Brothers and Worries
Log Info
- Title: Brothers and Worries
- Place: Patch's Dorm Room
- Summary: While preparing for another busy semester at the Bardic College, Slixvah drops by to see Patch's new room. Some talk at the Soldier's Defense was shared, and plans made because of the nature of the news.
The Bardic College - Women's Dormitory - 1st Floor
Patch's New Room
The way into the dorms may be dimly lit by the manalamps, but the doors are open despite the college's next semester still being near a week away. Snow still coats the grounds, but the signs of the Yule Yearning have all but disappeared.
Most students won't trickle in till Eliday, but having been assigned as a resident assistant, Patch has resided here the entire holiday season. Now that it's over, she's began to pack most of her conspiracy board away, her room's light casting an eerie glow out into the abandoned commons as her door is open. She can be heard rustling as she's still dressed in her sleeping wear. It's simple clothes, consisting of a loose sleeveless shirt, and a pair of grey pants that tie with a string at the waist. Clothes for when people aren't supposed to see you.
It's clearly the work on the Sea of Mana, the stacks of papers and boards being relegated to some space behind her collection of coats in the closet. For now they've made it from the wall to a pile on the floor. Soon the closet. Hopefully. Things are still being sorted as her new bedroom is being broken in. It's larger than the one before, allowing for a small office and bed space, even having some leftover floor for some plush chairs and a small table for tea. Too bad it's all full of her research and clutter. "Shit. Seldan got me all distracted." she huffs in her work.
There's no one here. Not a soul. The calm is welcome from the usual chaos of the college. And perhaps.. inviting?
>Thud thud thud!< comes from the front door of Patch's new room, heavy footfalls closing in fast. "This is th' Althean patrol!" a gruff sounding woman's voice rumbles through the way. "I know ya ain't got snacks in there, and I've come bearing sustenence!"
A pause. "That includes me, potentially!" The voice laughs.
Tthere's a four and a half foot dwarvish woman with bright blond hair woven into a braided bun. Held in her arms is a basket of random baked goods, as well as mulled wines. A wide, cheeky grin rests on her face as she looks about the room. "Oooooh!" she coos, sky blue eyes squinting as they inspect. "Dang girl, this place is poppin'! You weren't kiddin'!"
Patch can be heard laughing even before the dwarvish woman came into sight. Somewhere about 'Althean Patrol', but it brought the Dawn Elf to near the door to peak as Not-Slix appears with warm words, and food. "Blue eyes, knows me." a harder glance taken as the bard huffs and dips to hug the dwarvish woman, smooshing the basket a bit before it's taken in hand when the hug ends. "I am going to extrapolate from your idoletic that you're Slixvah." the woman says, suddenly laughing. "Please be, Slixvah." the snacks ferreted to her desk, an eye lingering on them.
"So, umm." A bit unsure as she turns back to Not-Slix. "I could eat some of that now. Are you hungry?" she asks. "I mean, the other nibbling is tempting, but I tend to save those things for when I'm actually sure of whom I'm talking to." admitting she's just guessing.
Dwarf-Slix grins as the basket creaks from smoosh, her reaching up slightly to return the embrace. "Bingo!" she chirps warmly. "Das me!" Handing the basket over, she reaches up to pull a stick out of her hair to let the braid unravel and sway to the ground. "Heh, yes, it's me, hon," she preens, a hand on her hip. "And I can totes use a snack too. Got a bite, then got more, ended up losing track of things while playin' around bein' this, and made out with a big ol' basket of stuff!"
She kicks her shoes off, and without asking, she barefoot runs across the room and body flops into the bed. "So much more space!"
Patch pauses at the basket, slowly unravveling and digging in to it with a grin. Something changes as she ponders over Slixvah's words. She eyes the research, then the snacks, and a third glance falling on Slixvah as she crashes into the bed with a flump into the blankets. "You haven't run into your brother then?" she asks, some scones and random cookies selected. Also taking up one of the mulled wines. She hesitates over it, but then decides it might be a night for drinks, taking it with her.
"I have some glasses in a box." Patch says, crossing to place a small plate of mixed things within Slixvah's reach, and then moving to uncork the bottle before digging for her glasses. "I spoke with him. Ran into him at the Soldier's Defense." deciding to focus on her friend for the moment. Research can wait Dwarf-Slixvah rolls about the bed, being a general goober until she ends up sitting upright against the headboard. "Hrm? Naw. Ain't seen him since I scooted out that one time from the Fern wit'cha when we was meetin' that greenbeard."
She grins at the plate, falling forward to pick up the plate supine as she watches Patch. "Yeah, pour me one!" she coos, glancing to the research strewn about. Curosity about to get the best of her, but Patch's information gets her to grunt a 'huh?' with a scone half shoved in her face. A big gulp gets it out of the way. "Oh, ya did? Huh. That was pretty quick. Lemme guess, he was just bein' a big ol' worry wort?" she snickers.
