Log: Truth and Consequences
TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES
Act I
The jungle is never a busy place, but this humid, cloyingly hot afternoon it seems deserted. Wild things make soft noises here and there, the infrequent breeze ruffles through the canopy, but otherwise the silence is almost as heavy as the air. Into this emptiness comes, eventually, a lilting tune hummed in a low key, on-pitch but certainly nothing special. If one were apt to know this sort of thing, it is unsurprisingly a bawdy tune, but without words it could be just about anything. The song preceeds Raveki but it's soft and so the sight of her joins it before too long as she picks her way along the clear path from the Seven.
It is a summer afternoon, 14:36 of day 17, month 6, turn 22 of Interval 10.
If Halsten leaves the Weyr walking at 3 miles per hour at 2:24 in the afternoon, and Raveki leaves the Seven walking 2.5 miles per hour at 2:35, at what time do their paths cross and where do they meet? Wherever it is, he's quiet enough in his own walking to come upon her practically out of nowhere at a curve in the path, but it's hard for him to appear too shocked when she's been humming so. He's got a bottle in hand, and how many people bring booze *with* them on the way to the Lucky Seven? "Well, now, this is a pleasant surprise."
Math?!
Unlike the ever smooth Halsten, when Raveki comes around the corner she has to swallow both the humming and a shocked little squeak. Hand to chest, she flashes a sheepish grin as she composes herself. "Halsten. You scared me." Obviously. With a breath or two she has her typically languid posture back, her smile softened and hands resting easily on her hips. "Is it pleasant? That's always nice to hear." A lift of the chin indicates the bottle. "Bringing me presents?"
Sorry, girls and math, that's a bad combination, right? Hal offers her out his free arm, although whether for her to clutch or possibly slip under is a bit ambiguous. "I certainly did not mean to scare you. Should I whistle, in the future? We could have some nice harmony. Or I could wear a bell." He glances down at the bottle as though he only just remembered it was there. "I was going to see if you were free for a little while, actually. If you wanted to take a walk or some such. And here you are, walking."
Only when the girl is going on about 4 hours of sleep! But anyway... One slender arm lifts, causing the silver bangles there to jingle softly, and Raveki grins. "Or bracelets! But we know you don't tend to get those in." She winks, and it might be noted that the strand of glass beads she recently bought is there among the thin circlets at her wrist. Eyes drop to the bottle, and though her smile remains in place, dark lashes drop, leaving her eyes narrowed in assessment bordering on suspicion. "You wanted to take a... walk with me." Up goes a brow as her gaze slides back to his, and now amusement tips her smile off center. "Here I am, walking, yeah. How convenient." She still sounds curious, thoughtful, and the hand that takes his offered arm is tenative.
"Not on a regular basis. But you never know. Maybe I'll have more in the future." Halsten beams at her and switches the bottle between hands so he can rest one hand over hers. "Well. It does tend to be loud in there. And--well, quiet tends to come with certain implications. Also, I doubt they're okay with my bringing something from outside," the bottle in question held up, "but I am not paying their markup on the good stuff." So whatever this is, it's something he considers the good stuff. "Are you free? I could come back later."
The bright smile just seems to throw Raveki more off balance. She blinks first at his expression and then at the hand on hers, a tiny wrinkle appearing between her brows. "Well, that would be nice," she says slowly, then her teeth brush her lower lip. "I'm free. I was just going to go take a soak in the baths but it can wait. What sort of implications were you hoping for?" By then end she has managed to drop back into her usual drawl but curiosity still touches both eyes and tone. "And maybe more importantly, you /are/ going to share some of that good stuff with me, right?" A grin makes that at least somewhat a tease.
She might be off-balance, but despite the unexpected encounter, Hal seems completely and utterly on. Since he's got her on his arm now, he starts off down the path, then eventually off down a smaller side path that leads to neither Weyr nor bar. "Of course I'm going to share. The sharing is the fun part, isn't it? I think it is, anyhow. Absolutely not worth the expense to drink alone." There's no rush to his pace, and now and then he pauses as he's talking. "I don't want implications at the moment. I'm paying for your time." As opposed to.
It probably helps that he was expecting to encounter her at least at some point. Either way she matches steps to his without making him drag her along, leaning close enough for her hip to bump his when their steps come together just so. She does glance upward and then back as they take the small side path as if marking its location. "Well I'm always willing to share a drink especially if you're buying," she murmurs. That last bit brings her brows up and deepens the curve of her smile. "Oh, this is part of your trade is it?" That seems to change everything, the tension sliding out of her shoulders and the line of her mouth. Apparently she would have gone a walk with him for free. "So... how have you been? How's the girl?"
Of course she would have; he seems not to even register the difference. Hal would probably expect her to do a lot of other things for free, too, and yet there's no attempt to wiggle anything more into what he's owed. "Oh, passable. Quite passable. I believe the only girl I'm concerned about at the moment is the one I'm talking to." Which is either an evasion or some sort of point to her credit. A log lays across the path here, and he's careful about stepping over it, helping her to do as well.
It all makes Halsten some kind of enigma, but Raveki is at least making an effort at not looking totally confused, though she darts little thoughtful glances up at him every now and then. She makes use of his help, especially in her wedge sandals that are too high for clambering around in the jungle, using her second hand to cling to his arm as she steps across. "Mmm, well thank you for your undivided attention. I am a good person to talk to though, if you ever need a listening ear. I give good advice, too." She leaves it at that, and also leaves her second hand lightly over his.
