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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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 Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2020 5:49 pm
For two weeks of Uquin's stay in Belrea, he and Maritza lived in a sort of honeymoon period where everything was sunny and comfortable, and they got along perfectly. But... all good things had to come to an end... and while they didn't suddenly begin to hate one another, or get annoyed, there was a point where real life had to move on once again.
For hours, the pair would explore the city together, with Maritza showing him all the knobs and ends of the industrially advanced settlement... or they'd tuck themselves in their shared room, either sharing time together or getting invested in some joint experiment. Maritza would tinker and putter with one of her tools, with Uquin scooted close, watching intently... or he would show her his books or preserved plants, explaining their properties and telling her all sorts of stories about patients he'd had.
... But eventually, Maritza began to itch for her work once more, and after what felt like more effort than it was worth Uquin was accepted into an apprenticeship with a Belrean doctor - but only with the understanding that he would take classes in addition. The suggestion was that if he showed promise and skill he might be able to be accelerated through the course, but that it wasn't fair to give him 'certifications' if he didn't have the proper education.
So... he threw himself into his studies, and Maritza returned to work. It was just him and Rivyn, then. Which was... a thing.
Until she came back. As stressed as Uquin was with his schedule, which was challenging and different and strange, but also familiar in enough ways that he felt emboldened with this adventure, he was delighted at he return of his... roommate?
... Whatever he and Maritza were.
(1/10)
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2020 7:04 pm
In all honesty Maritza hadn't expected Uquin to stick around as long as he had.
Most men she brought back to her apartment would stay for a period of days, maybe a few weeks, but eventually once all the 'newness' washed away they left. Maritza had grown accustomed to it; she wasn't a particularly warm individual and her schedule left much to be desired when 'romance' was on the table. Attractions faded when distance became a factor so she'd naturally assumed that Uquin would have found another to spend time with while she was gone, which had strangely left a bitter taste in her mouth. She'd worried about it more than she should have while out on this latest voyage, but why should she. They were both adults, there were no 'rules' to their...whatever this was and what reason did he have to stay?
And yet, when she'd come back, he was still there.
Which was the happiest part of her day, though she refused to say as much.
Once she'd settle in she swapped out her work attire for a more comfortable top and short pant combo. They were Rivyn's, if the size was anything to go by, but they were well worn and cozy so as long as he was gone for the night she didn't feel as bad for taking them. She sat curled up in a chair at their modest little dinette set with a few schematics in front of her. Instead of paying them much attention, however, her eyes found Uquin and motioned him over. "Are you going to bed? If you're staying up I wouldn't mind a second opinion; I was going to submit some ideas on a few tweaks to the operating system, but nothings adding up."
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2020 10:31 am
...was he supposed to leave? At certain points over the past month Uquin had gotten the feeling, mostly from Rivyn's growing surprise each day that he came back from his studies. That, and Maritza's startled look when she walked into her apartment and saw him there, helping her brother sew up a costume that had gotten ripped and ruined. He never put two and two together and realized exactly why this was such a surprise... staying here saved him money, he knew the two better than any other roommate or neighbor, and neither of them had asked for rent yet. ... that, and he was looking forward to Maritza's return, the fondness that had grown for her over those weeks together had failed to wither while she was away. Maybe it was her fiery personality that seared her into his head, or maybe it was that he had gone without a partner for far longer during his daughters' childhoods than this. A month or so of waiting was nothing, not when he got along so well with the person he was waiting for. His costume repaired, Rivyn had flurried away as he always did, and left the two to catch up... and soon they were comfortable and relaxed again, seeming to slip back into place as if she'd only left yesterday. Dressed in a loose top with a shawl looped over his shoulders, for warmth, Uquin glanced up from the kettle he was heating up as she beckoned to him and obligingly moved to her side, peering at her then down at the schematics. " I doubt I will be able to for a while yet. I'll take a look, but I make absolutely no promises." He offered a soft smirk of amusement at his own expense, but carefully set a hand on the schematics, eye sweeping the page as he tried to take in what he was looking at.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2020 10:55 am
Seeing him heat up the kettle each night was so strangely domestic that the routine often took her by surprise. Before Uquin she'd never been a fan of the stuff; Maritza preferred harder, stronger drinks with more of a burn. While the drink itself might not have been all that pleasurable the atmosphere that surrounded it was. It was a chance for them to bond and relax in one another's company. The sensation was new, something unlike anything she'd experienced before, and very welcome. "It's just a few adjustments, really. The more weight the airships take on the harder the engines are having to work and some of the units aren't holding up. They aren't likely to fail anytime soon, but I thought if I could take some of these in then maybe we could try something new before the next flight." It was just scribbles over more detailed schematics, really, but to Maritza it all made sense. There were just a few bits that weren't adding up, and figuring out where each piece needed to go was becoming a challenge. Instead of fussing over it she looked to Uquin, " "More tea?" She quipped with a fond, little smile. "Do you have any other flavors?"
