[Evaly] Hal's friend Kev has this dragon, see.
RL Date: 5/8/10
IC Date: 9/11/22 --Once more, props to Hal. Usually you "know" when you're in a search scene, right? I totally didn't see that one coming.
Market, Ista Weyr(#916RJ)
Clustered around the path leading between the beach and the jungle stands a diamond of eight wooden stalls, two to a side. Staffed by a kaleidoscope of Istans from around the island, the market features a changing array of local products from ubiquitous shell jewelry to season-conscious umbrellas and surfboards. It's Buyer Beware, though: the quality of the products varies, but then again so does the quality of salesmanship, and it's just as likely to find a overvalued rip-off as an underpriced treasure.
Open to the air when the weather is good, the market has several tools at its disposal to deal with less genial conditions. The round pit in the center of the stalls, which visitors may choose to skirt or gather around, can be used for a small bonfire on the rare cold days. A big, heavy stretch of oilcloth and a thinner gauze material have been bundled up and nailed to the trees just behind the market, ready to be stretched out for shelter or shade on days that are too rainy or too hot.
A delightful if extremely humid morning and Halsten is hard at work, or hardly working, one or the other. He seems to be spending increasing portions of his day not actually selling anything that he's got on display, although it's still all meticulously organized and arranged. And a steadily increasing proportion of the traffic is there primarily for the little packets of tobacco. For the last ten minutes or so, however, even those customers have been keeping their distance as Hal and a young man have a rather heated conversation. Something about percentages.
Evaly's done a good bit of business this morning herself, primarily consistent of pre-teen girls who have suddenly decided that glass-beaded bracelets are /all the rage/ and so they just have to have one or oh my gosh they just won't be happy ever and won't fit in and and and and-- After a couple of hours of this, she might be entitled to pulling down her canvas for a little bit, closing up if not closing down. She doesn't go so very far, just enough to be within earshot of Halsten's booth, Halsten's argument, openly eavesdropping, hanging around on the fringe of a cluster of people less willing to be blatant.
It should become swiftly clear that the trouble is that the young man in question wants a bigger cut of whatever he's involved with, and Hal is not having anything of this. "You cannot possibly think that for half an hour of work once a week you deserve that much. You cannot *possibly*." He's conscious that it's attracting some notice, and his voice has dropped a bit in volume accordingly, wary eyes cast at the lingering people, at Evaly. Something of a light at catching her face. The sort of light that comes with a plan. It seems to go along the lines of, "Evaly, will you please tell this very nice young man that ten percent is not a reasonable fee for what he's doing?" Considering she's never seemed to like him much, asking for backup might be called a half-cocked scheme at best.
Considering she's never seemed to like him much, Evaly's bright willingness to assist might be striking in and of itself. "Sure," she volunteers readily, breaks away from the crowd without so much as an apologetic flicker for her previous, eavesdropping occupation. "Ten percent is not a reasonable fee for what you're doing," she parrots, a palm flattened to Halsten's counter, used as a boost-point to hitch her hips up on to the edge of it, casting a sorry-kid smile up at the very nice young man. "Also, all this yelling is wrecking your--" She includes them both in a look, /their/. "--business, just in case you hadn't caught on. Maybe now's not the time and place for an argument."
"I'm not yelling," Halsten is quick to observe. Talking loudly isn't yelling! Quite. A little quieter: "Anyway, you see?"
Nice-young-man is still glowery. "I'm the one doing all the work here. You're the one making all the money. I just think it's only fair, spread it around a little."
"You're making one run a week." Hal's still being glowery back. "All I said is that I'd like to bump it to two. I'm not proposing not to pay you for that, I just can't sell what I don't have. Now, will you go do my pickup before I run out before lunch?" Apologetic smile for Evaly. "Just think of it as the morning's entertainment."
Evaly doesn't say the word out loud, but her expression turns questioning and her mouth forms the shape of a quick 'No?' He's not yelling? "I would make sure I get the terms nicely agreed to before I add in any more work, personally," she informs the young man sympathetically, drawing her hands before her, loosely clasped in between her knees, feet set to swinging just enough to avoid thumping them against the outside of the booth. "But I'm sure you two boys have a good enough working relationship to iron on the specifics later, huh?" is her answer to Halsten's apologizing smile, having none of that, thank you.
"Of course. Working relationship. Later." Halsten seems content to settle on this, and the young man, in the face of all that sympathy and whatnot, is giving Evaly a particular sort of an eye that any pretty girl should be totally familiar with. Hal's not. Hal's moving on to work, arranging things, things that really don't need to be arranging precisely. He's clearly expecting his visitor to go away. The visitor isn't. "Kev," Halsten says pointedly in his direction. "Go away. She's not interested. She's never interested."
