Complicated Solutions and Sandwiches
Log Info
- Title: Complicated Solutions and Sandwiches
- Emitter: Warrick
- Place: Southern Banks of Tornmawr
- Summary: Warrick and Schara chat about horrifying work hazards while his daughter and his daughter's friend throw each other into the river.
- Southern Banks of Tornmawr, Late Afternoon
A section of the southern banks is ground away to the water level, swept and raked clean. Dark sand and silt washed up upon the shore with an empty dock that cuts along the side of the bank and into the river.
Heavy footsteps thud across the wood. "Look out, nerd!" A human teen girl launches herself out into the waters, aiming for a grey skinned nar teen that was wading.
"Cynthia wait--!" she babbles out quickly before there's an explosion of water spraying the docks and the walkway beside it. <Goblin-talk>
Which hits a middle aged man in short and a tank top that was scribbling in a journal while sitting on a barrel. Warrick lowers his journal, keeping it safe from the splash, but looking unfazed. "No dunking," he grunts out without looking up.
"'kay" "Okay!" <Goblin-talk>
At least from Schara's recollection, the riverbanks were some of the few areas where one could start a fire in the city without getting into too much in to trouble. So it was that the elf wandered down one of the beaches with a bundle of firewood stuck under one arm while she looked for a spot to set things down. Schara looked more than a bit tired, and upon seeing Warrick sitting at the dock, they pause, looking back the way they came, before continuing onwards. Their right hand had a rather haphazard band of metal strapped and welded around the forearm, with the large pair of pliers normally on their metal arm attached.
"Oh, hello Warrick." They greet quietly. "What are you not dunking?" They ask curiously.
The two teens splash at each other a few times before the nar girl slips under water and picks Cynthia up. Cynthia flails, batting uselessly against her friend. "Lomi, put me down!"
"Alright." SPLASH!
Warrick sighs, shaking his head. "That is dunking," he points out to the two, Cynthia resurfacing with a pout on her face. Warrick looks over his shoulder, slate eyes glancing the elf over. "Schara. Good to see you. Making something?" he asks, gesturing to the wood.
"Oh, like dunking someone under water." The artificer nods once. "You should listen to Warrick, I'm sure he is not telling you not to do that for no reason." She calls out to the two swimming. "Oh, I was just going to make a fire, I'm not really making anything today, I finished going for a run and I picked up some eggs and bread from the market so I thought I'd find a place to cook them."
The artificer wasn't looking the best, but at least they didn't appear to be ill today. Their hair was loose behind them, and they were wearing a plain blouse and slacks. "It is good to see you too Warrick, what are you writing about if it is something you can tell me?"
The girls, Lomi and Cynthia, blink at Schara, then quietly whisper to one another. "They know," Warrick rubs his face, turning to face Schara properly. "We'll see if they actually listen."
The father lightly squints. "... you're just... going to make an open fire?" he says, a bit incredulous. "Schara, you can use the range at my house."
He stares a moment longer before sighing and pushing a crate with his bare foot over towards them. "Sit and rest," he implores. "I am writing down some of the methods that I have figured out during our excursions."
"Booooooring!" the girls shout out before Cynthia starts chasing Lomi around in the waist deep waters.
"I guess it's fun, in that case. I just hope it's fun for both of them, it wouldn't be good for it to be one sided." The artificer sighs. "Is this the friend you tease Cynthia about, Warrick, or is that someone else?"
The elf glances to the bundle of wood they had, and shrugs. "Yes, I was planning on making a fire, it's not that hard, and I was able to gather this on my way down the riverbank for free. I wouldn't have to impose on your hospitality doing this, or add to your fuel bills or something like that." They answer. "What methods are you talking about?"
The nar girl, grey with a yellow tinged nose and yellow eyes, cocks her head to the side as Cynthia tries to lift her out of the water. "Mister Rick teasin' about me?" she asks in a neutral tone, though her visage is a wide grin.
"No more than I tease you about your fascination with horse braids," the dad rebukes without batting an eye.
Lomi's face flushes. Cynthia finally gets a hold and throws her with a SPLASH.
He shakes his head. "You have the fuel right there," he nods towards the wood. "And you can always come over to my place. Simony does."
He holds out his journal, it showing a sketched picture of his crossbow with a few modifications to it that he has done. As well as a step by step outline of how to slot more bolts in faster. Essentially what he has been doing, but put to words. "Things like this. Can't learn from a fight if you don't analyze it."
