Participants:
| Date: | August 21, 2011 |
|---|---|
| IC Date: | Month 7, Day 6, Turn 3. |
| Location: | EW: Garden |
| Synopsis: | Jaya runs into Kaskan for the first time since he left the infirmary and the two catch up. |
| Rating: | PG |
| Logger: | Kaskan |
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
Jaya
(Need to add)
Kaskan
Thick wisps of ebony fall in half-hazard lengths to shadow rugged features, over-long layers typically in disarray as they feather pale blue eyes, flare about his ears and tickle the nape of his neck. Full lips precede a square-ish jaw, which often bears a dusky shadow of its own. Scars from too many fights mar what would be a handsome visage, most notably one that splices across his left brow stopping just short of his eye. A slight hitch ends his left ear in an oddly curved shape, though it's usually hidden beneath his hair. Darkly intense, his bearing is defensive and watchful, wiry muscles having filled out to create a solid, sturdy frame. Not overly tall, he is a grounded, immovable rock - just as thickly guarded on the inside as he is thickly muscled on the outside - a deceptive impression that suits him well for the panther quick grace that's displayed when he's on the move. – 20 turns
LOG:
Evening shadows have begun to creep across the weyr and activity has lessoned to a more leisurely air about the bowl. Work is done for the day. Weyrfolk are winding down for the night. One narrow area in particular is more shaded than most, southern fauna encouraged to grow in abundance to create a garden of sorts.
Within the cover of those tropical fronds, Kaskan has finally returned to the spot where he used to faithfully practice with his spear. Sitting beneath a tree he leans back against the trunk, eyes closed and breathing shallow. One leg is pulled up, bent at the knee, while the other is stretched out flat. One arm rests on his thigh while the other is wrapped in a sling. Even though his pose is still, there's a sense of restraint about him. Complete peace remains elusive.
With the evening growing, it would mean that the bar was about to get busy. This evening, however, Jaya’s taking her dinner early. Therefore, the barkeep was in the mood for a stroll and the Weyr gardens was the best place to do it in peace. Lorayit wasn’t about all the time – as is proven this night – so the woman takes to leisurely walking down rows upon rows of herbs and flowers while wolfing down her hand-held dinner. That’s how she wanders upon Kaskan, and the sight of him is unexpected enough to stop her in her tracks. “Kaskan?” she breaks the silence, holding her meatrolls in one hand, her hair wild and framing her face as she looks him over. Taking a step forward, “They let you out?” she asks, clearly haven’t heard anything about his move from the infirmary. “I hadn’t heard….”
Kaskan hears the fall of her steps before he sees her. Dark lashes rise just a sliver, the rest of his relaxed pose unchanging. A stray thought wishes for his staff, too-long ignored for the sake of healing. He’s relatively safe at the weyr but old habits die hard.
“Jaya.” Her name is spoken on a crack of smile, higher on one side than the other. A stray breeze drifts a few wayward bangs across his view, making him blink and open his eyes a bit more. “Shhhhh…. I escaped. I’m hiding.”
She stops before him, frowning, watching the man as he lays there before taking a look around as if to confirm that they were the only ones in the garden. "Good to know you didn't get your mind all rattled next to your body," Jaya states with some dryness, nodding with her chin towards what little injuries she sees left. "I leave the south for one seven…." but then she sighs away the frustration and crouches down to see him better. "You know I came by, right? The infirmary when you were there, but you and Jhorn were sleep. Looked pretty bad. So now you're spending your time hiding from healers?" A brow lifts at that.
“That was questionable for a while,” Kaskan replies to her first observation, his tone wry for the extended time they had kept him sedated. He can’t help appreciating the work the healers did to help him recover but the downtime and restlessness continue to make him irritable.
Her admission of having visited softens his expression, sarcasm waning in the wake of friendship. “I didn’t know,” he admits, eyes opening more to regard her with drooping blue gaze. Drawing up a real smile, he says, “Thanks, Jaya.”
Seeing that she still looks annoyed he lifts his good hand to pinch her upper arm, scarred chin tilting with the return of a grin. “You’re getting lax, barkeep. Didn’t think I could pull one over on you that easy." He pauses a second, letting that sink in, then explains. "They released me to Rio’s care.” A little snort escapes at that. “Not that she didn’t make me swear on my life ten times over that I’d behave and follow healer’s orders. Which, I might add, I can’t believe she doubted for a second.”
