Rules of Nature [Matylda]

Her father had guests over, and she was in no hurry to get home today. After a quick change of clothes in the bathrooms at school, and the removal of her concealer, Raion was hitting the park for her afternoon routine instead of doing so closer to home. What's the worst that could happen? She didn't really mind if someone from class saw her in this state, and she was never subtle about her athletic hobbies - nothing really to be ashamed of would make her reconsider doing something so brazen in what was essentially the closest location to campus she could find. The only thing she did to even slightly conceal herself was find a sturdy looking tree to practice underneath, the shade as her only cloak from prying eyes.

Her definition showed through her shirt, as it had no sleeves and compressed her abdomen quite a bit. The windbreaker she had worn to school was now tied around her waist, and her earbuds would go in soon after. Jamie Christopherson was her muse today, as she entered formation. A triangle of space was carved out by her motions, back and forth with arms swaying as well in tandem with her opposing leg. It was subtle, and it looked basic, but this dance was actually a combat stance: and she continued to advance in technique and difficulty as the music increased in intensity. Basic kicks, spins, flips, claps, and other motions one would likely mistake as a form of breakdance were thrown together in a way that made it difficult to tell these were defensive repulsions.

Not long after that initial song, she felt her warmup close. She was ready for the more proper, intense part of the workout. For this, she assessed the tree once more. A low branch of decent strength was found, not too far above her head - perhaps another three feet above her on tiptoe with arms stretched out. She decided this was perfect and, after backing up a good distance, got a running start to climbing the tree. Two steps up is all a human being could possibly manage before needing to kick off or grab hold of something, and thankfully that's all it took to be just within range of a convenient natural grip in the tree's trunk.

Simply getting into position was difficult enough, as she needed to swing her leg around the trunk after pulling herself up with just barely both hands on her new grip eventually though, she managed to get to her branch and breathed a sigh of victory. One challenge completed. Noting this, she switched her song again, skipping ahead by five on her playlist in an arbitrary fashion before hanging herself upside down from the branch, her legs curling around it as her only grip and the length of her admittedly ridiculous braid as the main way she would be noticed.

This was risky and stupid and she knew it, but contingencies were in place just in case things got ugly. She was doing crunches in that position summoning all of her core and willpower to keep form.

Counting to ten was all she could manage. Maybe this was too much for her right now, after all. Still, she had to admit, she had a good view of what was going on around her from up here. In particular, of an unfamiliar girl with light brown hair that seemed to be directly below her. Had she been discovered? Or was this going to become a fun game of involuntary hide and seek?

Fue was busy with her girlfriend and that neat ice skating senpai was busy somewhere else.  Nothing to do but indulge in a bit of creativity in a nice peaceful location, right?  Matylda Sudakov-Oka had decided that on a day like today there was really no excuse for sitting around her dorm room, no matter how much she might be tempted to do so.  Noting that she also could use another piece for her sketchbook she had her plan for the day chosen and locked in.  After packing all of her drawing tools, her sketchbook and a pair of ear buds, the Finn was out the door and off to find a suitable place to set up shop.  Since she really didn't have many friends here yet, it was going to just be her by herself sketching whatever idea came to mind. 

It took a little while to hunt down just the right place for sketching something without interruption from unexpected noise or the like.  Restaurants and cafes were out of the question since they were too close to roadways and would have lots of people in them.  So instead of having a particular destination in mind she just let her legs carry her wherever seemed like a good direction to head in a given moment.  After far too many turns and changes of course she ended up in a park that had a lot of quite lovely trees within.  Suddenly the desire to huddle up beneath one struck her and the Finn soon found herself making a beeline to one. 

