Difference between revisions of "Logs:Long Winters"

It's an early evening on the patio ledge, the area pretty populated with those that are opting out of the bar or are gearing up to go in. There's no telling which category Jo is in since she's at one of the tables, busy jotting down something on a sheet of hide with all of her riding leathers still on and her gloves. Her gear is beside her on the bench, and she when she finishes up, she could be seen folding the sheet into quarters after tucking the writing stylus above one ear. If a Glacier wingrider passes her by to head into Snowasis and greets her, she's giving them simply acknowledging nod.

There are indeed a number of people coming and going, and so, given how busy Jo is with her writing -- how she's still wearing all of her leathers and sitting out here in the cold, which probably hints at a certain amount of impatience to complete that task -- it's entirely likely she has no idea whether Vienne is of the coming or going category. And the small woman is hardly all that noticeable among so many of High Reaches' more striking individuals. So maybe it's not impossible she could manage to evade Jo's attention long enough to wind up behind her, to settle a familiar hand on that leather-clad shoulder as the Glacier rider goes about folding up her sheet. The faint rub of Vienne small fingers probably isn't all that easily felt through the flying jacket. "Hi."

With Jo being so observant no matter what she's doing, when Vienne wanders near and has those fingers on her shoulder, it's noticed. She tucks that folded hide away inside her jacket once she unfastens it, and it's a quick smile in response to her as she says, "Hey there, yerself." Leaning back on her bench now that whatever task she was working on was done, she pulls out a flask, screws open the lid and takes a drink before she wordless lifts it in Vienne's direction. "Headin' in or comin' from somewhere?" she asks now in indication of the bar, taking in her clothes as if that's going to lend an answer to her.

The hand drifts away as Vienne twists to face the other bluerider, leaning her hip against the table. "Maybe headed in," she answers without commitment, just a shrug of one shoulder. "For a bit." She eyes that flask a second before accepting it, though doing so makes her smile turn awkward and bashful. But she takes a little sip, hardly enough to really be any kind of proper taste, and hands it back. "You?" As for what she's wearing, it's her usual tan wool coat and snow boots, though she does have on her new suede trousers. Vienne has certainly seen what looks to be a letter, but she doesn't ask about it.

With Vienne taking hardly a sip from the flask, Jo delivers a short chuckle and a "One of these days I'm goin' to endeavor to get ya liquored up. See how yer boy out there likes the buzz feelin'. S'one of Tac's favorite feelin's in the world." She takes the flask back then, gesturing with it for her to sit as she answers the question with a breezy, "Nah, not tonight. Got enough strong drink up in my weyr to host my own bar, so..." So. She gives a little shrug to that. She regards her for a long moment though, taking in the lean of her hip like she's wont to do before she adds in, "Ya been alright, darlin'?"

Vienne lets out a snort of a laugh, though she does try to straighten her smile out afterwards. "You think he doesn't know? That I haven't had too much to drink in all the time he and I have been together?" She wets her lips, possibly tasting more of the liquor there than she did with her teensy sip. "So what are you doing?" There's a 'so'. Vienne supplies it readily. However, there's something in Jo's question that gives the smaller bluerider pause. A long pause. As if it were a difficult invasion and not the kind of thing you just answer yes to and move along. "Yeah," she does get around to saying, with a faint nod and a press of her lips.

"Have ya?" Jo prompts on her drinking history, a brow lifting as she brings that flask to her lips. "I notice ya don' in Snowasis, and yet ya had that fine tastin' bottle up in yer weyr the last time I was there. So, I think ya drink, but not to the point to get fucked up." Maybe she wants Vienne to prove her wrong, but, the corruptible bluerider only puts such a challenge in both gaze and the curve of her lips. Then, to Vienne's curiosity, she takes a loon both left and right of her before she answers, "Was getting' a breather out here. Lettin' Tac spend some time with Vrianth before we decide on the night's activities." The way that sounds, those activities will surely be all kinds of wildness. That last, though, does earn her the same pause, eyes narrowing slightly before she prompts, "Really?"

"Generally I try to avoid situations where things are fucked up," Vienne points out as she sinks down onto the neighboring bench, perched on its edge as usual. She tucks her hands in her pockets, shoulder momentarily hunched against the chilly air. She does, at least, seem to be getting a smidge heartier with regard to the cold. "Vrianth," she repeats. "I thought he was almost going to chase her. Part of him wanted to." She presses her lips together there, hesitant to say anymore, and when Jo mentions her evening plans, Vienne smiles widely, drawing in a nice long breath as if she's ready to step away and leave her to her evening's adventures. It's not a smile that lasts all that long, though it fades more slowly on her lip than on her eyes. "Don't, Jo."

"I can tell," Jo is easy to quip right back, amused on the first. It's the next though - about Vrianth's flight - that gets more of her attention, the woman blinking once at it before she asks, "He....doesn'?" Chase, that is, seeming to find that of interest. She takes another drink before setting it down now, and when the slight woman closes up on her, her piercing gaze falling on those lips first before those eyes, "Don' - what?" she seems to not help but ask, rising to that little challenge of curiosity. "Ask about how ya are? When it's obvious that there's somethin'....?" And her look turns a shade pointed.

