A Faux Pas and a Half

Log Info

• Title: A Faux Pas and a Half
• Emitter: Aryia
• Characters: Aryia, Verna, Auranar, Seyardu
• Place: Lower Alexandrian Gardens
• Time: January 14, 2022
• Summary: Verna and Auranar are taking a stroll through the gardens, discussing about growing their own plants. They run into both Aryia and Seyardu dozing, the former on a bench, the latter in a tree. They rouse, Seyardu nearly falls out of the tree but ends up hanging around. There's a bit of translation issue when talking about capabilities of learning, Verna rectifying it with a spell. Seyardu wonders if the two are together or not, a fact that had yet to be ironed out between Auranar and Verna, and in private. Aryia grabs Seyardu to talk about dead languages, just as Auranar tugs Verna off to go speak on previous matter.

Lower Alexandrian Gardens, Late Afternoon

It's a snowy day. Swirling blankets of powder come from the northwest, sticking to nearly everything. Thankfully, the gardens offer reprived from the worst of offenses of the season.

One such soul that was taking advantage of that was a scarred mul'neissa woman. She was, simply put, passed out on a bench with a book of some sort on her face.

FREEEEDOOOM!

Not that Verna was a prisoner nor detained, per se. Nor is her face painted black and blue. It is no longer any unusual colors, in fact. This is visible as her hood is doffed when she enters the gardens. Whatever chill lie outside, she endured; some snow dusts her hair and shoulders though is only conspicuous on the gray of the latter.

Her monochromatic visage and attire are something of a contrast to the greenery and flowers of the gardens. They are even moreso to her companion bearing a bright splash of red, and accented with pink.

"You would prefer a location near the gardens, would you not?" she inquires "Or perhaps a garden of your own?"

The pink and red individaual with Verna is quickly identifiable as Auranar. Her bright red coat is easy to spot even in the gardens. She considers the other woman's question at length and then smiles at Verna. "If we could find a place in proximity it _would_ be nice. I doubt that I could grow a garden as magnificent as this one, though... Can you imagine growing our own vegetables to eat?" Her eyes sparkle with good will at the thought. "You can grow a lot of things in a small space if you care for the plants."

Seyardu was neither detained in the city, nor bothered by the snow that blanketed most of the city. In fact, it was a perfectly normal day for the cleric, and she was even getting used to not slipping on the ice everywhere. Still, she was likely at risk of damaging the flagstone beneath her where she went.

This day found the cleric nestled into a large and sturdy tree, where she found a sturdy enough crook to lounge in. They seemed to be asleep for the time being.

The green jacketed, dozing shadow elf blearily turns on a bench as the falling sun manages to catch a bit of her eyes. The book slides off and clatters to the ground. The sound stirs her, coupled with the incoming conversation, and she rubs at her eyes, silently yawning as she stoops a bit to grab the fallen literature.

Finally partially conscious, she waves lazily to them, her brain having not caught up yet.

"I can readily imagine -you- growing a wealth of vegetables," Verna conditionally agrees with Auranar, along with a pointed look and a brief, slender smile as they walk. "I imagine that I would be more adept at removing weeds than nurturing."

Hark!

It is then that the sound of a tumbling tome catches her notice and draws her focus as the blasphemy it is. The rising and stirring from the bench is then noted and recognized. The lazy wave is returned with a lifted, gloved hand. "Good day to you, Aryia," she offers in greeting.

Auranar ducks her head and counters Verna's statement. "You might be surprised with yourself. All most plants need is a firm hand that is willing to weed for them." And water of course. She is more surprised by the greeting - half-sleepy as it is - than is Verna, and smiles slightly to herself at the fact that a book is being used as a means to find respite. Though she like Vern doesn't enitrely approve of the purpose its been put to. "Greetings Aryia."

The desecrated book was stuffed into an inner jacket pocket as Aryia slowly starts to get to full capacity.

Blink blink. She perks up, grinning and waving a bit more enthusiastically at the sight of familiar and recently acquainted faces. "Heeeey. Good to see you two!" her hands gesture. She scratches at her ear, running back some sleepy thoughts before asking, "What's this about gardening? Was that you talking about that?"

She spots her snoozing silver friend, but lets her rest for the time being. Recalling how tired the makari was recently.<Handspeech>

"I defer to your expertise," Verna concedes to the sylvanori with a dip of her head, "and welcome learning from it." The Mourner has two gray thumbs, afterall. She turns back to Aryia at the motion and nods. "It is good to see you, as well. Yes, we were speaking of gardening. A process of which I have much to learn. It appeared that you were studying, yourself; as deeply as a number of students at The Society."

"Is that what she said?" Auranar asks Verna gently, reminding the pair that Auranar doesn't know the first thing about handspeech. She smiles warmly enough at Aryia though, giving her a little wave. "Thank you for asking, I'm trying to convince Verna that she has more skills than she thinks she does."

GAME: Seyardu rolls 1d20: (17): 17

Seyardu seems to shift up in the tree where they were resting, which is enough to disrupt their somewhat precarious position. This turns into a small amount of flailing as the cleric awakes, and they just manage to barely catch the limb of the tree in their hands.

