"Trust of Seed"

Cast: Seed (Deme) & Lucifel (Dea)

TLDR: After finding birds nesting on Seed while he was sleeping, Lucifel wakes him up and scares away the birds in the process. They bond by discussing writings like novels and poetry under shade of a tree. The birds re-nest in the tree above them.

Support Points Earned: 2

[10:44 PM] LadyDeme: The village of Pachima was not a grand thing; outside of the core of its market, it was scattered and fractured, houses giving way to unclaimed land here and there, where it was difficult, or left deliberate for grazing or farming: next to homes, there were cabbages growing plump and round in their fields, or peaceful greens with firewood copses, adding green among the village's rooftops. On a market day, some of the grassy fields would be home to stands and tents, and the wagons of peddlers. But today, these places dolloped in amongst the city's homes and businesses, just a street corner away, were mostly quiet. A small bird, proudly carrying a large stick in his beak, flew over the houses and towards one of these, towards a little spot shaded by a copse of trees. Clover blossomed around them, white heads bobbing faintly in the breeze; so too gently swayed the small purple flowers of the tree, an unusual type for the area, where the bird's mate was waiting. She had to wait no longer. He had a stick. Beside her was the scaggly framework that'd be the perfect nest! The male bird landed beside her, proud of himself as she chirped. All he had to do was fit the stick in. But the stick did not fit -- it curved wrong. It was long. The female bird chirped more loudly, displeased by his subpar nest-building skills. The male bird, twisting his red-crested head, joy of birdwatchers everywhere, tried to shove the stick into place. Perhaps if he got to the other side? He hopped in among vibrant leaves. The female bird hopped along next to him, the air filled with her raised, lovely voice. In the language of birds, this might have been about the bird her mother wanted to set her up with, who got sticks he could actually make nests out of... But maybe not. He would have to keep trying. He had a stick.

[10:44 PM] LadyDeme: So engrossed in their nest-building progress of the hour, and frankly, being perfectly mundane birds, these two lovebirds missed something. The tree they were building their new nest in, while shielded from above by the taller , even whispier trees, while easy to land on, while blossoming cheerfully even in the dead of summer, was... Unusual. Not, in fact, the normal sort of tree. What ordinary tree, home to bird's nests, had a face? The face of this tree was thin and tapering, set in paler bark than the branches on which the birds were building. Its eyes were shadowed, and shut peacefully in something sleeplike, dreamy. The tree was unusual in other ways -- its primary limbs, one even marked with a mossy patch full of odd seedlings and cuttings, were folded in front of it. A basket, covered by a kerchief, rested by its lightly grown-in roots: like a picnic waiting to be resumed at any time by its owner, just around the corner somewhere. Also, it was wearing light clothes, of a Florkana fabric known for its silky texture, the garment draped and sleeveless over a tall, straight, treelike figure. In other words, this was probably not actually, as such, a tree. But the birds squabbled anyway, while the tree dozed unawares of its new move-ins, blissfully detached from the chirping, and the struggle of the stick.

October 2, 2017

[10:29 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: Meanwhile, Lucifel strolled through the village, enjoying the pleasant weather as he rarely did. Not that as much was visible on his straight face. However, there were other indicators. For instance, his trademark red tie was missing, and if you looked especially close, you could see that the topmost button on his immaculate white shirt was scandalously open. What's more, his stroll was the casual gait of a man who cared not for how onlookers perceived him. In his right hand, he carried a book, identified as a romance novel by the gentle colors on the cover and the lacy script printed across the surface. Undoubtedly his intention was to find some peaceful tree under which he could resume his charming story. Lucifel found his tree. What he didn't expect to find, however, was another tree underneath it. Or to be more precise, a young Florkana male. "Excuse me." he said tentatively to the other man, from a distance of a few meters. From the soft tone of his voice, it appeared he only intended to get the tree-man's attention, not wake him if he was sound asleep. "Pardon me, but are you... aware you've picked up some residents?"

