Bonzu has been helping, and so've a few other people, so we're really close to figuring it out!

I wish he'd had a card, too, so I had more clues. Maaaaaaaybe he has one in his tank only starfish can read, though? [ weirder things have happened, probably. None that she can remember, at the moment, but it seems pretty logical to her! ]

Oh, but I'm sure I'll figure it out! And maybe he'll know some more about everything else. That's probably why he got cursed into a starfish, huh?

[markofthebrave]

That might be why he was cursed into a starfish, yes.

[Katara was not absolutely convinced that Petunia was a prince. But she had absolutely no problem pretending to the contrary. And indeed, stranger things had happened. She could move water, after all!

She started making her way towards Ikki.]

Have you fed him today?

[breezing]

Yep! As soon as I got up.

[ Bereft of her memories and her ordinary schedule, Ikki's sole focus was more or less Petunia. Although she'd met plenty of people since waking up, some of whom were involved in equally strange quests. ]

You know, there are some people walking around without name tags! And I met someone with a blank name tag. Why would you wear it blank?

[markofthebrave]

[Stepping on over, Katara moves to smooth down Ikki's hair. Time to see if you are in tip-top shape, young lady!]

I don't know. Did you ask them?

[breezing]

Oh, nooooope. I forgot, 'cause he was a knight, so we talked about Petunia instead!

[ Her hair is sort of curling and in the way, since she hasn't the slightest idea how she normally wears it. It did start out braided this morning, but it's decidedly...not, now. The dangers of being seven and active. ]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara reaches behind Ikki's head to take out the hair tie that a few strands of hair are still clinging onto grimly.]

Did you ask him what his name was, since he didn't know? What did he think about Petunia?

[breezing]

Yep! Nara Shikamaru. Well, we looked for clues but didn't find anything - but he said he's in service to a King and maybe that was Petunia's dad! [ read: Ikki said the last part and Shikamaru sort of rolled with it.

She hums and helps what is left of the braid to untangle, once Katara removes the hair tie. ]

[markofthebrave]

That sounds very exciting!

[Ikki's hair free, Katara has to shake her head at it.]

Why don't we go inside, and I'll brush your hair and you can tell me all about the rest of your day?

[breezing]

[ Appearance check: fail. Better luck next time, kid. ]

Yeah! Did you meet anyone today, Katara? [ She slips her hand into Katara's. Ikki's found that she likes physical contact with people. Hugs and hand holding and tapping them on the shoulder to get their attention if they're not giving it to her. It's probably a starfish kingdom thing. ]