Hammer and Nail. (Mei and Kyoijitsu/Job)

"I'm not going to lie... I find this a bit more of an odd job than I am particularly used too..."
With a raised brow Kyojitsu ran his hand slowly through his hair, frustration daring to tug at the his eyes and show off a bit of his annoyance at his latest assigned job. Food wasn't free he supposed, and it was nice to have some spending money here and there but...

"I know you wizards aren't entirely particular to the idea of manual labor, but I do rather appreciate that your guild has lent me your services."

Kyojitsu stared at the old man taking in his... strange features. A pair of thick rimmed practicals sat atop the bridge of his nose, framing an aged yet gentle face. Wisps of white hair combed into a neat bundle atop his head, and even though his hair was obviously aged and receding he looked quite respectable. It was just...

I didn't think those glasses were a real thing...

They had strange spirals on the lenses, sort of like what you saw in a Manga by Shoju Jump or something. Kyojitsu made a slight defensive motion, considering the comment on physical work,
"I used to actually work on a dock. I'm no stranger to working on this sort of thing, but I won't lie after I started persuing the art of the Mage... I guessed I wouldn't be doing it again."
He sighed, moving towards the large tree trunk sitting in the porch,
"It's my pleasure regardless sir."

Mei believed she had finally chosen the correct job. There was no way she could misinterpret this one! It was incredibly simple, just fix up a house. Still it didn't seem like it would be that much fun... but at least it was simple. She was decent as fixing things up though, so that was a plus at least, still why did they ask a guild for this, wouldn't a contractor be a better option? Perhaps they thought that magic would be more helpful in the end, or maybe the owner couldn't afford a contractor... oh well whatever the case Mei would try her best. This time it wasn't for food, it was for her own sense of duty towards her guild, especially since the last couple of missions had gone well and given her an ample reward.

Then her heart sank, when she arrived on the scene, she saw the back of a familiar person, talking with what Mei could only assume as the sponsor of this mission. Now she would have to chat with him, or at the very least acknowledge that she was here. Oh how she wished she could just go invisible now and ignore all of it. Sadly it looked like Mei needed to gather up the courage to face this quagmire. Perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as she thought? Yeah all she had to do is keep telling herself that.

Swallowing what little courage she had, Mei headed towards Kyo and the employer. She had to say the employer certainly looked strange, but jewels were jewels no matter who supplied them right? Still while she was normally reserved, and didn't like to judge, the appearance could tell a lot now, and she didn't really withhold judgement.

"Uh... hello there is this where uh... you need a house repaired?"

"What's that girl? Don't stutter, are you here to help too huh, just like this young gentleman? very good, thanks to the both of you for showing up to help. The tools are all ready to go, so when you two want to start you may."

Mei nodded towards the man, and then tried to smile towards Kyo, but instead turned a bit red, and had to advert her gaze. He certainly thought she was weird now, but she couldn't help it. She needed a distraction to actually talk normally. it was a reflex a horrible one that she needed to get over, and fast.

Kyojitsu flicked his wrist at the large branch he stood in front of and then his eyes elated as he saw the strange energy of forces flow into it. He was about to start up his work when he heard another voice, and he spun to see a familiar face hesitantly approach. He smiled and gave a small bow. He hated using his magic in front of others, perhaps it was because it was not very visually stunning to others, and thus didn't fit the dynamic he usually liked to present to those around him. He withdrew his natural energies from the log and approached Mei with a non-hostile stance. It was rather... well it was screamingly obvious that the girl was not a fan of others, or maybe just talking? He had met the sort before, and he had a knack for rubbing them the wrong way in the past, perhaps if he softened his approach it would help her relax,

"Ah Mei-San. It is good to see you again. I presume you are here on guild business as well?"

He smiled, and tried to look rather gentle, as to not scare away the poor girl. Looking over his shoulder he felt another gentle breeze blow by, the smell of salt water and brine touching at his nose's smells. He motioned towards the house in the distance and shook his head letting out a sigh,
"It looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us. The roof is in shambles, the porch has been crushed, and the supplies that were sent out were insufficient."
He looked back towards Mei and gave a shrug,
"At least its not solo painful job neh?"

