Grounded. A week. Miss Fio may not have realized what she got herself in to when she decided to ground Lirssa. There's a reason no one had done it before. It was like having a wind up toy constantly going. The bouncing, the walking, the sheer amount of movement. It needed to be out, set free, and if not it found a way.
Lirssa was going to go bibbledy. She just knew it. Grounded. At least she knew what that meant from the few years she had spent in public school. There had been a few children there that had been grounded for one reason or another. She, however, had never been grounded before. No one had dared.
Until now.
Grounded. She had not even really heard Miss Fio say it the first time. She heard it the second time, though. It had taken every ounce of her to stay in that inn and not just take off into the night. There was still the debt to pay. Besides, there were worse things that could have happened. Fitzhugh would not have batted an eye at doing half of them.
At least she could still have her lunches for running deliveries and her studies with Mister Jolly. She also was able to help out at the inn with two of her favorite tenders. Outside of that, though, she was inside one place or another with homework, books, furniture, and walls. Lots of walls.
There was to be no washing the dishes or cleaning up after everyone else. That made breakfast a quick event. Lirssa's fingers moved back and forth over the table, itching to be helpful. It's the first time she had been punished by being denied helping others. The world was upside down and she was still on her feet!
There was no feeding the animals, though she followed Miss Fio in the task, petting on Dante and keeping Siva from taking a chomp out of anything that wasn't her food. It was not that Siva particularly liked Lirssa, she had decided. It was the cat somehow tolerated her, and it mostly came after they shared a prowl across the wall of the deck early in Lirssa's recovery.
Recovery. She was not quite there yet. Feeling bound and restricted was not helping her morale on that count either. She had fallen in a back flip which she had not done since she was very little. The wounds to her hands had been the merest abrasions. Miss Eless's ointment had resolved the rest of it. But the wound to her pride was something else entirely. Truth was she wasn't fit to be out on the street still, and that chaffed more than the abrasions to her hands. Hands that were unable to help. Feet unable to run the streets. It must be what wearing a straight jacket was like. At least they weren't just kept to the residence.
There was the Eye. Miss Fio was painting, and that meant visits to the building with the very large eye painted on it. Miss Fio encouraged Lirssa, ever patiently, to join in the activity, but that was something Lirssa was quite certain she had absolutely no talent. She could twist her body into a knot if needed, but even stick figures came out horrible at her hands.
Instead, Lirssa stretched and kicked into handstands against the caramel apple painted walls to do as many push-ups as she could. She was opposite the wall with the painting of the children. They loomed there, still loved in their absence, still belonging. Handstand push-ups were given up. She attributed it to lack of exercise, and turned from the painted wall to hop around the room, working her ankles and legs, and pretending she could jump to catch the mobiles of bright glass and metals that hung from the raftered ceiling.
Oh that ceiling was tempting. What a few fine ropes it could hold that she could climb. It was out of reach though. No matter how much she hopped, she was not magic " not in that sense " and she would not be able to reach it. It made her miss the dueling arenas. That realization required a great deal more jumping in a circle until she realized all this activity could not be helping Miss Fio with her painting.
It was hard to be still, but she knew Miss Fio needed to concentrate. Lirssa looked around for something, anything, that she could do that would not disturb but was not sitting still. Eventually, she struck upon an idea. Tip toeing about, she found several sheets of paper and lay them out in a line on the floor behind one of the pillars. She needed something to keep them all together and finally found tape. She had seen it used before at some of the shops, and so she taped the pieces together, peaking out from behind the pillar to keep an eye on Miss Fio, who was likely keeping an eye on her, too.
Last came the paints and just how to place them. That was going to take some thought " and more tape. Opting for oil sticks instead and those that looked old and near useless, she took off her shoes and taped them to her toes. Then she taped more to her fingers. With a twist and turn of hands to paper, her feet as well, she went through a tumbling routine, keeping to the paper, hiding behind the pillar, and making"well, no one would really call it art.
Lirssa was going to go bibbledy. She just knew it. Grounded. At least she knew what that meant from the few years she had spent in public school. There had been a few children there that had been grounded for one reason or another. She, however, had never been grounded before. No one had dared.
Until now.
Grounded. She had not even really heard Miss Fio say it the first time. She heard it the second time, though. It had taken every ounce of her to stay in that inn and not just take off into the night. There was still the debt to pay. Besides, there were worse things that could have happened. Fitzhugh would not have batted an eye at doing half of them.
At least she could still have her lunches for running deliveries and her studies with Mister Jolly. She also was able to help out at the inn with two of her favorite tenders. Outside of that, though, she was inside one place or another with homework, books, furniture, and walls. Lots of walls.
There was to be no washing the dishes or cleaning up after everyone else. That made breakfast a quick event. Lirssa's fingers moved back and forth over the table, itching to be helpful. It's the first time she had been punished by being denied helping others. The world was upside down and she was still on her feet!
There was no feeding the animals, though she followed Miss Fio in the task, petting on Dante and keeping Siva from taking a chomp out of anything that wasn't her food. It was not that Siva particularly liked Lirssa, she had decided. It was the cat somehow tolerated her, and it mostly came after they shared a prowl across the wall of the deck early in Lirssa's recovery.
Recovery. She was not quite there yet. Feeling bound and restricted was not helping her morale on that count either. She had fallen in a back flip which she had not done since she was very little. The wounds to her hands had been the merest abrasions. Miss Eless's ointment had resolved the rest of it. But the wound to her pride was something else entirely. Truth was she wasn't fit to be out on the street still, and that chaffed more than the abrasions to her hands. Hands that were unable to help. Feet unable to run the streets. It must be what wearing a straight jacket was like. At least they weren't just kept to the residence.
There was the Eye. Miss Fio was painting, and that meant visits to the building with the very large eye painted on it. Miss Fio encouraged Lirssa, ever patiently, to join in the activity, but that was something Lirssa was quite certain she had absolutely no talent. She could twist her body into a knot if needed, but even stick figures came out horrible at her hands.
Instead, Lirssa stretched and kicked into handstands against the caramel apple painted walls to do as many push-ups as she could. She was opposite the wall with the painting of the children. They loomed there, still loved in their absence, still belonging. Handstand push-ups were given up. She attributed it to lack of exercise, and turned from the painted wall to hop around the room, working her ankles and legs, and pretending she could jump to catch the mobiles of bright glass and metals that hung from the raftered ceiling.
Oh that ceiling was tempting. What a few fine ropes it could hold that she could climb. It was out of reach though. No matter how much she hopped, she was not magic " not in that sense " and she would not be able to reach it. It made her miss the dueling arenas. That realization required a great deal more jumping in a circle until she realized all this activity could not be helping Miss Fio with her painting.
It was hard to be still, but she knew Miss Fio needed to concentrate. Lirssa looked around for something, anything, that she could do that would not disturb but was not sitting still. Eventually, she struck upon an idea. Tip toeing about, she found several sheets of paper and lay them out in a line on the floor behind one of the pillars. She needed something to keep them all together and finally found tape. She had seen it used before at some of the shops, and so she taped the pieces together, peaking out from behind the pillar to keep an eye on Miss Fio, who was likely keeping an eye on her, too.
Last came the paints and just how to place them. That was going to take some thought " and more tape. Opting for oil sticks instead and those that looked old and near useless, she took off her shoes and taped them to her toes. Then she taped more to her fingers. With a twist and turn of hands to paper, her feet as well, she went through a tumbling routine, keeping to the paper, hiding behind the pillar, and making"well, no one would really call it art.