Difference between revisions of "Logs:Plotting Mischief"

For most, the island is a safe place no matter what time of day. Nobody fears being mugged or abused in any way if they get caught out alone at night; and while that may have changed some, with the addition of an 'other' making an appearance on the Island, old habits die hard. That's why Emmeline finds herself wandering the shoreline of the beach at night, using the moons' light as guidance to try making her way across the ideally placed sturdy rocks between the large and then smaller islands. If she starts singing one of the little tunes her mother taught her, it's only because she thinks she's far enough away from the settlement that it won't disturb anyone.

Someone else is out on this moonlight night: Devaki's walking away from the settlement to give him some time alone with his thoughts. It's the singing that draws him, that familiar voice, too, earning a quick smile as he makes his way in her direction. He's deliberately quiet, approaching from behind, his intention pretty clear: he waits until he's nearer and, should she not realize his presence, prepares to leap out and yell something meaningless. Some old habits do, indeed, die hard.

For someone who has even the most basic of Harper training, either Emmeline is woefully lacking in observation skills. Or, she's willing to pretend so in order to have some semblance of normalcy. Regardless, it would seem that she has no idea she's being snuck up on until the very last moment when she spins around just as Devaki leaps out and yels his gibberish. Good thing she /does/ have decent balance or she'd just have taken a header into the ocean water! Instead she all but chokes on a surprised shriek and lifts a hand up to her throat in surprise. "You... you..." Eyes narrow, but there's plenty of mischief there. "Serve you right if I knocked you right into the water." she decides, deliberately advancing towards him as if she fully intends to follow through on that proscribed retaliation.

Devaki can't help it; he lets out a guffaw of laughter at Emmeline's reaction. "You should've seen your expression, Emme. It was priceless. You leapt like /this/ high!" He holds his hands out about waist high, which of course is a hideous exaggeration. He looks about to taunt her a little more when she begins to advance on him and, knowing Emme as he does, he hastily skitters back a step, nearly slipping on the rocks. "Hey, hey," he holds his hands out, as if to try and keep her at bay. "You shouldn't be walking about alone, anyway," he says, kind of pointedly ignoring that he was doing just the same.

That's a particularely eeeeevil slant to Emme's smile when she advances on Devaki. Her eyes even twinkle a bit as they crinkle in response to her broadining grin when he steps back and nearly slips. She's just about where his hand tries to stop her, when she snorts and pauses to fold her arms across her chest with a bit of indignance. "And what were you doing out here alone, then?" she counters, arching an eyebrow. "Though I suppose we should stop running into each other in dark places; the elders are going to talk." That one is clearly a taunt.

"Me? I was -- looking for /you/ of course." But there's that grin, which means Devaki's obviously lying. He gives a slight snort at the latter. "Let them talk, it's all that keeps them occupied these days. That, and fretting about what the Other's arrival means. Makes my head spin, personally." Not that he hasn't been giving it thought. He just prefers to avoid most of the Elder's fretting about it.

"Ha! Sure you were." Emme apparently believes that about as much as she'd believe the ocean is really made of molten lava instead of salt water. "I feel bad for them, in a way. His arrival really throws things out of balance. It gives people the opportunity to really consider whether this place is all that there is. They could lose their grip on people. Their control and guidance is probably what kept an island full of exiles capable of survival for tens and tens of turns." she murmurs, showing perhaps a bit more intelligence then she usually indulges in while in front of others. "What will be, will be, right? So really, what were you doing out here aside from scaring me senseless? I kind of enjoy the quiet that night brings. It's nice to have a little room to think and explore without worrying what anyone is saying about it."

Since she's ceased her advancement, Devaki lets his hands drop back to his sides. "I don't think it's a bad thing," he confesses, slowly, "People considering the truth, I mean. You and I know, but some of those-" he gestures back towards the settlement, "Some of them think the whole Exile stuff is something us Bloods made up just to get a leg over them. Like we don't do just as much as they," he rolls his eyes, then fixes his gaze on Emmeline with an amused twist of lips. "Thinking," he says, by way of agreement, "I was too, I mean. Trying to avoid Shimana -- have you heard she's on another matchmaking bent? Don't want her getting ideas."

