Jeracynn and Nathein on the fireheights.
RL Date: 6/4/2007
IC Date: 4/6/12
Fireheights, Benden Hold
Standing atop the cliff, you see the whole of the region laid out below you. Firepits spread out around you, and sacks of firestone are kept piled here to resupply dragons fighting Thread over Benden. Visiting dragons often perch here, keeping the watchdragon company.
People are starting to spend more of their free time outdoors, now that the bitter chill of winter has passed. The pleasant breeze blowing down from the mountain cools and refreshes you. Residents wander through the courtyard on their way to the Great Hall, and you faintly hear the sounds of clinking dishes, laughter and conversation, though the real show is the sun setting in the distance.
A steep stairway cut into the cliff leads down to the courtyard.
A friendly (read: small stakes, no punches thrown) game of poker is just breaking up between a couple of off-duty guards and one not-guard, that being Nathein. The big fellow stands up from a stool putting away his winnings and offering around handshakes to all and sundry, met with good-natured grumbles of disappointment. "Next time, lads, next time," promises the big fellow.
Jeracynn's footsteps proceed her, their soft padding likely lost on the gathering at the top of the stairs, but soon enough she emerges in their midst. "If I had known there was to be a gathering, I'd have dressed for the occasion." The Lady gives a lopsided grin and works her way around them with polite nods for each.
The guards look sheepish, like kids caught in the cookie jar, and the three of them offer harrumphs and good-evenings and generally look ready to slink off. Without any chagrin of his own, Nathein takes a quick survey of the Lady's attire - or the Lady herself? - and offers fluidly, "You've out-dressed the lot of us, madam, and nature certainly makes up for what the ensemble might lack."
"Have I?" The Lady replies with dry amusement, waving off any chagrin on her guards behalf with a good natured grin sent their way before turning her considering gaze on Nathein, "I suppose it would seem a rather out of the way spot to expect too many to drop in on. Just your luck I did so and mine, it appears, that I can make up for what my attire lacks?"
Nathein smiles assuredly, watching his card-playing pals go strolling off with their many well-wishes for the Lady's good evening still echoing back. "Then I'll call mine good luck, madam, and yours is good fortune. May I ask," he begins, straightening his lapels in response to Jeracynn's presence, "what brings the Lady Benden up to the fireheights?"
A hand is lifted to wave after those guards, her own well wishes to send them on their way and Jeracynn turns back with a chuckle, "You may ask. And since I'm feeling generous I may even answer." She pauses significantly, teasing through that holding off and then a mild, if elegant shrug marks the moment she designs to say on, "I was in need of some fresh air, really. Nothing more grand than that. And I thought to venture up here to catch it."
Nathein leans out over the railing for a precarious moment, taking in a big breath - not that there's much a fellow his size can do that's /not/ big. Looking back over his shoulder at Jeracynn, he flickers a grin into place. "I'd say you've come to the right place for it, m'Lady. Chilly now that the sun's going down, but plenty of fresh air." At that, he offers over a hand with a cordial, "Nathein, by the way."
"Well met, Nathein," Jeracynn replies, offering out her hand in turn to his own, "And yes, I rather expected the chill, I find it bracing, really. At least at this time of the turn." She smiles though, finding amusement in something related to her next, "Of course, I usually am quite ready for a warm hearth fire by the time I retreat as well. I suppose you figured the chill also would keep an audience at bay, hmm?"
Nathein doesn't shake Jeracynn's hand the way he would a gentleman's. Instead, he puts one hand under hers, folds the other over hers, and then nods low enough to take it as the beginnings of a bow before releasing the whole shebang. "Well met, indeed." Turning back to the railing, leaning on his elbows, he adds one last, sly look back at her. "You make it sound like we're up to no good out here, madam. I assure you - everything was on the level."
The gesture taken in stride, with little comment, though ever watchful grey eyes do take in more than that partial bow. Once released, Jeracynn takes back her hand with a light chuckle to accompany it, "Perhaps it was the amount of guilt my guards seemed to express at having been caught out. Not that it was so much that I suspect foul play, but enough I feel safe to at least tease over the matter."
