Kamin opened the door to the eastern tavern and smiled warmly at the jivviness near the door. Judging by the way she was sitting, facing the window with her eyes trained on the street outside, she was waiting for someone. In his mind moving in on already taken parties was only a black eye waiting to happen... and while black eyes got lots of sympathy from women, he had already had plenty of that with his legs and their sratched up wooden and metal braces...
Kamin sighed... she wasn't all that pretty anyway.
He turned and surveyed the room at large. Here and there a jivvin, mostly male, not interested, here and there a woman, not pretty... but there were a few faces he knew. He waved to a jivviness at the end of the bar and smiled at her, but the one face that was intrigueing him right this very moment was the solemn and sodden expression on Jed's mug. He grinned and walked right on up to her, patting a familiar jivvin on the back on the way over.
"Fancy an earful with that mouthful?" He grinned. He'd had a bath this morning and was lookin' good.... his own words.
Mjedan was not a happy camper. Of course, she never was, but the female jivvin was in a particularly sour mood. Why, of all places, was she in a popular tavern? Soyala had practically booted her from their 'shack', with the directive of becoming more social, as well as keeping an ear out for the latest gossip. Soyala was quite the gossip-hoarder, and well, Jed's presence was much less noticable than hers.
The gritty daewl could not only take a beating, but a lot of liquor, and was well through her mug when a familiar voice hailed her. Good eye catching sight of a face she'd only run into once or twice before, she scowled at him. A friendly greeting, really. ".... How about you..." She trailed off with whatever unpleasant comment she was about to make, apparently remembering something [perhaps Soyala's demands], and frowned deeper, a resigned sigh floating from her lips. "... Fill 'em on up. What's new?"
Kamin grinned and plopped down ungracefully on the seat beside her. He raised a finger in question and shot the barkeep a smile... he didn't even have to open his mouth to ask for what he wanted, the man knew. He also pointed to Jed's mug and opened his smile up to a toothy grin. The man might not always be the best looking guy in the bunch but he sure knew his way around a smile... he had over 42 of them all worked out for different purposes.
Finally when all the ordering was done, he leaned on the bar and gave Jed grin number 12... a sidelong, half cocked grin on the left side of his face that came with just a little bit of a head tilt. It clearly meant 'what's new and how are you' ... but just in case the recipient didn't get it, or was particularly antisocial, he spoke.
"So..." a mug was set down in front of him and he stopped a moment to thank the bearer... "How's life?"
Jed's look to him was deadpan. Apparently, she was immune to his dubious charms. The green-haired woman took a long swallow from her mug, movements slow and delibrate, then set the empty thing down. With no obvious qualms, she took the drink Kamin had ordered for her into her tan, scarred palm.
"I believe that I asked you, first." She wasn't much of a giver in conversations. Still, Jed was obviously making an effort to be 'nice', because she sighed, and answered his question, anyway. "Moving along." Another swallow of alcohol.
"Such a riveting conversation." The Vhaid inserted herself into their chat with a little laugh, helping herself to the barstool on the opposite side of Jed. A look to the barkeep had him off to fix her a drink--apparently she was as common to the bar as Kamin. While he worked, she propped her elbows on the bar and leaned forward to peer around Jed, offering the Daewl a well-practiced smile before turning her sites to Kamin with a tilted grin that quite resembled his own. "Who's your friend, Kamin? And why haven't I met her before?"
"Because Cait, my love... simply put and the angels honest truth... she's my friend not yours and you can't have her." After it was said he grinned at her and took a deep swig on his mug... ah but this was going to be fun. "Besides... she's much to smart for you, and pobably not interested in your frilly little skirt and such..." He gave her skirt an apreciative glance allowing his eyebrows to raise slightly, "Nice skirt by the way. Don't you think that's a nice skirt Jed?" He spared her a glance, knowing in his bones that she wouldn't want to be a part of this conversation. "Nice skirt indeed." Another swig. "Oh, Cait, have you met Jed? Jed Cait Cait Jed, Jed Kamin in case you'd forgot, Cait, Kamin..." Another swig for emphasis. "Now that we're all aquainted lets go have some fun."
He turned to Jed and allowed himself to sawy slightly as if he were on his way to drunk... which he was... but the sway was more for brace comfort. "What shall we do for fun Jed? I know Cait is good at a few things."
"I had forgotten." No she hadn't, but she'd wanted to.
Mjedan was definitely not happy to be here. Soyala would get a month's worth of dark looks and her own errands to complete when the bitter Daewl made it out of here. She didn't seem to react much, visably, and took another slow sip, her eyes making their way from her mug, to up and down Cait, and back to the liquid she was drinking. This was why she stayed in the forest.
Still, still. Sociable. Must be sociable. Her tone was casual, voice low as always. "Skirt? The legs are nicer." A pause, and her glowering gaze turned to Kamin. "I am not here for fun."