There's a little shake of Vienne's head, a few loose curls shifting about her shoulders. "He doesn't often, no. Only once in a while. It's not something he's... comfortable with." She must know that probably sounds a touch unusual, and so she flashes a quick apologetic smile that she doesn't explain more. But really it's the way Jo looks at her now that makes Vienne's chin drop. "Don't... I don't know. I am fine. There's... nothing wrong." She takes a deep breath again, her head shaking as it comes up, as she settles her posture. "Oswinth is well. I'm comfortable. There's nothing I need." She seems honestly unable to explain anything further than that, her shoulders shrugging rather helplessly. It only half a laugh that escapes her. "You just have this way of asking."

"Comfortable." Jo seems to taste that word, since it's the only response given in light of the revelation pertaining to Oswinth. Yes, by the bemused furrow of her brows at her, it's obvious the reveal only has generated more questions. Questions that seem to stall upon the apologetic smile Vienne sends her way, perhaps sensing that one was a sensitive enough subject not to be broached out in public. Vienne's next, while reassuring it seems to her, something in it has her countering at ease with, "Nothin' ya need." It's almost a prompt, even, the bluerider seeming to find that turn of words curious. Then, the easygoing smile lopsided in a disarming way, "Vi, I'm just askin' about ya. That's all. Almost seemed like yer not, but...if yer all golden, yer golden." She's not one to linger on things, so she moves on and resumes her affair with her flask.

Well this is all going swimmingly. Topic after topic that seems to be taken off the table almost as soon it comes up. Vienne might be ready to answer the subtle prompt, it's there in the faint movement of her lips, but that easy smile is indeed disarming and the small bluerider tucks her response away before it ever gets a voice. Which only serves to make her more reluctant to say anything further. "I'm golden, Jo. Golden." And for a second, it might just seem like the calm former-harper actually leaks a touch of irritation. And just as quickly as it's out, she's shaking her head again, "I'm sorry." It caught her off guard, that little slip and now, inching her knees primly together, she takes a second to recompose herself. "I'm not golden. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's just the winter or reaching a point where I'm settled but it's still not quite home or if it's Oswinth..." Or any number of other things she doesn't explain. She might be about to say something further, but she thinks better of it and just pinches her mouth small, a brow lifted to ask Jo if that response is more to her liking.

Jo watches the myriad of expressions cross Vienne's face, letting the silence continue to linger between them - prompting with only silence since words didn't work. When she says she's fine again, the convict rider briefly inclines her head to that and seems willing to drop it despite the detected the irritation. But then the other's changing her mind. To the spill of words, there's further silence from her for a moment before she inhales, then lets out the air. "Okay." She says the one word first, some of her easy amusement fading in place of neutrality. "Ya feel off or somethin'. Ain' nothin' wrong with that. I imagine ya still adjustin' to this place," and she gestures lazily with her free hand, indicating the Weyr. "The Reaches ain' Igen. Even took me awhile to get used to this place, and I didn't have that far to move like ya did." Brow lifting then, "Oswinth havin' trouble since movin' here?" she asks now, taking a fortifying drink from her flask before she tilts it Vienne's way in case she wanted some more.

With a little frown for herself, a contrite twist of her brows, an overall attempt to bolster her mood and a smidge of a self-effacing smile just dying to break through, Vienne reaches for that flask. The whole thing is really somewhat pitiful and she seems entirely aware of it. And this time, she does knock back a good shot's worth, wincing a touch for the flavor. "We felt better after getting away," she tries to explain without passing the flask back. "And we went back again, just to sleep. A few times." Which she sounds a little less thrilled to admit. "But I understand now when they talk about long winters. It's not just the passage of time. There's... a slowness to it."

Vienne taking a healthy dose from the flask seems to reassure Jo more than words itself, if slightly satisfied smile is any indication. "That," she says, nodding towards the flask the former Igenite holds, "is what makes ya golden, darlin'. Don' have to worry about a thing. Gets ya past the long winters," she refers to her response, not even reaching for her flask back. "Helps ya not notice it's long at all." Hands running over the knee of her crossed legs before her, "Ya shouldn' go back," she says quietly, glancing her way. "Not yer home anymore. The winters are shit here, but, it'll pass. Gotta find things to do, to not let it get to ya is all." Which could be why she's away more than normal, it an odd thing to even see the convict rider here, at this early time of night.

Vienne looks decidedly unconvinced, but she'll get another mouthful down before she passes the flask back to its owner. "Plenty of people seem to agree," she remarks, even if she doesn't count herself among them. Which she also realizes that is not the kindest expression to wear with someone who is doing the favor of sharing their liquor. "Sorry," she's quick to tack on again, looking troubled now that she's had to say it more than once. "We don't go back to Igen. It's just.. a beach. I don't know that I could sleep on his couch. Maybe if I had more blankets." Now she rolls her shoulders and gives into the sharp shiver she's been fighting off. But she nods agreeably. "It will pass. I'm sure. I'm fine for the most part." She shrugs again and this time turns a helpless smile on the easy bluerider.