Grinning, though now he turns his face over the courtyard instead of toward Jeracynn, Nathein has the grace to look a little 'caught' by her suspicion, jesting as it was. "If you had just been taken for your entire months' salary and had to go home to face your wife afterward, you would probably look a little guilty, too." Pausing, his grin deepens. "Not that anyone would take you thusly."
"They would have a little difficulty in doing so, it is true," Jeracynn remarks dryly, pacing forward to take up a similar position about an arm's length away, "Of course, with no wife to go home and confess to..." she sighs dramatically, watching the man beside her out of the corner of her eye as she continues, "I suppose my chagrin would be the same for different reasons rather than greater."
"I imagine your monthly salary would take a little more than an early evening to divest, mhmn." Nathein thinks about it, though, that much is obvious: Eyes narrowed, focused on nothing specific off in the distance, he eventually takes in another breath and comes back to the here and now. "I always wondered something. I can look at a place like this, a night like this, and just think, 'my, isn't this a pretty hold.' You? Do you think, 'this is my pretty hold?'"
"That would rather depend on the skill of the players and the amounts staked." Jeracynn remarks. "A shrewd gambler can make even a small stake last a while, can he not? With a bit of skill and luck combined." Am elegant roll of a shoulder comes in reply, but she ventures no farther information on the first matter, and then for a brief instant lets her eyes close as she listens to the sounds of her Holding before opening them again and answering, "I tend to think more, 'look at this lovely Hold I have the pleasure to tend. May I tend her well so she may continue to prosper.'" A sidelong look follows, a quick grin after that, "And about then I start thinking of my never ending to do list."
An elegant roll...
Nathein remarks amiably, "That's a politic answer, isn't it?" The laugh he spares is as mild as the evening, more a little chuckle through his nose than an outright laugh. "Ahh, so sorry to lead the conversation around to the to-do list. I'll make the effort next time to keep it all glib talk of poker." Making good on it right away, he adds, "Do you play?"
"Politics surround me, I suppose they might well influence me in just simple conversation. But truly, don't worry about the to do list. It's just never far from my mind on mist occasions." An open, genuine smile crosses her face then and Jeracynn can't help but reply in the round about, "Not quite as well as I play chess."
Nathein admits conversationally, "I don't know chess. One piece moves this way, the other piece moves that way." He throws up his hands in dramatic confusion, shaking his head like he's utterly lost by just the thought of it. "I play a mean game of checkers, though. It's easy when all the pieces move in one direction, diagonal only." With a brief glance at that honest smile, he returns to grinning and looking back across the valley spread out below them. "Not that that's any kind of answer. Are you any good at playing cards?"
"Checkers I can manage a rather mean game of myself. Even the one with the marbles I find quite relaxing. As for Chess, I save playing it for when I want to threaten to punish my Steward. He does so enjoy our sessions together." The Lady's smile turns knowing and amused before she shrugs, "Honestly, I never much had time for learning to play. Some basics, perhaps, but it wasn't something that I found caught my interest well."
"I suppose it wouldn't go quite as far if you're not playing for marks, hmn?" Raking his fingers absently across the stone railing, Nathein scrapes them back to his pockets and straightens from the lean he'd been in until now. "It's a little telling about the game itself if you're using it as a torture device." With a chiding tsk.
"I never had much need to play for marks." Jeracynn replies, her grin canting to the side, "At least not games of cards or chess. As for using the latter for a torture device being telling, you'd have to know my Steward." A wink provided then and she turns her gaze out over the courtyard and draws a deep breath at last.
Nathein, amusedly, "I think it's enough that I know the game." For a moment, standing a half-step from the rail now, he watches Jeracynn with her big breath, then breaks into a less smirky sort of smile. "And I should leave you to your breath of fresh air. I'm still an hour down the road from my parents', and they still worry like I'm all of six turns old and can't be trusted on my own."
"Perhaps." She replies of that first as simply as that. And after a pause the Lady says on, "Ahh yes. That's how it is with parents, I know. They worry regardless do they not? I thank you just the same for the company and conversation."
"Happy to oblige." Nathein gestures one hand to the view, apparently on the verge of saying something else - but, in the end, the view pretty much speaks for itself, does it not? "Enjoy your evening, Lady. You've certainly picked a fine one." The big fellow makes a big smile and a rather small escape, strolling lazily off toward the courtyard.