This is why Mei didn't want to approach the two of them. She knew that Kyojitsu would begin talking to her, and that the one in charge was most likely annoyed? No she couldn't really tell, he couldn't be annoyed at Mei since she hadn't done anything wrong, yet, and thus it confused her. No matter all she would need to do is focus on the work in front of her, rather than anything else. If she just focused upon the work, Mei could carry out anything, maybe even talking properly for once. Still she now had to reply to Kyojitsu and that made her scared. All she had to do was chat with him normally, just agree and then get to work, simple right?

"Uh... yes I am. The house um, needs repairing..."

Better, she didn't turn red, but she was still speaking quite silently, but hey it was something. Maybe she could actually overcome it for this job, and if not then well... the poor girl was going to have a very hard time.

"If we run out of stuff uh, I can go and get some more. It shouldn't be that hard I suppose... I mean it is the two of us working on it."

Wow she could actually speak decently now, maybe it's because it was about the job? That was probably it, she was focusing on the jobs aspect and it was allowing her mind to wander enough to communicate properly.

"Uh... do you have any kind of magic that would help out, or make it easier..."

Now is when she blushed a bit. Had she really just asked him out of the blue about his magic? So embarrassing, that was a mages closely guarded secret, or so she thought at least, and it was improper of her to ask such questions.

"Not that I uh... well sorry I asked, I was just wondering... I don't mind labor but... well making it easier would be nice."

Kyojitsu analyzed the girl for a moment, and then watched as the old man trodded away. He took in a slow and steady breath, and he approached Mei slowly, he held his hand up, and spoke in a low whisper,

"I know that some mages enjoy talking about their magic, and some overtly take pride in that sort of thing. Some show it off with flare, and perhaps even brag about it. I can assure you Miss Mei I am not the sort. While I do agree with you, and note that doing this job entirely with no magic is... perhaps impractical. I do hope that you can assure me that if I share the secrets of my sorcery with you, that it shall remain that. A secret."

He said that last part with a bit of a hiss, and then shook his head for a moment and sighed,

"I'm sorry. That was a bit cold. I'm just not... comfortable with my magic entirely. Although I shall use it here for the moment. Just no its nothing amazing, I am not Lightning god after all."

He moved towards the log, and then lightly tapped it, once... twice... three times. Then ran his hand in an almost dismissal motion and the log seemed to not change at all. Kyojitsu slowly put his hand under the massive thing, and lifted it almost effortlessly, walked several feet, and then dropped it to the ground. It crashed into the ground with a loud thud, regaining its normality.

"My magic is not visually stunning, but is in turn more clever. I am of the Force Runner initiates as my father was. We control gravity, and all forces related to it. Please do keep this to yourself however."

"Uh... um, I just wanted to know if it could uh... help with the house..."

Being patient and a little scared as Kyo seemed to grow serious, Mei didn't want to interrupt during it so instead she just waited till he had finished his little demonstration, and then spoke. She wasn't too sure if she should actually show off any of her magic, but since he had done so for her seemed only right. Still she didn't like to show off or really show much of anything unless it was a more serious offense, or a job. Still it was only fair.

"I suppose uh... I should show you my magic, or uh at least parts f it I guess? It's not very impressive, or cool.... uh but I guess I like it."

She was starting to get a little bit better at speaking, but at the same time it was still a little hard, she was still speaking pretty quietly after all.

Having some Miasma appear around her, it seemed like a swirling black cloud, she didn't actually produce any of it right now, from her pour's or anything, it had been there the whole time. She normally traveled with a cloud around her, she just made it invisible. Call it paranoia or her just practicing, but she always felt like she could retreat if need be from any situation, it made her feel safe, and possibly give her the courage to even chat with people in the first place.

"Some people might call my magic uh... some form of darkness or something but... uh my old master called it something more... it's flexible and pretty good, I can make some tools out of it if that would help with building the house a bit... but otherwise it might just get in the way... people don't seem to be able to really see in it unless I help them out..."

Not much of a description, but it was the best could really do to describe it without it sounding sinister. Frankly she wondered who exactly her master was, he had been helpful and nice but at the same time this magic seemed off. Oh well not like she would change from it, it was the one thing that reminded her to never forget the past, and to move on with the future no matter the odds. All she needed was the correct discipline and then she could accomplish anything...