[11:16 PM] LadyDeme: The Florkana in question was asleep, honestly -- or something equivolent to it. Not sound, but still skimming beneath the surface of conciousness, like a fish that was half-visible beneath the surface. At first, the sound of an intruder hardly registered, lost in the sounds of his dream. There, he watched strange creatures passing before his vision: furry things that seemed like grey flickers, things with long stilty figures, birds with strange faces. He went to name each of these things, and found his tongue empty, found nothing to pin to these things, as they blurred away into things he could never name, things that were not squirrels or deer, even if they might have been a moment before. Not being able to name them had turned them into something else, something to diffuse the moment the wind shifted. But bird -- the bird was trying to make a noise from across the meadow... "Hnnn..." Seed drowsed as his awareness fluttered into something liminal. His eyelids fluttered. The birrds, for their part, hadn't yet decided to fly away. The male bird was still wrestling with his stick, bouncing up and down the branch to find a spot. It had to be nest. It was a perfect stick. The female bird tweeted, and nudged a corner of the nest-in-progress with her little seedcracking beak.(edited)

October 4, 2017

[10:18 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: Lucifel sighed. It would appear that the Florkana was fast asleep, and not about to wake any time soon. And as much as he would have liked to get on with finding a suitable tree to read under, it would be inconsiderate of him to just leave the Florkana here. Because of... the birds. He'd hate to disappoint the birds by letting them get too far along with their nest, only to have it inevitably displaced. He quickly closed the distance between the two of them and knelt to the ground next to the Florkana, before snapping his fingers in the hopes of scattering the birds and waking him up.

October 5, 2017

[7:54 PM] LadyDeme: Seed started awake, stirring the birds into flight in an instant. He turned his head towards the source of the noise as his eyes focused, and awareness spread back to his limbs like the warmth of a bath. As the birds flew away from the fragments of nest, he was momentarily caught by the flutter of motion. But it also caught the rather formally-dressed man before him, and for a split-second Seed had no idea how to respond, running down checklists in his head: was he apologizing, or thanking the man? Was this some disused property of his? "Ah, thank you for waking me, sir." He smiled sheepishly, and gave a nod. "Were they nesting? It rather feels like that's the case. I certainly can't do that again... But it feels a little sad to make them leave." He reached up to disentangle a few twigs from his branches -- once one moved, the rest followed, becoming a rain of twigs onto his shoulder, where he brushed them off of the pins that held the drape of his clothing.

[8:38 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: A slight smile brushed Lucifel's lips as the twigs rained down. "I'd be inclined to agree. That being said, I think it's safe to say that in he long run, they'd appreciate nesting in a place less... sentient." He held out his hand in greeting. "Lucifel Morningstar, by the way."(edited)

[9:36 PM] LadyDeme: "Oh, if I stayed still, they might have never noticed. Of course, I have far too much to do to allow that to happen." Seed laughed, but not in a way that implied he was remotely joking about this -- in fact, he almost sounded wistful, his chuckle melting into a soft sigh. Seed reached over to shake Lucifel's hand with his papery-barked hand. By comparison to some, his shake had little pressure, almost a delicacy. "You may call me Seed, Mister Lucifel. I hope I wasn't disturbing anything by choosing to nap here."

October 8, 2017

[11:56 AM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: "Ah, I feel similarly. I would gladly while away the days in quiet solitude were I able." He withdrew his hand, the merest fraction too fast. He shook his head lightly at the Florkana's question. "Oh, not in the least. While I admittedly intended to take it for myself, I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to say I have more claim to this spot than you." Truly, Lucifel seemed to be in a significantly more pleasant mood than usual, undoubtedly due to how much less tired he seemed as of late. "But that doesn't mean I'm above inquiring as to whether you'd mind if I joined you."

[8:41 PM] LadyDeme: Seed relaxed visibly as the high-wound strings inside his soul loosened. "Solitude, hmmm? ... I think part of me misses it, sometimes, but I think I'd feel the sting of it very clearly, in a way that can no longer be avoided... But that's a rather somber a talk for a first meeting, isn't it? My apologies." Seed admitted, looking briefly towards the copse of trees. Perhaps he would have been happy forever, had he only known trees -- the thought occured to him as his gold-rimmed eyes settled on the glossy, jewel-like green of summer leaves. But he didn't wholly believe it, either. The air around the Flokana was perfumed, drifting lazily around him with an herbal, almost lavender smell that seemed to match his pensive, sleepy mood. "Please, feel free to join me. I packed some water and a few small treats, if you've any interest, to go with your book... Which..." He leaned slightly forward, his eyes growing brighter and more intent upon the book in Lucifel's hands. If he had to guess, the paper stock indicated it was a novel -- those had been gaining popularity, and it seemed even prestige lately. He left the question indirectly asked.(edited)

October 9, 2017

[9:02 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: "Oh? In that case, don't mind if I do." The young man sat down underneath the waxing shade of the tree. He held out his book in response to Seed's interest. The title proudly declared it as 'Love In The Crossfire'. He grinned somewhat embarrassedly. "I've grown rather fond of romance novels in the past few years. To me, nothing is more riveting than a tale of love, especially when combined with broken hearts and betrayal."

