Difference between revisions of "Logs:Idle Hands"

It's evening a few days after all hell broke loose in the living cavern and now there's fresh comfort to be taken in holing up in one's weyr, where there aren't any vomiting ex-Weyrleaders to worry about, where there aren't many steps to be taken on a bum foot, where there are no elbows flying about the room that just happen to be at head level. In other words, Vienne is enjoying a night in. She has her hearth blazing away while she sits beside it with a book, her foot propped on a pillow on her trunk-turned-table. Oswinth, for his part, is not hunkered down against the cold and snow but out on the ledge enjoying the stars, since the night is crisp and clear.

It's certainly been a few days since the big breakfast altercation - which of course, Jo was nowhere to be found as usual. By now, though, gossip and news travels well in the Weyr so the convict rider picked up on it this day when she was within, prompting the familiar nicked and scratched blue dragon to land suddenly on Oswinth's ledge with a rumbled greeting to announce their presence. Jo's down from his back in no time, careful not to dislodge whatever was stirring in her opened leather jacket as she heads in with a call, "Yo, Vi!" Her right arm tucked to herself, she pauses on the threshold once she's inside the heated portion of the weyr. Dark eyes finding her by the blazing hearth, "Thought I'd check in on ya," she adds, slowly approaching with audible booted steps.

Oswinth has a rather blank stare for Tacuseth's arrival, like he's having a difficult time pulling himself away from his daydreams in order to understand why he's not alone on his ledge. He ends up being a bit late in realizing that Jo has dropped to her feet and is headed inside, so Vienne has just a hint of surprise on her face when the dark, leather-clad woman is standing in her entryway. Wide eyes are slowly joined by a wide smile and the little bluerider's hand is quick to piece through her hair, helping it to hide the bruise that's still lingering on her cheek. "Hi. Come in," she invites, setting her book aside and getting ready to stand. At which point, whatever is going on with Jo's jacket catches her attention, giving her pause.

The heat seems to awake something in Jo's jacket, for right when Jo reaches Vienne, a little bronze head pokes out from behind the jacket flap to peer at her. Jo, however, with the light of the hearth illuminating Vienne's face, doesn't seem to notice the little addition's stirrings as she steps forward right when the other is trying to hide the bruise. Immediately a hand reaches out to brush that hair back, to reveal the bruise to the light. "Shit, it's true then," she breathes, frowning heavily. "I heard pieces, but...who clocked ya, huh? Was it really K'del? What the fuck happened?" The questions come in rapid succession, perhaps not giving Vienne the chance to answer any of them until she's done. Her hand lingers gingerly on her cheek as she bends close. The bend has the little bronze firelizard tumbling out suddenly, landing right on Vienne's lap with a chirp.

Distracted by Jo's little friend, Vienne doesn't realize that the other rider is going to brush her hair from her face until it happens -- then blue eyes go wide, a bit stunned by the swift boldness of it. But she doesn't turn her head to hide that yellowing purple along her hairline, spilling out onto her cheek. "It was an accident," she explains, watching those dark eyes study her face. "I don't know who it was. I just got... caught in the middle of things." Her hand comes up again, not to chase her hair back into place but rather to lay light fingers at Jo's wrist while her hand lingers. And then the firelizard falls in her lap and it tears Vienne's gaze away with a jolt. She blinks down at the unexpected tagalong and a smirk comes her. "I don't know why you think you need to stuff your sweater," she quips wryly. "But you're doing it wrong."

The little bronze seems to be content settling on Vienne's lap - warmth all around and he's good! In the meantime, though, Jo is still checking out that bruise with her thumb brushing its surface with the barest touch. "Some random dick was throwing out punches?" she frowns at that, her gaze shifting to Vienne's gaze when her fingers touch her hand. "How did it all go down? I heard Z'ian was involved, too..." but then Vienne looks down, and only then does she realize that her little friend had gotten out. Her quip has her swiftly smirking her way before she drawls, "Maybe it's to get yer attention." Brow lifts suggestively towards that before she adds soberly, "That's, ahh, Mime. Got him recently from some people I know. Here, let me..." her voice trails as her hand reluctantly drops and she straightens up to peel the jacket off her body. In a pale blue tank, she arranges the jacket into a sort of nest on Vienne's table and bends to gather up the little firelizard from her lap to the jacket nest where he curls up. "Thing only sleeps and eats lately," she comments a bit sheepishly when she's done, turning back towards the slight woman. "He likes to stay in my jacket with me except when I've gotta do drills."