"I don't think it's a bad thing either. It's just that there's no real way for us to act on it out here, is there? How would we get back to wherever it is we were exiled from? It might raise hopes, only to see them shattered later." Okay, apparently Emme's been giving it a lot more thought then she initialy let on. Though her face colors at the mention of Shimana and her matchmaking ways. "Yes, I suppose she has been." She tilts her head thoughtfully and gives Devaki a speculative glance. "You've not found anyone you'd like a match with? I'm sure she would take that into account. Unless you've decided to want to be a hermit." the girl jokes, unable to help herself.

Devaki studies her with interest, nodding slowly. "I don't think- well, we're a tough people. You know that. We've all been through a lot together. I think they underestimate what we can handle, and what we can't." There's a definite thread of pride in his voice as he talks about them. He shakes his head, then, and there's a faint hint of tenseness in the way his jaw clenches together briefly. "I haven't looked at the lines closely for myself, yet." Which seems like an.. oddity, given his obsession with the blood lines. "It's important that I marry," he concedes. "I just haven't- it's not all that in my mind, yet." There's no telling grin to give the lie away, and his gaze is distant, on the dark horizon, rather than her.

"We are. We've had to be, haven't we?" Emmeline agrees, brow furrowed a but with the way his jaw seems to clench for a moment there. "Forget the bloodlines for just a moment, Devaki." she chides. "Think about what /you/ want." As if she ever does that, right? "Sure, I know. You've more important things to think about." And she tries to follow where his gaze is centered, but given that there's nothing to see but ocean she winds up just watching him again anyway. "Well..." her voice trails off. "Maybe we should find some trouble to get into. That might give the elders something else to talk about."

The chiding words draws Devaki's gaze, with a faint narrowing of eyes, and a sharp shake of his head. "I can't. It's /important/, to me, and to all of us. Even if they don't realize it yet -- especially because they don't." He exhales a slow breath, a hint of apology in the softer words that follows, "What I want doesn't really matter, Emme. We have to think about what's best for the settlement." He's talking like one of the elders, now, and he knows it, too, judging by the slight snort that follows. "Just -- forget it." He waves his hand as if forcefully trying to dismiss the topic, though Emme's latter comments draws his gaze back. "Trouble?" he echoes, a definite thread of interest in his voice.

Iolene heads in from Settlement, Western Island. Iolene has arrived.

"Dev....oh, nevermind." Emme says finally, her expression closing off. She shrugs when he snorts and waves his hand dismissively. "Sure, trouble. You know, things we're not supposed to do." she explains. "Dump all the elders underthings in ice-water, stick their hands in bowls of warm water while they sleep... draw funny faces on people... I don't know. Unless you have a better idea?"

It's quite late at night; late enough that all the good boys and girls should be sleeping safe in their huts. However it seems that some have taken the lightness of the moons as a signal for a late night stroll, the sound of two voices echoing across the beach. Devaki's expression is odd, kind of angry, but not at Emmeline, kind of tense, too, though that fades as Emme explains her basic ideas. It elicits a little grin, then finally a chuckle from him. "Does that actually work -- with the bowl?" he wonders, then tips his head to consider. "You know what'd be funny? If we got some of the seaweed, and got some of those fish guts -- you know the stuff that sticks a bit like glue as it dries -- and put beards on everyone."

If Emme turns a little green at the thought of sticking her hand into fish guts for the purposes of a joke, surely the moons mask the full extent of her nausea. "Think we could actually pull that off without being caught?" she wonders. "I haven't had that bowl thing evr tried on me, so I'm not sure... and don't you even -think- about doing that to me, Devaki. I will hunt you down and exact revenge if it ever happens." So she's not quite as chipper as she was when they first ran into each other, but to most anyone who would happen by them, it seems she's quite normal while also planning fairly innocent 'trouble' to get into.

Some, the moonlight beckons for a late night stroll. For others, it's a call to the waters and it's just as Emmeline suggests drawing funny faces on people that Iolene emerges from the depths quite a ways from the chatting pair, just a shadow backlit by the moon's light. It's a quiet sluice upwards, the sound of a body breaking the surface mere ripples rather than a splash; distant but close enough for Io to, at least, realize there are people on the shore. It's unfortunate, with shadow play and what not, that her features are mostly masked, but the impish smile that curves sweet about her mouth claims the entirety of her face with its mischief, and, as the pair continue to speak of fish guts and bowl-induced urination, the sea creature sinks again to follow along beneath the surface, sight unseen.