"Didn't need you to go open all your wounds again and in trying to act brave and all," Jaya remarks on his thanks, arms folding as she moves to see him closely. Scuffing her feet, "Care to give me the details of what went down?" for surely, she had heard some of what went down through Max. Brows lift at hearing that he was staying at Rio's weyr now, her interest is piqued. "Haven't seen Rio's place yet," she comments, nodding a few times. "Think I should drop by for a visit sometime. She has one of the ground weyrs, right?" and then, a little smirk appearing in the pause, "So I suppose…this means you and Rio…?" for to her, why else would the goldrider take the wily guard into her sanctum?
Kaskan suddenly feels like a bug under a microscope. Though uneasy, he remains still, knowing Jaya’s keen eye will spot most of his injuries anyway. Her question does give him pause, however. The barkeep is one of the few people he’d trust with the whole truth, while everyone else is getting the cover story Max so aptly devised. “What has Max told you?” he asks, guessing she would have spoken to the Beast Manager by now.
As for mention of Rio, Kaskan automatically smiles without realizing it and nods at the weyr’s location. “You should,” he says with a touch of irony, “You can help buffer her doorstop from looking at me like I’m an appetizer.” Her tapered off assumption raises his good shoulder in a light shrug, lips thinning and pulling wanly to the side. “We’re making progress.”
Kaskan suddenly feels like a bug under a microscope. Though uneasy, he remains still, knowing Jaya’s keen eye will spot most of his injuries anyway. Her question does give him pause, however. The barkeep is one of the few people he’d trust with the whole truth, while everyone else is getting the cover story Max so aptly devised. “What has Max told you?” he asks, guessing she would have spoken to the Beast Manager by now.
As for mention of Rio, Kaskan automatically smiles without realizing it and nods at the weyr’s location. “You should,” he says with a touch of irony, “You can help buffer her doorstop from looking at me like I’m an appetizer.” Her tapered off assumption raises his good shoulder in a light shrug, lips thinning and pulling wanly to the side. “We’re making progress.”
Jaya's not exactly lessening her study of the man, regardless of how uncomfortable he's looking. The guard should feel lucky she's not scolding him right now. To his question on what max told her, "Someone died," she lists, setting herself down to sit beside him. "Nenienne got hurt. Jhorn got thrown over a fuckin' waterfall." Shaking her head, "Max gave me fragments, but it told me enough. Who knows the real story beyond this?" Beat. On talk of Rio, she leans back more comfortably and looks to the stars that could be seen in the sky. "I really need to see that girl of yours," she notes on the goldrider, a corner of her mouth lifting. "I have….much, to tell her." Beat. As to her dragon, I doubt she would eat you," she notes wryly, sending a look his way. "Eovarijath would know by now that turning you into a snack would highly upset her rider, so I imagine she's tolerating you for her sake. You would not have been able to even get into her weyr otherwise. I don't think you have anyrhing to worry about on that front." But still, it's good for her to hear that the two were making progress, and it shows in the satisfied look on her face. "That's good, shuga. You two really need each other. What about Jhorn, though? Is he out too? Tell me about him," and she leans back, nudging his shoulder with her own, her gaze back to the sky.
Kaskan shifts over just a bit to give Jaya room to lean on the tree trunk too, settling into a companionable mood after she nudges his shoulder. He missed her, he realizes, what he thought was her long absence nagging at him. Having her back again and not chewing his head off adds to the relief slowly seeping into his bones. “Hmm.” A non-commital reply greets the tidbits of truth she lists. At least she didn’t quote rumors. He takes that as a good sign that their cover story is doing its job. Happy to address his gaze to the skies above he draws breath to tell her the whole story, not sure he wants to see her expression during some parts of it.