Vienne lifts her knowing smile to Jo for the comment about getting her attention and she repositions herself a bit when the other bluerider goes about pulling off her jacket and nestling her new bundle in his makeshift bed. Vienne herself perches a bit more on the edge of her seat, a hand testing about her knee. "K'del came into the living cavern and saw H'kon and... he just lost it. Z'ian tried to hold him back, but then I think someone tried to pull Z'ian off of him? And someone else went after that guy and..." That's about where Vienne loses a distinct account of what happened, though none of it really explains her part in the whole thing. She hunches her shoulders faintly, not a proper shrug since they don't seem to be dropping again. "Mime, huh?" It might be a question for the name, or maybe just a more general wonder to watch Jo looking... sheepish? Vienne's eyes skim about the dark woman in her pale blue top, though there's still distraction lingering from her retelling of the brawl.

With Mime fully settled and Vienne giving her account of the events, Jo crouches down to meet her at eye level. "K'del went after H'kon?" she echoes that one, bemused. "Huh. Thought those two were buddies or somethin'. Wonder what had changed between them." She looks over Vienne slowly, trying to perhaps find any other injuries on her through her clothing. Then, "What about you?" she asks quietly, meeting her gaze. "How did ya come into all this?" Talk on the little bronze has her fond smile turning up, though indeed, sheepish as if she shouldn't be having the thing. "Pretty strong name, right?" she puts forth wryly, continuing to study the other blue rider's face. She even does add in, "I've got some salve for that, if ya want it. Use it a lot myself."

Vienne does have another chair, and, though she's long since given up trying to convince anyone to use it, she pinches her lips between her teeth when Jo crouches down in front of her. Her hands come to perch on her knees as she does on her seat, settled but not relaxed. "Azaylia found a pendant on H'kon's ledge. It belonged to Iolene. K'del found out and..." There she stops to draw in a breath, shaking her head. "He thinks it implies H'kon was involved in her death." But this is gossip that's been running all over the Weyr, hasn't it? Before the breakfast fiasco and particularly since. Vienne looks past Jo toward the firelizard, like she can judge the little creature's age. "Where have you been?" she wonders as her gaze shifts back to the bluerider, confused. She doesn't seem to register the comments about the firelizard's name or about the offer of salve. "You're away so much."

For now, Jo seems content in crouching down before Vienne, perhaps the better to see any other injuries on her before she's satisfied. Words on what sparked the brawl has her nodding a few times absently before she murmurs, "Yes, I heard that it involved Iolene. That he had called H'kon a murderer in front of witnesses." There's a light snort and she's slowly getting to her feet, shaking her head with a glint in her eyes from the hearth's light as she says, "The man has truly changed. He's so easy to rile." Lips press together on that, then, she steps back to claim the other chair and drops herself into it with a sigh. When Vienne's gaze goes to the little bronze, curled up and sleep already in Jo's jacket, her question and comment seems to be expected. The convict rider meets her gaze steadily for a long moment, and she responds to the later before the former. "Always been that way," she says on her being away. A lot. "Done it so long that I've gotten used to it." Sending a slow smile her way, "No one seems to mind, or care. So long as Tac and I come back." Pause. "Had business in Crom," she now chooses the answer on her whereabouts, letting her arms drape the length of the armrests as she stretches herself out. "And towards Telgar. Seein' about some folks."

There's just that bruise on her cheek to be seen, pants and sock covering what damage was done to her ankle. But with Jo's own recount of the recent gossip, Vienne frowns. "He can't really believe it. I don't think anyone believes it, not anyone who wasn't already... looking for a reason to dislike him." Her lips press together there, but there might be a question in her eyes, given certain relationships between Jo and certain groups who have been vocal against H'kon over the past few months. As for K'del, she just shakes her head. "I didn't know him before but... He's lost. He's trying. I don't know what he needs." And then her teeth are worrying at her lip. But she listens to list of places Jo and Tacuseth have been visiting, nodding faintly and looking like she's unlikely to have any follow up questions. Except she pauses. "Business. Seeing about people..." Not folks - people. She fixes Jo with a steady look. "You have your hand in something, don't you. I won't ask what just... It's good for you? You aren't in any kind of trouble?"

"I doubt H'kon's a murderer," Jo states with the certainty of open arrogance to Vienne's answer on the matter between K'del and the brownrider. "I've been around murderers, and they aren' like him." There's silence on the account of the former Weyrleader, the slight frown marring her features as she regards the other. "If a brawl didn' help him, then perhaps all he needs is a good fuck to clear his frustrations," is her crass advice for the man, sardonic. "But I agree. He seems lost, but he's had a tough few turns, darlin'." It's the last that she falls silent once more, an unsettling study lingering on Vienne as she speaks on the convict rider in particular. With a brow lifting a fraction, "Good for me? Trouble? No," and she shakes her head very slowly without taking her eyes off of her. "I'm not in trouble. Haven' been in many turns. I like to stay busy, is all. Idle hands like mine tend to lead me right back into trouble," and there's a crooked smile for that. "If I don' come home with a broken nose or my jacket torn, it's been a good day."