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2020 3:38 pm
The tea was... a routine. And at first one born out of utility, not out of domesticity. But... it did evolve into something more, over time. ... He'd missed it, while she was away. They talked over their tea - about their work, their thoughts, what they wanted to do in the next few days.
On his way over, he poured them both tea then carried the cups over, careful to set them well away from her precious work - just in case it spilled.
It was flattering that Maritza even thought he would understand the diagrams she was showing him. He'd thought his abysmal performance helping her down in the engines had been more than enough to prove how inept he was in this line of work. However, Uquin could also recognize that she probably didn't really need his help - most likely, she needed to explain it out loud, dumb it down even, and hoped that by doing so she could solve it on her own.
... At least, he hoped that was the case. He sipped at his own tea - a different blend than hers, obviously - huffing out a soft, disbelieving laugh. He would never get over how casually she could discuss engines 'failing' with such dismissal, as if it didn't mean an entire airship crashing into the ocean.
"Please don't remove the safety railing. You don't have enough of those as it stands, and I doubt you'd save much weight anyway." He plead in a low, despairing tone.
... but. Then she asked about tea, and if not for that sweet smile he would have shot her a flat, surprised look. Instead, his own gaze went a bit soft, if... wondering. In all these weeks, had he failed to ever mention what had started this 'routine' in the first place...?
"Certainly, but I would advise you down that one first either way." He said softly. "... I... apologize, it is such a common thing where I'm from I didn't stop to ... it is a contraceptive tea."
And wasn't that a mood killer. Even with his medical background, he felt slightly... off discussing this so plainly with her, especially since it meant he had been medicating her without her knowledge all this time. "It is completely safe for you - and... if it should fail, it has no ill effects on any party involved."
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:12 pm
"See, you say that, but I'm thinking if the engineers wore a series of cables then we wouldn't even need walkways let alone railing." She flipped through her diagrams and pulled out one particular sheet with a crude drawing of something vaguely humanoid. The figure was trussed up on a series of pulleys and cables, with a central contraption around their waist. "If we have a central line that runs down the center of the ship that makes part deliveries and can accommodate the engineers then we can do our assessments within a matter of minutes instead of hours." Taking up her tea, she gingerly brought it to her lips and took a sip. "The obvious draw backs would be the risk of having limbs caught in the cables or being crushed between deliveries, but I can work through that." It seemed a small price to pay for a more uniform work place, anyway. This would hardly be the first time someone had lost a limb on the job, and most returned within a fortnight anyway.
Her attention once again was captured by Uquin, but not for quite the same reasons as before. Pursing her lips, she looked down at the tea. Then, with her head still tilted downward, Maritza raised her eyes to give him a pointed stare. "A contraceptive tea? And you didn't feel the need to inform me earlier?"
The thought of there being repercussions from their 'activities' had certainly come to mind a few times, but Maritza hadn't honestly given it as much thought as she should have. "....I should be annoyed with you, but I suppose you were just thinking ahead." She took a bigger sip this time, lip curling at the taste. While not entirely unpleasant it was far too sweet for her, and no amount of stewing could get the flavor to tense. "I do have to wonder why you felt the need to keep it a secret, though."
