Logs:Confessions and Job Offers
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| RL Date: 7 February, 2014 |
| Who: Ali, Viephale |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Ali talks with Dice employee Viephale, and he confesses a secret. Oh, and she has a job proposition for him. |
| Where: Dice, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 8, Month 13, Turn 33 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Reyvar/Mentions |
| It's a cold winter's afternoon, which certainly won't keep the patrons out of Dice. Right now, it's largely quiet, however, with only a handful of riders sneaking in a quick game before the evening meal. Ali's been seated at one of the empty dealing tables, chatting with her brother Reyvar - for once, they don't seem to be arguing, though it /does/ end in Ali giving him a punch in the shoulder for likely one of his many smart-ass remarks. Other dealers are arriving, getting ready for their shift by checking the cards and tables, and the dark-haired woman stops by each in turn to have a quiet word. Viephale, decked in the grey uniform of a Dice employee, is one of the lucky few dealers with a customer as he nears the end of his shift at one of the blackjack tables. "You're on quite the winning streak, sir," he remarks jovially to the brownrider as he bridges the deck. "If you don't watch out they'll send you back t'your weyr soon before you take all our marks." He gives a conspiratorial sideways nod to Ali, winks at the chuckling rider, and deals out the cards. No chit chat when the game is in progress. The nod draws Ali over to Viephale's table, and she seats herself next to the brownrider. "You're going to win me out of a business, D'kar?" The brownrider snorts with amusement and gives the junior a sidelong look, then back down at his cards- keeping them carefully face down. The dark-haired woman seems content to watch in silence- watching Viephale as much as the brownrider. D'kar probably finds it uncomfortable having her here, given the quick, darted looks he's giving the goldrider, then the dealer. Ali seems oblivious to it. Viephale allows a small smile at Ali's arrival and D'kar's resulting discomfort. "Afternoon, weyrwoman," he murmurs by way of greeting. "I was just commenting on his impressive luck." Before he can elaborate, D'kar knocks for a hit, which Vie obliges. Must be a tricky hand; he seems to be taking longer than usual to arrive at a decision. Vie, ever patient, watches over both brown and goldrider with a friendly customer-service smile. Tapping her fingers against the table for a moment, Ali, too, is watching D'kar, and while he hesitates over a decision, says, "Deal me in," with a nod to Viephile. "/If/ D'kar ever actually..." she trails off, deliberately. Then, lightly to Viephile, "Have you thought about putting in one of those hourglass timers? Speed games would be interesting, don't you think?" "My pleasure." Viephalen's reply is syrupy sweet--either forced enthusiasm or a genuine love for cards. "Just as soon as this hand is over, of course." The dealer lightly clears his throat. D'kar takes the hint, though doesn't seem too thrilled about, grunting in annoyance as he motions for a stand. Vie's face-up card was an eight; the face-down is flipped to reveal a three. First hit: five. With a 16, Vie plays the odds and stands, only to have D'kar grin and triumphantly reveal a 17. Vie recovers the card while he shakes his head. "What'd I tell you--unbeatable today." With that hand in the books, he can focus on responding to Ali while he deals out the cards. "I think a speed game would be /very/ interesting," he says, looking up from the cards long enough to make sincere eye contact. "'Specially for a dragonpoker tournament. Can you imagine? That'd really shake up the regulars." Like D'kar. Superstitious, suspiciously lucky D'kar. Even Ali can't fail to notice D'kar's annoyance, now, with a slight flustering. She gives an awkward clearing of throat, then murmurs, "On second thought, perhaps I'll- join later." Straightening from her seat, she adjusts her shawl, then to Viephale: "Come and see me after your shift, would you?" Viephale initially seems surprised by Ali's self-excusal, though his knitted brow and pursed lips are quickly replaced by an easy smile of affirmation. "Of course, weyrwoman," he says pleasantly, settling into his seat so he's fully facing the brownrider. "Back to just us boys, eh, sir?" he jokes as the game resumes. Before too long, the tables