Caitrione scoffed, dismissing Kamin's words with a roll of her eyes. "I think you'll find you and I already share plenty of friends. It won't hurt you to share one more. I'm smarter than he gives me credit for," she confided to Jed as her drink arrived, accepting it with nod for the barkeep before turning on her barstool and crossing her legs at the knee. "But you can admire the legs, if that's more your piece of cake."
She lifted her glass for a sip, utterly ignoring Kamin's suggestions to leave, and peered curiously over her glass at the Daewl. "Jedara, Meyjed, which Jed are you? And why come here, if not for fun?"
Kamin had his back to Jed and he was leaning sideways at the bar staring at Cait's legs. He gave a split second... maybe a nanosecond even, before he inturpted not allowing Jed to answer.
"Yes... yes... I'd forgotten about the legs." He stared for a second before replying over his shoulder to the green haired woman without taking his eyes off Cait's legs. "Thank you so much for reminding me." Then he flipped and turned his back on Cait, leaning sideways on the bar again. "And what do you mean you're not here for fun? This is a bar... that's how you spell fun. B. A. R." He grinned. "I may not have passed many evaluations in lessons back when I was younger, but I know that much." Swig and signal for a second drink. "Besides... if you like Cait's legs, and I like Cait's legs," He leaned back and grin-glanced at Cait, "And I do... I reaahhly do..." Back to Jed. "Then I think that we've found something in common, you and I. We can sit here and look at Cait, pretty as she is the little feisty thing, and it doesn't matter that you might not want to have fun or even like her, because surely she's too pretty to be smart or nice" He flipped back to Cait once more. "Don't get me wrong, love, I adore you all the time, but I've heard that you can, my love, be a triffle unlikable at times, though when that happens I'm sure that you just turn on the charm and let your lovely legs and little frilly skirt... nice skirt by the way... do all the talking.. don't let it get you down at least you've got that going for you." He flipped back to Jed. "We don't even have to talk in that case... we can just sit here and stare." He did so... "And then that's one thing we have in common and that makes us friends." He grinned at her. "we can move on from there later."
Jed let her mismatched gaze, one eye permanently scarred, the other a vivid green, stare into Kamin's face. She remembered the days when all that mattered was your survival abilities. Now look at the wilds. The bar was packed with useless jivvins. Ah, well. Times were changing, as Soyala said. She was not Kamin's friend, but that fact didn't seem important to either of the younger wilds. Ah, well.
"Neither. I've always been Mjedan." The Daewl didn't look down at the other woman's tan legs, instead finishing her third mug of the night. Cait must be a young one. Sure, Jed kept a low profile, finding it more suitable to her lack of social needs and her priorities, but most of the older wilds knew her, by reputation, if not name. She didn't say why she was at the bar.
Cait, on the other hand, new the name and not the face. A glint of recognition appeared briefly in her eyes before she turned them to Kamin, pursing her lips in a frown. "I didn't say you could look, greedy thing. You can have friends to yourself, or legs to share, but not both. I don't know who you've been talking to, but there's not a single Jivvin in this village who has the smallest reason to dislike me. If you're inclined in that direction, however, I'm sure I can give you some reasons."
"Mjedan," she echoed, turning her attention back to the woman with a final huff for Kamin. "Is it true that you live with Soyala?"
Kamin almost finched at the mention of Jed's full name. He did know who she was, and he didn't like thinking that she lived with Soyala, but he wasn't about to let that bother him. The point here was that this green haired woman wouldn't have him... and who didn't want what they couldn't have?
He pursed his lips at Cait in a mock pout. "I think I've reason enough now thank you very much. If you don't want people looking at your lovely legs then you should wear pants. I recommend really tight, dark brown leather ones... yeah, tight leather." He stared again for a second as if he were lost in thought because he knew she loved it. Kamin may have given off the impression of being young, but he wasn't, and truth was, Soyala had always scared him a little. It was common among the patrol to spread rumours and horror stories about what she could do... and when you were a cripple in a group of hard core fighters you learned to take the brunt of the teasing a lot... Point was, Soyala was a character from a lot of his younger nightmares and he'd just as soon change the subject.
"I'd tell Jed here that she'd look good in a skirt, but I have a feeling that she'd break my neck... and even that can't be fixed with a brace." He grinned at Cait. "If I said that you were lovely would you forgive me? Never mind, tell me later... on second thought, show me later."
Then he turned to Jed. "I think ...." He pretended to think for a moment. "I think you're a spy... and that, my friend and companion in leg watching, is something that appeals to me." He stopped, thought, and then turned back to Cait. "I should use that once in a while, don't you think? Do Jivvins go for spies nowadays?"
