UUU: "Tea-Stained Letters"

Cast: Suleiman (Clay) and Seed (Deme)

TLDR:

Support Points Earned: 2

[10:45 PM] Team K Stalker: ===RP START=== Suleiman sat cross-legged in front of a small chest; tipped sideways to give the priest a flat surface to write on. It was late evening, the setting sun painting the sky a vibrant red. Most people in the camp were done work for the day, and Suleiman was spending his small amount of free time writing a letter to daughter. Well, "writing" isn't the right word for it. He was simply staring at a blank piece of paper, thinking about what to write. Where could he start? Should he start with life in Rettati? Or with the fight at the docks? Or with the war that will likely start now that The Pack has drawn blood on Rettati's soil? ... Pah, this is getting me nowhere. Suleiman takes the sheet with him, and walks out of his tent. Maybe fresh air will help clear my mind of these worries.(edited)

[11:55 PM] LadyDeme: Seed, for his part, had been heading that way, carrying a tray with a familiar kettle and set of mugs, resting on a large dish that he was holding in one hand. Between the items was a golden honey, gone flame-colored in the light. He'd been wrapped up in his own work, on a little bit of writing -- and, having gotten a few stanzas in, he'd been hit with a dizzying wave of fatigue, of slamming into a similar internal wall. So much to say. So little traction. And so he'd come to think about someone else, and a tea that wafted the sweet scent of summer peaches. He'd promised it... But for a moment, baffled by the sudden appearance of the person he was out to see. In the sunset, Seed's own brown skin was red-tinged, his leaves darkening towards black and his flowers looked like the twilight sky, and they tilted as he cocked his head and smiled. "Suleiman, hello. I was just coming by to see you, and wondering if you were interested in that tea I promised before."

January 4, 2018

[12:24 AM] Team K Stalker: When Seed approached him, Suleiman was staring into the treetops. At the moment, was still lost in his own head; replaying memories of his daughter in his mind. It took him a moment before he realized that somebody was talking to him. He turns to Seed, and instinctively puts on a practiced smile. "I-er... Yes, Seed! Glad to be of your..." Suleiman's smile fades as he takes the poet's words in. As he looks to the tea set, a quiet bewilderment washes over his face. "...that tea you promised? Forgive me, but I have seemed to of had forgotten about that promise." "But, come in, come in. I'd hate to see that tea wasted." He says, opening the flap to his tent.(edited)

January 5, 2018

[12:00 PM] LadyDeme: "When we first met, at the cafe, we'd planned on this then." Seed pointed out, still recalling the occaison -- without a real surprise or disappointment. He ought to have expected it, he supposed -- but at least the offer was accepted, so he wasn't standing here with a tray of hot tea for no good reason.
"But it's clear that something's troubling you. May I ask what it is?" How familiar, a practiced smile -- Seed's reliable, almost neutral smile had dropped a little, out of deference to Suleiman's clear concerns, which radiated off the priest like a wave, or rested on the Jera's small shoulders like a weight. Seed entered before him, looking back over his shoulder to read Suleiman's face.

[2:53 PM] Team K Stalker: Even for a temporary place to sleep, the inside of Suleiman's tent was rather utilitarian. A small, raised cot served as Suleiman's sleeping place, and the only things to sit on were two thatch mats. In the center stood Suleiman's staff, stuck into the ground. It emitted a soft, magical light, engulfing the tent in an dim yellow glow. Beside one of the mats is a tipped over chest, with a small pile of paper next to it. Suleiman pulls the two mats away from the staff, so that there was room to put the tea set between then. "Sorry for my forgetfulness s-" Suleiman stops himself from saying "Sir". Sir? Stop treating this man like royalty, you fool! He is your equal, not your boss! When he hears Seed's question, Suleiman became still for a second, before sitting down cross-legged on the mat beside the chest. He looks up to the tall Florkana. Perceptive, is he? Maybe I've just been making my worries obvious. "I was trying to write a letter to my daughter. However, I cannot find the ability to write my letter. The letter is bringing up all the worrisome thoughts I've been having since we left Nicousa."

