Pulling at Knots

Log Info

• Title: Pulling at Knots
• Emitter: Slixvah
• Characters: Slixvah, Patch
• Place: Fernwood Pub
• Time: July 30th, 2022
• Summary: Patch and Slixvah get dinner together at the Fernwood to get to know each other better. They find common ground on interests and vulnerabilities over a pint and food, glad to have a relaxing evening out of the madness from woes outside (and inside) the city.

Fernwood Pub, Night

A dark fog has descended over the streets, muting the heat into something more comfortable. The Fern is a bustle, but not as fervently as it has been before. The tempo is slow, the worries outside the walls there, but for a night, folks are doing their best to relax.

Just like the egalrin woman at a table by herself. Just sat down, wing spars folded tightly behind them to not knock into anyone. They fidget with a nicer looking violet silk robe to rest on them properly before giving a quiet sigh. She whispers to her pocket friend. "Do I look good...?"

From within the robe, a bird tweets back, "If I answer truthfully, the weight of your head will break your neck."

"Shiney, baby doll, I knew you had faith in me."

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here."

"Semantics." Pocket birb is patted over the robe as Slixvah gets a drink to calm herself, a glance taken here and there in search.

Patch is a tad late, but the bard is not so long as to dash hopes. She enters, pulling at the door with her coat tucked under an arm. She's dressed in a sleeveless blouse, and the fog outside has left her lightly misted as she comes it from the heat. The bard is absent instrument, eyes darting about as if search of a specific person. An egalrin.

With a smile, Patch catches sight of Slixvah, turning that way, and weaving between patron and waitress as she crosses towards the table. "Sorry, I got caught up chatting with Eztli. I was near the Tornmwar, and she happened to run in to me." she excuses, a hand resting on the back of a seat. "You did say you wanted dinner, yeah?"

A relieved, happy expression breaks across Slix's visage as she rises. "All good Patch, all good, she's always fun to talk to," she chirps. A pitcher full of brew and two empty mugs are placed upon the table as the fortune teller gives a nod to the server. She sits. "To be right honest, I just got settled in. Yeah, dinner."

She leans forward, rests her cheek in a hand, and gestures to the open chair across from her. "Just you and me," she coos. "Get your business dealt with?"

Patch hangs her coat on the seat's back, then picks up her seat, carrying it closer, about a quarter of the table away with a smirk. "Thank you. I did. Well... I studied for a lecture anyways." a light laugh given as she sits, and settles in.

Hands rest clasped before her forearms lightly touching the table. An ear is given a flick, the Egalrin's glance enough to make the bard lightly blush. "You really were excited for us to have a dinner." a small smile held as she looks away from Slixvah for a moment. "When you first asked, I didn't realize you meant a date. I'm so sorry. If I had realized it sooner, I'd of said yes immediately."

Slix's brows raise in surprise as Patch sits closer, a little chuckle leaving her. "Studyin' is right important. If I'm not fussin' 'round with stuff I tends ta have my beak in a book."

The small feathers on her face fluff up some as she rubs her neck. "O-Oh. Immediately," she echoes, a little smile heard in her voice as she picks up the pitcher and pours out the brew for two. "I do apologize for not being more straightforward 'bout it. Ez was there and I didn't want her ta feel awkward."

Her hands wrap around her cup.

A wing spar reaches over and pats Patch on the shoulder, ribbons unfurling briefly. "No need ta be sorry, hon," she warmly assuages.

"Ez is the reason I realized it was a date. She...." Patch laughs, flushing again as she tries to continue. "She had to warn me, and be a good friend to you." a warm tone, and a growing smile as she is finally able to breath easy, and sit back in her seat, seeming to appreciate those words, and assuring pat. "Trust me, she feels anything but awkward about it. We even gossiped on the little girly she has eyes on."

"Well, tell me about yourself, Slixvah." A smile broad when Patch notices the ruffled feathers of cheek. "Other than you're cute when you blush."

Slixvah can't help but laugh with Patch. "Oh, thank you Eztli," she says off to the side like the little makari was there. There's even a little glint of a mischief. "I sure hope those two get along well. I may or may not have nudged Ez a bit to act."

The question and observation only gets her face more fluffy, but she just smooths it with a well meaning chuckle. "About myself..." A moment afforded to grab a server and get some bread and cheese, and to steal a sip from her cup. "A broad question. But I'll use a broad brush. I gots thirteen brothers and sista's up in the Aerie in the Sky Curtain Mountains. I came from there. Did a lil' diplomacy between my town an' the Khazad. Left it around... ten years ago.

