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 Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:45 am
Of course she had already asked him but it was hard for her to properly think at the moment with Ruelash standing there in her room half-naked. Wow, that chest just needed to have her hands running over it. Feeling herself staring at it again, Winta shook her head and smiled. "You're right. I can probably turn them into a knife or..." Winta inspected them as she tried to keep herself focused on something other than him. It was useless. Once more though Ruelash broke her trance by talking and again allowed her the chance to distract herself. "There's some in the kitchen." Winta said as she walked over to her door and walked into the hallway and into the kitchen.
In the kitchen there was a cooking pot in the center with a small area around it where some dirt mixed with ash, from the mornings fire had been, and then raised back up to the flooring that they were walking on. Winta led Ruelash over towards the right end where a window was cut out and to the left of it stood a large pot where water was kept. "It's fresh water from this morning. Grandma had me get it, boil it because she doesn't trust anything or anyone, and put it here." Winta sighed a little at the thought not that she had particularly minded the task.DraconicFeline I'll have her grandmother pop up after your response?
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 5:12 pm
Boil it? Sounded like her grandma had the right idea. It was always a good idea to boil water if you had the time and resources. Of course, in Zena you ended up boiling it anyway, just to get it from snow to water.
He took his canteen, refilled it, and drank it down. Chi, that was good.
"Where do ya find this much water anyway? Them gourds that are about?" While he was interested in where they had managed to find so much water, secretly, he was looking for a covering, but most of the nice clothy bits were attached to things. It was so annoying!
He hid his discomfort with another gulp of water.
Oh hell. He might as well ask.
"... Got any, uh... spare curtains around? Or somethin?"
Even he knew this wasn't a normal question, but he just felt so damn vulnerable standing here with nothing on. He'd give it back, he wouldn't need it out in the blasting heat.
"Or..." he was hopeful, "Some pants?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:44 pm
As Ruelash filled his canteen her eyes were trained on his back, his muscles that showed with every movement. Then she was shaking her head and putting her face in her hand. When Ruelash left she was going to drown herself in that water. Who stared at someone's back? Why the hell was she staring at him? Once more this question arose in her mind. It was no wonder Ruelash was uncomfortable being half naked when Winta was too busy imagining herself touching his half nakedness. "Yeah. Water doesn't store long in the heat but if you keep it in a cooler place it lasts a little longer. Covering it helps too." Sometimes anyways. Winta could literally count the number of times she'd went to bed with a full urn of water and awoken to a dry empty one. When she was little she would sometimes stay up and watch the urns just to see if someone was coming in and stealing their water. Her family had only laughed off her antics and tried their best to explain why the water disappeared on hot days.
Curtains? They had them stored away for when a sandstorm blew through but she couldn't imagine why he'd want to wear one of those. Winta finally smiled and eventually laughed. She held her belly and bent over from the intensity of her laughter. The thought of him wearing something like that was just too funny for her to stand. "Ahh." Was all she said as she wiped small tears from the corners of her eyes as she walked out of the room, having calmed down from her fit of laughter. When she returned she had newly sewn clothing in her hands. It was of course in the style that most here in Tale wore but it would at least be a little better from what he was wearing. Maybe. "Will these work? They're not pants but they should cover a little..." Winta paused and looked him over. "A lot more."
Zoan had picked a bad time to return home. A very bad time. When the old woman--who was still in her prime physically able to move around on her own and not too old that she was termed granny by strangers--returned home and saw her granddaughter standing in the middle of the kitchen with a nearly purple boy who was half naked and whom she'd never met. Well, you could only imagine the shock she had experienced at that moment. Had she said anything when she entered? It was possible but it had probably been cut short when she saw the two teens in front of her. Zoan was not particularly fond of the other earthlings outside of Tale and Ruelash was clearly one deserving of her scorn. "Winta." Her tone made the room drop in temperature, at least for Winta, the moment she spoke. Her eyes focused on Ruelash for a mere second before they were piercing daggers into Winta. "You have one second to explain." Oh, she was dead.
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 6:08 pm
"Huh." he said, looking at the urns, "We don't got a problem with storin' things in Zena. Food doesn't go bad when its cold an' you just haveta melt ice and snow to get water." He nodded, "Its gettin' it thats the problem."
He looked back at her, feline-like, as she laughed.
"What. What's funny?" he asked, confused. People didn't normally laugh around him.
He watched her leave and come back, taking the 'pants' from her hands.