Not too far from there, the path such as it is ends in a clearing with a wide, flat rock. Where Hal sits down, goes to open up the bottle of wine. Evidently this is as much walking as is happening for the moment. "Do you think I need advice? In that sort of thing." Once the bottle is opened up, he offers it to her. Better wine than one normally finds at the Lucky Seven, that's for sure. "Is that the sort of impression you get of me?"
Raveki drops down close beside Halsten, absently reaching to unbuckle her sandals as he opens the bottle. Her fingers are quick about it, and when her feet are bare she tucks them up under her, smoothing her skirt over her legs before she answers. "Everyone can use advice now and then," she says with a shrug. A beat as she looks him over, then, "You are good looking and charming so I assume your luck with the ladies is generally good. Some women are more complicated than others though, so I thought I'd offer. Just in case you thought I might be the jealous type." That last brings a true and genuine grin to her mouth, soon hidden as she sips at the wine. "Oh that *is* good," she murmurs as she hands it back.
"I like the sandals," Halsten comments as she's taking them off. "But they do border on making you a bit too tall." Picky, picky. He takes the bottle back when she offers it, takes a long swig himself. Glasses would be classier, but who carries glasses around to a place like this? "I bought a lot of bottles all at once, cheaper that way. Have been running rather short of the right sort of situation to drink it in, however." He frowns down at the bottle, drinks once more, offers it back. "Why do you do it? What you do."
The sandals, lying helter-skelter on the damp ground just as they fell, get a little glance. "Thanks, I like them too." The comment on being too tall brings up her brows and she lets out one note of a chuckle. "Is that right? I'm the tall, dark, leggy one. There's a petite blond at the Seven if you prefer that sort you know." She watches him drink, eyes on his mouth for a beat before they flick back to his eyes. "And sitting in the jungle with a whore is the right sort of situation? You need a girlfriend, Hal." A wink is offered as her hand reclaims the bottle, but she just swirls it for a moment, watching the crimson liquid slide around as she answers. "Lots of reasons. It made a lot of sense at the time, the money's good..." Trailing off she takes a sip, watches him as she adds, "And I like it. Why do you do what you do?"
"Tall is fine. Just not too tall." *Very* picky. But Halsten's smiling nonetheless. "The dark and leggy works." Like he's appraising a potential purchase or something. A piece of furniture. Almost not quite the right color, but it will do. "The last thing on this green planet I happen to need is a girlfriend." That is a very firm statement, but afterwards he laughs. "Maybe this is exactly the right sort of a situation. I do what I do because I'm extremely good at it. It keeps me in the niceties I'm accustomed to, and nobody expects you to be honest. Do you like it, really? The sort of men who usually have to pay for it." Are not me, he might as well continue.
Some women might be offended by this stark appraisal, but Raveki just laughs. A husky, throaty sort of laugh paired with a shake of her head and another swig of wine. "Well gosh, Hal, you're such a flatterer." Bottle extended toward him, she nods at his reply. "All of that applies too, actually. What we do isn't so different, but I get my wares for free. Better profit margin." She seems inclined to treat his questions lightly, but even so there's some thought behind her words. "I do really. Not every man, not every situation, but if you're upstairs you aren't available for those less pleasant men to ask for you. So the key is to pick the man you want, then get him to pay you for your time." Her hair falls into her face as she looks down, hiding her expression as she hastily adds, "Keep that to yourself, yeah?"
A smirk of a smile as Halsten takes the bottle again. "And I'm sure demand is consistently high. Shall I presume then that you were not making a similar offer of payment to the other jewelry-seller?" He takes a long drink, holds the bottle in both hands. "I can be. Flattery is sales. So I suppose we are the same, because that's really your business, isn't it? Not just sex, not around here. Tell the other person what they want to hear. True or, often, otherwise." And a second drink.
Raveki flicks a dismissive hand. "High enough. It's not like I spend every hour of my nights with my legs spread or anything. There's more bar tending than the other during the day shifts especially... Sorry, boring details." Her words fall off abruptly and pushes her hair back out of her face, mirroring his smirk. "The other jewelry-seller would not have been interested, but if she was I would have offered. If that's what you're getting at." Up go dark brows then, approval marking the line of both eyes and lips. "Very astute of you. Though sometimes it is just sex. Sex without strings, or limits, or sex with discretion. And sometimes it's a massage and a listening ear or... I don't know. A walk in the woods. It's a lot more than most people think."
Can Hal be faulted for the slight shift in facial expression to something more overtly interested, there, at the talk of the jewelery-seller? He's a guy. That should just be expected. "Yes, I would imagine. There always does seem to be more than people think. I suspect most of those I meet think I sit around all day just waiting for people to buy things. Sometimes most of the work lies below the obvious." He takes one more drink and offers her the wine bottle back. "A walk is not just a walk, for example."
Dark brown eyes don't miss much, and even that slight shift in Hal's face isn't allowed to pass by without comment. "You live at a Weyr and that still gets you excited, huh? Women rarely pay for sex, but it isn't unheard of." She reaches for the bottle, but her fingers linger clasped over his while she says, "No? I'm usually pretty good at figuring out what my clients want but I admit you have me a bit stumped, Halsten." The motion of taking the bottle is completed and she sips lightly, watching him over the neck of the bottle. "Was I supposed to jump you by now? Or am I just so not your type you figured you had to spend the time *somehow* and you wanted to take a walk anyway?"