Not daunted by any offense to the first, "Wouldn't be traders and vintners out there gettin' paid just fine if not," Jo seems to lightly tease on the matter, taking the flask back. She's silent through all of Vienne's next - in saying that she's fine - the beach reference getting that 'ahh' look with a lifted chin from her since she remembers it from conversations past. "Sounds like ya need to raid the stores," she responds then with a nod towards the inner caverns. "They got thick enough ones that's more to yer likin'. If yer needin' the finer stuff, I know a few folks that could help with that, for a price." Pause. "Good, if yer good. Didn' mean to make it a whole awkward topic, though." Well, she's bold enough to put it out there at least, this time with one her casual smiles before she takes one finaly drink before closing the flask up.

Vienne sniffs deeply, which might be more about the cold than anything else, but she refuses the suggestion about buying nicer blankets. "No, I can't afford it. It just seems easier to go somewhere warm and comfortable to sleep rather than move my bedding around and risk freezing to death anyway. It was just a few nights. We're okay. I'm okay. Thank you, though." She smiles rather sweetly, but there's something a touch sharper in her eye as she looks over the leather clad woman who is so entirely casual. "It wasn't you," she insists. "I'm just not feeling entirely like myself." And it's with a sorry laugh that she asks, "How have you been, Jo?" Surely that's a safer subject.

Not sure what to say to the very first, all Jo does is acknowledge it with a nod and not much else. Sliding the flask back where it belongs on her person, she seems to finally move on, the slight narrowed eyes the only indication of her concern to all Vienne says. The question gets a 'huff' sound from the bluerider, and she runs a hand through her wild hair to draw it from her face before she answers with, "Besides getting' a little cut up from the greenflight, I'm good. Ya know, the usual busyness," and she briefly wiggles a hand in gesture of that. "Gotta convince Tac to even leave Vrianth's ledge these days if I'm to get anything done." She rolls her eyes to that, but she still seems to have that grin lingering to mean she wasn't as annoyed as she says. "Just means I've got more time 'round here than I like, until his overt protectiveness wears off."

"You got cut up?" Whatever Vienne might have heard about the flight, she didn't hear those details and with Jo so well wrapped in leather, there isn't much evidence, even if her blue eyes do slide over the other woman as if she could some sign of injury. Maybe rumors about the flight were sensational enough to be spread around, but if so, she missed them. "How long is he usually like that? Attached?" Of course, given what she's said earlier, it's probably not something she has much experience with herself. However, it does seems to keep coming up and so Vienne probes. "Where do you go? What..." Does she do? But it's hard enough to ask the first invasive question, so the second doesn't really make it.

"There was broken glass on the floor," is all Jo supplies on the bloody aftermath of that, her gaze almost mischievous. "And, he's like that for awhile. Depends on the green, really. One time he was goin' on for a couple of months, total, before he came back to himself. Reckon Oswinth hasn' won one, those times he does chase?" As to that last, that even gets more of her secretive little smirk as she fastens up her black jacket and answers back, "Depends on the night, darlin'. Could be somewhere here in the Reaches, somewhere warmer....someone's weyr..." adds with the rise and fall of her brows, not in the least bit ashamed of her illicit night activities. "Which, speakin' of," and she's up from the bench, straightening herself out with long fingers as she looks over to Vienne. "Tac's finally ready to go. I better head on out before my wingmates try to drag me in there into a game of cards they'll lose," and she nods towards the entrance of the Snowasis.

Vienne's frown is one of sympathy, but it has a hard time staying that way when Jo is looking rather mischievous and it starts to buckle around the edges like a grin is attempting to take hold. What it ends up as is a shy smile, her eyes a little downcast and she nods to the question about Oswinth's chasing history, as if not saying it aloud will spare the blue from knowing that she's confirmed the suspicion. "I remind him that I didn't want to share him anyway." And since she smirks a bit, he can go ahead and overhear that, wherever he is. Of course, Jo's explanation of her whereabout is exactly as expected and Vienne takes a moment to rub her hands together between her knees while she listens to the easy, and likely entirely truthful, evasions. But then it's time for Jo to get back to her lively plans and Vienne nods, lifting her posture in preparing to stand. "Thank you for the drink. And good luck with your cuts, with Tacuseth." She even manages something a little cheeky at the end there for the other bluerider's troubles with her twitterpated lifemate. "Enjoy your night."

With that comment of not wanting to share her dragon, Jo is giving Vienne that not-so blatantly odd look, perhaps knowing that she's missing a part of the story there. It doesn't last though, it fading into something more thoughtful for the slight woman before she steps away from the bench and nods on the drink with a little smirk on her lips. To the last, "Enjoy yer night as well, Vi," before she's off, already with her gaze unfocused as she reaches out to her wily blue.