Who

Naneska, Maksym

What

Naneska is trying to herd goats and Maksym just wanted a better spot to watch the storm from.

When

It is afternoon of the first day of the fourth month of the seventeenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Standing Stones, Igen Weyr

OOC Date 12 Jun 2019 04:00

 

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"Don't tell him, but I'm NOT a one goat woman."


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Standing Stones

It is perhaps a pity that the Standing Stones lie in quiet isolation, half-forgotten in the Weyr's easternmost corner. Or perhaps it is inevitable: the grandiose beauty of these red rocks is ill-suited to Igen's coarse grit, and maybe only their loneliness allows them to survive unmarred. Whatever the reason, it cannot be denied that the Standing Stones, a lonely jumble of ancient boulders, have a glory about them. The tumbled field of pillars and arches has been shaped by eons of wind and water into strange shapes, twisted and rutted. The going is treacherous: only the Weyr's half-feral herd of caprines navigates the terrain with any ease. To the northwest, the lakeshore glimmers; to the east, rough-carved steps lead towards another ancient pile of rocks - though the Star Stones are less haphazardly placed than their Standing cousins.

It is the sixty-first day of Spring and 77 degrees. Despite being clear, dry and sunny over the weyr proper, a thunderstorm drenches the outer reaches of Igen's desert.


The life of a candidate is simple, PT in the morning, chores in the afternoon. And it is even simpler for this particular trader candidate, as this afternoon has seen her sent to path less trodden to attempt to herd some of the half-feral caprines back to civilization. However, much like horses, you cannot lead goats to water civilzation unless they are so inclined, and the semi-feral herd are NOT so inclined at this particular moment. After a good hour or so jumping up and down rocks and gullies, Naneska is taking a breather, sitting in upon a boulder bathed in sunlight as she watches the thunderstorms way out over the desert. Aside from the capriciousness of the goats, all in all this is a good afternoon for chores. Of course now that she has settled, one of the smaller, cuter caprines is coming close to nibble upon her sleeve. "Oh aye, now ye want t' know me!" Naneska isn't even mad!

That thunderstorm on the edge of the desert deserves a much better vantage point from which to watch it than down in the Caravan Grounds, even the Bazaar's rooftops weren't cutting it. So the trek is gladly made by a Zingari teen with a dreamy look in his eyes wearing a most colorful vest made of several clashing swatches of bright fabric stitch haphazardly together. His lean body moves with a strange fluidity long arms getting as much into the act of walking as his legs do. Pale eyes are a stark contrast to the heavy kohl smudged around them, Maksym's gaze lazily surveying the area and noticing Naneska in the process. A head dipped in her direction, with a crooked smile of expressive lips before he moves to find a perch from where to watch the storm.

"I don't bite." Naneska calls out in response to that polite nod. "Can't" She pushes the caprine away to tap her candidates knot with a wink. And of course she has the best seat in the house, so they may as well share the show right? The kid, henceforth and forever to be refered to as Billy-Bob (RIP the OG BILLY), butts back playfully in his own response to being pushed away. "This buggar might though, he weren't raised right were ye?" Another push is given with an indulgent chuckle. It may be the best seat in the house, but clearly it's occupied by riff-raff.

"Shame," Maksym replies with what sounds like actual regret in his dreamy sort of tone tilting his head in her direction. "I didn't want to crowd you and your friend over there, I'd never come in the middle of a love connection." Dark curls bouce as he turns towards her in time to see that wink and tap of her white knot. "I see. so you're a risk-taker hmmm?" he asks with a faint narrowing of his eyes as he flows towards her and takes up a perch on the edge of the bolder on the opposite side to little Billy-Bob, not wanting to attract any goat-y ire in his direction.