January 6, 2018

[5:58 PM] LadyDeme: Seed sets it down in the space between, crossing his legs on one of the mats. The light of the staff was a touch Seed looked at admiringly, turning his hand to notice the distinct way the colored tint of the light crept up the sides of his hand and arm, his eyes storing voraciously the way it skimmed along the surface of his body, and forsook the divisions and cracks; the gloss of his bark reflected yellow dollops of light. The 'sir' turned his attention away from this momentary tracking of light and shadow, turned from his arm and to the way the rest of the tent's shadows bent away from its central point. "Ah, don't worry about it; we've had a lot to occupy out attentions. Though... Just Seed is fine; Seed Viridius, if you're inclined to be formal." Seed edged around a sort of unease that gnawed at him, extending from his cracks in a reverse of the staff's light; he gestured elegantly, a practiced stance of avoiding overt formality, in place of avoiding that unease. In the meanwhile, he began pouring first his own cup of tea, adding beforehand a spoonfull of honey, broken up by the almost honey-colored liquid. He motioned to the honeypot so Suleiman could choose his own, doubtlessly high, compliment to the tea's sweatness. "That's certainly a lot to tell... And not very much pleasant, at that; I'm rattled enough that picking a starting point amid my own work is somewhat uneasy. It all swirls in an ill-humored miasma. I... wouldn't say if, for example, that terrible mess before would be something I'd want to worry them with, if all else were equal. But then, it might worry such a person more, not knowing. My inexperience pokes through," he added, with a disappointed and self-deprecating smile. He could only guess the sort of things a father might say to his child, might need to say. "But I suppose I don't know your daughter. You seem like you'd rather be in the loop, if I had to guess. What sort of things would you generally want to write to her about?"

January 7, 2018

[10:16 AM] Team K Stalker: Wordlessly, Suleiman adds a couple spoonfuls of honey to his own cup, before pouring in the tea. He was no longer putting on a fake smile for Seed; his mind finally recognised him as a friend; someone whom the priest didn't have to feign friendliness to. "I'd want to write to her that I am safe; but that statement would only make sense if I gave her the context of being chased by half of Rettati's military. Besides, I would not want to assure her of my safety until I was well out of the country. It would be a cruel joke to have her second parent die after she was assured of their safety." Suleiman snickers to himself. Suleiman takes a sip of his cup, swishing the liquid in his mouth, before letting it down his throat. He nods his head in approval. "The tea is splendid. Blends sweet and sour very well." He carefully puts the cup back down onto the set. "Though, I could start writing about the time I spent as a tourist in Nicousa, before we met Jo."

January 9, 2018

[7:16 PM] LadyDeme: Seed gleaned a fair bit in that moment -- things he didn't think were quite on-topic, but nontheless made a sort of hollow ache well up in him, somewhere between empathy and sympathy, reflecting something far away from this moment -- an afterthought, ghosting across the second. After a long pause, aided along by the tea, which slithered warmly down his throat, he tried for: "I'm sorry to hear about your loss, and hers... And. I can see where that'd be the wrong sort of irony, and still possible; we'll have to work hard to make sure you can follow up later, when things are more settled, and we've crossed a border... Though I think your time as a tourist would be a fine topic for the meanwhile." He tried to bring it back to someone a little more immediate the past, and more salient to the topic. The topic of tea came to ease a little proud smile onto Seed's face as he took a long sniff of the tea's aroma, the true heart of its flavor in his opinion -- oh, the summoning of summer, a sweet blossoming of a gentle peach orchard in his mind. "Ah, thank you. I'd hoped this would do the trick; I normally favor a sweet tea myself, but given the different measures of 'sweet,' I wasn't sure. Now, at least, I have a spot from which to stand... But as for Nicousa, did you see anything particularly interesting?"

January 13, 2018

[5:33 PM] Team K Stalker: Suleiman chuckles. "In Nicousa? Not anything good. It wasn't a very well-off city, I must say. Not the most inclusive to tourists, as well. I guess I could give a trashing of the city; describe it's drunks and lowlifes. I imagine that I could make that entertaining enough for a letter." Suleiman smiles to himself, and takes a sip of the tea. He must not give Laura the impression that the world outside Neraida was terrible, but he would rather keep her away from Rettati. Besides, it's not like they would want a decendant of a criminal inside of their borders! He looks at the light-brown liquid inside of the teacup, his smile slowly fading. "No... I cannot simply insult the city and be done with it. I have to mention the troubles at the end of our trip. I will be vauge about it, lest somebody intercept the letter and take it as an admission of guilt."

January 15, 2018

[5:40 PM] LadyDeme: "It had its good qualities... But no, a tourist town, it was not," he admitted. He had found things to enjoy there -- but that could be done in many places, when he was in mind to enjoy them. He had not been sure if he could enjoy Nicousa some of the time; its greyness felt at times haunted, and so he eventually nodded with a regretful solemnity. "I think so. We ran into some difficulties, but we're continuing onward; not out of the woods just yet -- some sentiment of that nature might serve, though you could perhaps afford something slightly more detailed. How old is she?" He asked, taking a sip as he contemplated the audience in question; vagueness might only worry her, or be hard to understand.