"Yeah. These'll work." they wouldn't make up for how exposed he felt, but at this point he just wanted something. Anything.
He was about to put them on when Winta's grandmother walked in. He actually felt slightly embarrassed, though not so much that he didn't try to put the damn things on. Which was harder than it looked.
"That yer grandmother?" he asked, trying to simultaneously look her over and figure out these strange not-pants. The lady looked tough. Probably a whiner, but a scary whiner, one he would instinctively be a little careful around. A little. He bet he could take her in a fight.
His attention was distracted by the stupid 'pants'.
"Winta, how the hell d' I get these on?!" he said finally, frustrated. "What do I do with this thing?" he said, indicating the drawstring, Granny totally forgotten.
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 7:32 pm
"See? It's things like that, that make it hard to decide if you have it easier or harder in Zena." For half a second a smile had stayed on her lips, then Zoan came in and it fell. Not only did it, but her face was caught between being scared and shocked. Her grandmother walking in while she had a friend over? Bad. That friend being a boy? Really bad. That friend being a boy and not someone she knew? Really really bad. That friend being a boy, someone Zoan didn't know, not a Leaf? Really really really bad. All those things plus being half naked? Winta might have better luck surviving if she went into Zena without an article of clothing in the middle of a snow storm at night and there was absolutely no chance of survival doing that. "Grandma." She sighed, her eyes closing and for a moment it looked like she was in physical pain. Which wasn't too far off from the soon-to-be truth. When she opened them again the strong part of herself was back and ready for some rebellion. Winta turned and smiled. "Oh, you're home." A reply that only seemed to cause more distain to flow from her grandmothers eyes. Not that she hadn't seen it before. This time though it was definitely intensified. "This is Ruelash. He had a package for you, it's in your room." With that Winta turned her attention to Ruelash and when she looked down at his pants she almost lost it. What was worse? Him being half naked and her grandmother seeing it or him standing there with his pants undone? Winta's cheeks flushed but she tried to hide them, at least from her grandmother before grasping the strings in her hands. "Here." She said after having tied them for him. "They're a little different from what you're used to." She admitted, looking up at him.
Ruelash? So he was only here because of a job. For a moment that had at least sedated the beast within Zoan. Winta's demeanor was nothing new and she had grown accustomed to her granddaughter showing very little signs of respect anymore. Not that it had always been that way, but she was stubborn. A trait that Zoan and unknowingly passed down. Then Winta was tying the boys drawstrings. Oh. Hell. No. This Zena boy was too pathetic to even tie up his own pants and Winta had helped him. At that moment the old woman wasn't sure if she wanted to slap him or Winta. Her hands turned into fists for a moment as she stepped towards Ruelash and Winta before she very quickly pushed them apart. There was much to be explained. Winta wasn't going to get off the hook that easily. Not this time. How had she come to know his name? Again, why was he in her house and why had he been naked? Zoan felt a little panicked as she imagined the worse. Had he taken her granddaughters innocence while she was away? Or was this just one of many times? No, that wasn't possible. While Winta was maturing into a woman she still wasn't into the opposite gender yet and in fact may have a bit of a thing for weapons instead. Not that she condoned that but at the moment she much preferred the weapons to this boy. "Ruelash." Zoan said with an icy tone, turning herself to the boy and making a clear show to him that Winta was hers, not his. "Why are you here?" Her eyes showed her distain for the stranger. Time to see if he was at least smart. "And why were you nearly naked in my home?" She further questioned.
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 7:53 pm
Ohhhhhh that was how. Okay.
"Thanks." he grunted, hitching it a bit so that it was comfortable. There. He felt better.
Oh, now the scary old woman was asking him questions. Oblivious to every thought going through her head, he saw no issue in answering. Nicely even, because Winta was present and it was her grandma and all.
Nice for him anyway. Which meant slightly less surly than usual.
"Was deliverin' a package fer I guess you." he said, looking at her neutrally, "An' I had some stuff for her too so I figured I'd find 'er while I was in the Tale, an she turned out to be here." he paused. Patience was a very odd feeling out of the context of hunting. He didn't have much, but he wasn't gonna hit her gran or anything.
"And... uh... didn't wan' to be naked or nothing. 's just too hot here." That, he felt he had to explain because he was feeling worse and worse about being so exposed.
BUT IT WAS HOOOOOOOTTTTT.
