OPEN :: A golden bird was singing

[baedalites]

Who: Everyone!
What: St Kelley's evening
Where: The Apache and surrounding environs.
When: Veerdi evening.
Notes:
(1) The topic threads are just suggestions; if you've got somewhere else that your characters simply must be, make your own thread.
(2) All mementos will appear overnight in some part of your character's apartment.
(3) Dance!

St Kelley's is one of the more sedate occasions in Baedal, at least as holidays go. It passes more or less unnoticed by the majority of the population as many of them feel it doesn't concern them. It's not their holiday; it's for the others. Those with severed ties and broken hearts. The temple and church preach that it's a time for reflection or for glorifying the generosity of the gods. It's one of the few days on which no one looks askance at first generation Citizens mourning their missing loved ones publicly.

As night rolls around and floating lanterns are set to sea, the Apache in Mog Hill prepares to accept guests from the newer cohorts. It's something that happens every year, making it a practical tradition. The alcohol will be cheaper for first timers, and the music will be kept at a reasonable level.

Comments

[fish]

To his credit, Fish doesn't laugh—he does do kind of a half-assed job of concealing his grin, though, so it shows up crooked. His lighter is purple, by the way, and has a unicorn sticker on, and now it shall take a detour to light up his own smoke on its way back to his pocket. He exhales away from her, of course.

"A little. I mean, it's my job, right... I work the desk at the inn. Most people are just in a big hurry to get outta there, though, they don't really ask for anything extra."

[djravenfall]

She wouldn't have really minded if he had laughed. She would've deserved it. "Well, I can't really blame them," Kaitlyn admits with a more genuine laugh. "They should add, like, an official debriefer to that room or something. It's kinda daunting when all you have a pamphlet and somethin' that looks like a phone or something." She quirks an eyebrow, nudging Fish. "Sounds perfect. Talk 'em into paying you extra for it, and you're set, right?" They may not ask for it, but she's pretty sure most people would appreciate it. She knows she would have.

[fish]

Fish seems a touch surprised by the contact, in a subdued way, and although he doesn't actually look uncomfortable, he will make sure the usual restless, swaying weight shifting leaves him just a little further away the next time he settles.

"Heh... uh, nah, I don't wanna be pushy. That's, uh, it would basically like trying to squeeze a buck out of a kidnapping victim... so..."

[djravenfall]

"Well, I guess that's fair," Kaitlyn replies with a bit of a shrug. "So, you've been here a while..." she repeats as she takes a drag, eyeing him curiously. "Working a job like that must be kinda neat. Get t' see lots of interesting people. Kinda sucks about the circumstances, though." A sigh, and she shakes her head. "Graveyard shift parts kind of a bummer, but hey, whatever works, right?" She grins, leaning back on her heels as she looks around. "What brings you out t' a night like this if you're not new? Just for a good time, or checking up on the new arrivals you've seen?" She sounds genuinely curious about this, in fact.

[fish]

While she's on a conversational roll, Fish decides to take a bit of a long pull from his bottle of beer-or-something. This finishes it off, it seems, as he then reaches aside to leave it on whatever surface is conveniently close enough. Table, stone ledge, whatever.

"Uh, I dunno why this time in particular. It's kind of a sad holiday... but there's a bar discount, so." Le shrug. "And I figured I'd see some people I know." Cigarette poised for another puff, he pauses to add, "It's not that bad, though. The nighttime part. I kinda like it."

[djravenfall]

"Oh, good. So I'm not the only one who thinks that," Kaitlyn remarks, cigarette free hand making a bit of a motion as she talks. "About it being a sad holiday." Kaitlyn's only been here a little bit, and she doesn't know a lot about Baedal, but everything she's heard about this particular holiday has left her with more than a few mixed feelings about it. "But it kinda has a sweet side to it. That's nice." She shrugs a bit.

"But yeah, I think the bar discount is why I decided t' come out." Not really, but it made for a good excuse. "I mean, you can't turn down a free drink and a discount, right?" She chuckles, nodding again. "All the best stuff happens at night. Concerts. Parties. Peace and quiet. So on, so on. I guess it's good if you like that, then."