January 19, 2018

[6:57 PM] Team K Stalker: Suleiman pauses for a moment, his teacup pressed up against his lips. He caught off-guard for a moment; he didn't expect that sort of question. Suleiman shakes his head, putting his cup down as he did so. "Her? Well she's fourty-seven as of now, which, in Beorc years, should be... sixteen? Eighteen? My math could be a bit off. But the number isn't important. The important thing is that she's an adolescent who is going through her rebel phase, and can't wait to be an adult." Suleiman takes another sip. "But, she is mature. She can comprehend dark subject matter just fine. I just don't want her worrying for my well-being. She'd go mad with worry if she knew that I could very well die before seeing her again."

January 24, 2018

[10:49 AM] LadyDeme: "I see; that always seems to be an interesting age, though I can't say I know that sort of relationship well. I didn't doubt she wouldn't handle the subject, I was just curious... Worrying her would be enough trouble to to navigate the right level of detail for that sort of thing." Seed answered, piecing it together into a larger position. Seeing him fret about worrying her, and how to avoid it, was touching -- charming, perhaps, given Suleiman's somewhat grumpy disposition, and it teased some amusement into Seed's eyes. "I think just hearing from you will reassure her, at least for a time, so perhaps what matters most is simply that; you're alive right now, and thinking of her, whatever lies ahead." He elected not to point out that any parting had that element -- that at any time, you might die before returning home. It was... Probably uncomfortably morbid. But it did make the warmth of the tea more satisfying.

January 26, 2018

[7:35 PM] Team K Stalker: "You want me to tell her about the fight, but re-assure her that I am safe as of writing the letter?" Suleiman sat there for a moment, mulling over that plan. His expression made it obvious that it was a plan he didn't like. He didn't want to worry her further about his well-being, and telling her about the skirmish would worry her, no matter what he said afterwards. But... "That... that seems like the best course of action. I cannot keep her from worrying about me unless I keep her in the dark. And, I shouldn't keep her in the dark, not at her age. I'll just make the situation seem hopeful. And making it seem hopeful will only be a half-lie. Despite what I want to think, our troubles in Rettati are mostly over, probably. " He sighs and takes a careful sip from his teacup. "Our troubles won't end once we leave in Rettati, but they'll get easier to deal with."(edited)

[10:06 PM] LadyDeme: "Well, I'm not sure what you should or shouldn't tell her about that, though I do think she might not be young enough that keeping her in the dark is reasonable, but..." He tilted his head, thoughtfully mulling it over. With one finger, he doodled the shape of infinity in the dust, before looking back up and explaining, "I think the most reassuring thing about the letter will ultimately be that there is a letter. Just by existing, it shows that you're well enough, and thinking of her -- and everything else is in how you choose to modify that experience." The reminder of the situation at hand gave him cause for a sad nod. He hadn't wanted to see people hurt from this... But there they were, and he wasn't as sure there'd be an end to it. "However... It's hard to predict what will happen then. We have not a whole lot of information to operate on... To be frank, I hardly expected something so... bloody. I suppose that was naive thinking, though I did expect difficulty --- just of a perhaps more diplomatic kind. But at least we won't have an army in pursuit."

January 27, 2018

[5:48 PM] Team K Stalker: Suleiman lets out a quick chuckle, silently scolding himself for not understanding Seed's words. "...yes, yes. I get it now. Simply giving her a letter would do more for her worry than anything I could put in it. Sorry for the misunderstanding." With the sarcastic smile still on his face, he fills up his teacup as Seed talks about the situation. It's always good to deal with these kinds of things with a sort of sociopathic levity, yes? It's how the nobles in Kiipos dealt with tragedies. "I wouldn't say that it was naive to think that we wouldn't be drawing blood on this investigation. It is an investigation, not an invasion, after all. Though, Drakone seems to confuse the two terms." Suleiman pauses, his smile slowly disappearing into an expression of sorrow. "Their confusion will end up starting a war. Many wars, even. Retatti made it explicitly clear that they didn't want investigators in their borders -- why else would they close them? And now, Drakone-backed investigators drew the blood of Retattese citizens on their own soil. That's an act of war if I've ever saw one. And-" Suleiman shakes his head. "Pah, it's useless rambling on about things like this. At least when I'm not contributing anything to the topic. It's simply fear-mongering for my own mind." "We can probably contribute to a more peaceful solution to this ivestigation once we leave Retatti. From what I've heard, Retatti hasn't declared war on Drakone yet, so there is a chance for no further blood to be spilt."