At least more stunning than mine I suppose
Thought the young Ametsuchi as he nodded at the cloud of envoloping darkness that seemed to wrap gently around the frame of the small maiden, and taped his knuckles across his hip. Another nervous tick he supposed. He really needed to stop developing those on the fly. He gave another nod before yawning,

"I suppose we'll need to start this up somewhere. Any preference? I was thinking it was best to start on the roof, and get the tiling out of the way, but that might just be because I'm good with heights."

He looked over his shoulder, and wondered what... well what Mei was good at? She seemed to have no aptitude for conversation, but did that mean she knew her way around manual work? He himself was no fledgling child with the hammer and nail,

"Have any past experience with this sort of thing?"

He tried to ask in a nonchalant kind way, as to not offend.

"Uh... I know a few things about repairing and such... I mean well I learned it a while back... And yes the roof might be the best place especially if it rains at all..."

Mei didn't want to seem like a butch or anything, but she knew how to repair a bunch of varied things. This mission was quite up her alley in a certain regard, but still an entire house? She didn't know if she was THAT good at it, but she could always just try her best and if it didn't work out [s]blame Kyojitsu[/s] take the blame for the failure herself, especially if she ended up instructing him a bit on what to do.

Nodding slightly, Mei pointed towards the roof.

"Uh... if you could take one side i'll take the other and we can uh... meet in the middle. Don't forget to tear off the shingles... and then uh... put into place the new covering, and then the replacement shingles... you don't want it leaking if we have to work inside too.."

Grabbing a ladder, as she went to get a tool belt, Mei placed it near the middle of the roofing area and headed up it, and prepared to tear this roof a new one!

The work was hard to say the least. The sun was beaming down pretty hard, and Kyojitsu could feel the beads of sweat running down his face. It was a rather honest way to earn income and break a sweat, but a part of him felt like it was very wrong. He didn't want to high road the responsibility, but the idea of just thumping away at construction again... well maybe something to distract him.

"So Mei-chan. It was quite the coincidence to end up on the same mission again it seems. I never got the chance to thank you in full for your help in the woods back during that attack."

He glanced away feeling a bit embarrassed at the idea of being saved, as he had considered himself quite capeble, but considering that she had dispatched one of the goblins who could have in turn caught him while he was in mid air... yes there was no way around how useful that gesture was.

"I uh..."

He suddenly felt a bit awkward. He didn't really feel like he could impress this rather timid girl. She had seen him plainly, and he couldn't fabricate anything when she had seen him in a direct fight and seen his powers first hand.

"I'm glad to have someone capable helping me even with something as remedial as fixing a room. I'm... thankful it was you."

Kyojitsu started with a bunch of random compliments while Mei just started on taking off the tiles in order to replace them with newer, more robust roofing tiles. She didn't want to focus on that too much however as it was embarrassing. Still it was nice to hear that she had done something good and just followed him and was lazy about the whole affair. As she earnestly began trying harder due to said complement, Mei attempted a reply though she couldn't guarantee anything would make sense.

"Uh thanks... I just well... I uh... needed the flower so."

Anyone got a knife? I think you could cut the tension with it. As Mei tried to continue that statement she began to throw roofing tiles off at a faster pace, due to her confused mind. Suddenly she created some tools from the Miasma that had been hidden around her, and began to throw on some of the new tiles in a furious fashion.

"Uh... the faster we work... the less time this should take... I uh... I think we can both do a good job with it if we... hurry together."

Yes, it got awkward, but what do you expect, this entire situation was awkward. Mages doing common construction work was strange enough, but Kyojitsu had made it just plain worse.

"You know with the right application of force... You gave me an idea of how to use magic to speed this up."
Kyojitsu stood up and shook his head in a bob trying to free up the thoughts that bothered his magic often. It actually took a bit of focus to bring this kind of manipulation to fruition. He took in a deep breath holding his hands aloft,
"I can get these tiles off rather fast, but not place the new tiles fast. Maybe you have a solution?"

flexing his fingers out he felt the force flow out his feet and begin to flow into the roof below him. A bit of it was showy, but he had to have contact with the things he manipulated. His feet were a working conduit though, and from there it was a simple push, and it flowed outwards. Slow at first, like a wave, but gathering speed into a strong tide. The tiles began to flex a bit, and Kyo let out a slow and steady breath. From a point starting at his feet, all the tiles began to bend back, and then almost like a wave was flowing through them, began to pop off. He knew Mai was on an untiled spot, and thus hand no concern for her. Closing his fist he pushed the wave back, towards him, and the tiles flexed that way. Because of how the tiles overlapped they never broke contact during this, letting him manipulate them freely with different pushes. They flowed together into stacks and then merely slid off the roof into a slightly less than graceful pile. He had broken contact, and thus couldn't influlence that, but not so bad to have all the peeling done.