The first gets a grin. "Yeah, well. Doesn't mean I don't like the thought of it," Halsten says, while her fingers remain on his. The grin softens as she pulls the bottle away, and he lies back against the rock, propped up on an elbow. "You... are enough of my type, anyway, insofar as I have one." Aside from that height thing, evidently. "I dislike the thought of being intimate with a woman who's only doing it because she's being paid to. So, no. Or not necessarily. Something. The performance. I am getting so fucking sick of the performance."
Raveki shifts around so she can face him, pulling her knees up to her chest and looping her arms around them. It's not the most ladylike thing to do in a skirt but she doesn't seem at all concerned about it as she looks down at him with a bit of a smile. "Think about it all you want, sugar. Next time I have someone looking for a third I'll even let you know if you like." Teasing? Serious? It's hard to say with that slow-spreading smile on her mouth. She sets the bottle down beside her, still within his reach, and tips her head a bit to the side. "I rarely do it just because I'm being paid to, but I'll keep that in mind. I promised you not to fake enjoyment today so what you're getting is all Vek, or at least as much as I can turn the performance off." She pauses, fiddles with the hem of her skirt. "Some specific performance bugging you, or just in general?"
"Not yours. I--advisably or not--do happen to believe that you're not." Halsten goes for the bottle again as soon as it's set down; he doesn't seem to be on the way to slowing down just yet. He watches the fiddling for a moment. "Do you ever get the feeling, sometimes, that if anybody actually knew anything about you, they wouldn't really like you?" It must be a hypothetical question, because he doesn't really wait for an answer. Brows furrow. "Sociability is all pretense of some sort. My work is all pretense of some sort. I'm starting to lose track. No. Not starting. Lost track a long time ago."
Raveki dips a firm little nod. "Advisably. No reason for me to lie, I already have my bracelet." A hint of frown and narrowed eyes mark a thoughtful beat. "I don't know that anyone really *likes* me now, Hal. No one knows or wants to know, it's easier for everyone that way." Stretching out until she's laying on her back beside him with arms behind her head and eyes on the canopy, she offers him space away from her gaze. "You can be yourself with me. What do you care what a whore thinks of you, right?"
He takes a few moments, looking upwards as well, a few deep breaths, but then Hal shifts onto his side next to her, looking over her, but his eyes settle on her face. "Easier. That usually is easier. Not just for you, you know. Folks falling into bed with each other all over the place the night of the flight, you think any of 'em really knew each other much? I probably care more what you think than I care what the girl I went to bed with last night thought. Matter of pride, here." A beat. "Probably didn't say ten words after she said yes, all told."
Raveki turns just her head, pillowing a cheek against her arm as her eyes meet his. "I didn't really mean it was easier for me," she says in almost a whisper, "though it probably is that too." Dark eyes watch him, searching his gaze and watching the shifts in his expression. "Isn't it better when both parties know it's just casual? I mean," a pause, tongue to the tip of her eyetooth. "Don't you wonder if she'll want more, now? Or that you might? Do you regret it?" That's a lot of inquiry, so she lightens it a bit with a dramatic sigh. "Damn gold flight. You'd think we'd be busy, but no one needed to pay for a warm body in bed so I had a bunch of worked up girls and an empty bar."
"I should have come down." Halsten seizes on that lightness the way a drowning man seizes a raft. "Sure I could have kept you lot occupied." Didn't he just say he didn't particularly like the performance? Yet there it is again, puff and bravado, like a bad habit. Or else maybe he just is that confident in his, uh, stamina. "They usually do want more, but why does that matter? No, I don't regret it. It's what I'm used to. Then someone shows up and wants to talk and what the fuck am I supposed to do with that?" Almost anger in it, and there's a slight widening of eyes before he shuts his mouth again very deliberately.
Is it considered a performance if Raveki lets him lead the conversation? Either way she's pliant to his moods, chuckling softly at his boast. "Gosh, we really missed out didn't we?" As usual when using 'gosh', she's wide eyed and her tone is a bit breathless, teasing. "All seven of us at once, huh? Next gold flight I'll come find you." And just as fast he's back to seriousness, leaving her to slowly catch up with a fading grin and a rolling toward him so her fingers can find his arm. "What you're used to isn't always what you want though, yeah?" Her fingertips slide along his bicep until his shirt sleeve stops them. "You talk, is what the fuck you do with that, hon."
"You might have had to take turns. But I trust you found ways to keep yourselves occupied." That at least keeps a bit of a smile on Hal's face, despite the rest. That, perhaps, and her hand. "What I want is to make a lot of money and have sufficiently good sex on a sufficiently regular basis in the meantime. Simple. I do not want to spend my time distracted and frustrated. That complicates things. Talking... complicates things." Except, evidently, when you're paying for this chance to be so honest.
Raveki's smile lingers too and she just rolls her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know." Since he doesn't pull away, she slides her fingers up under his sleeve, then back down, just a gentle little rubbing touch as if she's coaxing his words out with her hand. Her expression, on the other hand, grows a bit incredulous with one arched brow. "So go do that. Don't be with the girl who wants to talk and is complicating things. Except the truth is that you *want* to want those simple things and then you find yourself wanting this woman. It's not just her that's complicated, it's you." A little shrug as she shifts to get more comfortable on the hard slab of rock. "Maybe it's not as hard as you're making it though."
"I'm not that complicated," Halsten disclaims. But then he lapses into silence, eventually moves his hand over to cover hers, still it for a moment, like he doesn't actually want any more coaxed out than that until he has time to think about it. "And I'm not with her, in... any sense of the word. Especially not at the moment." And there, the redirection, so obvious, back to just who he is with in this particular moment. "Unless you're planning on also being complicated, talking aside. I'm paying for the talking. It's different."