Something flickered on Jed's face and her gaze met Cait's full on for the first time. Her tone was unreadable, but the slightest of smiles lifted the corners of her mouth. "Yes, it is true." She noticed Kamin's reaction, but said nothing about it, storing that away. She didn't seem offended by Kamin's comment, and instead raised her brows, briefly. "Other than avoiding notice, I do not see much point in clothing at all, however 'nice' a skirt may be." A pause. "Spy?" Now she laughed. It was an interesting sound, and one rarely heard outside of the forest.
"If you mean just short of a gossip, yes. I listen to the news, but do not pass it on as you do. Spy."
She did love the stares. She wouldn't admit it aloud, no, but it was clear enough, and it was also clear that the banter between herself and Kamin was commonplace. "I think I have some pants just like that, in fact, but you'll never see them if you keep this up. Only Olplyns successfully pull the 'spy' line, darling. Stick with showing off your brawn and complimenting pretty faces, and you'll get all the leather pants you want."
She moved on. "You don't strike me as a gossiper, and you've already said you're not here for fun," Cait responded accusingly, leaning back against the bar and quirking a brow at Jed. "And I thought Soyala could see everywhere in the forest. Or is that rumor false? The Daewl not as omniscient as we think?"
"Did I ever tell you how pretty you are?" He grinned at her and flexed his muscles slightly around his shoulders and upper arms, before giving her a wink and turning his attentions to Jed fully.
"But I have to pass on the gossip you see, becuase it gives me a better shot at the leather pants crowd." He shrugged. "And the Daewl can't see everything... right?" The last bit was spoken with a little less confidence... more of an actual question than banter.
Now Jed laughed. And laughed, and laughed. She laughed so hard that she had to set her mug down, and then she laughed a little more. Resting her chin on a fist as she quieted down, she took another drink, before answering, obviously still amused. "I am not gifted with telepathy, so I do not know exactly how omniscient you believe her to be. However, I will tell you that Soyala can see anything she wants to see, whenever she wants to see it."
Another drink. "A lot of the time she likes to see me." A nod to each in turn. "And you, and you." Right at the moment, anyway. Soyala generally kept a tendril of awareness on Jed wherever she went, and that extended to those she was with. As for seeing everything at once, well.... Jed wasn't the nosy type, and so, really, she didn't know.
If truth be told, it was the laughter that unsettled Caitrione more than the words that followed. The theory that Soyala saw whatever she wanted was a common one; Cait hardly thought that a bit of harmless prying would have her on the Daewl's hit list. Likewise, it was the laughter more than the answer that intrigued her. Odd thing, no wonder she was scarcely seen around the village.
"Why you?" she quipped in response, genuinely curious. "What is her interest in you, of all Jivvins?"
Kamin found the whole turn of the conversation ridiculously uncomfortable... so he did what he did best...
"What do you mean why her? The woman told us point blank that she'd like to walk around naked if only they'd let her! Who wouldn't have an interest in her with all that going for her." He turned to Jed, with a smile, the thought of Soyala watching him right now praying on his mind. It gave him the creeps, and he found that he couldn't even really concentrate on a change of conversation. But he didn't let his smile fade.
Jed was quiet as Kamin answered for her, her glowing gaze on his face as she watched his obvious discomfort. Interesting. Deciding how she would answer, she decided to give one that was true, but definitely not the whole story. After all, neither of them were probably alive for the war. "Soyala is interested in all Jivvins. The difference is... I am just as interested in Soyala." Jed smiled slightly, and got to her feet, polishing off her mug before setting it carefully on the counter. "I think I'm finished in this tavern."
Such a cryptic response was not one that Cait had hopped for, but, really, one she certainly should have expected. Still, her disappointment was clear as Jed finished off her drink and stood, but she remained where she was, lazily sipping from he own half-full mug. "So much for gossip. My legs'll be here, if you care to come visit again," she chirped sweetly, and promptly drained her glass. "Maybe next time, Kamin'll learn to share."
"Just because I stood between you both the whole time and did all the talking doesn't mean that I didn't share. I think you're just jealous that you had to share me, my love." Kamin was a little sulky at this point and his answer was slightly less jovial than it could have been. He watched as Jed stood to leave, and took another sip of his drink, keeping it close for comfort. "Til another time then, inwardly naked Jed." he sighed. "Well Cait, my love, what are you in the tavern for today may I ask?"
She watched in silence as Jed left the crowded room, then turned her eyes back towards Kamin. Smiling sweetly, she set her mug down on the bar and leaned towards him, patting him on the cheek. "Why darling, I'm spying. What else? Sleep well when you get there, Kamin," she finished with a yawn and, slipping off her barstool, headed from the room herself with a little sway of her hips.
Kamin frowned as she left the room and downed his drink. Once he had a third, he glanced around the room and saw that the woman who he'd admired while entering was still alone and still watching the door.
He downed his drink in one long go, and hitched up his braces. Today was a good day to rish a black eye.
