Rain Dance

Fate

Rain patters against the solid stone rooftop, save where it taps against the floorboards two floors up, and drips to the two floors below where the wood has rotted through.

It's a roof, anyway, one that doesn't have to be grown, and one that isn't in the close confines of the cart.

Tonight's stop is a circle of buildings that was once some sort of outpost, judging by the construction of the buildings and the sparse, non-looted evidence left behind.

Daina

The caravan is circled in the midst of the buildings and They'd all managed to find someplace reasonably dry to hunker down. The trading team go about securing their cargo from the rain as much as possible and despite the dreary day everyone seems to be in relatively fine spirits.

Some of the more talented cooks are taking the time to make a warm spicy dish for everyone to enjoy as well as passing around a few flasks to enjoy the warmth of the alcohol. Esta is looking out into the rain and maybe thinking of a walk in the moisture laden atmosphere, Ilvers is trying to draw Kelly into a game of dice and a few others offer to join in as well.

Overall it's a calm camp with the hope of a secure and comfortable as one can get on the road night for the travelers. Daina wonders aloud to whoever might hear her. "Anyone know how to make chocolate... like if I can make a cocoa plant..." She smiles a little as she glances around to those nearby.

Slavina

Slavina looks up at Daina from where she's crouched by the hometown-groups cookfire, spoon poised over the pot of stew. "No. I think it's an involved process, kind of like making fermented pepper-paste."

Fate

Janin doesn't look up from shelling, the large, green beans falling one after another in quick succession from between his fingers into the bowl between his knees. "Maybe when we're headed to Yare we can go see how chocolate's made?"

Daina

Daina glances over and wrinkles her nose gently "Well shoot" she half heartedly grouses but turns back to the cooking fire. "Yeah I gotta learn that top secret recipe of chocolate" she smiles a little "I wanna make a chocolate tree... like how amazing would that be... pluck a chocolate from the branches and go to town"

Slavina

"Sure, you two can do that." Slavina gives the stew a last stir before standing up and hanging her spoon on a broken board sticking out of a nearby partition. "Personally, there's other things in Yare I'm much more interested in seeing." She stretches and rolls her shoulders as she talks.

Fate

"Ah yes." Janin says, dry. "The multicolored chickens." The irony drops thick with his words.

Daina

Daina looks over and tilts her head to one side "is that what you're going to go see first?" She questions Slavina. "They are pretty adorable I gotta say" she pauses "did I show you the dance I learned from Pascal?" or whatever Daina would know him as >.>

Fate

Janin glances between Daina and Slavina. "Who... ?"

Slavina

Slavina sits down next to Janin, leaning her back against the stone of the wall. She folds the hem of her skirt around and over her shins so chilly air won't get in. "Eh, I've seen the chickens." She waves a hand like no big deal. "I want to see the performances. Especially mask-dances."

At the mention of the dance, she tilts her head a little. "Oh. Yes, but it was a long time ago... you should show it again."

Daina

Daina smiles "I never got tired of the chicks he brought to Mama's" She admits as she glances over. "Hmm oh ok yeah" excited to have something to do and of course to dance because yay dancing! She holds out her hand towards Slavina "aw you don't wanna dance with me?" she wiggles her fingers. "sing something with a ..." she demonstrates a beat. "sort of sound?" she smiles as she thinks back and starts to move to the beat she'd offered as a guide.

Slavina

Slavina sighs and stands, taking Daina's hand with a slight shake of her head. She closes her eyes for just a second as she sifts through memories of various songs her outside-cousins taught her. Once she finds a suitable one she starts singing (a full throated, deep velvet-voice, an ornamented Liudzi performance-voice) in the language of Yare. She ducks and twirls complimentary to Daina, taking on the role of Daina's (usually invisible) partner, moving to the subtle cues the younger woman provides.

Fate

It's not long before Ilvers's eyes are drawn from the dice to the dancers—and after a relaxing of his expression and half-breath he pats the guys next to him with the back of his hand. One, still partially obscured by the part of the wall which is not gap, pokes his head out. Their eyes take in the scene, intent, and others soon follow. Kelly quietly shifts his position to regard the dancers directly, sitting cross-legged on the ground and absently tapping his knees to the beat, well-practiced in letting music fill his pulse; and Esta leans out from behind a corner to get a better look, rainwater dripping down her hair and nose.

Even Janin's eyes are drawn from the beans, and his hands promptly fumble the pod into the bowl. He stifles a curse, then does a double-take to the dancers, one which holds his eyes thereafter.