"Maybe," Vienne says with an empty laugh, possible agreement despite Jo's crass wording. "That makes me wonder if he's been with anyone since she died. I can't imagine," with a frown that might imply she's not incline to spend much time trying either. Instead, she lets her focus fall back on the bluerider in front of her, far less disturbing even if she is running around all the time on some potentially shady business. Vienne slides one hand out past her knee, offering it without any clear purpose. "You can keep your business, Jo; it's none of mine. Just be careful, okay?" She hazards a little smile, but it's not one that's buying too much of that 'stay busy' explanation.

Jo's little smirk probably could say it all in response to the first, her drawl an easy one as she says, "Unless he's still grievin'. Takes a long time for some. Makes them lost, as ya said." She falls silent when Vienne reaches a hand out towards her, her gaze dropping to it along with the words attached to it. Meeting her gaze for the end, there's one of her bold smiles in wordless response before she's reaching for that hand and grabbing it firmly. There's a tug, but it's not a strong one to suggest overt aggression. Just, it's there, more than subtle, perhaps anticipatory. All bravado, with the hint of her usual suggestion in her tone, "Will ya patch me up if I'm not?" she gives in a slight tease to her, the convict rider falling back to her familiar wiles despite the seriousness of the topic.

For the tug, Vienne's arm move freely, stretching further to leave her hand in Jo's possession without resistance, and as that bravado returns, warm like the first rush of liquor to the belly, the little bluerider's smile spreads wry. "Of course," she promises, lifting her chin a little. "If you need tending. Someone to wrap your cuts and salve your bruises. Though I'd rather you don't let yourself get hurt just so you can experience my bedside manner." And yes, Vienne knows exactly how that phrase sounds when following Jo's familiar wiles, when the former harper herself lets her voice slide suggestively quiet. Her smile is cheeky, though, tempering that flirtation. She gives their clasped hands a little swing. "So my bruise does it for you, huh?"

"Now see. Ya say that and now I'm goin' to have to go out and get bloody," Jo gives with a long-suffering sigh to the first - not letting go of her hand. "Think I need some bedside manner from a classy lady. I'd offer mine, but, I ain' so classy," and she angles a look Vienne's way before adding, "and my definition of bedside won' be the same as most others'. I do believe ya rejected me once already." There's even a smirk for it, it lingering for the question put to her as she gives into a low rumbling of laughter and a wry tease, "I can' resist when a girl gets dirty."

"Don't do that," Vienne answers, a tone half-teasing just for the nature of their conversation, though the squeeze of her hand might suggest something a touch more serious about her intention for Jo to stay whole and safe. She drops her chin to give the crouched woman a rather remonstrative look for her comments on rejection. "I..." But Vienne doesn't really seem to have an argument ready, her smile just comes a bit more shy as she shakes her head about the whole thing. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." The words are light, but as she says them, there's a bit of curiosity developing in that blue gaze, perhaps wondering if a statement made half in jest might turn out to be more truth than she expected. Her teeth catch her lip, marring the begining of a fresh smile. "You like me classy, you like me dirty - can't make up your mind, can you." Her fingers curl and uncurl in Jo's grasp, a brush of warm fingertips against her palm.

"Such concern for me," Jo says at that half-tease, squeezing Vienne's hand, running a calloused thumb over smooth skin. "How about just a cut on the hand? A cut on a finger? Maybe I'll get a kiss then?" She'll never let go of that, perhaps. Vienne's response on rejections earns the expected words of her being hurt. There's a raised brow to that along with a brazen, "I get drinks thrown in my face for grabbin' some woman's ass every now and then, drunk or not. I think my feelin's are sittin' pretty fine, darlin'. I just can' make up or down of ya, and I ain' grabbin' ya again unless ya explicitly want me to." Apparently, flirting and making innuendos is fair game, regardless. The last gets laughter, the incline of her head marking a wordless 'touche' in the gesture so she seems to amend her previous statement: "Well. I can' resist when a classy girl gets dirty."