You climb down the stairs to the courtyard.
IC Date: 4/6/12
Fireheights, Benden Hold
Standing atop the cliff, you see the whole of the region laid out below you. Firepits spread out around you, and sacks of firestone are kept piled here to resupply dragons fighting Thread over Benden. Visiting dragons often perch here, keeping the watchdragon company.
People are starting to spend more of their free time outdoors, now that the bitter chill of winter has passed. The pleasant breeze blowing down from the mountain cools and refreshes you. Residents wander through the courtyard on their way to the Great Hall, and you faintly hear the sounds of clinking dishes, laughter and conversation, though the real show is the sun setting in the distance.
A steep stairway cut into the cliff leads down to the courtyard.
A friendly (read: small stakes, no punches thrown) game of poker is just breaking up between a couple of off-duty guards and one not-guard, that being Nathein. The big fellow stands up from a stool putting away his winnings and offering around handshakes to all and sundry, met with good-natured grumbles of disappointment. "Next time, lads, next time," promises the big fellow.
Jeracynn's footsteps proceed her, their soft padding likely lost on the gathering at the top of the stairs, but soon enough she emerges in their midst. "If I had known there was to be a gathering, I'd have dressed for the occasion." The Lady gives a lopsided grin and works her way around them with polite nods for each.
The guards look sheepish, like kids caught in the cookie jar, and the three of them offer harrumphs and good-evenings and generally look ready to slink off. Without any chagrin of his own, Nathein takes a quick survey of the Lady's attire - or the Lady herself? - and offers fluidly, "You've out-dressed the lot of us, madam, and nature certainly makes up for what the ensemble might lack."
"Have I?" The Lady replies with dry amusement, waving off any chagrin on her guards behalf with a good natured grin sent their way before turning her considering gaze on Nathein, "I suppose it would seem a rather out of the way spot to expect too many to drop in on. Just your luck I did so and mine, it appears, that I can make up for what my attire lacks?"
Nathein smiles assuredly, watching his card-playing pals go strolling off with their many well-wishes for the Lady's good evening still echoing back. "Then I'll call mine good luck, madam, and yours is good fortune. May I ask," he begins, straightening his lapels in response to Jeracynn's presence, "what brings the Lady Benden up to the fireheights?"
A hand is lifted to wave after those guards, her own well wishes to send them on their way and Jeracynn turns back with a chuckle, "You may ask. And since I'm feeling generous I may even answer." She pauses significantly, teasing through that holding off and then a mild, if elegant shrug marks the moment she designs to say on, "I was in need of some fresh air, really. Nothing more grand than that. And I thought to venture up here to catch it."
Nathein leans out over the railing for a precarious moment, taking in a big breath - not that there's much a fellow his size can do that's /not/ big. Looking back over his shoulder at Jeracynn, he flickers a grin into place. "I'd say you've come to the right place for it, m'Lady. Chilly now that the sun's going down, but plenty of fresh air." At that, he offers over a hand with a cordial, "Nathein, by the way."
"Well met, Nathein," Jeracynn replies, offering out her hand in turn to his own, "And yes, I rather expected the chill, I find it bracing, really. At least at this time of the turn." She smiles though, finding amusement in something related to her next, "Of course, I usually am quite ready for a warm hearth fire by the time I retreat as well. I suppose you figured the chill also would keep an audience at bay, hmm?"
Nathein doesn't shake Jeracynn's hand the way he would a gentleman's. Instead, he puts one hand under hers, folds the other over hers, and then nods low enough to take it as the beginnings of a bow before releasing the whole shebang. "Well met, indeed." Turning back to the railing, leaning on his elbows, he adds one last, sly look back at her. "You make it sound like we're up to no good out here, madam. I assure you - everything was on the level."
The gesture taken in stride, with little comment, though ever watchful grey eyes do take in more than that partial bow. Once released, Jeracynn takes back her hand with a light chuckle to accompany it, "Perhaps it was the amount of guilt my guards seemed to express at having been caught out. Not that it was so much that I suspect foul play, but enough I feel safe to at least tease over the matter."
