(Mm-hmmm!)
Rayla doesn't seem to notice Aviv, as absorbed in her revisions as she was.
She was holding a pencil, writing and erasing very quickly, occassionally seeming to backtrack and revise her own revisions which seemed to be, themselves, revisions of revisions. She was humming quietly to herself while she worked.
She absently points a finger up, and launches a small light into the air, which splits into more, smaller lights. The lights move to various points in the garden - around her bench, barely missing Aviv - and stay in their places, becoming solid, reflective surfaces.
After a moment, she lets a small drop of water hit one of the lights. It turns to energy and starts bouncing between each point at extreme speeds, always barely missing Aviv.
(Think "Meggido" from the anime "That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime"; look it up if you don't know, and you'll understand)
He had his glasses on by now, though they still squinted their eyes at Rayla as he approached. They flinched each time she manipulated the light, but did not cry out or do anything else to draw attention to himself. Perhaps, at some point, she would notice him. Or not. It soon became clear that her eyes were glued to her little book.
Careful to avoid what magic she was pulling, Aviv drew up beside the girl and tapped her shoulder. “What are you doing?” They asked. There was no true curiosity in his expression, only exhaustion.
(Yeah lol; this spell she has to always pull of small scale since she's now powered down and it also nearly kills her due to exhaustion; she's kinda fixed that now)
Rayla shrieks and drops her book, the magic fizzling out.
She looks beside her and finally sees Aviv. She turns slightly red from embarassment.
"Sorry- um, I'm just revising spells and whatnot. And practicing." she says, picking up her book and standing up.
Aviv was used to that reaction to his presence, though he did feel apologetic. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
They just looked her up and down, and nodded. “I can see that. Could you, perhaps, take your magical activities elsewhere? I was trying to sleep, and I’d rather not be at risk of disintegrating.”
He didn’t want to be rude, but it seemed that their tiredness took away any filter he had.
"Sorry. . . I didn't think anyone was nearby." Rayla sighs in embarassment.
"If I did nearly vaporize you at some point please don't hate me?" she asks. "I'm hated too much by too many people because of my tendency to nearly vaporize people."
Aviv raised a brow at this and sighed. “I don’t hate you. You didn’t know. Even if I did, I don’t have the energy to really care. If you spend any decent amount of time here, do you have any good napping spot recommendations?” He rubbed at his eyes, pushing their glasses upward. “These benches aren’t exactly comfortable.”
Rayla thinks for a moment.
"Nowhere, since I usually practice my magic in this small garden realm - nobody really comes here. But I can find you a better garden to sleep in with plants that are comfier than any bed you've evr slept in." she replies after a bit.
“Huh.” It seemed he wasn’t really wasn’t supposed to be here anyway. They just wanted to sleep, and thought the Heaven Realms might have better options than the mortal realm, but knew they had to be cautious. Extremely cautious, in fact, if someone like this girl was just walking around with that kind of power.
“That would be nice of you. I would appreciate it.” The level of comfort may not really affect whether or not he would actually go to sleep, but it was better than a bench. “What’s your name?”
Okay!" Rayla says brightly, startinng to walk towards a small, overgrown path.
"I'm Rayla Cressida Brentworth - but just call me Rayla or 'Purple' or 'Explosion' if you want. All three are fine!" she replies cheerfully. "Who are you?"
They started following her, trying not to fall behind or yawn too much. “Aviv Perez. Encantado de… sorry, nice to meet you, Rayla.” He was surprised he had been able to speak English up until this point, given how long they’ve been without sleep.
Rayla chuckles. "Don't worry about it, I find myself slipping into Draconian sometimes. Anwways, yeah."
She lead Aviv down a series of wide and narrow paths and, eventually, she sees the other garden realm ahead, seperated by half an acre of void space. She smiles.
"Here we are." she grins, turning to look back at Aviv. "If this doesn't suit your fancy just say 'Rayla' really, really loudly and I'll find you. I can make you your own little space."
Aviv was too tired to pay attention to the directions they were going. He just kept walking and hoped that the next step would be their last.
Eventually, they slowed and focused on the garden ahead of them. They squinted their eyes and adjusted his glasses before focusing back on Rayla. “Gracias. It looks nice,” he said, the words a little slow and mumbled. He started making their way across the void.
Rayla smiles. "Remember, call me if this place doesn't work out for you."
After calling that out she heads back the way they'd come, back to her bench, sinking deep into thought once more.
Aviv had little hope, and knew that calling for her wouldn’t change anything. The way to the garden was a blur. It was beautiful and lush, but he didn’t care much for that at the moment. They found a nice tree to sit under, the grass beneath it soft like down. Aviv closed his eyes. He did not fall asleep.
After a couple days, Rayla starts to wonder what had happened to Aviv.
So, with little other options, she makes her way back to the garden she'd shown the new demigod, trying to find him.
He was under a tree.
"Um- hi." she says. "Still no luck?"
Sleep did come over them, eventually. It came and went like the rain, though, never for long and seemingly at random. Aviv had been awake for about 27 hours by the time Rayla came back, though it wasn’t like they were keeping track.
They were curled up beneath the tree in the soft grass, his glasses clipped to his shirt. He honestly felt miserable. Maybe he should eat something. There was fruit in the garden, after all.
“Hey.” Their gaze flickered in Rayla’s direction. “Eh, sort of. At least it’s comfortable here.”
Rayla chuckles.
"I'm glad you find it comfortable here. I come here sometimes when I can't sleep and listen to the insects." she replies, sitting down next to Aviv and relaxing.
Aviv sighed. “It is times like these where I find it truly ironic that if I touch you right now, I could put you to sleep. Yet, I cannot do the same for myself.” He closed his eyes.
"You can't use your power on yourself?" Rayla asks, genuinely curious. "I thought every demigod could use their powers in some way on theirself."
“I cannot.” They sighed again. “Not only ironic; at this point, it’s cruel.”
(Sorry for short reply)
(It's alright!)
"That truly is cruel. If I couldn't use my powers on myself, I couldn't even begin to-" Rayla starts, before she feels a faint rumble through the earth.
"What was that?" she asks quietly, on edge now.
Aviv opened his eyes. The rumbling passed through their body, considering he was laying on the ground. He quickly sat up. “Hm. No clue. Don’t ask me.”
Rayla slowly stands, looking around warily.
"It sees sa-" she starts to say before a larger scale tremble runs through the Heavens.
"Nope, not safe!" she decides, hauling Aviv to his feet.