Skeptical, Raveki is quiet, just watching him with lips slightly pursed and brows aloft. She succumbs to his touch, her hand stilling beneath his but still warm against his arm. "Maybe she's not that complicated either," she offers finally, then shakes her head and lets a slow smile steal across her lips. "I'm not planning on being complicated, I'm the easiest girl you know." A dry little smirk for the terrible pun but then she just nods. "It is different, I told you I'm a good listener."
A long breath. "Easiest girl I know," comes the ready agreement from Hal, who moves his hand up her arm, now. "Something to that, I guess." Hallelujah, he's a convert to the cause. Or something. At least he's smiling a bit, now. "Doesn't matter what she is. She's somebody else's problem, now. And I've got... what, two more hours, you think?" Bit hard to be watching the clock too strictly out here.
Raveki glances down as his hand moves, and a smirk appears as she arches a brow at him. "Has anyone ever told you you're kind of moody?" It's more amused than judging though, and she certainly doesn't seem displeased as one bare foot inches over to whisper across his calf. "Or maybe that's not the word, indecisive? Not that I'm complaining." She squints up at the sky but the sun's hidden, so she shurgs. "Sure, give or take. I'm not counting the minutes, to be honest. Easy, remember?"
At that, there's a hint of withdrawal, the hand pulling away, a frown crossing Halsten's face, even if she's saying so lightly. "Am I?" So maybe that's a no, nobody has ever said that. He shakes his head, though, pushes the frown away, though there's not quite a smile to replace it. The hand that pulled away goes for the wine bottle and he props himself up well enough to drink from it again, deeply. "Easy. You could lose a lot of money that way, get too distracted. Well, I might have a few ideas about using up the time."
Raveki takes on a faint frown and she tsks, lifting a hand to run the back of her knuckles lightly down his jaw. "Don't be upset, dar-" she cuts the too-habitual pet name off and just lets the sentence hang. "I just meant that your mind is quick, you bounce around a little, but maybe that's just because you're not so busy with the facade?" She pushes up on an elbow so she can reach for the bottle. "I'm not supposed to be working right now anyway, remember? And a few minutes either way isn't going to break me."
"Not enough wine, obviously." Halsten gets in one more swig before he yields the bottle over to her, then a smile. "So this is what, freelancing, then? Let me be more single-minded, now. Two hours... might just be enough time to do this properly, yet." Bouncing, indeed, just like that, those uncertain, chatty moments past. "Does it bother you? Here? We could go back. If you like."
Raveki chuckles that low little chuckle and takes a swig. "It's awfully good wine, and it sounds like the drinking portion of our time might be over, so I have to get in a few more gulps while I can." She puts action to the words, sipping once more even as she shakes her head. "Boy you really *are* a charmer, aren't you? I guess I did say I wasn't complicated though, didn't I?" A quick glance takes in the clearing and she runs a hand over the mostly smooth stone, "I'm not supposed to freelance, but this is finishing my end of a bargain so it's different." Because she says so, apparently. "And this works for me, if it works for you, I suppose."
There's actually a flinch for that bit about his being a charmer, whether or not recriminations as such were intended. "Don't say that," Hal tells her a moment later. More firmly than the offhand comment actually calls for. "Just... don't." He sits up, a hand on one knee, another rubbing momentarily at his forehead. "I did ask you not to pretend. Sorry. I think this is a bad time after all. Maybe... another time. Maybe it will be a better idea another time."
A blink, and then a flinch of her own followed by a frown as she rolls up onto her knees. "Hey, I'm sorry. I thought we could sort of joke around together." Though it's a statement it ends with a questioning sort of lilt and she's searching his eyes without a trace of smile. "We can wait for another time if you want but I wasn't trying to tell you no." She pulls her lower lip into her mouth, nibbles at it. "At the very least don't leave mad." She reaches for his hand but it's slow like she expects him to pull away.
The trader shakes his head vehemently. "I'm not--mad." Hal can't totally manage to make that sound like 'hey everything's okay', but he manages to squeeze her hand once before he does pull his away. "I know you weren't. It's not what you do, is it? No? Never mind. The wine's just... not enough to pull this off today." Whatever 'this' is, it seems to make sense in his head anyway. He starts to stand.
Looking utterly confused, Raveki just twists and shifts until her feet dangle over the rock so she can lean down and grab her sandals. "Alright then," is offered in a tone too light to be anything but feigned. She opens her mouth as if to speak, then shuts it abruptly enough to make a tiny little snapping sound of teeth on teeth and she just buckles her sandals instead. Then, no, she decides to say it anyway, lifting her chin to look up at him. "I do say no sometimes, but the joking around thing? The honest thing? Doesn't happen all that often." She stands, adjusting her skirt back to smooth. "When you find whatever is enough to pull it off you know where to find me."
There's another flinch there for that, but a smaller one. "Yeah," Hal says without really looking at her. "Yeah. I know." Either to it not happening that often, or knowing where to find her, or possibly both. He did say it twice, after all. Then he gets himself up, gets his bottle of wine--the point of sharing seems to have passed--and if he does happen to be rude enough to head off without her at entirely more speed than the average person would try to negotiate such a path, well, it's not like it can be much worse than him leaving her like this to begin with.
There's not going to be any begging or pouting, or running off after some guy through the bushes. Instead Raveki just stands there, too tall in her sandals, watching him leave. She takes a slow breath once he's out of sight, shakes her head, and only after he has had more than ample time to get wherever he's going does she head, not for the baths afterall, but back to the Seven.
