( open )

[cajolery]

Who: clair (cajolery) & you!
What: catch-all for wyver stuff & the second part of the event
When: now!
Where: various places in wyver
Warning(s): none (yet?)


A. JOURNEY TO WYVER: DONDE ESTA EL BANO

[ Clair isn't too thrilled with this prospect of picking up everything and dashing off to Wyver, though she can see the necessity. She's even less thrilled about leaving her sick friend in someone else's care for the gryphon flight over, but—that is also a necessity, and so she sets off on this journey with pragmatic determination.

That changes when she's given the option between a horse and carriage—a horse, of course! It's no pegasus, naturally, and not as finely bred as the warhorses she's accustomed to, but... it's been so long since she's been in the saddle that she's pretty easy to please, in the end.

She's pretty confident in her riding skills, but that doesn't always hold for the other refugees. Since she's such an incredibly generous soul, she'll approach anyone who doesn't look like they really know what they're doing with this whole horseback riding thing and jab them unceremoniously in the spine. ]

With that posture, you shall feel quite sore when this is over, I assure you—come now, straighten your back!

B. OLD CITY: THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB

[ How the heck did your character get roped into this? Well, if they're not exactly the child-caring type, then you can be certain that this girl is somehow at fault for volunteering the both of them to take care of children at the orphanage. Between the illness and the flood of people from Olympia, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that the orphanages are severely understaffed and need help—good thing they're here to save the day!!

Unfortunately, Clair has completely forgotten what a disaster her last experience in babysitting was. In fact, it's having the opposite effect of giving her unwarranted confidence in her (nonexistent) child-handling skills. She looks assured, but don't trust it. ]

This should be quite simple, no? [ She picks up one of the babies they've been tasked to look after, which immediately starts to cry. ] Ah...

C. UNDERGROWTH: THIS CANNOT POSSIBLY GO WRONG

[ Wait, how the heck did your character get roped into this one?? Well, no matter! A medicine woman in the city has lost her assistant—he journeyed into the Undergrowth in order to retrieve some special spring water, but he was supposed to return hours ago. Clair, being the magnanimous person she is, volunteered to help find him...

And so here they are, wandering the Undergrowth in search of the missing assistant. At least they can start by heading towards the rejuvenating spring that was the man's destination, and go from there. He should be somewhere nearby, right? ]

I do believe she said that the spring was east from here, did she not? [ Either way, they should be close. ]

D. WEST END: [CANTINA BAND PLAYS IN THE DISTANCE]

[ Even though Clair's more used to... houses of ill-repute than she was before, thanks to her time at Shades Darker, she has very little use for them, and so she steers clear. Instead, she goes for the ones that are a little more high-brow, with dancing and music and boisterous conversation spilling out of their doors—it's the kind of place that almost reminds her a little bit of home, of the inns and taverns the army frequented in its march to Rigel.

She finds herself drawn in by the lively atmosphere of one of those establishments—but, after buying a drink, she's faced with a dilemma: it's crowded in here, and all of the tables are taken.

Never one to let a setback deter her, she approaches someone with an empty chair at their table and smiles brightly. ]

This seat is not otherwise occupied, yes? Do allow me to join you. [ She's... pushy... ]

E. WILDCARD

[ Hit me with anything!! This is open to sick people too who need someone to take care of them... or just leave a blank comment and let me throw you a starter. Feel free to hit me up at optimismnice if you want to plot something out. :) ]

Comments

[cajolery]

[ She'd already started sitting down before he even agreed... welp. Now she flashes him a friendly smile from across the table—they haven't seen each other in a while, but she has fond memories of their treasure hunt on the beach. She's glad to see him again. ]

Indeed it is. Greetings, Sir Siegfried.

[ Now that she's a bit closer to him, she can more easily see that he looks... really bad. Her smile fades, replaced with an expression of genuine concern. ]

Are you well? For you most certainly do not look it.

[ The person who will always tell you that that does make you look fat, right here. ]

[uwe]

[ when he'd first noticed the signs of his illness, he'd attempted to conceal them from others. upon realizing how pointless that was, he'd become more upfront about it.

and now... ]

A bit tired perhaps, but otherwise no worse for wear. After all that's happened, who isn't a little tired?

[ now he genuinely thinks he isn't sick, even if the bags under his eyes are even worse than usual. ]

Though I'm glad to see you still look quite well.

[cajolery]

[ Tired, he says... her expression is pretty skeptical, if only because he looks much worse than tired—but he'd struck her as a fairly responsible and trustworthy guy, and so she gives him more credit than he deserves in this case. Little does she know...

Finally, she leans back in her seat and takes a sip of her drink. ]

It is a lucky thing, I suppose, with so many affected by this illness. My roommate was stricken by it, as well as quite a number of my friends. It is worrying...

[ She trails off, then suddenly shakes her head, as if to dislodge that train of thought. ]

Oh, but that is far too dreary a topic for such a lively establishment, is it not? Were you also drawn in by the ambience here?

[uwe]

Thankfully, my own comrades remain... fine.

[ actually his face twists a bit at that, as if he notices something in his line of thinking is off. why is he thankful that the other knights aren't sick, if they're the ones that are hunting him down (in his mind)?

oh well, almost as soon as he notices the logic error his attention gets turned elsewhere. ]

Yes, I enjoy crowds of people like this. It's always a useful way to get a feel for what's happening... this place is quite different from where we were.