Yes, Evaly's familiar. Yes, "He's right. I'm not interested. I'm just being conciliatory because you seem sweet, and it's too hot to have a big argument right now." Speaking of, she shifts down the counter somewhat to put herself at least partially in the shade, promptly back to the same posture she held prior to that, right down to the tilt of her head to smile prettily at this Kev-person. "Really, it's just pity, if you get right down to it. It's also too hot to work right now." That last cast back into the booth toward Halsten himself, along with her making a face at his industry.
"It's not that," Kev-whatever-his-full-name-is insists. Halsten is just rolling his eyes for that particular protest, and he's got a box that desperately needs going through. Hal is also very much not looking at Evaly, as there's a risk of any such look appearing, well, to be similar in character to the way he's characterized Kev's. Kev, still insisting, with big brown eyes for Evaly. "It's really not. Are you interested in standing? For the eggs? That. Frelanth wanted me to ask." If this is a pick-up line, it's at least unusual.
Evaly wants, so wants to pat poor Kev on the top of the head and send him on his way. Her fingers even twitch to that end, so she has to refold them to keep them clasped in between her knees and /not/ moving from conciliatory to condescending. The question at least puts that urge in check, though it does have her tilting her head in a different way, chin dropped, brow raised, eyes slid to find Halsten in an effort to convey an 'is he for real?' exchange of glances. "I guess that depends. Are you interested in asking me to? Because I'm not really in the business of agreeing to offers that haven't been expressly posited."
In the middle of all the very important things he's doing, Halsten still finds the time to meet Evaly's look, shrug at her. "Somebody asked me yesterday. Told 'em to go to hell."
Kev shoots Halsten the sort of look that, if looks could kill, would be down for murder in the first degree and trying to argue that the number of stabbing wounds implies lack of premeditation. Evaly gets something kinder. "Yes. Yes, of course. Will you be a Candidate for Safriath's eggs?" Beat. "Please don't tell me to go to hell. He doesn't like people saying no, and we already got turned down once at Southern."
"Ambition," Evaly begins to Halsten, "is such a turn-on." Which is a roundabout way of saying 'you are so totally a slacker,' yes. With her heels thumping against the booth this time, bump-dabump, she watches Kev for a long spell before puffing breath out of her cheeks and saying, "I'm not going to tell you to go to hell. But I'm only saying yes with the caveat that I get to continue business-as-usual. At least for the rest of the week. We can revisit the matter after that, deal?" Somewhere, at some point in time, someone was honored to be asked to stand, right? Like, Halsten declining and Evaly being cavalier are just a bad sample set?
"When was the last time you met a rider with a decent income?" counters Halsten. Which is a roundabout way of saying, 'am not'.
Somewhere, someone has taken it better, but Kev seems to be quite relieved that it's at least gone this well, with no unseemly rejection by a pretty girl. "Sure. I mean, I think that should be okay. I mean, I can't imagine why not. I mean--" Revise mental estimates of Kev's age down a few years. "Right. Absolutely. I'll let them know. There's lots that's nice about dragons." Wasn't he all glowery just a little bit ago? He's grinning, now. "And, um, at least some things that are nice about candidacy, I guess." If not exactly very sure. "I'll go tell 'em, and... whenever you are ready to move, you can just let somebody know, right?"
Evaly, with a look over her shoulder that positively smolders, "Mmmn, avarice is even sexier." Yeahno. She lets Kev get through his chatter with an attentive nod here and there, none of the smoldering for him (might explode, that one), though her brows climb dubiously at 'at least some things.' "Absolutely. And just tell them... Kev? Sent me?" < Please supply full name here. >
At least if Hal is going to be revolting, he might as well be tarred with the brush that actually applies, after all. He's not even really paying attention, smoldering or not. He's actually got a customer approaching, a middle-aged man who he pulls aside swiftly for consultation on something-or-other. That leaves Kev to finally, finally make a proper introduction: "K'vrey. That's e-y." Beat. "K-apostrophe-v-r-e-y." Lest there be any doubt whatsoever. Helpful, helpful kid. Who already looks pretty close to that exploding point. "Great. Good luck. And I'll see you, I guess."
Never one to hinder commerce, Evaly sizes up Halsten's customer with a quick glance before deciding he might appreciate her hopping down from the counter to free up the space, landing on her feet with a clap of sandals-to-earth. "Great," she echoes K'vrey with a reproduction of his tone and pitch that can't be accidental. "I'll see you around, I'm sure." Pleased? Promising? Patronizing?