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 6:33 pm
Winta stood silently as she watched the scene unfold before her and was pleasantly surprised to see that neither of them had killed each other yet. It was certainly a good sign. It was almost too bad that Ruelash had been seen like this though. She wondered if her grandmother would have been more at ease and a little lest hostile towards him. Not that she wasn't doing amazing as is though. Winta certainly wasn't going to complain. She did, however, light touch his arm to hopefully ease any tension he had growing which she could understand.
Zoan was a little less than pleased with Ruelash but she couldn't help but feel a little tolerant of him, for now anyways. "Hm." The old woman said, looking him over once more before letting out a soft sigh. Apparently he was going to pass her test, for now. "I have seen others from Zena come here and have more problems with the heat than you. I suppose I won't hold this against you." Her words seemed to be that of approval but her tone had a slight edge to it. A silent warning that he was far from approval and one slip up and she might just have him killed. "What do you do Ruelash?" Zoan further drilled the poor boy, but the intensity of the air around them seemed to lift. As if Zoan's hate could fill the air and strangle him. "How long have you known Winta? What are your intentions with her?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 7:17 pm
Ruelash felt edgy, and wondered why. It was the same feeling he got whenever he looked out into the chasm that had taken his brother's life, a strange mix of dread, anger, fear, and exhilaration. He felt something similar when he was around that enormous ferocious Raptrix, or when he had encountered a great bull Mammu. He had never felt that about a person before.
He was glad the pants were on (though he still felt exposed) when she began to overwhelm him with questions. The exhilerating tension in the air began to rise, and for a moment, he felt as though he was staring again into the chasm's gullet, ringed as it was with icy spines, like the fangs of some great wurm. His heart began to race.
What did she mean by these questions? What the hell was he supposed to answer? Winta's light touch on his arm shook him from his confusion. She wanted him to answer.
"Uh..." he started, his brain trying to run on overdrive. How was he going to answer? How? He was so confused. He couldn't just give her a grunt, she was Winta's grandmother. Thinking was not his strong suit... but he gave it a try anyway.
"I, uh, do odd jobs. Scoutin', guidin', takin' care o' the house, and, uh, I killed a bandit...?" What did he do? Hurt things. But that was true, wasn't it?
"Uh, and she was up in Zena durin' the warm months and thats when I met her. Helped her with a... Was it a sprained ankle?" he looked at Winta, confused, then back to her grandmother.
"Uhhh..." He swallowed. He had never felt this intimidated before. The other questions he could get his mind around with some strain, but the last one...
"Uhh, intentions?" he said, giving up.
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:29 pm
Admittedly Zoan was more irked at the presence of a ice tribesman in her hut but she had to hand it to him for being respectful and mostly put together. Teenage boys hanging around her teenage granddaughter? Still not okay. His speech wasn't as put together but if he wasn't slightly afraid of her then she might have taken him by the hair and tossed him out anyways. This would do. The one of the things gave her pause and she looked at him with a skeptical look for a moment. "Wait, you killed a bandit?" Then he told her about Winta going to Zena, which she knew about but spraining her ankle? Zoan whirled on her granddaughter. "When did you sprain your ankle?" Then Zoan promptly turned back to Ruelash, not willing to relent. "Well thank you for helping her." Oh, that hurt. Having to thank this unknown teenage boy after he was mostly undressed in her house? This did not settle well. "Yes. Your intentions. Are you dating? Do you plan on dating my granddaughter? What are your intentions."
Winta was about to answer her grandmother when the old bat turned on him and once more starting throwing words at him. This time, in thanks. She was stunned but when her grandmother continued with her 'intentions' talk Winta felt a little more horrified, embarrassed and her head felt as though it might explode. Was this real life? "Ruelash..." She said softly, giving him a weary look. She could only imagine the thoughts running through his mind. Or maybe the lack of.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:03 pm
"Yeah. I killed him. He had a raptrix with him too, and I killed that too." he said, slightly smug. The mercenaries had helped, but in both cases he had dealt the final blow! It has been awesome!
He accepted the thanks with an awkward nod. He wasn't used to actually being thanked. "Yeah... uh." he said belatedly, "Yeah..." he looked away briefly, not sure what to do with it. "Yer welcome..." he said, slightly moodily.
His gaze was rapidly turned right back at Zoan, though, when she asked her most pertinent question. He stared at her. Dating? That thing that people did when they got all gooey about each other or something? Why'd she bring that up? "No?" he said, confused as hell. He looked at Winta, his face an almost owlish and comical visage of naked confusion and noncomprehension. They weren't dating?
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