[ honestly he's more used to the city, but a place like this isn't so bad either. ]

[cajolery]

[ It's hard not to notice the way his expression changes so abruptly, though she can't put her finger on the reason for it. It just deepens her suspicion that maybe he isn't quite as fine as he claims to be, and she resolves to keep a more hawkish eye on him.

She makes a soft hm sound, her fingers tapping against the rim of her mug. ]

Indeed, our army would often stop at establishments such as these during the war, and they spoke much of the locals and their attitudes. [ Towards the war, towards their army, towards the Rigelian king...

Her voice lowers a little wistfully as she continues: ] This one reminds me a trifle bit of my homeland—at least before the coup.

[uwe]

Though it sometimes leads to misconduct, soldiers need place likes this. To unwind, among other things.

[ he'll just let that last bit hang in the air... even if he wasn't a participant, he's still quite aware of what even the most honorable of knights could get mixed up in coming to a place like this. ]

...a coup? [ he frowns slightly at that, before shaking his head. ] That must have put you in a difficult position.

[ granted, he's essentially been the ringleader of a coup before, so it's not like he can judge. ]

[cajolery]

[ Among other things... she lets that one slide, since she doesn't want to think about the kind of licentious behavior she knows her fellow knights were up to, especially under King Lima. Men are gross... and (unfortunately) most of the knights in Valentia were men.

When he finishes, though, she bristles, her hands tightening around the barrel of her mug as... that knave pops into her head. ]

Hardly! That traitorous cur was as low as they come! [ Just thinking about Desaix pisses her off... she had no real love for Lima herself, of course, but betraying one's sovereign is just about the worst thing one can do, to her lawful good heart. Besides, Desaix didn't even put up a good boss battle.

She pauses, some of her ire leaving her. Then again: ] I do admit, it was difficult to be considered "rebels" against an usurper. The majority of the other knights embraced him, the recreants... but it had to be done.

[ She has no regrets about standing up to a villain, even if it had ended up costing her life. It was the Right Thing To Do. ]

[uwe]

I've been in the shoes myself. People likely called me usurper as well.. a traitor knight who slew his own king.

[ he looks a bit wistful at that, turning to his own drink. it's actually empty, and has been for a while, but he still... drinks it? either because he thinks its still full, or just as pretense. who even knows at this point. ]

But justice tends to prevail in times such as that. And I'm sure it will now too. I have faith I'll be exonerated before long.

[ from what??? he doesn't actually stand accused of anything at the moment, and it's not like he's actually on the run. actually, his face looks quite flushed at the moment, and if clair were to touch his skin it'd be easy enough to tell it's running quite hot. ]

[cajolery]

My word!

[ She looks pretty taken aback—that's quite a story, after all. What's up with all these games and regicide? To be accused of such a thing, though... he was probably in a much worse position than she was. Er, he is...? Something about this just doesn't seem right. ]

You were falsely accused, then? My... [ She trails off, eyes narrowing at his red face, and then frowns. ] Come now, you certainly look very much worse for the wear. You appear positively feverish!

[ Without waiting for his reaction, she straightens and leans across the table, extending her arm so that she can press the palm of her hand against his forehead—which is hot as balls. Um, how dare he tell her that he's fine?! Now she's just mad. But also concerned. But still pretty mad. ]

Goodness! You are burning!

[uwe]

Falsely accused... but not entirely without fault. In the end, the king still died due to my own failures.

[ he can still emo about it plenty, even if he wasn't the one who actually stabbed the man in the back.

he notices what clair is doing too late, and tries to pull back. but at that point she's already reached him, though he shies away from her touch quickly. ]

It's... just the weather. [ it is hotter in the jungle, after all? ] I've always been weak to changes in climate. [ absolutely not true. ]

[cajolery]

[ He'll have to emo about it another day (note to Clair: follow up on his tragic king-guilt backstory later), because she's thoroughly focused on his current questionable state.

When he pulls away from her touch, she lowers her hand, but still doesn't actually lower herself back into her seat—instead, she settles her hands against the table and leans forward, glowering. What is he doing out and about this like? Shouldn't he be resting? Most importantly, why is he being so stubborn?? Men.

(No, she doesn't realize what a hypocrite she is.) ]

Do you truly expect me to believe such hogwash? [ She huffs—it's kind of insulting that he expects her to buy his crazy lie?? ] Come now, don't be foolish! You are quite obviously unwell.

[uwe]

[ normally her concern would be touching, but in his current state of mind it's just a bother. he frowns slightly, though he remains far too polite to let his true feelings show too clearly. all the same, it should be obvious that he's... well, at a loss, actually. ]

Very well. I admit, I have been a bit... ill as of late.

[ that's probably the closest he's come to admitting he's actually sick. ]

But if I stop moving, my pursuers will find me. I can't afford to simply sit around and rest. [ okay he's sort of doing that now, but at least here he's blending in. sort of. ]

[cajolery]

[ If there's anything she can't stand—well, okay, there's a lot of things she can't stand, but one of them is people who refuse to see reason when it comes to taking care of themselves. Her brother is one such offender—there are a lot of them in the knights, actually, probably up to and including herself.

Anyway, she's just about ready to drag him home and force him into bed herself, regardless of whatever protests he puts up, but—

That actually catches her off guard. ]

I beg your pardon? You are being pursed?