If she intends it to be patronizing, K'vrey seems to miss that entirely. "Great!" again, even cheerier, and then he's off, with a last, "I'll get your stuff, but we'll talk about the money later," to Hal.
And Hal, after making a quick sale of a few small items, returns his attention to Evaly with raised eyebrows and not so much a smile as a slightly baffled look. "Guess... well, whatever floats your proverbial boat and whatnot."
There's a very self-possessed look to answer the baffled one, Evaly raising her chin with her hands on the counter behind her for now, braced for derision more than bafflement. "Why would I say no? It's not going to cost me anything, the candidates are bound to be largely the same teenage girls I'm selling to anyway, if anything, it will save the trouble of coming down here and setting up shop every day. We can't all be perverse just for the sake of being perverse."
No particular derision, once she defends it. Well, maybe a smidge, or at least a smirky comment: "Well, now you have a lovely excuse for being frigid for a couple months." Hal could hardly just let her go without something, right? She'd be disappointed. "I prefer being perverse just for the sake of being perverse. It's so much more entertaining. But I suppose you're right, if everybody was, it would be a bore. Well. Congratulations, then."
Evaly, surprised, "Did I need one?" An excuse. This is news to her. "I had a feeling," about his perversity. "And I'd hate to be accused of mimicking a routine you've got down pat. So. Well. Thanks, then." She pushes away from his counter, dusts off her hands, folds them behind her back, and turns to Halsten with a real may-I-help-you smile painted in place. "Do you need any more help chasing away harmless boys who you're probably cheating out of a fair cut, or do you think you have things under control here now?"
As she pushes away, Halsten leans forward against that same counter. "It takes no time at all for him to get there and back. Where else are you going to get a quarter mark for half an hour's work? He's got a great gig." He shrugs. Offers her a smile much less painted on. "I believe I have things under control, yes. Thank you for your help, such as it was. Now go away, some of us have work to do."
"Do you need me to point out how much time it would take you to accomplish the same work, which is really--" No. Evaly stops herself before that whole argument plays out, wheels spinning in the mud, undoubtedly. Serene, "You are so welcome for my help. If you find yourself in trouble again, don't hesitate to start yelling in the middle of the lunchtime crowd and I'm sure someone will come along and save you again." She'll just stroll on back to her own booth now, humming blithely along the way.
IC Date: 9/11/22 --Once more, props to Hal. Usually you "know" when you're in a search scene, right? I totally didn't see that one coming.
Market, Ista Weyr(#916RJ)
Clustered around the path leading between the beach and the jungle stands a diamond of eight wooden stalls, two to a side. Staffed by a kaleidoscope of Istans from around the island, the market features a changing array of local products from ubiquitous shell jewelry to season-conscious umbrellas and surfboards. It's Buyer Beware, though: the quality of the products varies, but then again so does the quality of salesmanship, and it's just as likely to find a overvalued rip-off as an underpriced treasure.
Open to the air when the weather is good, the market has several tools at its disposal to deal with less genial conditions. The round pit in the center of the stalls, which visitors may choose to skirt or gather around, can be used for a small bonfire on the rare cold days. A big, heavy stretch of oilcloth and a thinner gauze material have been bundled up and nailed to the trees just behind the market, ready to be stretched out for shelter or shade on days that are too rainy or too hot.
A delightful if extremely humid morning and Halsten is hard at work, or hardly working, one or the other. He seems to be spending increasing portions of his day not actually selling anything that he's got on display, although it's still all meticulously organized and arranged. And a steadily increasing proportion of the traffic is there primarily for the little packets of tobacco. For the last ten minutes or so, however, even those customers have been keeping their distance as Hal and a young man have a rather heated conversation. Something about percentages.
Evaly's done a good bit of business this morning herself, primarily consistent of pre-teen girls who have suddenly decided that glass-beaded bracelets are /all the rage/ and so they just have to have one or oh my gosh they just won't be happy ever and won't fit in and and and and-- After a couple of hours of this, she might be entitled to pulling down her canvas for a little bit, closing up if not closing down. She doesn't go so very far, just enough to be within earshot of Halsten's booth, Halsten's argument, openly eavesdropping, hanging around on the fringe of a cluster of people less willing to be blatant.
It should become swiftly clear that the trouble is that the young man in question wants a bigger cut of whatever he's involved with, and Hal is not having anything of this. "You cannot possibly think that for half an hour of work once a week you deserve that much. You cannot *possibly*." He's conscious that it's attracting some notice, and his voice has dropped a bit in volume accordingly, wary eyes cast at the lingering people, at Evaly. Something of a light at catching her face. The sort of light that comes with a plan. It seems to go along the lines of, "Evaly, will you please tell this very nice young man that ten percent is not a reasonable fee for what he's doing?" Considering she's never seemed to like him much, asking for backup might be called a half-cocked scheme at best.