Daina

Daina picks up the song with a complimentary set of notes and smiles widely to Slavina as she picks up the dance easily enough. A little laugh as she starts to add a few little elements here and there and playfully uses her shawl to trace around Slavina's frame. "I knew you'd pick this one up quickly" she teases as she moves into a turn to put some space between them and towards Esta, urging her to come join with a wave of her hand, if she's so inclined.
The audience being drawn in is not out of the ordinary especially when she dances with a talented partner and so she just gives a warm smile to those watching and a bit of an urging gesture for them to dance if they feel the music move them. Some small plants start to come up around the ceiling and corners, with warm orange red colorations, such as she'd made with the Swan Maidens house back at Home Town.

Slavina

Slavina twirls alongside and in front of Daina, picking up and exaggerating Daina's serpentine movements, spinning and dipping in ways that make her shawl slide free of her hair and the hem of her skirt (at times) flare up nearly to the top of her legs. When Daina starts trying to rope others into the dance, she spins around so they're back-to-back to get out of the way—by this point winded enough that it's a bit of a strain to keep singing well.

Fate

Esta brightens, then moves out entirely, skipping and spinning, and offers a hand to Janin. He looks up to her, startled, then red begins to spill into his cheeks and he shakes his head tightly, offering a strained smile. She dances her way over to Kelly, whose gaze drops to the ground as he considers, subdued, before she even asks. He ultimately accepts, though, pushing himself to standing and briefly inviting Ilvers and the other gamblers along with him. Some others begin to join in (Ilvers included), and those who don't dance instead clap or stomp to the beat. One takes that as a moment to shine, hastily pulling a fiddle out from one of the carts and setting up beneath an overhang so as to not get the instrument wet.

Slavina

Now that everyone is dancing, Slavina subtly ducks out of the dancing. She takes a seat back by Janin, chest heaving and a little soggy—er, "glowing" that is—with sweat. She stops singing to catch her breath now that they've got a whole cadre of musicmakers. Slavina takes the opportunity to adjust her clothes, re-tucking the many things that became untucked and smoothing the even more things that got rumpled.

Daina

Daina doesn't stop Slavina's retreat but if she can catch her eye she offers a smile of thanks for the dance and song. She keeps moving but her thoughts are torn for a moment as she considers and then makes her way over to Janin and swings her shawl around his shoulders and leaves it with him. She mimes wrapping it around her waist and flashes a big smile as she makes a beckoning motion again, though her arched brows indicate it's an invitation still and not in any way demanding participation. She pulls some warmth from around Slavina to help her cool off and then turns and spins away back into the group of people enjoying the dance.

Fate

Janin stiffens as she approaches, eyeing the shawl as if it were something alive, and then offers her a tight, apologetic smile before gathering up the shawl, standing, placing it carefully in his seat and then moving off elsewhere, his motions tightly controlled, red creeping up his neck as he departs.

Another fellow takes that opportunity to dance just into Daina's space, inviting her with some complex, mostly on-beat footwork (which, by the way, looks nothing like the dancing she'd done before).

Slavina

Slavina shivers a little as the surrounding warmth drains away. She picks up Janin's coat along with her own and follows after him, handing it to him when she gets close. "Sorry about that. I should have realized earlier."

Daina

Daina makes a sort of... accepting sympathetic smile and then smiles brightly at the dancer and after a moment she mimics his dance a bit wrapping it into what she'd started and putting it on beat, she does a few moves repeatedly to try and help him get it but beyond that she resumes dancing with feeling instead and smiles with a dimple showing on one side.

Fate

He almost jumps when she appears out of the corner of his eye, but he quickly relaxes, slows to a halt, and takes the coat. "It's fine." He swallows. "I wasn't expecting..." He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "It's fine." He's still burning red, and carefully not meeting her eye—also making no move to put on his coat.

Slavina

Slavina puts her own coat on, taking care to make her body language as boring and unattractive as unflavored porridge. She nods. "Want me to leave you alone?"

Fate

Janin nods, a small, tight motion. "I'll be back... soon, I guess." Without waiting, he starts off again.

Slavina

Slavina goes over to check the stew. Burning? Whoops. She looks around for the spoon, sees that it's been co-opted as an instrument, and sighs. Then climbs through a hole in a wall over a small pile of stones and searches around for a stick.

Daina

Daina finally slips away to catch her breath and maybe get a drink, she's smiling as she steps outside and feels the water on her skin, warming up till the water almost steams off her as she skip turn leaps over to a plant and lifts her head so some of the water running down can fall into her open maw.

Fate

All good things must come to an end. As night falls and the rain falls harder, the dancing and music and singing trickles away in favor of shelter. Soon, wet clothes adorn the insides of the outposts, draped over broken planks, hanging vines, branches poking through gaps. Conversing figures huddle around various fires which cast their shadows large and dancing on the walls.