Her whole world became that one tree and the purpose of getting a new sketch drawn.  Anything or anyone else was secondary if she noticed them at all, so focused was she on her purpose for the day.  While humming a disco song lightly, she lay out a sweater as cushioning and then took a seat under a particularly sturdy looking tree.  Matylda pulled out her trusty sketchbook, opened to an empty page and ended up just sitting there.  Sitting there, staring off into space and wondering what exactly she should draw today.  Nothing came to mind for a few minutes, so she started to look around for inspiration.  Empty bench?  Nope.  Birds chirping in a bush somewhere nearby but unseen?  Better, but still nope.  The Finn's eyes drifted to the view above her to see if that might jog some kind of inspiration.  Girl with neat scars hanging upside down from a branch doing crunches?  Now that was the ticket!

"Mikä inspiraatio! Okei, täytyy saada musiikkia!" Matylda exclaimed as she plugged her earbuds into her phone, then tapped the screen after the other ends were in her ears.  As the driving baseline of a heavy metal song began playing, she pulled a pencil out and instantly was drawing like a maniac.  The form of a girl in some kind of spiky scifi armor began to take shape in the middle of the page, followed by bramble bushes lining the scenery behind her.  Soon some spooky haunted trees took shape behind her as well, all bent and crooked from the power of evil or something.  When she got to the girl's face she began adding the same scars that she'd seen the girl in the tree above her with.  All the while Matylda looked up occasionally to get a reference before returning to the madness that was her art.

Logic would dictate that she would notice someone below her if she were upside down, but by the time the interloper was present she was already too involved to notice. In fact, she didn't notice anything until her current song was over and she had enough time to upright herself and go over her next set in her mind. She would want to cool down with stretches, but doing so from the tree would prove to be difficult, so she knew it was time to climb back down even if her legs were feeling the burn from the activity.

That was when she saw the girl, sketching below her with fury and spark unrivaled.It was hard for Raion to really understand why or what was going on, but she accepted it all the same - though she should probably get out of the way.

"Sorry about that, didn't realize someone else would be here." she said in a calm voice, only slightly huffy. She was more out of breath than she would like to let on, but it was simple enough to control herself and not let that slip if someone was going to be present here in front of her. She didn't ask any questions or assume anything of what the person was sketching, instead just opting to make her descent. At once she found herself reaching around the trunk to the foothold she knew about, though she remembered its distance was substantial enough that it would take some effort. The most optimal way to get out of the way was to make a small hop down to it, grab it, and then drop down carefully - A maneuver she did to mixed success, only grabbing it with one hand at first. It took some effort, but she did right herself with her feet on the tree before kicking back gently and landing, curling into the impact to dampen it and using a hand to stabilize the landing as well. A bit superhero and garrish, but it got the job done.

She was prepared to leave with that being their only encounter.

Once the Finnish girl got going on a drawing, almost nothing would be able to interfere with the process until it was completed.  The tree girl's apology didn't register with Matylda much at all as she feverishly worked on her sketch.  It was important to get the details of her face right though.  So she continued to look up from her page to study the other girl's face before diving back into her work.  Clearly this image was kind of science fantasy in a way?  So what did this picture of a cool girl in spiky scifi armor need going on around her in spooky haunted woods?  Her face screwed up a bit as she looked up again, frowned dramatically and then just as suddenly was struck with an inspiration.  If this were a science fantasy number then clearly what was needed were a few laser blasts incoming and just barely missing the subject of the sketch.  Of course it could also use a zombie too, peering out from behind a tree ominously, drumstick in hand as if it were haunting someone's nightmares now but had to play a sweet concert gig in a couple hours.

All of this was ongoing as the girl in the tree landed nearby in a somewhat dramatic way.  The sound of her landing on the ground was enough to make Matylda take notice, even stop drawing for a moment.  It was actually pretty impressive that this girl had done something like that, so Matylda set her sketchbook down in her lap and applauded the effort.  What now?  She wanted to finish this drawing but also to share it with the person who had randomly inspired it.  She debated it for a moment, but then decided she had to try and communicate.  Of course with her mind in full speed drawing mode she didn't think to put her words into a language the girl was likely to understand.