She points a finger up, and trails down, like reading a map. "Wandered ta Rune. Skirted Dragonier through Khazad Duin. Blundered through The Vast and finally made it here. I like magic, pretty people, and pretty colors. And busting out lyrical miracles from time to time," she giggles after her long winded explanation."

"Broad strokes indeed. I like it." Patch muses, having leaned forward, and listened to Slixvah's words. A head had bobbed, and she tried to track that route in her head. "Wander lust?" she muses, thinking on that for a small moment. "I have walked and hiked a ways myself, but not like that. Mostly straight from Llyrost to here. Is that where you picked up the trend of ribbons?" she asks, curious as she lets an eye roam Slixvah, ending it with a wink.

"As for Eztli? Yeah, I wish her luck. Anyone who's inspired enough to make a basket special for such a person... she's far more romantic than I." Patch muses about the first bit of conversation. "Good friends, and seen many places. A woman of culture? Was it for the study of magics?"

Slix turns in her seat to face Patch, head propped up on an arm. Attention so focused on the sun elf that she didn't even react to the bread and cheese arriving. The musing makes her break gaze for a beat. "Wander lust, yeah," she truthfully admits. "But there's other reasons. I don't stay in one place fo' too long." But, she perks up and smiles from the wink. "Honest answer? I just like them!" she laughs. "I ain't got flashy feathers like the boys, I wanted colors too!"

"Straight from there to here? Any particular reason?" she asks, tilting her head to the side as she settles down. Her head bobs about Eztli before rubbing her arm. "... yeah, tryin' ta learn mo' about magic when ya do what ain't the usual gets you chased outta a lot of places, ya dig?" she answers quieter.

"Well, sure. You aren't as a warm and happy tone as say.... Truefeather, but...." Patch's smile broadening as she reaches to pick up a sleeve of her coat, letting it dangle for emphasis. "Always been partial the the reds myself." again, smirking as she lets the leather sleeve fall, turning dull emerald eyes towards that tray of cheese and bread.

"Well, Irshya and I call it the Terrible-Mother-Club. We both have family we don't much like being around, and traveling took us to new places, and to new friends." Patch explains. "I was accepted into the bardic college, and it was far from home. Rune was... going through some complicated stuff, still is." she admits, sighing, and taking up a bit of cheese from the plate. "Llyrost never felt like home. Here, more so."

Slix glances to the sleeve for a beat before she's pre-emptively brushing her face down with a palm. She reaches down, grabs the edge of her seat, and scoots closer. "Red does suit ya quite well, indeed," she coos. "Makes everythin' ya do seem real lively."

She shakes her head. "Man, if my momma was in that club, there'd be a bird gettin' chucked off a mountain..." Attention back on Patch. "I'm glad ya settled on findin' here. New friends and new places lend new perspective on facets of oneself that ain't obvious when others are tellin' ya otherwise," she intones, expression softening after the words leave her mouth as it seemed to be a bit more on the nose (or, beak, in this case) for herself than she realized. She grabs a piece of bread, tears it in half, and offers one to Patch as she nibbles on her own.

Patch happily takes that piece of bread, mashing it into her piece of cheese, and taking a bite. She chews, smirking at Slixvah. She waits until she's not got a full mouth to speak again. "I appreciate that. I'm sure you're mother is lovely. Mine couldn't care for one child. Yours has fourteen children? Goodness, I'd of loved to have a sibling." the bard muses, taking another bite.

"I like secrets... and lore. Finding the bits and pieces of things that people had forgotten. Or the truth to tales that aren't told as they happened." Patch admits, smirking as she pops the last bit of bread and cheese in her mouth chewing. "I don't normally eat so much in the summer, but... all this investigating, and working on the side of school has me famished. Sorry." the small bit of cheese and bread seeming to be a meal portion in the elf's mind. "Can I be a glutton and have more?" smirking at the other woman's tray.

Slixvah waves a hand dismissively, smiling as her offer is taken. "She's a grand woman. I dare say she gave me my wits. M'siblings are... all over tha' place. Some are coo', some ain't. Just how it is." A shoulder raises and lowers. "Who says ya can't have a siblin' now? Family ain't just who ya born wit'. Maybe you'll find someone 'ere in the city that you'll just click with, ya know?"