"Right-o. A little mundane use of magic never hurt right? Not like its some kind of precious resource that will run out right?"

OOC: I'm assuming you have a creative way to mass nail these things right : D?

Mei was happy about the compliment, but at the same time she was embarrassed by it. This guy was being really nice, and she didn't know if it was because that's just how he acted or if... he really was a nice guy. He seemed a little bit off, at least from what she had gathered with the last little job they had done. Well she hadn't really done it, more like Kyo had done it and she just helped at the last moment, still he seemed grateful for that. Never mind she shouldn't think on it too much otherwise she might become a tomato again...

Instead she focused on summoning up a few tools to be used, and would attempt to mass nail in the boards that Kyo was laying down. Making the job possibly use up less time, which meant less time to be embarrassed at the thoughts of him being grateful towards her.

With a flurry of miasma encompassing the area, Mei had the tools rapidly smash down the various nails. She wasn't going to disappoint as the work was now effectively being done by 4 people instead of just 2, sadly it meant she couldn't really focus on placing them... which meant...

"Uh... if you want to lay them down then... I can just focus on nailing them in... it takes some concentration right now to make sure I hit the mark..."

Kyojitsu nodded watching the strange girl in action. Following through he grabbed several of the tiles and began to quickly line them up just ahead of the tools in action. Kyo professed a bit of dexterity, as his body was rather light, and thus easily moved at faster paces. Moving ahead of the tools he began to lay tiles, but made sure that they were still straight. Fast was one thing, but accuracy was still going to matte rin having a not crooked roof. He gazed upon Mei again taking in exactly what she was doing. He magic was one of the stranger ones he had seen, not flash or flare. Similar to his in that regard, but also appeared to phase in and out of being material... was he being over analytical? Was that rude? oh jeez... Conversation! He should start up some conversation before the silence became awkward. He looked away from her, as maybe direct eye contact was disquieting, something casual... what was a casual question? What did he know about her. Well they were mages. They had that common at least?

"So uhm... Have you always been a mage Mei?"

"Uh... well..."

Here she was busy focusing on crafting this roof for the client and then a distracting question came to her out of left field. She really should have seen it coming, but for some reason she didn't. Normally it would worry her, should she really say too much or anything at all? No, she shouldn't really say that much, but she could state a little bit about herself, after all it couldn't hurt that much, could it?

"Uh, I wasn't always a mage, I was into more of textile work, and other trades, which is why I know how to work a roof and such... um, I'm nothing super special or anything really, I just know how to do these things..."

Yes, Mei was a decent mage and all that, but it wasn't her beginnings, though she didn't tell him the whole truth, she was a little bit truthful. She wasn't always a mage and she had been through a lot before with her past, perhaps some day she would tell him, but today wasn't that day.

"How about you, have you always been a mage?"

it was only fair that she be able to ask it back.

Kyojitsu looked towards Mei, his eye gentle but slightly analytical. Was there a reason to spice his life up to someone who had started as a textiles worker? He felt a slight relief in the idea of being a bit honest about his past. He smiled giving his arm a bit of a flex, his sleeve a bit rolled up his muscles gleamed a bit with sweat in the sun's beating light. It was strange with all the rumors of bad weather that the sun was so bright and welcoming today.

"My father and mother were both mages, but that was before I was born. Thus by trade I was born a farmer as they no longer used their magic. It's why I am well apt to doing harder work, and prefer using direct measures in the things I do, one might say I used to a sort pf hands on approach to work. Before I really tapped into my reserves of magic my dad was bent on teaching me all the necessities to "Making it out in life" as he put it. I learned how to cook, hunt, and maintain life where it had to be forged."

He was rather proud of this fact. He didn't know why his birth stopped his parents from being magic user's anymore, and when he asked his mother once she waved the question off with a simple statement,

When you were born, it made it obvious to us that we had something so wonderful we needed to protect it over all else.

That... didn't make a lot of sense to him. Even as he grew older he imagined that having magic would have made life easier... but then again he liked a challenge.
"I started my magehood when I was still young, but in bits and pieces really. I guess I'm just quick at picking it up."