Motioning with her hands up in a 'hold on' kind of way, she stated, "Odota hetki! Minulla on jotain näytettävää sinulle. Pysy täällä muutaman minuutin."  Without thinking about it she continued to converse in Finnish, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do in Fukui.  There was a feeling of eagerness to please about her as she flashed a smile and then returned to her sketching work.  It took a little bit but soon she had lasers blasting spots around the central figure, the zombie drummer behind a tree and a raven on one of the tree branches with a very unsettling look on its face.  Nodding at the progress, she stood up and held it up for the girl to have a look at -  a weird metal themed sketch of the girl herself. 

"Ta daaa! Mitä mieltä sinä olet? Melko mahtava eikö?" she asked, beaming with pride at her work, still not realizing the girl almost certainly didn't understand her.

Well, you don't see that every day.

"Pardon?" she asked, tilting her head in the most momentary confusion of her life before she was answered in a split second with artwork that the more she saw of it, the more she grew equal parts embarrassed and flattered. It was hard to tell aside from a slightly pink tint across her cheeks, but this stranger had made her clam up for a moment. This was a bizarre interaction, and one she would no doubt have to say more within soon or risk looking like an idiot.

In almost the same instance however, the girl retracted her artwork and continued. This eccentricity made her almost forget that this may be a classmate of hers, and the moment she came to that realization she had to resume her tough persona. When the girl flashed her work again, it had even more detail than before - a quick feat, or had she spaced out that long? Questions for later. She had to say something soon.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand, but," she offered a thumbs up, hoping it was universal in whatever language this girl was speaking. "It looks good!"

She herself was speaking Japanese, though her dialect was more offshore than a native one. While she knew how to speak it and she had lived her a good while now, she was still clinging to the accent and dialect of her birth home, making her words perhaps just as hard to understand. She realized that, and put a hand to her chest.

"I'm Raion." she said, and then gestured to the girl. "And you?"

Very often people were confused by the work that Matylda did in her sketchbook.  Not everyone understood just how great metal was, or how wonderful enhancing things with its trappings could be.  For example her teachers had remarked on more than one occasion that she should try drawing in a more 'relaxed' or 'realistic' style. While she could do that and did from time to time it could be disappointing to her when someone looked down on her work or demanded she change how she did it.  When someone did approve of it, when they genuinely liked the madness that was her handiwork.. that was magical.  Getting the words of support from a stranger whom she had just drawn a picture of randomly?  That was even more magical still!

It was as the redhead was stating she didn't understand, and motioning to herself that Matylda realized her one big error in all of this.  While her new companion was speaking Japanese she wasn't able to tell what the Finn had been saying.  At first she wondered if this was due to her accent, and a defeated look played out across her face while she hid behind her sketchbook.  Wonderful.  Just when she'd found someone who appreciated her art her accent was getting in the way of making this something truly enjoyable and even a potential friendship.  Then she realized something else.. she'd been speaking Finnish, hadn't she?  A rose tint filled her cheeks as she continued hiding behind her sketchbook.  Sheesh.  No wonder the other girl couldn't understand her!  Then something else occurred to her - this girl had a definite accent herself.  Matylda could detect it in the way that she pronounced some words.  Her heart suddenly soared - if anyone was not going to worry about Matylda having an accent, it was someone else who spoke with one!

The Finn lowered her sketchbook and beamed at Raion,  cheerful as could be.  She gestured to herself and replied in fluent Japanese, "I'm Matylda, nice to meet you!" 

After a bow in greeting she lowered her sketchbook and continued smiling happily.  Maybe this was going to turn out okay!  The girl commented, "You must be pretty strong to do those exercises in a tree like that.  So I figured it would make sense for you to be some kind of fantasy heroine or something.  I'm really happy that you like it.. people don't always understand my art.."

She was bouncing in place out of excitement as she asked, ".. do you wanna see more of my art?"