[fish]

"Yeah, that's true. There aren't a ton of parties happening in the lobby, though, so..." He gestures vaguely toward the party in general, as if to indicate, hence, my presence here. Not that this is the best party ever, in his opinion, but hey.

"And I'm kinda nocturnal. So having a job that happens at night is, y'know. Helpful that way."

[djravenfall]

"I used t' be nocturnal!" Kait replies with an amused laugh, looking around as Fish motions. "Then I had t' become a responsible adult instead of a starving artist. Kinda sucked, but that's the way things go sometimes, I guess." She gives a small shrug. "So, where do you come from? I mean, if you don't mind me asking. I haven't really- figured out if that's rude or not." It might be like just up and asking someone back home if they're evolved, but it can't really hurt that much, can it?

[fish]

"Nah, it's cool, everyone asks that. If you weren't allowed to, I'd die of curiosity." He doesn't quite make it through another drag before looking like something else has just occurred to him—so he speaks through the exhaust. "I mean, you can't just go up to anyone and start askin questions, obviously." And, exhale. "But in the cohort it's pretty safe. It's good to know each other, right."

He sniffs, though he doesn't really need to, and folds his arms loosely across his chest, using his free hand as a sort of ledge for his elbow. Cigarette held up, wrist loose, casual. "I'm from Earth. Born in Pennsylvania, if you know where that is." You never know. "It was January in 2011 when I...left, or whatever, so I've been here about a year. Longer than a year now, I guess."

[djravenfall]

Kaitllyn can't help but laugh, leaning bakc on her heels as she listens. "Yeah, I imagine I'd go about mad if I couldn't ask at all. I don't want t' be rude, but you can't blame a person for wonderin' in a place like this, right?" SHe hopes not at least, and she's glad that Fish seems to be on the same page about that. It makes her feel a bit better about asking.

"Oh, hey, I lived in New York!" she replies excitedly, a grin across her face. "Same year, too..." A bit later, though. "That's kinda funny. I mean, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. Still, I guess as unpredictable as this place seems t' be, it's always nice t' meet someone from a similar home. Though- well, I hope yours wasn't actually similar t' mine. My home sucked."

[fish]

"Everywhere kinda sucks." That's great, Fish. Keep thinking positive. "I didn't have to deal with like World War III or anything, though."

He shifts his weight yet again, swaying as he does so, frowning in apparent thought as he considers whether unpredictable is the first word he'd use to describe Baedal. It isn't, he decides. "What's home like?"

[djravenfall]

It takes a lot of effort for Kaitlyn to bite her lip at that and not speak up. She didn't actually experience World War III, but damn if it didn't feel like something similar sometimes. Closing her eyes for a minute, she takes a breath before answering Fish.

"Shitty," is the easy one word synopsis. "I... did you ever read comic books? I came from a world where people actually had, like- powers. Over the few eyars, popping up. An' people didn't really take too kindly t' it, so it was shitty." That's a really shitty summery too, but she's not really sure she feels like getting more in depth than that.

[fish]

Fish has an idea where she's going with this, anyway—or so suggests the lift of his chin and the few nods that follow. "Yeah, I get ya. There's a bunch of people comin here from places like that lately, seems like... I mean, this place isn't great, but at least people who look really, like, don't look human at all, they can do normal shit like buying groceries without having to wear a disguise or whatever."

[djravenfall]

"Yeah, I heard about that," though Kaitlyn hasn't run into any Xenians yet herself. She thinks she has herself prepared in case she runs into someone that looks particularly bizarre, but she can only do so much. "That's kinda nice. I mean, a lot nicer than back home. Though I guess it kinda has to be that way since apparently this place is one huge melting pot." She grins, flicking the ash from her cigarette as she leans back on her heels. "It's nice t' have a place where everyone at least somewhat fits in."

[fish]

That's an awful lot of that's nice crammed in there, Fish thinks, and takes it as a cue that he should bail before this conversation becomes actually tedious for her. The conclusion doesn't show in his expression; he's stealthy that way. "Yeah, it is... hey, uh, I'm gonna take off. I'll prolly see you around, though. Nice meeting you."