prepared for the evening shift are set up and running, and the handful of day shift workers are closing up shop. Vie, having finally taken his leave of D'kar and shut down his station, makes his way out into the main cavern, worried gaze searching the growing crowd. There's a back area, a small offshoot of the main cavern, where they store spare stocks of alcohol, and it also serves as a makeshift office- normally for Reyvar, but sometimes for Ali, too. Reyvar's currently playing host, greeting people as they arrive, while sharp eyes might spot the goldrider crossing the cavern towards the back area. Inside, it's cramped - not really a true office so much as storage at the moment. The dark-haired woman's stretching for a box stacked on top of others, precariously up on her tip-toes. Viephale doesn't quite catch Ali's trip across the cavern. He does, however, catch Reyvar out mingling with the customers. If Reyvar's on the floor, then Vie can only deduce that Ali must be doing some kind of administrivia, so he heads to see if she's in the office. A good guess, as it turns out, the man arriving just in time to see the goldrider r e a c h i n g for the tallest box on a stack. He immediately holds out his hand as if to stop her, though he's nowhere near close enough to her to do so. "Oh, let me get that for you, ma'am," he offers, dubiously eyeing the stack in front of her. There's a start from Ali at his voice, who quickly glances over and then releases her breath slowly, backing up further to make more room for him to come in. "Thanks," she says, gratefully, with a quick smile. "Rey forgets that not all of us are quite as tall as him. And he's stuck at the front door- which I'm happy to let him, so-" she exhales. "Rey talks highly of you." She chews her lip; it seems to be more in thought that disagreement with the statement. Viephale exhales through his nose, visions of having to dig Ali out from under an avalanche of boxes fading from his mind. Though not especially tall himself, Vie has a few inches of height on Ali, and he manages to step up to the stack and remove the top box with no tip toes required. "There we go," he murmurs, more for his own benefit than Ali's. When he turns back to the Weyrwoman, he notices her thoughtful expression and opts to set his burden on the ground, rather than hand it off to her. "Is that so?" he asks while his face is turned toward the floor. He takes a moment to brush his hands off on his slacks before cocking a curious 'brow at Ali. "I'm very happy to hear that." This is said lightly, but after moment's pause, he adds more sincerely: "I do try to work hard. I take the job very seriously." It's probably a good thing he sets the box down, since Ali's running fingers along the fringe of her shawl, frowning in thought. "I don't know if it's a good thing or not," she admits, then- a second later, seems to realize how that might be interpreted, blanching briefly. "I- what I meant is- my brother, isn't- he's been in trouble in the past. Sometimes I don't know how good his judgement is." Tucking some hair behind her ear, she exhales slowly. "Do you enjoy the work? Dealing, I mean? The customers?" At Ali's initial statement, Vie's eyebrows go from the standard single-cock to the more intense double-cock. Before he can ask for clarification, she's offering it, unbidden, and Vie listens patiently as she attempts to explain, a frown fixed on his face. "I do enjoy it," he says in response to her questions, slowly, eyes narrowed slightly as he tries to guess where this is going. "I enjoy talking to people and learning their stories. And I /really/ love the games," he drawls, the corner of his lips tugging up into a bemused smile. He crosses one arm over his chest as he regards the weyrwoman, his free hand tapping thoughtfully at his chin. "Has--has he told you about me at all?" "You should- work on the social aspect. Not that- I mean, there'll be other opportunities in future, that's all." Is Ali pitching him another job? If so, it's somewhat awkwardly done if at all. At his latter question, the dark-haired woman's quick to shake her head. "No, I- I was- there was a lot going on when we first set up, and he handled all the interviews." A fact that the goldrider might well regret, if the brief unsettlement that passes across her expression is anything to go by. The silence that follows might well be invitation to explain; but then again, it might just be the woman considering, playing with the fringe of her