Naneska snorts, which quickly devolves into another laugh. "Don't tell him, but I'm NOT a one goat woman." Man, goat, they're pretty much the same right? "Jist as soon as…" She gestures expansively at the light show before them. "I plan t' get me a whole heap more where he came from." Well that is the plan! But the actual getting is still a bit hazy, but there is plenty of time to rectify that! "I'm…" The laughter stops momentarily, even though the amused twinkle in her eyes never really stops, and her face scrunches. "Ye could say that I guess." She eventually answers with a shrug. What is risk for others, is just another path to wander right? "I don't say no t' much." The wink returns. DUN DUN DUN!~

"Noted," Maksym replies placidly as he pulls himself up onto the boulder and crosses his legs in front of him. "And what would be your plan then? Become Lady of the Caprines and rule them all if you don't impress? I like it," he says with another crooked smile, heavy lids drooping slightly over his eyes, giving him a bit of a drowsy expression. Bushy brows hike up his forehead when Naneska mentions she doesn't say no to much, a spark of mischief in his hazy gaze. "Saying no closes a door on a possible experience, something I prefer not to do myself. But I don't know if I'd ever look good in white…" he bobs his head again in the direction of her white knot.

"Ye'll never know until ye try it!" Naneska responds, echoing the sentiment but not the words he originally spoke. "Naneska, trader. O' th' Reika originally, but now on my own." There is a nose wrinkle at her knot. "Well I was on me own." Now she shares a room with entirely TOO many young adults. Once again she laughs. "That's an idea! Although I'm more partial t' runners. I'd much rather be Lady Runnerbeast!" Amusement bubbles as she contemplates that future. "But no, I'm supposed t' be gatherin' these beasties for the beastcrafters. Not that any o' them want to be gathered." So she stopped to consider her options and watch the thunderstorm roll over the desert.

"True, and I suppose I won't know if I'm a risk taker or not until I am offered one of those little white knots," Maksym muses dreamily as he places his palms on the boulder behind him to prop himself up, "Maksym, or Maks, of the Zingari. A pleasure to meet you Naneska of the Reika, Lady of Runnerbeasts and possible future rider. I wish you all the luck in your endeavor to get the wee beasties down to the Herders. Have you tried reasoning with them?" he asks as if it makes perfect sense to him.

Naneska turns to Maksym, her eyes wide, is he ready to hear the word?! No? Well Nan is ready to spill it. "Did ye know we kin ask t' Stand?" Harken to this revelation! "I did!" Yeah, despite her protestations she may indeed be the risk taker he accused her of. "So no guarentees fer me!" Not that it seems to faze her any. "But thank ye, th' Zingari have an impressive Impression rate ye might not do badly." What is a gamble if not another word for risk? "Aye, tried that. Tried cussin' at them too. For all th' good it did me. Might have t' wander down and find some feed next." But clearly she's in no hurry as her arms wrap around the still nibbling Billy-Bob.

Her wide-eyed revelation brings a considered hike of Maksym's brows again as he absorbs and processes the knowledge, one hand idly playing with the chunk of raw emerald that's hanging from a leather lace around his neck. "I did not know this. I thought that was only the weyrfolk could do that…" he trails off thoughtfully, fignering the rough gem as he considers this further. "No…I don't think I would. If I'm meant to be a rider, it will happen. I will trust that. But more likely I am not, my cards are hazy on the subject." Briefly he brings the rock pendant to his lips, running the cool stone over them a couple times, brows lowering pensively over his pale eyes. "Most animals are easily lead by their stomachs. I mean look at that one," he motions with a slender finger at the nibbling goat beside her, "He'd gladly take a bite out of ya if you were green and leafy. Even now he's considering it. You can see it in his eyes."

Naneska quirks a brow. "Perhaps Cremla got confused." Faranth knows that Naneska makes herself familiar often enough. "Don't tell her though aye?" After she went to all that effort of actually asking (it was painless really!) she isn't going to back out now, not even over a technical disqualification through no fault of her own. Naneska can follow him up to a certain point, but beyond that she prefers to believe in her own efforts. "Ye cards ever wrong?" She just has to ask, before ruffling the fur of the possibly carnivorous goat. "Aye. Men too. It's amazin' what tricks ye can teach a hungry…" She pauses, her lips twitching mischeviously. "…beastie."

"I've nver met the lady, so in the infinitesimally small chance that I do before the hatching, you have my sollemn vow I will not utter a word," Maksym replies, dropping his hand heavy to his bony chest, exposed by the opened vest, over his heart to seal the promise. "Never wrong, even though they don't always show the whole truth. Cards, tea leaves, palms, there is a level of interpretation needed, and interpretation will always, inherently, muddy the original intent." He laughs at her last, a soft chortle to himself as he shakes his head, setting his unruly curls to bouncing again. "I'm known many a women with a healthy appetite as well. Both sexes have their own cravings which can be capitalized on…." a cryptic smirk paints the corners of his lips, pulled up just enough to reveal a sliver of white teeth beneath them.