Considering she's never seemed to like him much, Evaly's bright willingness to assist might be striking in and of itself. "Sure," she volunteers readily, breaks away from the crowd without so much as an apologetic flicker for her previous, eavesdropping occupation. "Ten percent is not a reasonable fee for what you're doing," she parrots, a palm flattened to Halsten's counter, used as a boost-point to hitch her hips up on to the edge of it, casting a sorry-kid smile up at the very nice young man. "Also, all this yelling is wrecking your--" She includes them both in a look, /their/. "--business, just in case you hadn't caught on. Maybe now's not the time and place for an argument."
"I'm not yelling," Halsten is quick to observe. Talking loudly isn't yelling! Quite. A little quieter: "Anyway, you see?"
Nice-young-man is still glowery. "I'm the one doing all the work here. You're the one making all the money. I just think it's only fair, spread it around a little."
"You're making one run a week." Hal's still being glowery back. "All I said is that I'd like to bump it to two. I'm not proposing not to pay you for that, I just can't sell what I don't have. Now, will you go do my pickup before I run out before lunch?" Apologetic smile for Evaly. "Just think of it as the morning's entertainment."
Evaly doesn't say the word out loud, but her expression turns questioning and her mouth forms the shape of a quick 'No?' He's not yelling? "I would make sure I get the terms nicely agreed to before I add in any more work, personally," she informs the young man sympathetically, drawing her hands before her, loosely clasped in between her knees, feet set to swinging just enough to avoid thumping them against the outside of the booth. "But I'm sure you two boys have a good enough working relationship to iron on the specifics later, huh?" is her answer to Halsten's apologizing smile, having none of that, thank you.
"Of course. Working relationship. Later." Halsten seems content to settle on this, and the young man, in the face of all that sympathy and whatnot, is giving Evaly a particular sort of an eye that any pretty girl should be totally familiar with. Hal's not. Hal's moving on to work, arranging things, things that really don't need to be arranging precisely. He's clearly expecting his visitor to go away. The visitor isn't. "Kev," Halsten says pointedly in his direction. "Go away. She's not interested. She's never interested."
Yes, Evaly's familiar. Yes, "He's right. I'm not interested. I'm just being conciliatory because you seem sweet, and it's too hot to have a big argument right now." Speaking of, she shifts down the counter somewhat to put herself at least partially in the shade, promptly back to the same posture she held prior to that, right down to the tilt of her head to smile prettily at this Kev-person. "Really, it's just pity, if you get right down to it. It's also too hot to work right now." That last cast back into the booth toward Halsten himself, along with her making a face at his industry.
"It's not that," Kev-whatever-his-full-name-is insists. Halsten is just rolling his eyes for that particular protest, and he's got a box that desperately needs going through. Hal is also very much not looking at Evaly, as there's a risk of any such look appearing, well, to be similar in character to the way he's characterized Kev's. Kev, still insisting, with big brown eyes for Evaly. "It's really not. Are you interested in standing? For the eggs? That. Frelanth wanted me to ask." If this is a pick-up line, it's at least unusual.
Evaly wants, so wants to pat poor Kev on the top of the head and send him on his way. Her fingers even twitch to that end, so she has to refold them to keep them clasped in between her knees and /not/ moving from conciliatory to condescending. The question at least puts that urge in check, though it does have her tilting her head in a different way, chin dropped, brow raised, eyes slid to find Halsten in an effort to convey an 'is he for real?' exchange of glances. "I guess that depends. Are you interested in asking me to? Because I'm not really in the business of agreeing to offers that haven't been expressly posited."
In the middle of all the very important things he's doing, Halsten still finds the time to meet Evaly's look, shrug at her. "Somebody asked me yesterday. Told 'em to go to hell."
Kev shoots Halsten the sort of look that, if looks could kill, would be down for murder in the first degree and trying to argue that the number of stabbing wounds implies lack of premeditation. Evaly gets something kinder. "Yes. Yes, of course. Will you be a Candidate for Safriath's eggs?" Beat. "Please don't tell me to go to hell. He doesn't like people saying no, and we already got turned down once at Southern."