"That was part of it. He's kind of charming in his gruff way. I'd say swoon worthy, but he's arrogant, and think he knows what's best." Patch points out, turning back to Slixvah with a laugh as the woman stuffs her face as she finds her glasses. Soon the drinks are poured and in hand, her words still flowing as she walks towards the dwarf.
"Not judging, he thinks he's doing a good thing." Patch notes, sighing. "Which makes the next news suck even more, Hon." her smile faltering. "You might need to go talk to him. No one is dead or anything, but your family has had it rough." offering a glass of wine, and a sheepish glance. "I don't really know how to break the news to you."
Not-Slix bobs her head. "Yes, he's a cool bird, but totally got a stick up his tail a lot of the time. Not a bad guy, just a bit much for me," she hums, kicking her feet idly as she watches Patch pour the drink.
Which pauses mid swing at the mention of her family. The braid of blond hair twitches once, and then snakes around to carefully wrap around the offered glass. Slix blinks. "... my what."
The plate is pushed aside, hair held glass passed off to a hand, and the dwarf sits on the edge of the bed, hair now rifling around her robes to pull out a many-folded sheet of parchment. She skims it. "... Zanzi was jus' tellin' me he was comin' in ta check on me. I already told him I wasn't dead when I was someone else, and that I was totes healed up aight."
She looks over to Patch, a familiar calculation running behind those eyes. Her mind is slowly starting to pick up speed. "What did he tell you?"
"There was some disaster at the Aerie. A collapse. Your family is looking to be moving this way soon, and want your help with it." Patch says, her wine sipped as she doesn't yet sit. "I don't think it was all. He was adamant you were key to making things happen, and was going on about how he worried about bad words having spread." she notes, her breath coming in a huff. "I'm no expert on the Egalrin's social and familial structure, but I felt like a lot more was left unsaid."
"I'm sorry, Slixvah. I know he was telling the truth about most of it." she offers, setting her glass on a nightstand, moving to kneel before the other woman, offering some closeness, placing a hand on one of Slixvah's knees. "I'm sorry."
Slixvah stares at Patch. Her lips part, pause, close. The glass of wine in her hand hasn't been touched, save for the ripples in the glass that exacerbate the faint tremor in her hand. "A collapse...?" she finally manages to echo in a croak.
The touch breaks her stun, the dwarfish Slix panning her head to look down slightly at Patch. Then off to the side, gaze distant. Her lone free hand finds the hand on her knee. "... a... collapse," she repeats, resting her chin on the edge of the glass. "The den was situated at the base of a cliff to catch the updraft easier, along with a bunch of other dens nearby. Most of the Aerie was situated on the- if the fam is movin' here, that means it ain't worth buildin' it back. But why not live with someone else? We got good ties to tha Khzad. I made sure of that. Unless- no. Why would there be a collapse? A sinkhole? No, we'd just build into the sinkhole. Did the cliff break? But why?"
She continues rambling, knee bouncing faster and faster.
Patch is quick to take that wine, seizing it before Slixvah's bouncing can splash it over herself. It's set aside with a clatter, the rushed movements nearly tipping it as a few droplets spill onto her wooden table's top. "Slixvah. No one is hurt. Not in your family. It sounded bad, and he wasn't keen on details, but no matter what's goin on, there's a lot of good to celebrate." Patch trying to redirect that energy, hands resting on top of those fidgeting knee, trying to offer a different stimulation, a caress and pat of leg. "Look at me."
"We'll figure it out. You'll figure it out." Patch corrects with a flush. "When I got what news I did, I stopped prying. It seemed rude to fish once earning enough to warrant urging contact." she says. "As for the unspoken, we can do research, look into it. See what's going on. That's what we do, right? What's one more case?" offering support in her way.
"B-But that doesn't make sense, what would they need me for? They already can do a lot, a-and why here? The Elders will j-just... shove them in a den far away and forget about them. W-" She didn't notice the glass getting taken from her hand. All the words were, heard, half were listened to.
She's being poked. That's weird, its like her skin was being patted, not feathers? Wait, no, she's a softskin. A glance down. Slim hand. Arm. Patch. Why is Patch here? She wants Slix to focus on her. Pay attention.
"Of course we'll fig... figure... figure it out," she agrees. Why is her face wet? Slix sniffs. "We... we always figure out the... the weird... stuff."
That mind is still going, whirring, faster and faster. Focus on Patch. She sniffs. Focus on Patch. "... wait." A little sob. "H-Hold on. Did..."
Her eyes widen. "D-D-Did I do this?" she suddenly says, like a revelation. "Wait, no no no, it couldn't have- did, did the luck build up so m-much there that when I left, it... it...-!"