Alright, so maybe she was more annoyed with him than she let on.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 4:40 pm
Was she serious?! As a healer, he was horrified, but as a thinker he was enraptured by the concept. The idea was novel, but also not unheard of. In Jauhar and Tale he'd seen pulley systems used for deliveries between the canopies and jungle floor all the time - but after being inside one of those boiler rooms, he was horrified. The place was so busy, he couldn't imagine the chaos of dozens, if not hundreds, of cables and the people attached to them - and adding in to that the massive central line she was discussing...
Spirits, but this woman was bold. Insane, it seemed, but bold. ... But their conversation about cables and pulleys was short lived, and instead quickly forgotten in the wake of this other revelation.
There was a cold sort of distaste there, not quite anger but definitely not apathy. He could see it in her eyes, a sharpness that settled around her features - the shift of her mouth as she drank another sip.
He sighed and lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. "... You're right. It was worth discussing, I assumed- but no, there is no excuse. It wasn't my intention to keep it a secret. We didn't use a lambskin that first night, so I made the tea - but I should have asked if there were other methods your people use. It..." He made a face, glancing at the kettle. "Can help, but it isn't foolproof of course."
(4/10)
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:34 pm
Maritza sat back in her seat, the last of her tea forming a thin layer at the bottom of her cup. She moved the little bit of hardened clay just enough to see it's contents rotate while she thought. "....While we weren't exactly 'safe' that first night I wasn't worried. I learned as a child that in order to conceive a woman needed a certain amount of weight to her and that her cycles should be consistent. As you can see I am rather thin and my cycles are not consistent." While a more passive female might have balked at the idea of telling her partner such intimate knowledge Maritza saw no need. Uquin was a healer, likely knew all of this himself, and could quite likely know more about the female more than she herself.
"In any case extra security surely isn't a bad thing. It's not the first time I've taken herbs to prevent a pregnancy, and I suppose it won't be the last." With a sharp drink she finished the cup and sat it atop the table.
"I am curious though; have you relied solely on other methods before only to have them fail? You moved on this pretty fast." Maybe he hadn't and was just trying to be safe, but there was something there.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:48 pm
... Ah. Yes, that was true. Maritza was a bit underweight, but that was likely because she burned so much energy sweating and working - more than she usually could gain back with food, when supplies on an airship were limited. As for her cycles, it made sense - although it wasn't fool proof, so he didn't regret the tea. He was glad that she had, at least, finished it, and conceded that it wasn't a bad idea.
However, that edge was back, and for all his wit Uquin couldn't put his finger on what exactly had caused it. Yes - he had moved on it quickly, and perhaps that could be explained away as his profession making him paranoid. ... But.
Instead, he chuckled dryly and shifted to settle back into his seat. "Yes. One partner insisted that honey, ingested and stirred into drinks for the week after, would prevent a pregnancy. ... My daughters were born nine months later." Predictably. Admitting his children shouldn't have been a grand reveal - he hadn't sought to keep their existence a secret, but they were also adult women - as much as he loved them, he had long outgrown the need to drop their adventures into his conversations.
(5/10)
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:59 pm
Maritza's eyes widened. "You have daughters." She supposed that was something she should have asked about earlier over the course of their relationship, but seeing as they hadn't exactly gone into depth about home life it was never brought up. He was an adult male, with all of the right equipment for the task, so it didn't really come as such a surprise to her. From the way he talked about his past partner it wasn't as if he'd run out on a marriage, so as long as she wasn't the 'other woman' Maritza didn't see any harm in it.
She softened a little and smiled. "So that's why you were so worried. You're already a father." It made sense that he would want to focus on their youths instead of risking another, especially when said child would be born over seas. "What are they like? You've seen all you need to know about my family, but you haven't really said anything about yours."