Which leaves them awkardly hanging in front of Aryia and the others. "Ah. Peace on your nests." She greets awkardly. "You are just, hanging out in the gardens? I am, as well."

Aryia makes a faint 'ah' sound. She bobs her head, jabbing a thumb to herself. "I've done a bit of that before."

She looks to Auranar for a moment, reminded that her structured flailing meant little to the wild elf. The notion brought her brows together and up, her squinting at Verna. The mute makes a 'tch' noise, points at Verna, then taps the side of her head with her second finger with a light smile on her lips. "She's smart She'll learn." Keep it simple.

The sudden movement and flailing gets Aryia up on her feet in half a beat. But she stops. Blinks at her friend that was dangling between them. Then snickers at the pun.

She holds her arms out to help catch the cleric if need be. <Handspeech>

Verna nods to Auranar and her question. "That is what she conveyed, yes." After the next group of signs, she adds, "Aryia has underestimated herself, as well. As have we all done to ourselves, perhaps. You are more gifted than you oft believe, and could easily understand the gestures with a small amount of instruction and practice. If you wished."

The arrival or, rather, suddent descent of Seyardu causes Verna to start as well. Verna is perhaps not quite as startled (or merely not as quick) as Aryia, but startled all the same. After recognizing the sith, she offers, "Peace on your nest. This is a pleasant location to ... hang out, though you now do so better than most."

Auranar smiles at the pair of women. "I wouldn't mind learning! But languages are not my forte. If it were magic or something you baked maybe?" She grins here and then looks up at Seyardu. Of all of them she is perhaps the least surprised to find a sith-makar in a tree. "Peace on your nest!" She calls up to the sith.

"Well ah, I did not intend to hang out here. nor is my nest up here in this tree." Seyardu replies, trying to pull herself up, and failing, so she elects to drop down to the ground instead. "I am sure Aryia could do it better than I am capable. And, handspeech? Believe it or not, but I helped teach Aryia it. So, I could help any who were interested again, if needed."

Aryia blinks at Verna, then walks the topic back. "... that's not what I meant at all, but I'd still say something similar. I meant I /gardened/ before. And I said that /you/, Verna, are smart, and that you'll learn how to garden easily," she clarifies with a snicker before shaking her head.

"There is magic to understand me, but it's not too hard to pick up some basic signs," she offers to Auranar, hopefully to be translated as the topic was a bit to complex to pantomime. And she didn't have the time to pull out a journal as her friend was hanging out in the literal sense.

She observes like an acrobat instructor, shadowing to ensure the sith-makar didn't slip on the landing. And once all was good, she finally motions, "Peace on your nest." She nods at Seyardu's fact, giving a thumbs up. She did, indeed, help the mute woman learn. <Handspeech>

Verna is mildly surprised at Seyardu's expounding. Concerning handspeech, that is, not that she lacks a nest in the tree. "Intriguing." Next comes Aryia's correction and clarification, at which she pauses a moment, perhaps to double-check her interperetation this time.

Leaning her head towards Auranar, though not turning to face her, she explains, aside, "I was mistaken. Aryia meant that she has gardened before, and that she believes I am capable of learning to do so. Also that there is magic to aid understanding in lieu of study." Yes, that may well have been a double-edged faux pas on the Mourner's part, before, but she admits it. Albeit sidelong.

"I didn't imagine that the People nested in trees." Auranar admits, with something warm playing over her smile. Aryia makes quite a few hand-gestures, and she waits patiently for the explanation of them from Verna before nodding. "I agree that Verna could learn. She's far more capable than she thinks she is."

A fond look here. "And if I could cast the spell to speak to you, or at least understand you, that would make life much easier! Unfortunately I'm not at that level of skill yet." She has the grace to look embarrassed by this fact.

"Oh, are you gardening? There are a few gardens in mictlan, it always looks interesting. But I can never tell when things are ready to harvest." Seyardu chuckles. "I did not think that, either. You've made great research into a variety of topics, I am sure gardening would be well within the scope of your abilities. Why are you wishing to learn? Do the markets not stock enough to your liking, or is coin not as frequent of late?"

Aryia chuckles, rubbing her neck and looking off to the side. They don't nest in trees, but certainly had their own esoteric methods.

She looks to Auranar, smiles with a shrug, then pulls out a journal from her front pocket. A pen follows suit, followed by some brisk scribbling. She shows the page:

"It's alright. It's something that's a constant work around. Also, I live in the Lower Markets, it's nice."

The mute looks over to Seyardu, her giving a shrug before writing more for the sake of all.

"I think Auranar likes gardening is all. And this is Aurana. And this is Seyardu. I don't know if you two have met."

The journal is shown to all to keep them in the loop.

Aryia fixes the misspelling of the name by scribbling in the missing 'r'.

"Auranar is fond of gardening," Verna confirms with a nod as she explains to Seyardu. "I am fond of Auranar. Therefor, there is a directed interest." After a pause, she adds, "As well, if she wishes to grow vegetables, it only seem proper that I assist and not cause them to wilt and wither." Perfectly logical.