[10:02 PM] LadyDeme: Seed settled down, sitting cross-legged; not as restful as simply letting go and drifting off, but significantly less likely to result in birds' nests being built on his shoulders. He reached up a long-ingered hand to his shoulders, picking a few last twigs that had fallen in around his own branches. His leaves and the leaves above them combined to shadow his face in layers. "Ah, I don't think I've read that one... But it is certainly is my favorite genre..." *That's why I decided to-- * No, that would come across as bragging, wouldn't it? Seed instead examined the book thoughtfully, guessing a few things about it from a title like that. "I happen to agree. Whether the ending is sad or happy, the romance itself brings a wealth of feeling -- and love, even just imagined, is I think something one is never wasted in knowing... But you certainly need a good twist or two to keep it rolling. The higher the barriers, the sweeter. Of course, people might disdain the novel, and especially the genre novel, as less worthy than other forms... But that view of it arises in fear of the novel; it's the perpetual feeling for whatever the latest might be, until time passes or they are charmed." Seed paused mid-speech, realizing he had fallen into rambling. It was a popular form of fiction, and new enough in its booms that it was getting the knickers of old men into a twist, a rot of the mind, that sort of things... But Seed was smiling with the excitement of the subject, his dreamy eyes vivid and awake all the same, as he would for poetry. That meant something.(edited)

October 11, 2017

[8:30 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: "Well, well. It would appear you're ever more of an aficionado than I am." he replied, seemingly surprised. "Perhas you can recommend me a novel or two after I finish this one." He gestured to Seed. "What kind of books do you like best? Assuming that they're not romances as well, that is. From your speech, it seems your tastes are broader."

October 12, 2017

[7:18 PM] LadyDeme: Seed's face grew a little greener, creeping up underneath his skin; A blush. However exposed he might have been, though, the tightrope had managed to be walked across successfully, thanks to the right audience for a ramble like that. Or, at least, a very kind one. "I might have a reccomendation or two, I think; Is there any region whose writers you're most familiar with?" *Should I...? No, save the self-promotion. * "While romances are my favorite genre of novel, if you put me before a written word, I'll gladly while away my time with it. But my favorite most of all is poetry: a carefully-plotted abstraction, stirring silence with suggestion, at home in narrative, passion, grief, and observation all alike: a serious sort of play. You even get romances."(edited)

October 15, 2017

[8:57 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: "Region of writers?" He pondered momentarily. "No, not in particular. To be perfectly honest, I just pick whatever book catches my fancy at the library. As such, I can't claim to be much more than a dabbler, myself." He set the book down carefully beside himself, before continuing. "Poetry? How interesting. I can't say I've found much interest in it myself. Sure, it's somewhat witty, but I've never found such prose anything especially deep." Lucifel smiled slightly. "Does this mean I'm narrow-minded?"

[9:03 PM] LadyDeme: "Ah, well..." Seed's brow furrowed, immediately troubled by the disdain for his beloved craft... And also for the pitiful state of the beorc's education, given both his opinion and his wording -- he likely hadn't read much of anything written for artistic purposes before what Seed would guess as his birth. He spent a moment interlocking long didgits, trying to find a tactful way to say it. Eventually, he answered with an almost hesitant smile. "I think your experience should certainly use some broadening; it's no wonder you couldn't find the depth of poetry, if what you looked at was prose instead of verse. I'll have to write you some reccomendations." He reached into his little bundle of semi-picnic supplies, riffling for a quill or charcoal-stick and his notebook; the man's appearance hadn't struck him from their meeting, and so the problems here were ones he felt needing rectifying.(edited)

October 17, 2017

[8:09 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: Lucifel chucked as his acquaintance pulled forth writing implements. "Well, I can't say you aren't prepared. Much appreciated, by the way." He let out a small cough. "You'll have to forgive me, as I'm not too good at differentiating members of your species just yet. But you are the Florkana member of Zain's expeditionary mission, no?"