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:16 pm
...He did. Uquin paused a moment, waiting for her to say anything else - was this a bad thing? But, after a moment she smiled and the tension of the last few minutes finally melted away. His eyes crinkled a bit as he nodded, quietly sheepish. "Ah... that's true, I'm sorry. They are... spirited."
Uquin's expression softened as he thought of his daughters, missing them fiercely now that he'd thought of them. "A ship brought in a letter from one of them a few weeks ago. Ujana. She's doing well, which is good to hear - of the two of them, I worry over her the most. The other, Padma, is more sensible than I am, so I doubt she could get up to much trouble."
He was tempted to go fetch the letter, but in a way he almost selfishly wanted to hoard his daughter's words. "... Anyway. Ujana seemed bored - which is always concerning, but she apparently found Ujiri with knives? Or-- something. And now he has decided to become an assassin -- only proves I never visited enough to drill some sense into his and his sister's heads, those poor things--" He grumbled out the last bit, then sobered up a bit. "Ah-- Ujiri is her youngest son."
(6/10)
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:25 pm
It was...sweet, hearing him talk like that. It was another side to Uquin that Maritza hadn't seen. A little softer, perhaps, more genuine with an air to it that only a parent could achieve. She'd seen it a time or two when talking to coworkers, but had never seen it with her own mother.
A little trouble maker and a sensible child. Sensible? Maritza furrowed her brow. What a word to use for a child. Perhaps they were a little older than she had first estimated. Looking at him, really looking at him, had her thinking that perhaps a child going into adolescence wasn't exactly out of the picture.
And then it hit.
"You're a grandfather." Apparently a few times over from the sound of things. "You're a grandfather of children old enough to be apprentices." Whatever kind of warm fuzzies may have taken roost in her shallow heart sank. "Exactly...how old are you, Uquin?"
A couple children hadn't been alarming. Even when his girls seemed a bit older Maritza was able to wrap her mind around it. She knew he was more seasoned than she was, had known from the start, but this....this was a little much.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:35 pm
She was making a face again, but Uquin didn't stop talking. Perhaps he should have, because after he'd finished she looked positively green. "...Yes?" He asked, dragging the word out for a long moment, his brows furrowing as he looked at her intently. Was... that a problem? She'd apparently found him fit enough before to take this relationship further.
Neither she nor her brother had looked at him and found him wanting as a potential partner - so why was she looking at him so strangely?
Then that question came, and he finally sat back in his seat, just looking at her. "This year will be my 51st year. Maritza, is this a surprise that I am older?" He gestured sharply to his hair and face - which did have gray (more like lighter streaks of red, rather than silver or true gray) streaking through it at the temples, and the creases at his mouth and brows. He wasn't young, if that's what she was thinking but...
(7/10)
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:48 pm
"No, it's not." She snapped. Catching herself, Maritza inhaled shakily and tried to rationalize this. "I knew you were older and that's fine. I'm not surprised by that. I just didn't know there was a twenty five year age gap between us." When she said it out loud it was a little overwhelming. Knowing that she'd been intimate on more than a few occasions with a man who was roughly twice her age was something of a shock. It didn't change her view of him; that is to say, when she looked at him she still saw Uquin, not the stereotypical grandfather.
"When you said you had children I assumed they were twelve at best or at least teenagers. It's all just a little jarring." The man whom she'd been with had children that had birthed children. As much as she was trying to make sense of it and organize this information Maritza couldn't help feeling a little green.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:06 pm
Uquin's eyes sharpened, but he didn't respond to her sharp tone. Not when she was so clearly handling her shock. However- when she said how much older - he inhaled sharply and sat a bit straighter. ...Yes- perhaps... he could understand her bewilderment. He'd never dreamed she was-- only 26?!! She was younger than his daughters! Not as young as Eurig, thank the spirits, but--
"... ah." He released, eloquently, raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, trying to rub away a sudden headache. It was generally a faux pas to guess a person's age, but - she was a professional, and he never would have thought she was so young.
"No, I... see where you are coming from. I was not... I did not assume the gap was quite so..." Hm.
(8/10)
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