"I am not skilled at such... yet." She lightly stresses the last. "Just as she might not be as skilled in magic as she wises... yet." Whether to accentuate the point, aid in communication, or both, she incants and gestures (not in Handspeech) before putting a hand to Auranar's shoulder.

Auranar smiles at Verna. "We'll both learn then. We'll look for a place with room for a garden and I'll teach you how to tend to the plants. You'll see its easy. And I'll try to learn how to speak to your friend." She turns her warm smile at Aryia. "I'm sure that handspeech is handy in all sorts of fun situations."

Her dark eyes turn back to Verna as the other woman utters a spell and tilts her head to the side in curiosity as to what it was. Given that it was not sorcerously created its orgin is something of a mystery to her but she shrugs, trusting Verna. She does take the opprotunity to catch up Verna's hand and hold it though.

"Ah. You are, no, Aryia told me it is not sleeping together, but you are together?" Seyardu asks. "Aryia, perhaps you need to stop being an adventurer. It seems you are even better at getting people together that are your friends, and it seems to be a common issue at the temples of Althea. I do not know if this was your influence, or how you manage it."

"There aren't many homes with outdoor space in the markets and trade districts, but you may be able to find something. I would check closer to the temple districts for homes as such. " The cleric offers

Aryia smiles a bit, her looking between the three. She gestures once more, and with the aid of Verna's magic, the gestures gain meaning. It was less that each motion had a direct translation, but a combination of them yielding a greater picture. It was pretty clear how one could misinterpret without proper context. "That's okay. It' is indeed very /hand/-y," she snickers, waggling her fingers at the last gesture.

The mute swivels over to Seyardu, affixing her with a firm stare at the start of a faux pas. "Yes, not that. Together." But her expression quickly melts to a snerk. "I don't know, I just prod people a few times to get them to realize when people clearly like someone and do something about it."

She affixes the wild elf and the half-mul with a glance and a wink. <Handspeech>

Verna's hand is taken, initially, and entrusted into safekeeping beyond that. Seyardu's question is a simple, binary one, and yet Verna suddenly finds herself without a simple answer. There were no explicit discussions, statements of expectations, formal agreements, or the like. "We are ..." It is not quite statement, question, nor even complete as head and eyes turn to Auranar. There is question within her gaze as she now seeks yet more wisdom. Her held hand holding hers clutches with a slight squeeze.

After a pause, she breaks the silence of uncertainty (if only her own) with, "Aryia is very wise and talented in many aspects, and of immeasurable aid. I will keep your advice close, as well, Seyardu, as we search." Her eyes never leave Auranar.

Auranar is initially stimied by Seyardu's question. Not the implication that they are together, but rather... Well. The rest. She gives Verna's hand a little pleased squeaze when she realizes that she can understand Aryia's gestures. "Thank you." She murmurs and then realizes that Verna is... uncertain and that simply will not do. "We should talk, because it would be rude of me to assume anything but..."

Her eyes never leave Verna's. "We are certainly together... Don't you think?" She lowers her eyelashes somewhat and yet her smile is as warm as it's ever been. "In fact. We should have that talk right now. Somewhere private. Wouldn't want to have you hesitating the next time someone asks."

"Ah. I appear to have overstepped with my assumptions, and for that, I am sorry." Seyardu sighs. "It just seemed like it and, ah, I shall cease talking at this point."

The cleric steps back and brushes off some of the snow from her clothes. "Perhaps that is different. Those at the temple are more concerned of not having found someone to begin with, and not with parsing their feelings."

Aryia glances between the one and a half sil's. Sensing she was broaching a topic that was a bit... sensitive. She does offer one thing though, unable to keep it to herself as their gazes never leave the other. "Well, uh, no pressure, but I think you two are cute together." She smiles at that, stashing her journal away now that Auranar could understand her.

She steps back with the cleric, "Perhaps I should go to the temple to lend a hand. My track record seems to be spotless thus far."

She glances to the two, then nudges Seyardu. "Let's leave them be to discuss privately, yes? I have to pick your brain about Mynsandraal stuff anyways. I tried to read the book I got and I passed out reading it." <Handspeech>

Obviously they are together, given that they are co-located. Adjacent. In contact, even. Verna's hesitation is not of the literal geographical context, but the other.

"Yes," she answers, "I think as much, yet I would not presume your thoughts. It is a joint arrangement, afterall, and-" Hard stop. A nod. "Yes, we should speak. Frankly." Not that she seems upset by this in the slightest. Quite the opposite, as the warm radiance of Auranar's smile causes one to form on Verna's own features.

Auranar begins to lead Verna away, tugging on her hand gently and smiling fondly at the other woman. She doesn't seem bothereed by the lack of understanding between them. Confidant that they'll reach understanding. Later. "I think a nice room at a nice inn would be a nice place to talk. Somewhere warm and private. We can share some tea as we talk..." Well there's more to be said, but that'll wait long enough for them to find a place to do so.

-End Scene-