Act I
The jungle is never a busy place, but this humid, cloyingly hot afternoon it seems deserted. Wild things make soft noises here and there, the infrequent breeze ruffles through the canopy, but otherwise the silence is almost as heavy as the air. Into this emptiness comes, eventually, a lilting tune hummed in a low key, on-pitch but certainly nothing special. If one were apt to know this sort of thing, it is unsurprisingly a bawdy tune, but without words it could be just about anything. The song preceeds Raveki but it's soft and so the sight of her joins it before too long as she picks her way along the clear path from the Seven.
It is a summer afternoon, 14:36 of day 17, month 6, turn 22 of Interval 10.
If Halsten leaves the Weyr walking at 3 miles per hour at 2:24 in the afternoon, and Raveki leaves the Seven walking 2.5 miles per hour at 2:35, at what time do their paths cross and where do they meet? Wherever it is, he's quiet enough in his own walking to come upon her practically out of nowhere at a curve in the path, but it's hard for him to appear too shocked when she's been humming so. He's got a bottle in hand, and how many people bring booze *with* them on the way to the Lucky Seven? "Well, now, this is a pleasant surprise."
Math?!
Unlike the ever smooth Halsten, when Raveki comes around the corner she has to swallow both the humming and a shocked little squeak. Hand to chest, she flashes a sheepish grin as she composes herself. "Halsten. You scared me." Obviously. With a breath or two she has her typically languid posture back, her smile softened and hands resting easily on her hips. "Is it pleasant? That's always nice to hear." A lift of the chin indicates the bottle. "Bringing me presents?"
Sorry, girls and math, that's a bad combination, right? Hal offers her out his free arm, although whether for her to clutch or possibly slip under is a bit ambiguous. "I certainly did not mean to scare you. Should I whistle, in the future? We could have some nice harmony. Or I could wear a bell." He glances down at the bottle as though he only just remembered it was there. "I was going to see if you were free for a little while, actually. If you wanted to take a walk or some such. And here you are, walking."
Only when the girl is going on about 4 hours of sleep! But anyway... One slender arm lifts, causing the silver bangles there to jingle softly, and Raveki grins. "Or bracelets! But we know you don't tend to get those in." She winks, and it might be noted that the strand of glass beads she recently bought is there among the thin circlets at her wrist. Eyes drop to the bottle, and though her smile remains in place, dark lashes drop, leaving her eyes narrowed in assessment bordering on suspicion. "You wanted to take a... walk with me." Up goes a brow as her gaze slides back to his, and now amusement tips her smile off center. "Here I am, walking, yeah. How convenient." She still sounds curious, thoughtful, and the hand that takes his offered arm is tenative.
"Not on a regular basis. But you never know. Maybe I'll have more in the future." Halsten beams at her and switches the bottle between hands so he can rest one hand over hers. "Well. It does tend to be loud in there. And--well, quiet tends to come with certain implications. Also, I doubt they're okay with my bringing something from outside," the bottle in question held up, "but I am not paying their markup on the good stuff." So whatever this is, it's something he considers the good stuff. "Are you free? I could come back later."
The bright smile just seems to throw Raveki more off balance. She blinks first at his expression and then at the hand on hers, a tiny wrinkle appearing between her brows. "Well, that would be nice," she says slowly, then her teeth brush her lower lip. "I'm free. I was just going to go take a soak in the baths but it can wait. What sort of implications were you hoping for?" By then end she has managed to drop back into her usual drawl but curiosity still touches both eyes and tone. "And maybe more importantly, you /are/ going to share some of that good stuff with me, right?" A grin makes that at least somewhat a tease.
She might be off-balance, but despite the unexpected encounter, Hal seems completely and utterly on. Since he's got her on his arm now, he starts off down the path, then eventually off down a smaller side path that leads to neither Weyr nor bar. "Of course I'm going to share. The sharing is the fun part, isn't it? I think it is, anyhow. Absolutely not worth the expense to drink alone." There's no rush to his pace, and now and then he pauses as he's talking. "I don't want implications at the moment. I'm paying for your time." As opposed to.
It probably helps that he was expecting to encounter her at least at some point. Either way she matches steps to his without making him drag her along, leaning close enough for her hip to bump his when their steps come together just so. She does glance upward and then back as they take the small side path as if marking its location. "Well I'm always willing to share a drink especially if you're buying," she murmurs. That last bit brings her brows up and deepens the curve of her smile. "Oh, this is part of your trade is it?" That seems to change everything, the tension sliding out of her shoulders and the line of her mouth. Apparently she would have gone a walk with him for free. "So... how have you been? How's the girl?"
Of course she would have; he seems not to even register the difference. Hal would probably expect her to do a lot of other things for free, too, and yet there's no attempt to wiggle anything more into what he's owed. "Oh, passable. Quite passable. I believe the only girl I'm concerned about at the moment is the one I'm talking to." Which is either an evasion or some sort of point to her credit. A log lays across the path here, and he's careful about stepping over it, helping her to do as well.
It all makes Halsten some kind of enigma, but Raveki is at least making an effort at not looking totally confused, though she darts little thoughtful glances up at him every now and then. She makes use of his help, especially in her wedge sandals that are too high for clambering around in the jungle, using her second hand to cling to his arm as she steps across. "Mmm, well thank you for your undivided attention. I am a good person to talk to though, if you ever need a listening ear. I give good advice, too." She leaves it at that, and also leaves her second hand lightly over his.