In a different time, and a different place… But it is here and now with the storm starting to dissipate on the horizon. "Ye're a gem! I'd say I'd owe ye one, but y'did just say ye've never met her." And he better keep it that way! But there is a playful grin playing across her puckish features, which gives way to an earthy laugh at his quip. "Nothin' wrong wit' a hearty appetite!" Because she is just such a woman, although her activities are more in the nature of favours and fun, than commerce. "So, it's kind o' like how no two people tell the same story?" She is trying to understand. "Even if it's about th' same event? Because they interpret it through their own eyes n' minds?"

Though Naneska doesn't know this yet, Maksym is a man of his word. Besides, there's really nothing in it for him by mentioning something that may not even be relevant to this person he doesn't even know, so he's fairly confident that her confidences are safe with him. "Nothing wrong at all," especially when you're just breaking into the world of negotiable affections like a certain curly haired Zingari might be, "It's as natural as a dragon in flight," he muses poetically before lifting his gaze back to her face. Her last garners a brightly crooked grin, flash of white teeth as he nods with whole hearted agreement. "That's exactly it. The truth exists as it's own thing, but what we all perceive is twisted and colored by own own minds, thoughts, emotions. Readings are a deeply personal thing, for the one giving it as well as the one receiving it."

Naneska spent most of her formative years with her Grandmother, a woman as earthy and practical as they come, so while she is pleased to have understood how the cards work, she won't be consulting them any time soon. "D'ye do anythin' without lookin' at ye cards?" She asks, that grin of hers gaining a sly twist as a thought occurs. "Do they tend t' agree with your desires?" Because interpretation is based upon the mind of the interpreter right? "Accordin' t' th' old blow-hards down there." She jerks her head at the Bazaar, where the appearance of propriety often disguises behaviour anything but. "There is plenty wrong with a woman o' healthy appetite." Not that Nan lets it bother her much. "I think they're jist jealous." Or covertous, Blonde and attractive, Naneska can have her pick, and usually does when she's not pledged to something greater than her own personal appetite.

"I don't actually. Reading my own cards, like I've said, is hazy. Too close to the subject matter, there's no filter between what I want the cards to be and what they are," Maksym explains as he once more sits forward, his elbows on his knees as his grey eyes track the remnants of the storm. "So I read others' cards, or tea leaves, or palms, but I kind of like my own life to have a certain element of suprise to it." To the old blow-hards in the Bazaar, a rude gesture with his long fingers and a derisive snort. "Jealous indeed. Or afraid, let women know that they are the equal of men, and they likely won't keep to just childrearing and housekeeping and being controlled." Yes, Maks is a feminist, thank you very much. There's a far off look in his eyes now, sort of dreamy and thoughtful as his eyes fix far in the distance.

Maks is quickly ranking high on Naneska's list of 'Guys who are cool!', It's a long list so he should be flattered. "That could be some o' the reason they don't like me." She admits, her voice dropping with even more amusement. "Ain't none o' that fer me, I don't need me palm read t' know it either!" She's long been in control of her destiny, and is pretty adament that a life of childrearing and housekeeping is the last thing she would want. Why else be a trader? "But, I suppose I should go see if one o' those blow-hards has somethin' t' attract caprines." She sighs, the last of the storm moving beyond sight. "'Twas nice t' meet ye Maksym. When I'm back in me wagon, me door is always open t' ye."

"I find people who know who they are don't usually come to me for readings," Maksym replies with a cool serenity in his voice, hands resting, palms up, on his knees as his eyelids droop even further. "It was a distinct pleasure to meet you Naneska, Faranth's luck on you for the Hatching. And if you do come back to your wagon, I'm sure our paths will cross again." In a breezy tone that trails off, he lifts a hand to lazily waggle fingers in her direction as his eyes finally close and he slips into a quiet reflection inwards taking advantage of the quiet and tranquility of the place.

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