"Well, I'm not sure." The elf shrugs back, before turning and tilting their head towards Warrick. "Or I am more sure at least with that answer, I guess."
The elf looks at the wood, and nods. "I guess I do have some fuel now, it would be easier to cook over a proper range, but I don't want to just pop in to use your things, it doesn't sound right or fair, especially not offering anything in return." They answer, before stopping to peer at the diagrams. "Oh! You want to further work on the things you were practicing and modifications miss Slatesteel has done." The elf answers, before she pauses, and frowns. "You're right, I guess, it makes complete sense to analyze things like that, I do it all the time, but I'm trying to think about it less at times."
Warrick gives Schara a look. "Schara. Not everything is transactional in nature," he says. A pause. "I also just want to make sure my friend can have a safe place to do what they need."
He nods once. "Yes. Those should be written down into some kind of procedure. Dangerous, but if its written down, I hope it can be better learned for myself any others." He looks at her. Closes his book, and pats the crate beside him for her to sit. "... it's not fun to think about, that's for certain. You doing okay?" he inquires quietly as the girls are now pretending to 'cast magic'. Which is just hitting the water in wacky ways to splash one another.
Schara frowns again, and the elf looks away for a moment. "I appreciate it Warrick, I just don't want to take advantage of you or be taken advantage of I guess. I'm sorry, but if you're offering, I guess I can stop over to cook some food for myself."
The artificer shakes her head and refocuses with a nod as she takes a seat. "I am not doing okay, but I will probably be alright." They answer bluntly. "But it is also nothing I would like to speak about around Cynthia and her friend Lomi."
Warrick turns his gaze back to the two playing. "I understand," he intones, watching the two try and out wrestle the other. "I don't have many friends, just want to make sure the ones I do have are okay is all."
He takes a glance at her. Assesses. Then clears his throat. "Alright girls!" he raises his voice to get their attention. They stop, Cynthia being slung over a shoulder while Lomi is half out of the water getting ready to toss her sideways. He fishes out two silver coins and flashes them. "Go get yourselves something to eat after all that horsing around."
They scrabble through the water and pull themselves up to the dock, each grabbing a coin and giving a wave to Schara before they rush off.
Warrick watches them go down the bank before turning to Schara. He smiles. "How about now?"
"No, I do appreciate it, Warrick." The artificer answers. "I am just struggling with prior experiences of people being friendly and kind even if it is likely not applicable to you or this situation."
The elf blinks as the coin is offered and the two run off. "I hope you were still intending on giving them that for food, and it is not for my sake. I don't want to stop them from enjoying the day either, since it really is quite nice." She rambles, before stopping to take a deep breath. "The things that I saw on some of my recent jobs were horrible, Warrick, dead bodies that were mutilated beyond recognition of distinct parts, blood, there was so many things that I don't even want to recall."
Warrick shakes his head. "They always get a lunch out on me when I take them to places. It's probably their favorite part, I'm not going to lie," he chuckles, leaning to the side a bit to spy the girls nearly a block down, the two of them ordering some loaded sandwich from a vendor.
His attention drifts back to Schara, and he listens quietly. Slate eyes soften, him looking down briefly before shaking his head. "I'm... sorry you had to deal with such horrible things," he murmurs, hazarding putting an arm around her shoulders to offer some comfort.
"Okay, well, that's good." The elf nods, setting down the bundle of firewood beside the crate. "You're a good parent Warrick, it's nice to see how much you care about Cynthia."
Schara takes a breath, and sighs after glancing at the arm. The elf awkwardly swings her right arm out, attempting to position it over Warrick's instead. "I can't feel anything in my wooden arms, it's always something that has bothered me." The elf notes quietly. "There was a lot of blood Warrick, and it smelled horrible. It made me empty my stomach on several occasions."
"And I've been working in Am'shere, they're having trouble with slavery. I just do not understand how people can act like the mages from Charn I've met, I've had to kill both of them after nearly being burnt to death on both occasions."
An honest, warm smile crests the man's face. "... thank you. I try," Warrick says as a wood arm attempts to get over his bare, tattooed, and scarred arm. He adjusts to fit it across his shoulders, and his own shifts to rest on a shoulder. Something Schara could feel. "... that happened to me several times, losing your lunch. I can understand. It's... something that doesn't go away without time and rest."