Not too far from there, the path such as it is ends in a clearing with a wide, flat rock. Where Hal sits down, goes to open up the bottle of wine. Evidently this is as much walking as is happening for the moment. "Do you think I need advice? In that sort of thing." Once the bottle is opened up, he offers it to her. Better wine than one normally finds at the Lucky Seven, that's for sure. "Is that the sort of impression you get of me?"
Raveki drops down close beside Halsten, absently reaching to unbuckle her sandals as he opens the bottle. Her fingers are quick about it, and when her feet are bare she tucks them up under her, smoothing her skirt over her legs before she answers. "Everyone can use advice now and then," she says with a shrug. A beat as she looks him over, then, "You are good looking and charming so I assume your luck with the ladies is generally good. Some women are more complicated than others though, so I thought I'd offer. Just in case you thought I might be the jealous type." That last brings a true and genuine grin to her mouth, soon hidden as she sips at the wine. "Oh that *is* good," she murmurs as she hands it back.
"I like the sandals," Halsten comments as she's taking them off. "But they do border on making you a bit too tall." Picky, picky. He takes the bottle back when she offers it, takes a long swig himself. Glasses would be classier, but who carries glasses around to a place like this? "I bought a lot of bottles all at once, cheaper that way. Have been running rather short of the right sort of situation to drink it in, however." He frowns down at the bottle, drinks once more, offers it back. "Why do you do it? What you do."
The sandals, lying helter-skelter on the damp ground just as they fell, get a little glance. "Thanks, I like them too." The comment on being too tall brings up her brows and she lets out one note of a chuckle. "Is that right? I'm the tall, dark, leggy one. There's a petite blond at the Seven if you prefer that sort you know." She watches him drink, eyes on his mouth for a beat before they flick back to his eyes. "And sitting in the jungle with a whore is the right sort of situation? You need a girlfriend, Hal." A wink is offered as her hand reclaims the bottle, but she just swirls it for a moment, watching the crimson liquid slide around as she answers. "Lots of reasons. It made a lot of sense at the time, the money's good..." Trailing off she takes a sip, watches him as she adds, "And I like it. Why do you do what you do?"
"Tall is fine. Just not too tall." *Very* picky. But Halsten's smiling nonetheless. "The dark and leggy works." Like he's appraising a potential purchase or something. A piece of furniture. Almost not quite the right color, but it will do. "The last thing on this green planet I happen to need is a girlfriend." That is a very firm statement, but afterwards he laughs. "Maybe this is exactly the right sort of a situation. I do what I do because I'm extremely good at it. It keeps me in the niceties I'm accustomed to, and nobody expects you to be honest. Do you like it, really? The sort of men who usually have to pay for it." Are not me, he might as well continue.
Some women might be offended by this stark appraisal, but Raveki just laughs. A husky, throaty sort of laugh paired with a shake of her head and another swig of wine. "Well gosh, Hal, you're such a flatterer." Bottle extended toward him, she nods at his reply. "All of that applies too, actually. What we do isn't so different, but I get my wares for free. Better profit margin." She seems inclined to treat his questions lightly, but even so there's some thought behind her words. "I do really. Not every man, not every situation, but if you're upstairs you aren't available for those less pleasant men to ask for you. So the key is to pick the man you want, then get him to pay you for your time." Her hair falls into her face as she looks down, hiding her expression as she hastily adds, "Keep that to yourself, yeah?"
A smirk of a smile as Halsten takes the bottle again. "And I'm sure demand is consistently high. Shall I presume then that you were not making a similar offer of payment to the other jewelry-seller?" He takes a long drink, holds the bottle in both hands. "I can be. Flattery is sales. So I suppose we are the same, because that's really your business, isn't it? Not just sex, not around here. Tell the other person what they want to hear. True or, often, otherwise." And a second drink.
Raveki flicks a dismissive hand. "High enough. It's not like I spend every hour of my nights with my legs spread or anything. There's more bar tending than the other during the day shifts especially... Sorry, boring details." Her words fall off abruptly and pushes her hair back out of her face, mirroring his smirk. "The other jewelry-seller would not have been interested, but if she was I would have offered. If that's what you're getting at." Up go dark brows then, approval marking the line of both eyes and lips. "Very astute of you. Though sometimes it is just sex. Sex without strings, or limits, or sex with discretion. And sometimes it's a massage and a listening ear or... I don't know. A walk in the woods. It's a lot more than most people think."
Can Hal be faulted for the slight shift in facial expression to something more overtly interested, there, at the talk of the jewelery-seller? He's a guy. That should just be expected. "Yes, I would imagine. There always does seem to be more than people think. I suspect most of those I meet think I sit around all day just waiting for people to buy things. Sometimes most of the work lies below the obvious." He takes one more drink and offers her the wine bottle back. "A walk is not just a walk, for example."
Dark brown eyes don't miss much, and even that slight shift in Hal's face isn't allowed to pass by without comment. "You live at a Weyr and that still gets you excited, huh? Women rarely pay for sex, but it isn't unheard of." She reaches for the bottle, but her fingers linger clasped over his while she says, "No? I'm usually pretty good at figuring out what my clients want but I admit you have me a bit stumped, Halsten." The motion of taking the bottle is completed and she sips lightly, watching him over the neck of the bottle. "Was I supposed to jump you by now? Or am I just so not your type you figured you had to spend the time *somehow* and you wanted to take a walk anyway?"