"Not sure. But the risk is part of the fun, no?" Devaki's head tips, and there's a play of smile across his features that suggests he's probably well aware of Emme's lack of composure in that regard. The low chuckle from him indicates Emmeline's pegged exactly where his thoughts were headed, and he lifts his hands in concession. "You never know. I might enjoy what revenge you'd wreak on me, Emme," he says, teasing. He falls silent, suddenly, hearing something out in the water, but as there's no second noise, he dismisses it. "Unless you just want to shift all the boxes around in the storage caverns, keep things interesting for people?"

Emmeline glances speculatively over at her apparent partner in crime, and her lips purse a moment before she glances away to hide her expression. "Would you?" she wonders, her tone bordering on thoughtful. If at first that's a little at odds with his teasing, the way she steps close again with a shrewd expression might just make one think otherwise. "You ought to be careful there, I just might...." Then she too hears that slight noise and pulls back in a guilty manner. Even without a followup splash or ripple she's all back to being little miss proprietary anyhow. "That would work. Far less fun, but it would work. We could move peoples things out of their huts... leave stuff in a big pile at the settlement center. That might be a lot of work though."

Iolene always misses the good stuff! Being submerged means she misses the latest exchange and the reactions to her underwater adventures and the whole missing link in her would-be mischief would be the lack of actually seeing or hearing anything. Being underwater is no boon in this case and shortly thereafter, the soaked blonde head reemerges in a noisy splash and shake of her head, beadlets flying as Io makes a remarkable impression of a wet dog after a much needed bath. "Ahoy!" is her eventual, companionable greeting, complete with a waving arm. She is, perhaps, a good 10 feet from shore. A glance takes in Devaki and Emmeline, and an arch brow arcs with a tease on her full lips once recognition sets in: "Lover's stroll?"

"Well, it depends on the nature of the revenge," Devaki muses, eyes rolling skywards as he considers. "Pantsing me in front of the children -- not so much." A low-throated laugh follows, as he notes Emme's approach and makes to ward her off with a wave of hands, not that it'd do much. "Hey, now, no touching," he calls, jokingly. "But -- I'm liking that idea. It'd be a lot of work, but worth it. Can you imagine all the speculation -- and I bet they'd blame the Other." That, more than anything, Dev appears to look forward to. For all his teasing of Emme earlier about how high she jumped when he surprised her, he just about reenacts it at Iolene's sudden appearance from an unexpected direction. "Shells, Io. You about made me leap out of my skin." He clutches at his chest in exaggeration, and at her tease, straightens. "Without you? Never." All said in a perfectly straight-forward, non-flippant manner, belied by the slightest curve of lips.

"Now Iolene, you should know better. Our good Mister Devaki would never do anything as unseemly as a lover's stroll. He has far more serious things on his mind." Whomever it is that Emme is poking fun at there is left to the imagination of the listeners when one of the other younger island residents makes her splashing appearance. "A swim, huh? I didn't think of that." But it's looking more enticing by the moment, apparently. "Or should I leave you two to a lover's swim?" she teases back, apparently not nearly as surprised by the other girl's sudden appearance as she was when Devaki scared the wits out of her. "We were actually just considering moving a bunch of personal items from everyone's hut into the settlement center, to keep people on their toes."

At Devaki's reaction and the subsequent words thrown her way by the strollers, an immediate 'laughter' sets off only in Iolene's expressively, deep blue eyes, a tilt of her head towards the sky making the hue of them much more visible despite the shadows. Her shoulders then tremble for the pent emotion and when her head drops, there's an easy smile quick to her lips. The lack of any vocal manifestation is followed by an easy stroke to the shore, close enough that her feet finally find solid ground to wade out of, clad in a black shift dress of sorts. They might be exiles, but that doesn't mean holdbred standards haven't persisted, right? And just in time it would seem, to hear of nefarious plots that now find a throaty, richly amused laughter. "Oh. Grams would never forgive any of you. /Never/." The last quite emphatic with a very wet-dog sort of nod. Not that there's any rebuke in her voice or expression, if that 'I'm game' gleam is any suggestion.