“The thugs, Stud and Crud, are both dead. Nenienne got hurt because they found out she had the carving I told you about and they tried to get it from her.” A slight hitch in his tone marks things left unsaid, but he continues, “Max stopped them though and killed Stud in the process. Crud got away and when we caught up with him he dropped Jhorn over the waterfall before we could stop him. But with some help I fished the kid out and Max ended up fighting Crud and killing him too.” There. Events in a nutshell. Kaskan’s nothing if not concise, his clipped version giving her the gist while leaving out much. Only when he’s done does he turn to glance at her, slate blue gaze watching her features closely. “That’s what –really- happened. What we’re telling everyone is that Jhorn snuck out to Landing to meet a girl, I went after him but a wild feline spooked our runners. I fell down a ravine and Jhorn’s ran away with him still on it so we went after him.”
As for her assurances concerning the young queen he can only snort, offering a doubtful, “Easy for you to say. She -likes- you,” before moving on to her inquiry of his Blooded charge. “Jhorn had a concussion from the fall and minor cuts and bruises but otherwise he was fine physically. The healers cleared him pretty quick but he hung around all the time anyway till I made him go back to his classes.” He pauses, considering his next words. “Scared the shit out of him though. He won’t admit it but I can tell.”
When Kaskan starts to talk, Jaya settles into that companionable silence familiar to the both of them. She keeps her gaze on the sky, arms folded, her eyes heavy-lidded. A brow lifting at something said, "Max killed them both himself?" she asks, apparently not having heard the whole story there before she snorts and shakes her head. "No wonder he looked like he had fought down ten men in a ring and looked shit for it. "But your rumor," she adds when he finishes his concise telling, "it's just as bad. Poor kid. It's good that he's healing, but, I know what things like this can do to a person." The look on her face suggests she's had some traumatic happenings in her past, and so she falls silent for a moment before adding, "They never got that piece you had Neni hiding for you, right? What are you going to do with it now?"
Kaskan's remark involving Eovarijath gets a look and a wry "Well of course she does. If I was fucking her rider, I might be getting the same resentment, too." Beat. "Not saying that you are," she notes with a tip of her head, "but, you just being there around her is like fucking her. I hear dragons can get pretty possessive. Give her some time. I imagine, like a canine, she'll come around if she's forced to see your ugly butt every morning." Smirk.
Kaskan grins and glances sidelong at the sound of surprise in Jaya’s voice. “Well, there were others around but I wasn’t there either time so can’t give you specifics. I know he was the main fighter though.” His voice trails off softly with regret, remembering the bad scar that crossed Max’s face last he’d seen the man – courtesy of his fight with Stud.
Tuning back in at the sound of Jaya’s voice he lifts his good shoulder in a quick shrug concerning his young charge, saying, “Was the best way to include as much truth as possible but still hide most of the facts. Jhorn did sneak off with two of his friends to Landing that night so there’s no denying that part. Hopefully everyone who saw him will believe the rest.”
The reminiscent tone in her voice is unmistakable, earning another glance that confirms it by her expression. Kaskan lets the silence grow, knowing full well the power of dark memories. Jaya doesn’t dwell on them long, however, jarring Kaskan’s thoughts back to his own problematic issues. “No, they didn’t. Nenienne had left the carving here at the weyr that day.” A cold shiver runs down his spine for how many more injuries and injured there might’ve been had the relentless thugs forced Nenienne to Eastern to retrieve it. “Max is helping me with that part. The sooner it’s gone the better.”
Just when the mood was at its bleakest Jaya turns on those barkeep skills and resets the conversation with humor. Kaskan snorts loudly at her blunt assessment of his situation with Rio, turning fully to give her an incredulous glare. “Thanks for the support! You know damn well my butt is –not- ugly!” Then, falling back on his old habit of flirting with her he asks with dark brows arcing upward behind the sway of over-long bangs, “Would you like a viewing as a refresher?”
At that look of regret, there's a warm smirk and a gentle nudge before stating, "Max will be fine once he heals up. He's got me," as if Jaya has healing powers. Uh-huh. "As for that piece, you could have came to me, you know," she notes with a pointed look going his way. "Such things are my specialty, remember? But, if Max can do it, that's golden. It's good they didn't get it - especially since that was what all the fuss was about. You oughta work on making better stealing friends, eh?" In the darkness, Jaya always manages to find the humor sometimes. It's of course what she was aiming at, so she smiles when she sees that Kaskan's face clears up and his glare earns snorting laughter. "Butt. Did I mention 'butt'? I meant your face," she teases, briefly sticking out a bratty tongue before laughing. To his last, she laughs aloud and waves both hands as she states, "I've seen enough of it, shuga. I wouldn't be able to stop you from dropping your trousers, but don't go crying to Rio when that ass of yours get kicked! 'Sides," and she flicks some of her hair off her shoulder, "I think Max might have something to say about that." Why he would as far as Kaskan knows, is anyone's guess.