The first gets a grin. "Yeah, well. Doesn't mean I don't like the thought of it," Halsten says, while her fingers remain on his. The grin softens as she pulls the bottle away, and he lies back against the rock, propped up on an elbow. "You... are enough of my type, anyway, insofar as I have one." Aside from that height thing, evidently. "I dislike the thought of being intimate with a woman who's only doing it because she's being paid to. So, no. Or not necessarily. Something. The performance. I am getting so fucking sick of the performance."
Raveki shifts around so she can face him, pulling her knees up to her chest and looping her arms around them. It's not the most ladylike thing to do in a skirt but she doesn't seem at all concerned about it as she looks down at him with a bit of a smile. "Think about it all you want, sugar. Next time I have someone looking for a third I'll even let you know if you like." Teasing? Serious? It's hard to say with that slow-spreading smile on her mouth. She sets the bottle down beside her, still within his reach, and tips her head a bit to the side. "I rarely do it just because I'm being paid to, but I'll keep that in mind. I promised you not to fake enjoyment today so what you're getting is all Vek, or at least as much as I can turn the performance off." She pauses, fiddles with the hem of her skirt. "Some specific performance bugging you, or just in general?"
"Not yours. I--advisably or not--do happen to believe that you're not." Halsten goes for the bottle again as soon as it's set down; he doesn't seem to be on the way to slowing down just yet. He watches the fiddling for a moment. "Do you ever get the feeling, sometimes, that if anybody actually knew anything about you, they wouldn't really like you?" It must be a hypothetical question, because he doesn't really wait for an answer. Brows furrow. "Sociability is all pretense of some sort. My work is all pretense of some sort. I'm starting to lose track. No. Not starting. Lost track a long time ago."
Raveki dips a firm little nod. "Advisably. No reason for me to lie, I already have my bracelet." A hint of frown and narrowed eyes mark a thoughtful beat. "I don't know that anyone really *likes* me now, Hal. No one knows or wants to know, it's easier for everyone that way." Stretching out until she's laying on her back beside him with arms behind her head and eyes on the canopy, she offers him space away from her gaze. "You can be yourself with me. What do you care what a whore thinks of you, right?"
He takes a few moments, looking upwards as well, a few deep breaths, but then Hal shifts onto his side next to her, looking over her, but his eyes settle on her face. "Easier. That usually is easier. Not just for you, you know. Folks falling into bed with each other all over the place the night of the flight, you think any of 'em really knew each other much? I probably care more what you think than I care what the girl I went to bed with last night thought. Matter of pride, here." A beat. "Probably didn't say ten words after she said yes, all told."
Raveki turns just her head, pillowing a cheek against her arm as her eyes meet his. "I didn't really mean it was easier for me," she says in almost a whisper, "though it probably is that too." Dark eyes watch him, searching his gaze and watching the shifts in his expression. "Isn't it better when both parties know it's just casual? I mean," a pause, tongue to the tip of her eyetooth. "Don't you wonder if she'll want more, now? Or that you might? Do you regret it?" That's a lot of inquiry, so she lightens it a bit with a dramatic sigh. "Damn gold flight. You'd think we'd be busy, but no one needed to pay for a warm body in bed so I had a bunch of worked up girls and an empty bar."
"I should have come down." Halsten seizes on that lightness the way a drowning man seizes a raft. "Sure I could have kept you lot occupied." Didn't he just say he didn't particularly like the performance? Yet there it is again, puff and bravado, like a bad habit. Or else maybe he just is that confident in his, uh, stamina. "They usually do want more, but why does that matter? No, I don't regret it. It's what I'm used to. Then someone shows up and wants to talk and what the fuck am I supposed to do with that?" Almost anger in it, and there's a slight widening of eyes before he shuts his mouth again very deliberately.
Is it considered a performance if Raveki lets him lead the conversation? Either way she's pliant to his moods, chuckling softly at his boast. "Gosh, we really missed out didn't we?" As usual when using 'gosh', she's wide eyed and her tone is a bit breathless, teasing. "All seven of us at once, huh? Next gold flight I'll come find you." And just as fast he's back to seriousness, leaving her to slowly catch up with a fading grin and a rolling toward him so her fingers can find his arm. "What you're used to isn't always what you want though, yeah?" Her fingertips slide along his bicep until his shirt sleeve stops them. "You talk, is what the fuck you do with that, hon."
"You might have had to take turns. But I trust you found ways to keep yourselves occupied." That at least keeps a bit of a smile on Hal's face, despite the rest. That, perhaps, and her hand. "What I want is to make a lot of money and have sufficiently good sex on a sufficiently regular basis in the meantime. Simple. I do not want to spend my time distracted and frustrated. That complicates things. Talking... complicates things." Except, evidently, when you're paying for this chance to be so honest.
Raveki's smile lingers too and she just rolls her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know." Since he doesn't pull away, she slides her fingers up under his sleeve, then back down, just a gentle little rubbing touch as if she's coaxing his words out with her hand. Her expression, on the other hand, grows a bit incredulous with one arched brow. "So go do that. Don't be with the girl who wants to talk and is complicating things. Except the truth is that you *want* to want those simple things and then you find yourself wanting this woman. It's not just her that's complicated, it's you." A little shrug as she shifts to get more comfortable on the hard slab of rock. "Maybe it's not as hard as you're making it though."
"I'm not that complicated," Halsten disclaims. But then he lapses into silence, eventually moves his hand over to cover hers, still it for a moment, like he doesn't actually want any more coaxed out than that until he has time to think about it. "And I'm not with her, in... any sense of the word. Especially not at the moment." And there, the redirection, so obvious, back to just who he is with in this particular moment. "Unless you're planning on also being complicated, talking aside. I'm paying for the talking. It's different."