Jo wants a cut on her hand? Her finger? Well, Vienne will oblige her by pretending there's one there right now. She draws Jo's hand forward, both of her own attending to the unfolding of her forefinger. She tips her head and frowns at the unmarked digit, like it's a poor thing in need a sympathy, She lets the other blue rider talk about her feeling, all the while making a show of inspecting that hand, looking for other invisible injuries. She does catch side of that silent 'touche', though, breaking the act long enough to meet her gaze and grin back at her. But with a sniff she settles back to her fake-healering, wiggling joints to see if they're functional. "You seem like the kind of person who grabs without thinking, whether you want a thing or not." She draws that hand in closer and bows her head to lay one soft kiss on Jo's index finger. It would be a lighter thing is she perked up afterwards and gave the other bluerider her hand back. And it would be a sultrier act if she lifts her gaze to meet Jo's eyes. But she does neither. She just lets their hands fall, still clapsed, to her lap and she keeps her gaze low, chin down.

With Vienne inspecting her hand, Jo falls silent and watches with that lingering, smug smirk in place. She allows her fingers to be moved any which way wanted, and to that response on grabbing, she tosses the hair draped over one eye and drops low, "I am. Don' tempt me, classy," she seems to warn in playfulness despite the simmering look in her eyes. Hand gets drawn and the grin grows in light of that kiss to her index finger, the convict rider easy in saying, "Now I feelin' much better already, secure in the knowledge that I know that ya'll take care of a bloodied me well." Head tilting when Vienne keeps her gaze low, "Vienne," she drawls in the quiet of the weyr, saying her full name. The look on her face, perhaps she's up to something.

The playful warning doesn't seem to ease Vienne all that much; she smiles quietly, but with her head tipped downward it's hardly more visible than the lift of her cheeks. "I'll do what I can," she assures for these future days when Jo plans on showing up in need of some light medical attention. But it's not until the other bluerider says her name that Vienne looks up again, meeting Jo's gaze with steady, expectant eyes.

There's laughter, but Jo is far busy in studying the slighter woman than to add any further response. Well, there is the one from her now that involves her being the thief that she is, leaning over quite suddenly to press her lips to Vienne's if the other doesn't dodge it in time. Left to its own vices, it's to be quite an indulgent, playful kiss with the brief scrape of teeth to her bottom lip before it's broken.

No, Vienne doesn't dodge. Dodging would require far more presence of mind than she seems to have at the moment, stunned into a beat of silent acceptance with just a quick catch of her breath. There aren't any overwhelming reasons for Jo to be encouraged, but there is the faint motion like Vienne is about to start kissing her back, just a hesitant brush of lips, and there is that hand that leaves her lap to lay her fingertips along the other bluerider's jaw. They're little things, though potentially more noticeable than the tiny gasp brought on by the scrape of teeth. When the kiss breaks away, Vienne just stares, wide-eyed, blinking. And then without any warning, she leans in to take another one. It might be a reserved sort of thing, a little stilted, experimental, but purposeful. Whether that's promising or just laughable is all up to Jo.

The fact that Vienne didn't dodge her only spurs Jo on, well aware of that catch of breath, the faint brush of lips against hers, and the soft touch to her jaw. There's a shifting of her lips into something smile-worthy against those lips when perhaps she feels more than hears that tiny gasp before it breaks. The convict rider is all smug for her successful steal, and looks about to say something likely brazen and arrogant to the fact until she finds lips back on hers again. The slight surprise is very brief, her own lips not demanding towards such experimental attempts. Pleased laughter could probably be felt as she briefly deepens that second kiss, allowing her the experience and not breaking it just yet.

It does get better, that experiment ebbing with a release of a breath that opens her lips and has her softening suddenly, a kiss in earnest with Vienne's hand smoothing along Jo's jaw and cheek until her fingers are in her hair. But there is something held back all the while, something not quite released. It's quietly that Vienne breaks their kiss, letting lashes flutter open as her hand drops away. She looks at the other woman in silence, lips parted and breath quick, wide blue eyes a touch hazy and full of questions. One by one she starts tucking them away.

With this one, Jo seems to let Vienne lead, a hand briefly snaking up to grip Vienne's neck when she feels those fingers her in her wild hair. Once it's broken, Jo leans away and returns that gaze, regarding the questions found in her eyes. "Ya should ask them," she says with quiet authority, now breaking the silence between them.

Vienne shakes her head rather helplessly, a hand ending up hanging from Jo's forearm, which might not mean to discourage the other bluerider's grip on the back of her neck. "I can't," she answers. "They don't have words." She pulls her lips together, letting them disappear in the pinch of her teeth only to find some words after all. "Is this what you wanted?" She seems to doubt it already.