[10:59 PM] LadyDeme: Seed pulled his head back up with a rustling of branches as his hand emerged with a charcoal stick wrapped in fabric save the tip in one hand, and in the other a book, its pages yellowed and softened at the corners, crinkled from rain; its unembossed cover suggested the thing untitled, and for notes. "That's correct. Oh -- I'm terribly sorry. I think I must have missed you earlier. So you'll be accompanying us as well?" The forest-green heart of his eyes gleamed brightly as his smile spread up into them. He relaxed his items back into their resting place, allowing his travel notebook its retreat. "Then perhaps I'll save the written reccomendations for now, and loan out something from my own library once we're underway... Hm... This might be a little presumptuous, but..." He paused, mulling over something he'd found himself saying frequently in recent days -- it was something he felt he perhaps should not say as a member of his species, and something that it'd be even stranger to say as an individual... His gaze drifted downwards, as if in the dirt he'd read an omen for the words waiting on his tongue.(edited)

October 18, 2017

[11:34 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: "Oh, allow me to thank you. I'd greatly appreciate that." Lucifel quirked a brow as Seed broke off. "My friend, please, speak freely. And if it makes you feel more at ease, just know that I've never been one to judge others, presumptuous or not." he said, smoothly lying.

October 19, 2017

[12:08 AM] LadyDeme: Seed's branches perked up before the rest of him followed, the flowers lifting on their stems as if a breeze had blown through them from within -- certaintly, the phrase made him feel lighter, and Seed didn't catch the lie. So when he spoke, it was with a gravity found in the gnarling, dipping branches of ancient oaks with serpentine limbs; his head lowered with that weight, before swooping back up. "Then...Allow me to thank you for your efforts, as well. It might not be my place to do so, as a representitive or a person, but I can't let it die unsaid, either. It's something I've been thinking through the course of these events."(edited)

[9:20 AM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: "I... uh, see." Lucifel replied, briefly at a loss for words. "I don't quite know how to say this, but I'm not deserving of your thanks." "You see, unlike you and the rest of the group, I'm not here to put my life on the line for a cause I believe in. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm simply a high ranking representative of the Rettati Banks paid to accompany your group as a show of good will." He grimaced. "I hope that doesn't tarnish your opinion of me, but I couldn't let this go unsaid and remain in good conscience. So please, if you're looking for somebody to thank, turn to our fellow comrades who are actually risking their livelihood to be here today."

[9:27 AM] LadyDeme: Seed considered this answer with his head tilted to one side; it was a beat in which his brows came towards each other, thoughtfully, and his eyes drifted towards the roots of the trees around them. His own roots, mostly in the shape of feet for the moment like intricate wicker, were seperated from them by inches of soil -- all the same, he recognized them beneath the surface. When he looked at Lucifel again, he looked somehow wistful. "Ah, one of the reason that it was presumptuous... Was that I didn't know anyone's reasons. I'm sure many of the people doing this are helping out of their own interests." It wasn't as if he was unselfish, either... Rather, when he thought about it, there was only the faintest glimmer of even a mildly benevolent motive in his heart: and not one he'd really think others would understand. "But do you intend to just treat this as a vacation and relax the whole time?"(edited)

[10:01 PM] Deallocate | Tsun-Dea-re: "It's not that. I fully intend to earn my wages." He leaned back. "Ah, are you trying to say it isn't the motive that matters, but the accomplishment? It does hold ground; when all's said and done, my intentions won't matter so long as I've helped bring about a better world." Lucifel let out a small grin. "It almost makes me feel like I'm doing something good. Almost. He bowed his head briefly to Seed. "In that case, I gladly accept your thanks, and would like to thank you in return, regardless of any ulterior motives you may have in your heart. For as long as this mystery is solved, the continent as a whole will benefit from it."

October 20, 2017

[2:04 AM] LadyDeme: "That's part of it; good thoughts are wonderful, and I wouldn't besmirch them... But they're not things with arms they are not granted. Part of it's also that I honestly feel glad, and grateful; I'm not sure I can explain the reason myself. So there's no sense in not saying it." The return of it was very startling for him, somehow; after all, for someone like Seed, who was not especially suited to an investigation, and for a Florkana, whose natural duty this somewhat was (a duty that he couldn't quite know what to do with), there's almost something of an element of useless default, ceremonial frippery, to his presence. He chuckled and steepled his fingers together. "We'll see how my actions earn that gratitude... But I hope this is to everyone's blessing, in the end. Now, about that novel..." The two spent a while in the quiet shade of the copses, discussing the romance Lucifel had with him, and where to go from there -- a much lighter conversation, than good or gratitude... But perhaps not as full as it could have been; Seed saved his own work's reccomendation for another day. And in the trees above, a bird returned to a nest in progress. He had a Stick.(edited)

[2:04 AM] LadyDeme: == RP End ==