Skeptical, Raveki is quiet, just watching him with lips slightly pursed and brows aloft. She succumbs to his touch, her hand stilling beneath his but still warm against his arm. "Maybe she's not that complicated either," she offers finally, then shakes her head and lets a slow smile steal across her lips. "I'm not planning on being complicated, I'm the easiest girl you know." A dry little smirk for the terrible pun but then she just nods. "It is different, I told you I'm a good listener."
A long breath. "Easiest girl I know," comes the ready agreement from Hal, who moves his hand up her arm, now. "Something to that, I guess." Hallelujah, he's a convert to the cause. Or something. At least he's smiling a bit, now. "Doesn't matter what she is. She's somebody else's problem, now. And I've got... what, two more hours, you think?" Bit hard to be watching the clock too strictly out here.
Raveki glances down as his hand moves, and a smirk appears as she arches a brow at him. "Has anyone ever told you you're kind of moody?" It's more amused than judging though, and she certainly doesn't seem displeased as one bare foot inches over to whisper across his calf. "Or maybe that's not the word, indecisive? Not that I'm complaining." She squints up at the sky but the sun's hidden, so she shurgs. "Sure, give or take. I'm not counting the minutes, to be honest. Easy, remember?"
At that, there's a hint of withdrawal, the hand pulling away, a frown crossing Halsten's face, even if she's saying so lightly. "Am I?" So maybe that's a no, nobody has ever said that. He shakes his head, though, pushes the frown away, though there's not quite a smile to replace it. The hand that pulled away goes for the wine bottle and he props himself up well enough to drink from it again, deeply. "Easy. You could lose a lot of money that way, get too distracted. Well, I might have a few ideas about using up the time."
Raveki takes on a faint frown and she tsks, lifting a hand to run the back of her knuckles lightly down his jaw. "Don't be upset, dar-" she cuts the too-habitual pet name off and just lets the sentence hang. "I just meant that your mind is quick, you bounce around a little, but maybe that's just because you're not so busy with the facade?" She pushes up on an elbow so she can reach for the bottle. "I'm not supposed to be working right now anyway, remember? And a few minutes either way isn't going to break me."
"Not enough wine, obviously." Halsten gets in one more swig before he yields the bottle over to her, then a smile. "So this is what, freelancing, then? Let me be more single-minded, now. Two hours... might just be enough time to do this properly, yet." Bouncing, indeed, just like that, those uncertain, chatty moments past. "Does it bother you? Here? We could go back. If you like."
Raveki chuckles that low little chuckle and takes a swig. "It's awfully good wine, and it sounds like the drinking portion of our time might be over, so I have to get in a few more gulps while I can." She puts action to the words, sipping once more even as she shakes her head. "Boy you really *are* a charmer, aren't you? I guess I did say I wasn't complicated though, didn't I?" A quick glance takes in the clearing and she runs a hand over the mostly smooth stone, "I'm not supposed to freelance, but this is finishing my end of a bargain so it's different." Because she says so, apparently. "And this works for me, if it works for you, I suppose."
There's actually a flinch for that bit about his being a charmer, whether or not recriminations as such were intended. "Don't say that," Hal tells her a moment later. More firmly than the offhand comment actually calls for. "Just... don't." He sits up, a hand on one knee, another rubbing momentarily at his forehead. "I did ask you not to pretend. Sorry. I think this is a bad time after all. Maybe... another time. Maybe it will be a better idea another time."
A blink, and then a flinch of her own followed by a frown as she rolls up onto her knees. "Hey, I'm sorry. I thought we could sort of joke around together." Though it's a statement it ends with a questioning sort of lilt and she's searching his eyes without a trace of smile. "We can wait for another time if you want but I wasn't trying to tell you no." She pulls her lower lip into her mouth, nibbles at it. "At the very least don't leave mad." She reaches for his hand but it's slow like she expects him to pull away.
The trader shakes his head vehemently. "I'm not--mad." Hal can't totally manage to make that sound like 'hey everything's okay', but he manages to squeeze her hand once before he does pull his away. "I know you weren't. It's not what you do, is it? No? Never mind. The wine's just... not enough to pull this off today." Whatever 'this' is, it seems to make sense in his head anyway. He starts to stand.
Looking utterly confused, Raveki just twists and shifts until her feet dangle over the rock so she can lean down and grab her sandals. "Alright then," is offered in a tone too light to be anything but feigned. She opens her mouth as if to speak, then shuts it abruptly enough to make a tiny little snapping sound of teeth on teeth and she just buckles her sandals instead. Then, no, she decides to say it anyway, lifting her chin to look up at him. "I do say no sometimes, but the joking around thing? The honest thing? Doesn't happen all that often." She stands, adjusting her skirt back to smooth. "When you find whatever is enough to pull it off you know where to find me."
There's another flinch there for that, but a smaller one. "Yeah," Hal says without really looking at her. "Yeah. I know." Either to it not happening that often, or knowing where to find her, or possibly both. He did say it twice, after all. Then he gets himself up, gets his bottle of wine--the point of sharing seems to have passed--and if he does happen to be rude enough to head off without her at entirely more speed than the average person would try to negotiate such a path, well, it's not like it can be much worse than him leaving her like this to begin with.
There's not going to be any begging or pouting, or running off after some guy through the bushes. Instead Raveki just stands there, too tall in her sandals, watching him leave. She takes a slow breath once he's out of sight, shakes her head, and only after he has had more than ample time to get wherever he's going does she head, not for the baths afterall, but back to the Seven.