The egalrin leans forward some, the ribbons quietly rustling behind her. "I like secrets too," she whispers conspiratorially, sky blue eyes gleaming. "Ain't it a thrill? Ta find somethin' that just defies what's known?"

She reaches over and slides the tray over. "You can have whatever you want, honey," she coyly hums, leaning against the table as the last of her drink is done and gone. Pitcher implemented, and its full again. "Yeah, I ain't used to doin' this much out and about. I getcha."

Patch snorts a laugh, smirking as a hand takes another piece of cheese with some bread, setting it on a plate, and moving to get herself a drink from the pitcher. "'Whatever' is a dangerous word, Slix." her flush light, but the mark upon her face amplifies it under her eye, a dull purple accompanying that tease. "I'm not adverse to danger, but I warn when in a pinch, I like to bite." a clack of teeth coming playfully with tease, soon her snack occupying her lips, her next words blocked by crumbs and bits she would rather keep in her mouth. She does however, wink.

"I like knowing what I like to know. It is a thrill to pull a knot of truth free, or untangle a web of lies. It's part of the fun, and charm of being a instrument for hire, yeah?" Patch's words filled with mirth as she shifts, her weight forward as she looks at the Egalrin close to her. "What of you, Slix? You're pulling at my knots. What is it you're trying to shake free?"

Slixvah snickers. "I know what I said," she snipes back, gaze drifting to the purple hued mark. She frees up a hand to rest between them. "I'll keep that in mind if we're ever in a pinch."

She bobs her head along, agreeing with the excitement of pulling free and watching it all tumble down. But the question causes Slix to pause, a proverbial lance that unraveled her own knot. And her answer spills forth. "... you're sharp. I like that," she says quietly. The freed hand rises, the back of it brushing back a strand of hair behind a pointed ear. "... what I wants already shaken out: fun company, fun discussion, perhaps a tinge of selfishness to share some time with you. You're fascinating. Witty. Clever. And the fact you'd agree to a date so briskly makes me feel really good about m'self, ya know?" she quietly elucidates.

Patch blushes, shaking her head and looking into her drink. "Very kind words..." her lip bitten as she raises a mug to her lips to find composure in a break. "I don't know about witty and clever, but I can be fascinating." she muses, a hand wiping her lips of the remnant of drink, and then dried upon her pants out of sight.

"If this is selfish, I am impressed. I rather like the time I find with you. Stretching wing, prowling bar. Dinners." Patch's tone warm, her hand taking Slixvah's as it sits between them, that feathered glance making her squirm lightly in her seat before giving a squeeze. "It's nice, and the company too."

A small laugh leaves Slixvah. "I'd say so, if you're astute enough ta cut through my knot," she hums. The mere mention of the wings makes the spars unfurl some, making the compressed rainbow of ribbons flutter behind the egalrin. "I ain't get ta be selfish a ton, doin' what I do," she admits quietly.

Before, that is, her hand is taken, much to her mild surprise. The squeeze is returned as her eyes soften. "... I will admit, it's hard ta find folks that give ya a chance when you're me. For a number of reasons. They don't give egalrin a chance, I'm all ova th' place, m'magic's weird to 'em. I ain't one ta get real deeply involved wit' people, romantically speakin', so that just makes things even harder."

Her gaze rests on Patch, her free hand rising to brush the back of it against the marked side of the elf's face. "But man, when you told me that 'you just see me', I had ta return the favor of givin' you a little nice evenin' at the very least," she quietly explains, the knot further unfurling.

Patch's eyes flick to that soft touch that caresses her hand, smiling with a soft nod. She can't help but lean into that other hand's touch, a light brush across cheek. "I have it easy... admittedly. People always flirt with me, despite my marks. It's not like they bother me. I've learned to like them myself, but..." eyes rising to meet Sixvah's. "I get it, Slix. You don't have to make excuses for yourself, or worry about what others said before. Just... breath." the bard reassures, again squeezing that hand as she shifts a bit closer over the bit of table.

"You're not just an egalrin. Not just a channeler of magic. There is a whole picture to you, and people who only see the bits and not the whole aren't worth the time." Patch nodding to her own words. "My words aren't dinner worthy, they're just true. Though... you /are/ dinner worthy. That's why I am here."