"I see... so magic runs in your family then? I wonder if it runs in mine..."

A casual thought that happened to pass by Mei's head as she realized what she was saying to Kyojitsu. She didn't really know her family like a proper naruto character, so she would just try and make the conversation a little less awkward, and a little bit more casual. How could she do that, though, Mei didn't really know what to go on with for now. Thankfully the sun was on her side and made it look like this job might take another day. Mei was actually a little relieved that it would take another day since it would give her a chance to recover from this conversation. However, it should be noted that Mei did enjoy the conversation though she just didn't know if she really trust this guy or not yet, but it was starting to grow.

"The sun's going down... we should probably get back to our homes and then return tomorrow... hopefully it won't take too long to finish the job, especially since there are two of us right?"

Mei gave a little bit of a smile and then began to get prepared to leave for the night, while she was happy that she could go home she was a little sad the job couldn't get done within but a day, since she kind of made a friend she was okay with it. Perhaps this was a good thing, though, the night air would allow for everyone to have clearer thoughts and better attitudes tomorrow rather than just sitting about being mad as they try and rush to finish the job.

"Well take care Kyojitsu... i'll uh see you tomorrow..."

Kyojitsu looked towards the horizon with a nod, feeling a trickling bead of sweat run down his face. He raised his arm up brushing them away, and standing up he pulled his coat back on. He nodded towards Mei,

"Probably wise. Wouldn't be very practical to try and work in the dark."

He started to proceed to clean up. Gathering together all the materials and carefully tossing a tarp over them he looked to the sky and hoped for a day of no rain. He glanced watching Mei leave, and questioned whether what he would do with the night. Perhaps he would go to an inn and relax, but then again... since there was a storm in the distance. He might be able to check the ocean and sky out without being seen. He didn't really like showing off flight. Keeping a trick up his sleeve was something important. Either way it would be something that wouldn't be described as likely there was a time skip coming, maybe a building montage? That would be pretty sick and a good way to ignore all the work that it might take to finish fixing up this house. He walked off, deciding to get more materials for tomorrow just in case they ran out of nails... or something?

Mei didn't really sleep well during the night, in fact she was doing such a bad job in sleeping, she decided to just head back from the inn she was at to the house, before the storm would arrive. She was pretty beat, but there wasn't much in the way of work left, and if she could get it done then maybe Kyojitsu could be the one to report the job back to the guild? She supposed that could be considered good teamwork, or at least her being able to take a little bit of a day to sleep and look around this town. So like the stealthy person she was, Mei headed back towards the house and got ready to finish it off. Strapping some of the tools to her waist, she prepared the hammer for a hammering, and the nails for a nailing. Also, there was kind of pun about shingles but Mei couldn't think of it.

Enter one building montage later, Mei got most of it done, in fact the roof was completely done except for a few shingles upon it, but Mei was far too beat, so instead she left some of the tools next to a note telling Kyojitsu that he could report the job done and just finish off the roof, Mei was too tired to probably do either at this point. It was a little thank you note too for the help, after all they had now done a couple of jobs together and were possibly on their way to becoming friends, who knows anything really is possible when Mei is involved, well in terms of shyness and uncertainty that is.

"I guess I shouldn't really be shocked here."

Kyojitsu lowered the hand that held the small leaflet of paper bearing the words of Mei's departure. That girl was harder to tie down than anyone else he has ever met! He found that intriguing to say the least. He shrugged as he had already finished the last bits of work to the job, and now sat atop a nearby stump, looking over the horizon. He ran his hand together trying to loosen the muscles now taught and tense from work once more. He supposed he would have to report in the job from what the note told him. Standing up slowly he brushed dust from his clothes with a small surge of power through his body. It simply lifted and fell off being carried by the winds away. He never considered it, but he used his powers in so many bits of life now almost without thought. Maybe his power was a bit subtle, but wasn't the power he had yesterday? Mei's magic was over the top... or at least it seemed that way from what he had seen? He guessed he might just have to accept the lack of flashiness of his magic for now.

Uttering a quick word of power he kicked off the ground and hopped over an edge. A cut of weight here, a force change there, and now the wind had him. He let himself glide on the air currents vs forcing the direction he flew. No rush home. He had things to think about.

OOC: Mission complete; left