shawl distractedly, unaware she's even doing it. Viephale echos Ali at first: "Work on the social aspect?" His tone and expression are confused, but he doesn't dwell on it too long, shaking his head to clear the thought so he can return to the task at hand. "Well, ma'am, I think you should know..." He trails off as he crosses both arms over his chest and glances at his feet. After thoughtfully sucking on his teeth for a moment, he looks back up to Ali, heaves a sigh, drops his arms and soldiers on. "I used to be a gambler myself," he carefully explains with a shrug. "I came to Fort to get away from all that and pull myself back together. And I did! I've been doing really well, ma'am, really well. Fort's been good to me." Whether Ali's attention is fixed on him or the fiddly bits of her shawl, he is very focused right now, forehead wrinkled and lips pursed. "Then Dice got set up after I'd been here and living honestly for a few Turns and I was worried I was gonna get sucked back in. So I got a job here." He smiles weakly. "I've got experience. I can tell when someone's cheating. And if I'm working, I can get a taste of things without partaking. Does--does that make sense?" He pauses to lick his lips, then hastily adds: "Rey knows." Ali opens her mouth, then shuts it quickly, a flush coming across her demeanor. She's silent throughout his explaination, although her body language- an uncomfortable shift and the tightening of fingers around the edge of her shawl- express her discomfort clearly enough. It's his final statement that earns sincere, unbidden frustration, though: "Of /course/ he does. That idiot!" The second it's out, she seems to regret it, fingers pressed against her mouth for a moment before she tries to recover her demeanor with a shifting of shoulders. "I- you don't tell anyone else. If it got out- I don't want anyone knowing we- Dice has that sort of staff. You understand?" Her green eyes are fixed, evenly and intently on his. Ali's outburst shocks Viephale, his stunned--maybe even hurt--expression lingering a little too long before it hardens into a dispassionate countenance. "I wouldn't dream of it," he says drolly, those arms crossing his chest again. "Like I said, I've turned things around, and I've no eagerness to repeat my folly. I only told /you/ because you're my boss and you should know. I mean, I thought you /did/ know." Clearly displeased, he nods down at the box on the ground. "Anything else I can do for you while I'm back here?" he asks, all business at this point. "Good." There's a long, slow exhale from Ali, who looks somewhere between unhappy and perhaps a touch frightened, though the latter's brief and quickly brushed away with a squaring of shoulders. A grimace follows, briefly, as she says, "Rey is- trying, too." It's not precisely defensive, but she doesn't really sound surprised, either, like it's expected. "If it- if it helps- I wouldn't have guessed. I- I was going to suggest maybe you start helping Rey with some of the management aspects." Her chin lifts a little- then her head tips to one side. Is she still offering? Certainly, there seems something expectant in her gaze. Viephale hesitates, squinty-eyed gaze once again fixed on Ali. Is she deliberately yanking him around? "Are you still going to suggest that, or has my sordid past turned you off th'idea?" The fact that her intentions were positive, at least, has him softening a bit, and he tilts his head at the goldrider, both curious and expectant. "I don't-" Ali stops, chewing her lower lip. "I'd like you to shadow Rey for a seven, starting tomorrow. And then we'll- talk about it. Okay?" Viephale doesn't say anything for a moment as he ruminates over the proposal. "Okay," he says finally with a solemn nod. "I can do that." He slowly exhales, visibly relaxing as he does so, his arms sliding off his chest so he can hook his thumbs in his belt loops. "If there's nothing else, weyrwoman, I'd like to take my leave and grab some lunch." Ali seems satisfied enough with that, giving a nod, a smile twitching her lips up into something softer. "Good. And yes, that's all- thank you, Viephale." She moves towards the box he's retrieved, bending to pick it up and resume where she left off. Having survived his most tumultuous work meeting to date, Vie returns Ali's nod in farewell before turning and disappearing into the busy gambling caverns, a look of relief on his face once his back is to the weyrwoman. |
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