Devaki exhales a long-suffering sigh, acting the part of being entirely put-upon at Emmeline's words. Still, there's a hint of a smile touching his lips. "Unseemingly?" he echoes, amused. "Swimming at night is a new one -- aren't you scared of what lurks out there in the dark waters?" he asks of Iolene, before his smile deepens at the talk of nefarious deeds: "She would never -- if she found out it was us. Which she wouldn't, because we'll /swear/ to each other to keep the secret between us until the day we die -- right?" He even holds his hands out for good measure, as if wanting to seal the deal.

Emmeline makes a face at Devaki, her expression nebulous, even with her face fully illuminated by the light being cast off the still rippling water. Whatever she's thinking is quickly swept away by Io's obvious good humor and she moves to link arms with the other girl as soon as she's hopped up beside them. Even though it means soaking half her side. "We never cause real trouble. This could be fun." she entices, smiling over at Iolene. "And she'll certainly never find anything out from me." is promised.

Unfazed by the comments of what lurks beneath, Iolene shakes her head, her brow suddenly furrowing into complete frustration. A hand reaches to grasp her hair into a fist and the other starts wringing it out. In between each forceful wring out she says: "Nothing. I. Can't. Kill. Any. Way." High self-confidence in her combative skills against the monsters below turns the grit of her mouth set in battling the water out of her hair to a toothy, lopsided grin. Now, if only just a little de-waterified, Io skips the rest of the way to catch up with the pair and aims to slip in between them with a nonchalant grace, arms wanting to cozy in to catch both of theirs around hers to interlock. See. There. Chums. "Agreed. If you can lie bold face to Grams, so can I." Smiling first up at Devaki and then down at Emmeline, the barefoot, still mostly wet exile fisher cements her end of the bargain with puckered fish lip to each person in turn. She'll kiss them if they don't run away first.

Well, it'd be difficult for Devaki to run when Iolene's threaded her arm through his. Not that he probably would, anyway. "I should make you girls make more promises if that's how you seal it," he says, voice holding a low amusement as his gaze shifts from Iolene to Emmeline. "You'll have to get out of those wet things, though, Io, or you'll give us away, dripping all over everything." He tilts his head in the direction of the settlement, then back.

"I sincerely envy your lack of fear, Iolene." Emme just shakes her head, peering out towards the water a little dubiously now that dark denizens of the deep have been mentioned. "I'm sure I can hold my own in a bold-faced lie. I think. No, no. I can. Realy." she promises, sounding entirely unconvincing for a moment. "Dev is right about the wet clothing, Io. But if you're going to pucker up to seal the deal, you can't go change before I get my kiss." the girl jokes, making puckered up fish-lips right back. She can't quite keep up the face though, and bursts into a giggle that she has to muffle before it echoes back to the settlement. Ahem. "We'll wait. Go on."

One done. Devaki, doll that he is, finds Iolene's fish lips to his cheek. She grins up from beneath her lashes for just a fleeting moment, before it's on to Emmeline and while the other girl vacillates between keeping a secret or not, Io merely persists in her puckered lips and squinty eyes to see what the other blonde is doing is doing. When she's about to come close, Io leans in, but it all breaks apart with Emme, which then elicits a tiny giggle from Iolene. "Don't move a thing without me!" And off she goes, dripping water along the beach behind her.

You sense Iolene's hand slips from his elbow, for just a second during that mischievous grin, to skirt light fingers along the inside of his waistband before flickering away, back to more proper areas.

For just a moment, Devaki's eyes widen when Iolene leans in to kiss his cheek. His mouth opens briefly and shuts just as quickly. Good thing there's not enough light to quite interpret his expression, at least for him. Dev looks very, very interested in Emmeline all of a sudden as Iolene turns towards the other girl. An expectant grin lights his expression, rocking forward even, though that disappears and becomes a sighs with disappointment when there's no follow-through. "You girls such a tease," he sighs, wistfully, his gaze following the blonde's departure with sharp interest.

"Promise. We'll be right here!" Emmeline just snorts at Devaki when he's suddenly all interested in whether there's going to be any girl on girl action going on. "Oh-ho, is that where or rather who your interest is?" She keeps her tone sooooo carefully neutral when the question is blurted out - it being obvious where the lone male of the trio's gaze is centered. "You should have just said so when I asked earlier." Impatience in waiting for Io's return has her start walking then along the shore again lazily, picking up a shell or two along the way. She even goes back to humming quietly some familiar tune. "I do hope we don't get caught. How humiliating that would be. Funny, but we'd never live it down." Iolene can't run to her shared hut, change her clothes, and make it back that quickly! Carry on.