His brows furrow. "... some people let power get to their head. And it makes people do some of the worst things," he sighs. "It was the right choice to do that, as hard as it is to do."
"I need some rest, and time, but I need to keep working, too." Schara admits with a glance to Warrick as he readjusts to help. "Is it alright if I put more weight on to your arm? It's good to have a friend like you, and comforting to feel." She asks, before nodding. "It would be good not to feel, but, you're right, it wouldn't go away, or if it did go away, I would be concerned about how my feelings and way of thinking changed to not be bothered. I know it was the right thing to do, but at the same time, I still feel bad. I just wish that the people in Charn didn't rely on what they do when so many of them genuinely need help, but I know it's an incredibly complicated matter."
"As long as you are not shirking rest, I know you," Warrick lightly teases. At the request, he gives a slight nod, him shifting a bit closer and dropping his arm to loop around her side. "I appreciate your trust. This alright?" he asks.
A light sigh escapes him. "... yes. As bad as it is, it is good to be bothered, it means you haven't been jaded, or something is wrong in your head. But... yeah. Charn is a incredibly complicated situation. I'd feel bad too in your shoes."
"I am likely shirking rest, you are right. That is why I needed some time back in town to just not worry about things." The artificer admits. Schara glances at the arm, and after a moment leans into it, and against the ex guard. "It is alright, and I am glad I can trust you. It is quite nice."
"I don't want to not be bothered, even if it would be easier. But the more work I do, the more I realize that sometimes helping people isn't easy. Not everything is a simple answer that leaves everyone happy." Schara answers with another sigh.
Warrick bobs his head as Schara leans against him. "I'm glad," he says to the elf in his arm. There's a beat. "You're welcome to join us if you want to keep in town. Heading home after all this to cool off from the heat."
A sigh escapes him too. "It's never simple. Even when I was in the Watch, helping people wasn't as simple as cuffing a pick pocket or writing a citation. Things get complicated really quickly. And sometimes... that's the way it is. No one is happy. The best solution is the worst for everyone. It's a rough fact, and it's never easy to do."
Schara blinks, and tilts her head in thought, bumping against Warrick in the process, which causes them to tilt the other way instead. "Join you? I would not mind joining you at your home." They answer after a moment of pause. "It was nice at your home last time, even if most of the time was spent sleeping and eating breakfast."
"I need some time to figure things out more, and not focus on things. I imagine there were a lot of people who were difficult to deal with in the guard, reasons aren't an excuse I know, but it still is hard to accept. How did you deal with things like that, Warrick?"
Warrick chuckles as he's bumped into, him patting Schara's side. "That's what usually ends up happening there, anyways," he smiles before nodding slowly. "I understand, take as much time as you need."
He takes a moment to consider the question, gaze drifting over the lapping waters of the river. "By coming home to my wife and kid," he softly explains. "Now, my friends and my kid. I know they can help with me deal with the bad things."
He shifts some to let Schara go as the pattering of bare feet come racing towards the dock. Both Lomi and Cynthia have half eaten, large, overflowing sandwiches. Both with the oddest combinations, and they seem to be attempting to scarf it down despite their desire not to. "... is this the tiebreaker meal?"
They both nod enthusiastically, staring the other down.
"Well, when you two are done and not choking, we're heading home to cool off," Warrick mentions, watching them with mild amusement.
"That still is nice, I think. I hope you'll have more friends that you can rely on to help when things are bad or stressful, Warrick." Schara muses quietly, stopping to look at Warrick, and where she was resting her head against his side again. They tilt her head again. "Although, I do not know if friends usually do this, I don't know much about friends so I am uncertain even if it is nice."
She sits up as the two friends return, and their head tilts again. "Aren't meals out supposed to be pleasant?" The elf wonders out loud. "What are you trying break by eating them when you don't want to?"
Warrick nods once. "Likewise to you." He shares a glance with her, clears his throat, and looks away. "... no, they typically don't, at least with me. But it is nice regardless."
They try and say something, but its muffled as they finish their food at the same time. Gulp! "Hah! I won!" they both shout pointing at one another. Then they both groan.
"They order food for the other and challenge them to finish it first. This is the third tiebreaker in a row. Regardless, c'mon. Let's get home."
-End Scene-