Patch stares in both awe and a bit of horror as Slixvah winds up. It's a shocking departure of what she's used to seeing, and it causes a twinge that brings the bards hand up to her chest a moment. That's about all she spares for herself, lunging to hug the other woman as the tears come free and the blame soars. "Don't be an idiot!" Patch admonishes, despite her contrary movement to embrace her rattled friend. "Look at all the weird shit we've seen. You got an ego, but it shouldn't be large and foolish enough to attribute to you alone." she says, a heavy breath poured into Slixvah's shoulder. "They can think what they want, but I have learned a lot that makes me skeptical of any such connection. I don't know what you did for the Khazad, or why there was tension, but sometimes things just fall apart. Entropy is a magical constant, right?" poking her friend with logic! Kind of.
Slix is easily pulled in, her blinking rapidly as her breathing hitches. Finally, she gains some iota of being present, more burly than usual arms wrapping around the elf as she buries her face into the crook of the bard's neck. "E-Entropy is a magical and mundane c-c-constant," she's able to agree through quiet little sobs and sniffles.
That's it for the logic side, it seems, as Slix just start to worry cry.
Patch is not the strongest when it comes to emotional control. Seeing another raw with it, is something that wrenches at her, being hard to witness. It's more from empathy, and her inability to decide what to do in such situations. Until recently, she'd always cried alone. A memory of a certain bench, with a certain Egalrin. "I don't know what you need, but I'm here." she offers. "I'd like to help in any way I can." offering the same sincere words she got. Paraphrased, but still serious.
Patch just holds on to Slixvah, letting her cry and rock as she needs. The bard wont interrupt something that's warranted, and neither will she shy away from it because of her emotional hang-ups. "I should of asked more questions, but it pained him to talk of it too."
Slix cries. It's nothing loud, a gentle sobbing. Whatever spell that keeps her form slowly cracks as the embrace morphs to be a feathered one. A fluffy face buried into the crook of Patch's neck as beribboned wings wrap tight around the elf. She rocks along with Patch, the egalrin normally in check with her emotions finding herself just a touch too overwhelemed with this information.
Finally, the moment abates, Slix catching her breath as each exhale is a quiet whistle of a shudder. ".. T-thank you, hon," she murmurs softly, pulling away slightly to wipe at her eyes. "Ya really nice, and I 'ppreciate ya tons..."
She pulls away slightly, reaching up to hold the sides of Patch's face before she presses her forehead against the other's. "Mwah," she chirps with a weak chuckle, retreating back. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and siiiiiiiiighs. "Okay."
She opens her eyes, clear minded. "I'll talk wit' him. Figure out what needs be done. If ya wanna help, I'd be reall' glad ta have ya. Thank ya fo' tellin' me, hon. I kno' tha' wasn't easy. But I'll get to the bottom of whatever this is."
Patch smiles, her fingers laced in feathers as she wiggles them a bit playful once Slixvah speaks. Tickling as she was enshrouded by the larger woman's size and wings. "Good. I'll be waiting for word. And I'll put an ear out myself. See what whispers are afloat." she says, drawing away to stand as the other woman has calmed. A glass of mulled wine recovered. "It's cliché. But, drink?" re-offering it to Slixvah with a laugh.
"If you aren't rushing off, we got some other things to go over." she says, motioning with her free hand at her boards and papers. Well, until she reclaims her own glass with the free hand. "Honestly, I was about to just give up and take a nap until I heard you coming in." she says, making idle chatter, though when she meets Slixvah's glance she just winks a blows a kiss. "We can do that to. Sometimes, you just need a break."
Slix snickers as she squirms a bit from the tickle. Wings pull back to release Patch, the fortunamancer bobbing her head along. Her eyes crinkle in a smile. "Thanks. Ya lil' secrets ya pick up is right handy." She blinks at the drink, a sigh escaping her, trailing a laugh as well. The glass is taken, and without much thought, knocked back in its entirety.
Her wings shudder from it hitting her stomach. "Damn, they weren't kidding. This stuff got a kick..." she comments before looking over to the indicated boards and papers. "... I'm... gonna be real wit'cha Patty, my brain ain't in no headspace ta pin together conspiracies."
She meets the glance and snorts, face floofing up slightly. "... a nap sounds pretty good, especially after all that. I uh- no, won't be rushing out. Gotta get my head sorted first befo' I talk ta Zanzi. I ain't seen him about, you know where he at?"
"The Fernwood." Patch says, having to think on that detail as she looks to her glass and tries to knock it back like the other woman. She fails, but she gets a good portion. She gives up, the face she makes from the attempt a testament to the Egalrin's words of strength. "Oh, the kick was needed!" she states loudly with a laugh, setting the glass aside again as she turns to sit back upon the bed. Nope, no more of that.
"Good, I didn't feel like going over it all again." Patch admits, dismissing the research with a grin. "Plus, Diggle says genius strikes when one is dreaming." content to rest and poke her fun. "But that's his excuse for dozing during office hours."
-END