Slix is proverbially stymied at the mutual solidarity. A breath enters as instructed, and slowly exhales, eyes half lidding as her frame relaxes. Though her gaze holds well, further words makes her eyes widen, a little gleam of mist dusting them.

The feathers on her face are on full fluff. "I...-"

Her free hand rubs at her eyes. "Pardon my Khazad, sweetie, but good fucking gods I needed ta hear that," she softly chuckles before scooting the last bit closer to nix the distance. Her beribboned arms stretch out in embrace. "Can I give you a hug?"

"Of course, Slix." Patch's words soft as she shifts and stands to give the Egalrin that hug, arms wrapping about her neck, and giving a subtle squeeze as she leans into the feathered woman clad in ribbon. "Any time you want a hug, or need one, you can do so. Don't think your touch is unwanted, that's silly." the bard teases, leaning back to give a smile, her eyes always a dull green, but filled with mischief as she suddenly kisses the other woman on the tip of her beak. It's placed softly, and deliberately with a smirk. "I'm sorry you carry that hurt... I used to too. Something like it."

Slix didn't need to stand up, as she had a whole foot over the elf. But that didn't stop one of the most fluffiest, all encompassing hugs to abate in the slightest. Arms wrap around Patch's waist, wing spars crest over and around to hug the shoulders. Ribbons cascading around in a little isolated rainbow. She relaxes further into it, a quiet laugh leaving her. "I'll keep that in mind, I love givin' hugs out."

She blinks as affection is rendered. And the floofy feathers on her face return with ease. It's riposted with one of her own: her brushing her beak against the marked side of Patch's face. "... it's a hurt that has a slow burn, but then people like your come 'round and prop me back up."

"... yeah? Is it ya marks? I honestly thought they're really oool," she admits, looking away just a tinge shyly.

"My mother hated them. Near bankrupted the family to try and be rid of them. Named me Siofra because she thought changelings took her child." Patch says in a sobering tone, returning that hug again after leaning into that caress and touch. She buries her head in robe and feather as she lets out a soft sigh, giving the egalrin a squeeze. "It is a slow burn, but.... it is hers to carry now. Not me." stepping back, letting her hands fall away, looking up to Slix with a wry smirk.

"Thank you." a hand rising to let fingers guide Slix's glance to her own as she cups the woman's under-beak lightly. "Don't be afraid to pay me complement. You like what you like. That's why we're here yeah?" laughing at her own words, smirking with a flush of cheek.

Slixvah can't hep but tut and take Patch back into the embrace, a hand brushing through the bard's hair. "What a fool," she surmises, returning the squeeze before her date steps away. "And now she's lesser for not embracing what is different."

Her head all but plops into the cupped hand. Face feathers all a-floof. "That's why we're here..." she echoes quietly. A moment to think, a glance to the door out of here, another to the stairs that go upwards and beyond to rented rooms. She rises to her taloned feet. "I get the feelin' compliments might get paid out more."

Slix picks up her drink, swirls it, then skulls the last of it in an attempt to drain its courage. "So... would ya like me ta walk ya back ta where ever ya stayin'? Or are we going to tug at some more knots?"

Patch hadn't been expecting another hug, flushed and returning it with a small smile, and twist of lip. "Thank you." she says quietly into Slixvah's feathers, but as the woman stands and drains her cup, Patch can not help but laugh with a nod. Hands roam from the waist of her blouse down, dusting herself with a nervous twitch of ear. "I could take you to my dorm, that's fine with me... but." a tongue traces lip in thought as she looks to the bar, and the stairs the other woman had eyed. "We could find some place closer."

A subtle shift, a step to get her coat, and Patch seems to find some simple composure. "I mean, knots are nice too, ribbons would be great for it." the woman teases, her coy grin found, and her humor showing. "I also like rope and cord, but..." that more trying to shock the other woman in jest. "Let's just go somewhere, yeah?"

"Anytime," Slix hums before she too gives herself a once over: smoothing her face down, wings adjusting themselves, a tug here and there at the silk robe. Her attention from the stairs slides upwards towards a room. "How fortunate," she chirps, pulling a key out of a random pocket and twirling the loop on a finger, trying to be slick but just masking nerves. "I'm already staying here for the night."

She can't help but laugh. "Rope on feathers is rough. But ribbon works quite well," she jabs back with a wink as one beribboned wing spar curls around Patch. "Let's go."

-End Scene-