Kaskan quirks a brow at her first mention assisting Max somehow herself. Healing wasn’t among her many skills, as far as he knew. The curious comment is skimmed over as she continues on to other topics, a little smirk of chagrin blossoming as she reminds him of bringing the carving to her. “I wasn’t of a mind to be thinking things through too thoroughly at that time,” he admits, though there’s no regret in his tone. The smirk extends briefly at her suggestion of how to choose friends. He doesn’t plan on needing any stealing type friends any more. His expression sobers suddenly, thoughts having turned to Max with mention of the carving. Pale blue eyes grow shadowed with seriousness as they look to hers. “Max saved my life, and Jhorn’s. I’d trust him with anything now.” Pause. His gaze slips to the side briefly, hovering over her scars without seeing them. “I haven’t trusted anyone completely in a very long time.” His lips tighten with the hint of a wry smile. It feels good to trust, even if he’s still wary of it.
Her humorous rejoinder has his somber demeanor dropping like a flamed thread, replaced by a wide smile of pure mischief at her correction and denial. One hand darts to catch her tongue and he laughs, rolling his eyes in exaggerated doubt at her claim of besting him. A jerk of his chin sets wayward raven layers askew, some falling over one bright blue eye. Dark, rugged features are only slightly shadowed with the remains of bruising, the cuts above his eye and along his jaw that had been stitched have faded to faint red lines beneath his tan.
Then her last comment catches him by surprise, reminding him of her earlier reference to Max. Dark brows shadow with a confused expression, none of the things mentioned making sense when connected to Max. Getting his ass kicked? Well, the man did just save him so probably wouldn’t want to see it happen again. Rio? Kaskan hadn’t seen Max exhibit any particular concern over the goldrider’s emotional state. Dropping his trousers? Definitely not something Max would care to see. Slate-hued regard narrows on the barkeep, noting nuances. Jaya? No….. no?
“Something to say about what?” he asks carefully.
"I tease," Jaya says on Kaskan not going to her in time, the smirk brief. "I wasn't here when it all went down, actually. I had to go north to do something for Max." Her expression growing a bit tart, she adds, "Vaputero was in town here." As if that would explain everything. There's a smile for his trust in the beast manager though, and the barkeep quirks up a brow and drops, "So I'm still on the 'good enough to fuck, but not good enough to trust' list, is that it?" with wryness laced in her crass tone. Trust the Bitran to hold nothing back from anyone. Then he tries to catch her tongue and she rears back, laughing and trying to swat away his hand in jest. His wariness in her last is palpable, though - she can sense his confusion, the barkeep frowning briefly before rolling her eyes expressively and drawls, "Something about you showing me your ass? As in, Max and I….?" and a hand lifts and gestures between them, a brow lifting at him significantly before adding, "What did you think I meant? And here I thought I was the one with the dirty mind most times." Yep, put the sole blame on the Bollian guard.
Kaskan huffs and shakes his head, giving Jaya an exasperated look. “Why do women always do that?” he asks with a lift of dark brows. “I didn’t mean it that way.” And just to emphasize his point he adds, “I only told three people about my history with the carving and those thugs, Jaya, and one of them was you.” Watching her a moment to make sure she believes him he can’t resist tacking on with the hint of a cocky smirk, “But yes, you did get half of that right.”
His expression at her explanation blanks, then falters, stark surprise as easy to read as an open hide. “You and Max??” he blurts, waving one hand. No longer leaning back on the tree trunk he props his arm on raised knee, twisting to face her fully. “For Faranth’s sake Jaya what happened to the bodyguard?”
