[Log] You Adorable Man, You
Who: Katric, Zoma
When: Day 16, Month 6, Turn 2, 7th Pass
Where: Beach, Western Islands
What: Katric meets Zoma. Those islanders are a weird bunch.
On a Western Island, Beach
The island's beach is long and narrow, tapering in a curve to the north and south. The grey sand is trapped between the surf of the ocean and a short wall of weathered stone. Above and beyond this is the border of a tropical forest, tall and shadowy even in the brightest sunshine. A thin path winds its way up the face of the cliff and disappears into the trees.
In the wet season, a clear day is little more than the rains catching their breath. Though heavy clouds loom ever present, they split apart every so often to allow clear crisp sunshine to sneak through.
Contents:
Zoma
Shanti
Obvious Exits:
Narrow Path (NP)
Zoma
Turns of exposure have left this woman with a hardened edge to her appearance. A deep tan that always borders on red has covered her from head to toe. Blonde hair is kept chopped short, although this helps none with the frizz it seems naturally inclined to do. It flies away always, a halo of a mess around an average looking face. Green eyes are pale and often seem unable to focus on things far away. Her body is little more than a reed with long legs, possessing a height that rivals many of the men on the island.
Clothes are worn for some modesty's sake, but just enough. A sarong of faded blue is worn low on her hips and ends above her knees. Matched with this is top consisting of no more than a strip of cloth criss-crossed over her chest and tied at her lower back. Bare feet bear the marks of turns of no shoes. There are scars and scratches all over her visible skin and scabs on either knee.
While the rain is never far away, there is a bit of sunshine for now. Enough that Zoma is taking her lunch break early and is stretched out on a mostly dry patch of sand. Lying on her back she shuffles a worn, sadly worn, deck of cards in her hands on her stomach. Then she reaches into the deck and pulls one out, looks at it, and puts it back in. She seems to be playing find the card with herself. More shuffling and she wiggles bare feet into the sand as she ignores the people farther up the beach finishing up their chores before seeking the noon meal. Zoma seems more interested in lounging than eating, although she's partially buried some fruit rinds. Maybe she ate already.
Katric's helpfulness around camp extends as far as being willing to tend the few bruises and scrapes the islanders encounter, when there's no one else around and he has to leave off pestering the healing Donavon. True to form, he's doing nothing else useful just now, just wandering around camp while his friend takes a nap. It's one of these passes through the area that reveals Zoma to him, the former healer studying her a moment from a safe distance, and then edging gradually closer to watch without speaking.
Zoma seems unaware of being watched as she shuffles her cards. A yell in the distance breaks her concentration and the cards go everywhere. Where before she was the picture of slacker repose now she is all energy. Up she sits and before the wind can carry them off she is scurrying around on hands and knees in the sand to catch up what remains of her deck. A breeze catches one card and blows it along the sand. Letting out a loud curse of her own she leaps to her feet to take off after the card that seems to be on its way to meet Katric. "Stop it!" she yells, to Katric or maybe the card.
Katric at once takes a startled step backward, eyes widening as he stares at Zoma. "But I'm not doing anything!" he defends himself, entirely missing the cards fluttering at him.
Zoma curses even louder and dives past Katric to get the card before it can get sent farther away. Down she goes in a spray of sand that leaves her spitting it from her mouth as she clutches the precious in one hand. A triumphant grin spreads over her face and only after returning the card to its deckmates does she turn to peer up at Katric. "The card, you. . oh. Yer the new guy, yea? I can tell cause I ain't seen you every day for the last too long. Zoma." Extending a hand up to him she grins again. "Well, help a woman up off her bum will ya?"
Katric just stares as Zoma dives toward him, the man cringing slightly as though he thinks she's aiming for him. He breathes a relieved sigh as she just grabs the card, though. "Oh. Uh, yeah, that's me," he tells her after a moment, still a little slow on the uptake for the moment. "Katric. And--oh, right. Sure." He offers her a hand to pull her back to his feet, glancing at the cards again curiously. "What were you doing?"
There's little weight to put on his offered hand as Zoma stands. Once on her feet she brushes sand from off her and grins wide. "Shuffling. Don't suppose they let you bring a deck of cards? Can't seem to get replacements. Horrid. Primitive living." Shaking her head she wipes the back of her hand across her forehead to get hair from her eyes. "Was taking a break anyway. Find the card. Not as fun as finding other things." A shrug and a wink before she takes a step back. "Don't mean ta bother you or anything, of course. Figure you're some scary criminal or something to be sent here. Ohhh. I'm scared." Her head tips back as she laughs. She's not mocking him, she's inviting him to join in the absurdity of it all. He just might not get the difference.
"Nah," says Katric wryly. "Didn't exactly grab 'em before they grabbed me, and, well. They weren't exactly giving me a lot of the comforts of life, either." He wrinkles his nose slightly and rubs his hand off on his pants when Zoma releases it. "Finding what?" he asks her blankly on that subject. He only smiles crookedly in answer to her latter words, shrugging slightly as if to say, 'yeah, that's me.'
Zoma raises a brow when he wipes his hand off. "I don't got any sickness. Make a girl feel friendly towards you, Katric." Snorting she gives her head a shake and then is smiling once more. "Finding all sorts of things. Don't tell me, cute as you are, you never lured some girl off to hide something." As she stands there and talks she shuffles her cards absently, not losing any this time. Helps to not be on your back when you do it. "So, I was playing find the card. You pull one out. Shuffle. See if you pull it out again."
"Sorry, habit," Katric excuses himself with a half-shrug. In answer to her explanation, though, he hesitates, opening and closing his mouth and finally muttering, "Uh. Right. Yeah. Aaaanyway." He sounds a little shady on that front. "Cards, though? Sounds--fun," he notes absently.
"Oh, are you shy? How adorable. I can cure that," Zoma offers with a wink and a light-hearted leer. "Just remember, I'm Zoma. Oh, shells." In the distance that name gets called by an annoyed sounding man. A rather round man is huffing his way down the beach. "You never saw me, we never talked. Try avoiding people around here. Can't be done. Watch me try!" Another wink and she tucks her cards into the waist of her sarong. "We'll talk again soon, you adorable man you. I'll find out about this woman you didn't play hide the card with." Turning she sprints easily for the treeline and vanishes into it. Work avoided once more!