"What? Io? No," Devaki's denial is, perhaps, a shade too quick. "There's nothing there. Besides, you're the one who knows everyone's secrets. You'd know already if that was the case," he adds, moving in Iolene's departure to slide his arm under Emmeline's, keeping pace with her as she resumes walk along the shore. "We won't get caught," he says, certain of it. "And if we do, I'll claim that I coerced you both, being the weak-minded individuals you are." Yeah. Grams will /totally/ buy that one. Not.

"You protest too quickly." Emme points out, glancing sidelong at the records-keeper walking along arm in arm with her. "There are some secrets even I don't know. Or perhaps I'm blind to." she admits, though it's with a smile. "Hah! As if she'd believe that, especialy of Io. She is hardly the weak-minded sort. On the other hand, I suspect most of the elders consider me mild mannered and easily swayed. But I like it that way. As you well know." She's always presented a different side of herself to their elders, as it seemed disrespectful to act otherwise. "Maybe we should add a happy-face made of shells next to the pile of valuables. It will be more easily taken as a joke?" Her lips curl upward as she collects more of the little things while waiting for the fisher-girl's return.

"And you accuse just as quickly. I hope not out of jealousy?" Devaki retorts quickly, indeed, even going so far as to twist his neck to try and catch her expression. He snorts, though appears to conceded Emme's points on Io, and herself. "I don't think they'll be thrilled, happy face or no, Emme," he responds, with a slow chuckle. "But that's the whole point. Shake things up a little. We're too -- everything's always too the same, these days."

It would have been far easier if she hadn't been sharing a hut with Rilka of all people. Among others. But Rilka. Oh Rilka. But being a hunter has its perks, just as you can't scare the fishies away with noise, you learn how to not wake batshit crazies up with noise either, and with all the stealth in the world trembling in the tips of all her limbs, Iolene manages to change, sneak out, and then slow her speed to a much more natural amble just shy of the beach clearing so that when Emmeline and Devaki see her next, she's sauntering casually. And putting up her still wet hair into a bun atop her head. "Miss me?" Hands splay out, arms extend into a would-be hug that not only air hugs both from a distance away, but also is punctuated with an air kiss to both cheeks. Beat. Pause. Brow arc. "Same? With the Strange One around?"

Oh snap! Caught, or not. "Are you asking to cash in your secret?" If he really wants the answer to that, Emmeline is apparently going to make him pay for it. The moons work against her in this case but she holds her hand up to cover her expression before he can see it. But it's a close call, and oh look! Iolene is back! She's saved by their fellow troublemaker. Beamsmile. "Of course, darling!" the would-be harper replies, air-kissing back with a lip smacking sound. "She does have a point there. But at least this will be light-hearted. I know they won't be thrilled, but I'm betting all the younger set will have a good laugh." The comments addressed in reverse order apparently.

Devaki stops, surprised, by Emme's response. A beat, then, "Yes." He watches her, waiting for the response, interested. Of course, Iolene's return probably prevents that. "Later," he murmurs, with a quick squeeze of Emmeline's arm before he pulls his free. Iolene's little display just earns a faint, puzzled tip of head. Not for that long, either -- he's used to the strange one, after all. "I think maybe you're spending far too much time with Rilka, Io." The comment's dry, but not all untrue for all that. "He's -- an anomaly," Devaki concedes, if reluctantly. "But he's not one of us," and thus, in his book, doesn't factor into things.

The thought of 'the Strange One' causes some consternation to linger about Iolene's expression, the corners of her eyes wrinkled and an uneasy set to her mouth. It's a solemn look that's at odds with its immediate predecessor in all its air-kissing/air-hugging joie de vivre. And unlike so much that is Iolene, this lull in her simplistic joy of life isn't brief, but does eventually fade into its replacement -- a determined lip press and eyes that aren't quite as happy as they just were. "It would be nice to have some fun," remarks the girl, the sweet voice now tempered with heavier thoughts. Ventured soberly; "Sometimes, I think we've all forgotten how to. Sooo...?" 'Let's go?' says those hopeful upturned hands with their curled fingers that reach out to both of her possible partners in crime.