"Ambition," Evaly begins to Halsten, "is such a turn-on." Which is a roundabout way of saying 'you are so totally a slacker,' yes. With her heels thumping against the booth this time, bump-dabump, she watches Kev for a long spell before puffing breath out of her cheeks and saying, "I'm not going to tell you to go to hell. But I'm only saying yes with the caveat that I get to continue business-as-usual. At least for the rest of the week. We can revisit the matter after that, deal?" Somewhere, at some point in time, someone was honored to be asked to stand, right? Like, Halsten declining and Evaly being cavalier are just a bad sample set?
"When was the last time you met a rider with a decent income?" counters Halsten. Which is a roundabout way of saying, 'am not'.
Somewhere, someone has taken it better, but Kev seems to be quite relieved that it's at least gone this well, with no unseemly rejection by a pretty girl. "Sure. I mean, I think that should be okay. I mean, I can't imagine why not. I mean--" Revise mental estimates of Kev's age down a few years. "Right. Absolutely. I'll let them know. There's lots that's nice about dragons." Wasn't he all glowery just a little bit ago? He's grinning, now. "And, um, at least some things that are nice about candidacy, I guess." If not exactly very sure. "I'll go tell 'em, and... whenever you are ready to move, you can just let somebody know, right?"
Evaly, with a look over her shoulder that positively smolders, "Mmmn, avarice is even sexier." Yeahno. She lets Kev get through his chatter with an attentive nod here and there, none of the smoldering for him (might explode, that one), though her brows climb dubiously at 'at least some things.' "Absolutely. And just tell them... Kev? Sent me?" < Please supply full name here. >
At least if Hal is going to be revolting, he might as well be tarred with the brush that actually applies, after all. He's not even really paying attention, smoldering or not. He's actually got a customer approaching, a middle-aged man who he pulls aside swiftly for consultation on something-or-other. That leaves Kev to finally, finally make a proper introduction: "K'vrey. That's e-y." Beat. "K-apostrophe-v-r-e-y." Lest there be any doubt whatsoever. Helpful, helpful kid. Who already looks pretty close to that exploding point. "Great. Good luck. And I'll see you, I guess."
Never one to hinder commerce, Evaly sizes up Halsten's customer with a quick glance before deciding he might appreciate her hopping down from the counter to free up the space, landing on her feet with a clap of sandals-to-earth. "Great," she echoes K'vrey with a reproduction of his tone and pitch that can't be accidental. "I'll see you around, I'm sure." Pleased? Promising? Patronizing?
If she intends it to be patronizing, K'vrey seems to miss that entirely. "Great!" again, even cheerier, and then he's off, with a last, "I'll get your stuff, but we'll talk about the money later," to Hal.
And Hal, after making a quick sale of a few small items, returns his attention to Evaly with raised eyebrows and not so much a smile as a slightly baffled look. "Guess... well, whatever floats your proverbial boat and whatnot."
There's a very self-possessed look to answer the baffled one, Evaly raising her chin with her hands on the counter behind her for now, braced for derision more than bafflement. "Why would I say no? It's not going to cost me anything, the candidates are bound to be largely the same teenage girls I'm selling to anyway, if anything, it will save the trouble of coming down here and setting up shop every day. We can't all be perverse just for the sake of being perverse."
No particular derision, once she defends it. Well, maybe a smidge, or at least a smirky comment: "Well, now you have a lovely excuse for being frigid for a couple months." Hal could hardly just let her go without something, right? She'd be disappointed. "I prefer being perverse just for the sake of being perverse. It's so much more entertaining. But I suppose you're right, if everybody was, it would be a bore. Well. Congratulations, then."
Evaly, surprised, "Did I need one?" An excuse. This is news to her. "I had a feeling," about his perversity. "And I'd hate to be accused of mimicking a routine you've got down pat. So. Well. Thanks, then." She pushes away from his counter, dusts off her hands, folds them behind her back, and turns to Halsten with a real may-I-help-you smile painted in place. "Do you need any more help chasing away harmless boys who you're probably cheating out of a fair cut, or do you think you have things under control here now?"
As she pushes away, Halsten leans forward against that same counter. "It takes no time at all for him to get there and back. Where else are you going to get a quarter mark for half an hour's work? He's got a great gig." He shrugs. Offers her a smile much less painted on. "I believe I have things under control, yes. Thank you for your help, such as it was. Now go away, some of us have work to do."
"Do you need me to point out how much time it would take you to accomplish the same work, which is really--" No. Evaly stops herself before that whole argument plays out, wheels spinning in the mud, undoubtedly. Serene, "You are so welcome for my help. If you find yourself in trouble again, don't hesitate to start yelling in the middle of the lunchtime crowd and I'm sure someone will come along and save you again." She'll just stroll on back to her own booth now, humming blithely along the way.