Vignette: Takeover
Just after the previous scene, Raveki deals with things at the Seven.
Though the Seven was open by the time Raveki slogged back through the jungle, the solitary man drinking his lunch didn't even notice her carefully prepared sultry smile. The girl behind the bar arched a brow when Raveki told her to pour him another one on the house and come to the office, but she was there along with all the others within minutes.
Raveki stood against one wall so she could see them all at once and still have a hand planted possessively on the desk. The space would not hold many more without being too crowded, and as it was they were draped over walls and furniture, lounging while she stood straight. In spite of their languid poses the atmosphere was heavy and expectant, with piles of misplaced ledgers on the desk and the scent of spilled ink still in the air. Curious, anxious eyes watched her as she told them the situation as she saw it, or rather, as she wanted /them/ to see it. She talked to Loe, the Weyr might offer some protection, the culprits would be found, she'd see about getting rent reduced. By the end she was passing out knives for every girl to have on their person or under their pillow at all times and asking who needed to be taught to use them.
The girls were quiet as she spoke, but there were some heavy eyes and unhappy mouths in the crowd. With the box in her hands but no knife drawn yet, a dark haired dark skinned girl who never did get along very well with Raveki narrowed her eyes and spoke up. "Who died and made you boss, Vek?" It was rare that her name had been spit out quite that way. "Who said you get to be the one in charge all of a sudden?"
Raveki's stomach clenched and words rushed to fill her mouth. Consoling words, convincing words, apologetic and beseeching, or logical, manipulative - they were all right there on the tip of her tongue. Her face betrayed none of it though. Her face was locked down to a stone wall that she was clinging to by her fingernails. It all passed in a second and those fearful eyes made the decision for her.
With the dark haired girl in her sights Raveki let a slow grin spread over her mouth. It was a nasty thing, shallow and sickly, and her eyes were heavy, dead darkness - a thing she had seen on a familiar face, but not something she had ever actually felt on her own features. A lifted finger punctuated each point until there were three of them, and her voice was low and quiet. "I am the one dealing with this shit. /No one/ died, that is the point. And /I/ said so." She lifted her chin in question and looked around the faces to see what side each girl would fall on. She found relief and hope on many but at least agreement on most, then they all turned to the senior member of their little family - Mari.
The one Raveki counted as a friend, the one who checked on her and usually supported her had a claim on this office and the position that went with it if anyone did. She lifted her head to meet Vek's eyes, hers searching for a beat, then loudly said, "You heard what she said, girls. The madam's bedroom will need cleaning up and airing out, so whoever isn't working the front help me with that. Raveki needs to take stock of the damage."
Just like that the tension broke and it was done. These girls weren't used to a democracy anyway and every one of them had received the benefit of Raveki's usual softer side. With quiet murmurings the girls began to disperse, adjusting new sheathes at hip or thigh as they went. Raveki held her posture because several of the girls were heading through the door at the back of the room to open windows and turn her new mattress, to dust and sweep and put on clean linens so she could not show relief or weakness yet.
Mari sidled into her space, turning the knife thoughtfully. "You already had these. You didn't just get them." It wasn't a question but Raveki offered her a tiny twitch of the head in response - yes. "You just continue keeping them safe, that's all I ask." Without waiting for a reply Mari too headed to clean out the long empty room, and Raveki went to sort through the damage and think about how to do just what Mari requested.
Though the Seven was open by the time Raveki slogged back through the jungle, the solitary man drinking his lunch didn't even notice her carefully prepared sultry smile. The girl behind the bar arched a brow when Raveki told her to pour him another one on the house and come to the office, but she was there along with all the others within minutes.
Raveki stood against one wall so she could see them all at once and still have a hand planted possessively on the desk. The space would not hold many more without being too crowded, and as it was they were draped over walls and furniture, lounging while she stood straight. In spite of their languid poses the atmosphere was heavy and expectant, with piles of misplaced ledgers on the desk and the scent of spilled ink still in the air. Curious, anxious eyes watched her as she told them the situation as she saw it, or rather, as she wanted /them/ to see it. She talked to Loe, the Weyr might offer some protection, the culprits would be found, she'd see about getting rent reduced. By the end she was passing out knives for every girl to have on their person or under their pillow at all times and asking who needed to be taught to use them.
The girls were quiet as she spoke, but there were some heavy eyes and unhappy mouths in the crowd. With the box in her hands but no knife drawn yet, a dark haired dark skinned girl who never did get along very well with Raveki narrowed her eyes and spoke up. "Who died and made you boss, Vek?" It was rare that her name had been spit out quite that way. "Who said you get to be the one in charge all of a sudden?"
Raveki's stomach clenched and words rushed to fill her mouth. Consoling words, convincing words, apologetic and beseeching, or logical, manipulative - they were all right there on the tip of her tongue. Her face betrayed none of it though. Her face was locked down to a stone wall that she was clinging to by her fingernails. It all passed in a second and those fearful eyes made the decision for her.
With the dark haired girl in her sights Raveki let a slow grin spread over her mouth. It was a nasty thing, shallow and sickly, and her eyes were heavy, dead darkness - a thing she had seen on a familiar face, but not something she had ever actually felt on her own features. A lifted finger punctuated each point until there were three of them, and her voice was low and quiet. "I am the one dealing with this shit. /No one/ died, that is the point. And /I/ said so." She lifted her chin in question and looked around the faces to see what side each girl would fall on. She found relief and hope on many but at least agreement on most, then they all turned to the senior member of their little family - Mari.
The one Raveki counted as a friend, the one who checked on her and usually supported her had a claim on this office and the position that went with it if anyone did. She lifted her head to meet Vek's eyes, hers searching for a beat, then loudly said, "You heard what she said, girls. The madam's bedroom will need cleaning up and airing out, so whoever isn't working the front help me with that. Raveki needs to take stock of the damage."
Just like that the tension broke and it was done. These girls weren't used to a democracy anyway and every one of them had received the benefit of Raveki's usual softer side. With quiet murmurings the girls began to disperse, adjusting new sheathes at hip or thigh as they went. Raveki held her posture because several of the girls were heading through the door at the back of the room to open windows and turn her new mattress, to dust and sweep and put on clean linens so she could not show relief or weakness yet.
Mari sidled into her space, turning the knife thoughtfully. "You already had these. You didn't just get them." It wasn't a question but Raveki offered her a tiny twitch of the head in response - yes. "You just continue keeping them safe, that's all I ask." Without waiting for a reply Mari too headed to clean out the long empty room, and Raveki went to sort through the damage and think about how to do just what Mari requested.