"Because you men always fall into it with your words," Jaya is quick and flippant in her response, tossing a wink over at the guard. "And I tease. I hear I'm wont to do that a lot when get the inkling to. Of course, it took me much longer to trust you…." She meets his look though with a firm one of her own, and then his rejoinder gets a mere snort in return. Of course, she seems to expect the look of shock on Kaskan's face upon hearing about her and Max, and so when he blurts it out, she makes as if to raise an invisible glass in toast. "Faranth had fuck to do with it," she notes, sending him a little short-lived smirk. "It's a long story. Bore you to tears. The short version was that there was always long history between Max and I - even before you came into my life," and she nudges him. "Shijan, perceptive as he is, picked up on that. Needless to say," and she sighs, "there's unfinished business - on both fronts." She gives him a look on that before adding, "And that's always the story of my life. Of businesses finished or not. Did you get to meet my former boss while he was here?" The question perhaps random, the woman arching a brow at him.
Kaskan keeps a wary, slanted eye on Jaya as he slowly turns his back to the tree trunk again. Her comments on Max and relationships are taken in silence, only the slight glower of his expression indicating his attention. Thoughts thus distracted, her last question takes an extra second to process and the old scar above his eye crinkles as he frowns. “Huh? Your old boss?” His mind casts back to before his stay in the infirmary but he was too wrapped up in the arrival of the thugs then. “Don’t think so. What was his name?”
"Vaputero," Jaya supplies the name easily on her former boss, a brow lifting. "He was here, so Max had his daughter and I shipped to Jonavan up in the north. Heard things soured pretty bad while he was here. Wished I was there to have seen it. Bastard made threats to Olira."
“Vaputero?” Kaskan echoes, testing the name on his tongue. “Nope, can’t say as I’ve met him.” A frown shapes the line of his brow, an annoying itch making him think he should recognize it. Shaking it off he notes the rest of her explanation and finds it equally puzzling. “Were you two in danger from him?” he asks, not liking the sound of this at all. “Damn healers had me so drugged I didn’t know what was going on, then wouldn’t tell me anything they deemed too ‘exciting’ anyway.” He snorts in annoyance, the healer’s good intentions only having increased his restless temper quicker until they were just as eager to be rid of him as he was to be gotten rid of – which ended up working in his favor.
Jaya nods to the first as she takes a look around them, stating, "Not surprising, considering the tight wraps Max had on him and his men. From what I gathered, only Vaput and his second were allowed in the Weyr at the time." Kaskan's question gets a quick shake of head at first before she reverses the motion and answers, "She wasn't. I was. At least, Max saw it as so. Getting tired of having the man chase me about Pern like a runner 'round a path, though. I would have dared him." She snorts in some amusement when he speaks on the healers keeping information back, the woman shaking her head again before saying, "Likely the smart thing. You'd fare no better with the man."
Kaskan hrrmphs at having missed out on all that even though his usual philosophy was to lie as low as possible, especially when it came to crime bosses. “Since you’re back now I assume you’re out of danger then?” he asks, broad shoulders relaxing. A tangent thought reflects that whatever the trouble entailed it distracted her enough that he escaped unscathed. He’d expected a full blown butt chewing. Keep her talking… keep her talking…
"I'm never out of danger for as long as certain bastards live," Jaya answers that quick, sending Kaskan a brief look. "But at least, for now, he knows I'm not alone. It won't be as easy for him to nab me now, but I think he's far more interested in getting his son back than worrying about some errant former employee." Beat. "In any case," she tacks on with a heavy sigh, it working to heave herself up to her feet to straight out with a languid stretch. "I suppose I better be getting on, then. Don't think Suli and Hayli much like me these days with he disappearing on them more often than not." Stepping away and looking back, "Good to see you outside the infirm, though," she notes, nodding firmly. "It's good you have a friend like Max to look after ya, and Jhorn."
“Good to be seen out of the infirmary,” Kaskan quips back, tilting an arced brow upward as she rises. Thoughts are astir with all the information she supplied but he keeps his expression light, planning on giving them a thorough examination once she’s gone and he’s alone with his thoughts again. Things certainly weren’t quiet while he’d been incarcerated in the infirmary.
Friend. The word causes a hitch at the corner of one blue eye, obscured beneath the fall of over-long bangs. Before coming south he’d thought the word had no place in his vocabulary. Now…. now there was no denying the pleasure that flickered within him at its possible application. More to consider. The flicker remains as he watches her, half-turned in the process of leaving and he hears his own voice grow serious. “Thanks for checking up on me, Jaya. And… I’m glad you’re ok too.”