With a final squeeze of her hand, Jo draws her hands back before she gets to her feet. She seems to be accepting Vienne's answer, for she doesn't question it further. Instead, it's to the last that she answers with one of her infectious smiles and words. "To steal a kiss? Yeah," she says, looking pretty satisfied on that front. "That was what I wanted. For now. Can' have one of my good friends runnin' out on me for pushin' for more." Her logic, anyway, given with her rakish, cocky demeanor all back in its place.

Jo can remove her hand, yes, but Vienne's just slides along her forearm and wrist until her fingers can catch at her hand, keeping it just a little bit longer even as the other bluerider stands. "I guess you got a free one," she says, some wry curve coming to her lips. It's short lived, though, and there's a tension still lingering in her, pinching her knees together. "Was it..." She doesn't really want to ask and manages to stop herself there. "Do you still feel rejected?" Even though Jo made very clear claims about never being bothered by that rejection in the first place.

When Vienne reaches for her hand, Jo is easy to give it despite her now standing up. That quip on free ones has her laughing though with an easy, "The next one will be free, too. No need to deny it." Cocksure and proud of it! The one question that breaks off and the full one that follows get her attention. The last gets answered first with a wry and pointed, "I appreciate yer concern, but no. I don'. I knew ya liked me." She even flashes her that bold smile, though it lightens when she figures the former question out, it having not reached fruition. What's said is a simple, genuine, "Yeah. It was." She lets her gaze linger, and her touch before she says with some reluctance, "I better go. Ya get that bruise taken care of, hear? Perhaps I should be tellin' you to stay out of trouble." Back to the easy banter she's used to, turning to gently rouse Mime to have him uncurl himself and give up her jacket to her.

Finally, all that self-assured arrogance cracks one of Vienne's knowing smiles, warm and sly as she looks on the cocky woman in front of her, so certain, now, about how her little friend feels. Vienne doesn't deny it, either. "And here I thought maybe I'd wounded you," she quips. But it in the answer to her unfinished question, the lingering look that Jo gives her, that she become a little more bashful, teeth catching her lip and her hands, having released the others' fingers, tuck between her snug knees. "Thank you for coming to check on me. I promise I'll try to stay clear of any future..." Well, whatever that whole brawl really was. "I guess maybe it doesn't recommend me for your Rusty Nail very much." Her eyes shift to the firelizard, or rather to the gentle way that Jo wakes him. It makes her smile to herself.

With Mime awake, Jo shrugs that leather jacket back on and runs a hand through her hair, Vienne's first on being wounded getting a jocular, "Takes a lot, darlin'." Now with the jacket on, she scoops up Mime and he immediately settles inside his customary nook in the jacket one fingers release and all is back in place. The next gets an incline of her head and a genuine, "Of course I would. Next time if ya must get in it, give a good fist back," and she even demonstrates with her free arm since the other's keeping Mime in place, a balled up fist mimicking an uppercut. "Ya ain' goin' to the Rusty Nail until ya can do it, too! If I have to go outta there with blood spurtin' outta my nose, I ain' doin' it alone." There's laughter to that, which could suggest she's just joking before she's wiggling fingers her way and starting to head out of the weyr.

It takes a lot to wound her, does it? Well, Vienne will nod agreeably to that, though maybe there's a little light in her eye that isn't so easily convinced. She pushes to her feet as Jo goes about settling her little friend into his cozy nook and as she follows the other bluerider toward the ledge, well, she limps. "I think maybe we should try to avoid the blood spurting. It turns out I can't even get in the way of a fight. I'd be useless to you. But we'll go sometime. And not fight. And I'll bring an extra handkerchief just in case you need it." She flashes a quick, cheeky smile. As they reach the entrance, Vienne reaches up to take ahold of Jo's jacket, careful not to disturb Mime's sleep.

Jo picks up on Vienne limping immediately and gives her a look. "Might be best to take it easy, too, while yer at it," she notes to it, like she's a healer herself. "Yeah, we'll go. Keep that hankerchief in yer pocket." She was turning for the ledge when she finds Vienne's hands on the front of her jacket, the move quite unexpected enough to have the convict rider quipping, "What, can' get enough of me already?" in open tease, looking the slight woman over without apology.

Vienne might seem a little relieved that there's no more made of her limp than there needs to be. And when she's standing there with her hand on Jo's jacket and the taller woman smirking down at her as she does, looking her over, Vienne just lets her smile twist impishly. "Good night, Jo," she tells her, peering into the leather jacket to add, "And Mime." She flicks her eyes back up to meet the bluerider's and then releases her grip, stepping back to let her guest(s) depart.

Jo stands there to that farewell when it comes, the convict rider returning a knowing lopsided grin before she peers down at her little charge briefly and says right back, "Night, Vi." With that, once she's released, she heading out into the cold ledge with Tacuseth there and waiting.