Grinning, though now he turns his face over the courtyard instead of toward Jeracynn, Nathein has the grace to look a little 'caught' by her suspicion, jesting as it was. "If you had just been taken for your entire months' salary and had to go home to face your wife afterward, you would probably look a little guilty, too." Pausing, his grin deepens. "Not that anyone would take you thusly."
"They would have a little difficulty in doing so, it is true," Jeracynn remarks dryly, pacing forward to take up a similar position about an arm's length away, "Of course, with no wife to go home and confess to..." she sighs dramatically, watching the man beside her out of the corner of her eye as she continues, "I suppose my chagrin would be the same for different reasons rather than greater."
"I imagine your monthly salary would take a little more than an early evening to divest, mhmn." Nathein thinks about it, though, that much is obvious: Eyes narrowed, focused on nothing specific off in the distance, he eventually takes in another breath and comes back to the here and now. "I always wondered something. I can look at a place like this, a night like this, and just think, 'my, isn't this a pretty hold.' You? Do you think, 'this is my pretty hold?'"
"That would rather depend on the skill of the players and the amounts staked." Jeracynn remarks. "A shrewd gambler can make even a small stake last a while, can he not? With a bit of skill and luck combined." Am elegant roll of a shoulder comes in reply, but she ventures no farther information on the first matter, and then for a brief instant lets her eyes close as she listens to the sounds of her Holding before opening them again and answering, "I tend to think more, 'look at this lovely Hold I have the pleasure to tend. May I tend her well so she may continue to prosper.'" A sidelong look follows, a quick grin after that, "And about then I start thinking of my never ending to do list."
An elegant roll...
Nathein remarks amiably, "That's a politic answer, isn't it?" The laugh he spares is as mild as the evening, more a little chuckle through his nose than an outright laugh. "Ahh, so sorry to lead the conversation around to the to-do list. I'll make the effort next time to keep it all glib talk of poker." Making good on it right away, he adds, "Do you play?"
"Politics surround me, I suppose they might well influence me in just simple conversation. But truly, don't worry about the to do list. It's just never far from my mind on mist occasions." An open, genuine smile crosses her face then and Jeracynn can't help but reply in the round about, "Not quite as well as I play chess."
Nathein admits conversationally, "I don't know chess. One piece moves this way, the other piece moves that way." He throws up his hands in dramatic confusion, shaking his head like he's utterly lost by just the thought of it. "I play a mean game of checkers, though. It's easy when all the pieces move in one direction, diagonal only." With a brief glance at that honest smile, he returns to grinning and looking back across the valley spread out below them. "Not that that's any kind of answer. Are you any good at playing cards?"
"Checkers I can manage a rather mean game of myself. Even the one with the marbles I find quite relaxing. As for Chess, I save playing it for when I want to threaten to punish my Steward. He does so enjoy our sessions together." The Lady's smile turns knowing and amused before she shrugs, "Honestly, I never much had time for learning to play. Some basics, perhaps, but it wasn't something that I found caught my interest well."
"I suppose it wouldn't go quite as far if you're not playing for marks, hmn?" Raking his fingers absently across the stone railing, Nathein scrapes them back to his pockets and straightens from the lean he'd been in until now. "It's a little telling about the game itself if you're using it as a torture device." With a chiding tsk.
"I never had much need to play for marks." Jeracynn replies, her grin canting to the side, "At least not games of cards or chess. As for using the latter for a torture device being telling, you'd have to know my Steward." A wink provided then and she turns her gaze out over the courtyard and draws a deep breath at last.
Nathein, amusedly, "I think it's enough that I know the game." For a moment, standing a half-step from the rail now, he watches Jeracynn with her big breath, then breaks into a less smirky sort of smile. "And I should leave you to your breath of fresh air. I'm still an hour down the road from my parents', and they still worry like I'm all of six turns old and can't be trusted on my own."
"Perhaps." She replies of that first as simply as that. And after a pause the Lady says on, "Ahh yes. That's how it is with parents, I know. They worry regardless do they not? I thank you just the same for the company and conversation."
"Happy to oblige." Nathein gestures one hand to the view, apparently on the verge of saying something else - but, in the end, the view pretty much speaks for itself, does it not? "Enjoy your evening, Lady. You've certainly picked a fine one." The big fellow makes a big smile and a rather small escape, strolling lazily off toward the courtyard.
You climb down the stairs to the courtyard.