January 29, 2018

[9:51 AM] LadyDeme: "Don't worry about it. That sort of thing...It's to be expected." Seed answered, smiling thin an worried; it did happen far more than he'd like, needing to re-explain himself. He didn't know where he went wrong, and so he was left wondering how to change it... But for the moment being, he just finished his cup of tea, and let the grim worries wash over them. "Well, certainly, I think something of this scale is... A disaster. From what I can tell, it seems that somewhere, in the flow of communication between Rettati and this whole affair, something snapped; something falterered. But we're no closer to understanding that faltering than when we arrived... And we probably won't get that chance; that's the cost of not making things worse..." Seed sighed, and his hand hesitated over whether or not to pour himself another cup; the gloom on Suleiman's face was reflected on Seed's, though made softer by Seed's temperment, without the rigidness or energy of Suleiman's 'pah.' He instead tried to smile. "All we can do is hope for the best, I know... Perhaps, if we can reach a point when things are more settled, and we're out of the country, we might understand... And we might be able to resolve this more peacefully.." He then added, with a touch of wry humor, "And stop seasoning the tea with my sulking."(edited)

January 31, 2018

[3:04 PM] Team K Stalker: "It just feels so... infuriating to have no option to prevent this. This, whatever this turns out to be, will end up killing thousands of people. And, despite us playing a part in causing it, we have no way to help this situation from spiraling into disaster." Suleiman says, getting more and more riled up as he talked. However, as he finished talking, his anger seemed to diminish, disappearing with a sigh and a sip of tea. "I guess you are right; all we can do for now is hope. And, that is probably better than getting angry about it. Feelings of anger will only lead us to make poor decisions for now. No choice decided on emotion alone is ever a good one." "And, why should you stop seasoning the tea with sulking? I find it adds quite a good taste to any respectable tea."

February 12, 2018

[5:50 PM] LadyDeme: "You think? I find after a time, I cannot taste it well." The humor evacuated, his face falling. He sighed. "It becomes a thing; a concept. The idea of tea, its warmth leaden in my hands, it's scent a barely-registered fact of the universe. It is tea drawn on a page, written by an academic, it is a dead thing... I lose the moment with the tea in it -- Forgive me, I ramble." He lowered his head, cutting himself off in the middle of a fairly elaborate ramble he could feel building. It was still there, circling around in his head, a thin and lonely effort at a smile his best attempt at letting it hold still. But it pushed against him, and in truth, it pulled him away from the tent somewhat. He sighed again, shaking his head a little, shrugging helplessly at himself. "But if you don't mind, then I suppose I shouldn't worry so much. At times, it's rather a saltwater drink, but not today. I don't think so, anyway. To your daughter, and to surviving to hope for another day." He inclined his cup towards Suleiman in a toast and downed it, letting the heat shudder down his throat.(edited)

February 13, 2018

[9:31 PM] Team K Stalker: "To another day on this earth." Suleiman raises his cup with Seed, drinking the last of his cup alongside the poet. When he puts down the cup, a smile had creeped across his face. Not one of sarcasm, like before. Instead, this was one of genuine emotion. "I thank you for putting away the time for this little meet-up. It was... pleasant. Very much so. I haven't had something like this in a long time."

February 14, 2018

[8:53 PM] LadyDeme: "Any time, any time at all; I like to try new blends as a hobby, so I'll bring one by next time I try something sweet." He answered quickly. When Seed brought his cup down from his lips, his smile remained, and it had changed; it pushed the corners of his eyes up into warm brown creases. He nodded gratefully at Suleiman, before replacing his cup back on its tray, so that he could bring it back to his lodgings -- such as they were. For a moment, he considered saying nothing more than farewell. "...I'm glad I made the opportunity myself. It was nice, to say things that were on my mind, so I look forward to having tea again sometime." There. He'd said it -- a version of it. He could say goodbye for now with his dignity intact as, his tea set prepped to return, he stood to go with it.

February 17, 2018

[11:42 PM] Team K Stalker: Suleiman's smile fades a tiny bit as Seed stands. A small part of him wanted the poet to stay for a bit longer, but he knew that it would be awkward to keep going. To go on would look clingy or weak-willed; traits that he had spent many a years distancing himself from. "I look forward to that, as well. I'll take you up on that tea proposition, having more of this tea sounds delightful." The old man grasps the staff between them, and pulls himself up. He walks over to the pile of blank and scribbled-out papers, and puts them in the chest beside them. "Thank you for the help with my letter. I... I guess I needed a second opinion to start working on it. I've been getting too caught up in my own head these days..." There was a disappointment in him; some voice in his mind telling him to talk further. To talk about the things still on his mind. To talk until he feels content with the world around him. But, he dispells the posibillity to do so before that voice got any louder. It would be impolite to talk after saying farewells, right? Slowly, he starts walking towards his cot, placing the chest at the end of it."I guess it is time for us to depart, then? I wish you a good night, Seed."

February 18, 2018

[10:33 AM] Team K Stalker: ===END RP===