Kelly steps into the Hometowner shelter from his visit with Aaren and Aurika. Esta looks up from the still-steaming stew, mid-filling, and motions with it. 'Dinner?'

He hums an affirmative, then, as an afterthought, says, 'Yes, please.' He takes up a towel from nearby and begins to dry himself off.

At this, Esta fills the rest of the bowl, hands it to him, and then grabs another to fill for herself. That done, she seats herself next to him, and offers a curled-up and sleeping Chauncy a brief rub before starting in on her meal.

Janin has returned by then, having shed his sodden layers and holding his palms to the Hometowner fire. He hasn't been very talkative—not reticent, really, just not having much to say.

Daina

Daina pauses just outside to do a controlled burn of herself and her clothes, drying them quite quickly. Stepping in she smiles as she moves to join the group around the fire and helps herself to some stew. "That was fun huh?" she says as she Daina flops and feeds some wood to the fire and then tucks into the meal. After a moment she questions. "Esta... I meant to ask you... how well are you doing out of the water so long? I mean ... should we make provisions for you like... I could grow a tub for you or something bigger?" clearly concerned for their oceanic compatriot.

Fate

Esta looks a little taken aback by the question, then, after a couple puzzled blinks, says, 'I don't know how you folks do things here but I'm quite alright.'

Slavina

After having made sure Janin's comfortable with being touched, Slavina has curled up next to him (on the close-to-the-fire side) with her cheek resting on one knee and her coat draped over her like a blanket. She follows the conversation through half-closed eyes, every so often picking a chunk out of her half-eaten stew and slowly chewing it.

Daina

Daina smiles a little uncertainly hoping she wasn't rude ... she looks between Esta and Janin and then blows a breath out before just sort of staring down into her food as she eats.
Meanwhile she carefully radiates heat to help anyone still soaked to dry off or cold to be warmer.

Fate

After some silence, Esta sets her bowl down and makes her way closer to Kelly, sliding in behind him and casually draping her arms over his shoulders. Obligingly he leans into her, continuing to eat at his unhurried pace.

Then, Janin ventures, "It's good to see you feeling better," looking over to Daina.

Daina

Looks up and makes a face. "Oh... I was trying to be ... ya know ... normal. I need to work on my acting or something" she sighs a bit and then smiles a little "Thanks" before stuffing a bite of food into her mouth. She glances to Slavina and hopes she's getting enough to eat. fret fret.

Slavina

Slavina peeks up at Daina from her sideways comfy place. She speaks a little muffled and sluggishly—not quite sleepy but definitely on the far side of tired. "Don't feel bad. You're a terrible actor, but it's also Janin's holy mission to uncover hidden disturbances."

Fate

He lets out a bit of a nervous laugh, then says a somewhat more serious, "Sorry."

Daina

Daina gulps down her bite and then gets a gulp of drink before sticking her tongue out at Slavina at the terrible actor bit. She shakes her head "No need, I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable like ever, I don't mean to I swear" she huffs a bit at her own lack of ability to explain and stuffs her mouth with her food instead of her foot.

Fate

Janin pauses, parses, and then takes a slow, deep breath. "Is this about the dancing earlier?"

Daina

Daina makes a so so motion with a tilt of her head. "More so trying to draw you in like I did, shoulda left you be. I just wanted to get you into the fun, ya know?"

Fate

He nods. "I understand." Then he shifts his gaze off to the side. "It's not your fault. Normally it wouldn't have been a problem."

Slavina

Slavina pushes her bowl away and, after psyching herself up to actually move, sits up straight. She uses her short burst of momentum to..... refill her cup! With milk! Then she goes back to being sideways again.

Fate

As she's away, Janin glances at the contents of her bowl, then picks it up and sets it on his other leg.

Slavina

She looks up at him with a not-quite-glare and grumbles, "But I'm tired. I was dancing." She looks over at Daina. "If there's a fault, I'd better take it. I've seen Daina do that dance before. I just didn't think about how it'd be different now that she's an adult. It's more hilariously silly with a six-year-old."

Daina

Daina looks up at that and then snickers a little bit "Oh yeah I was a wee one when I showed you first I guess that is a bit of a difference" she chuckles a bit as she nods "yeah I bet that was pretty funny" Smiling still as she scoops out another bite.

Fate

"Exactly why you should finish this," Janin retorts. Then he pauses, grows solemn, and considers silently for a long while. Finally, he says, "Look, it's no one's fault. My..." he flings about for a term, "manhood is not your guys's responsibility." Then his mouth twists a little as he realizes how off that sounded, but he remains silent.

Kelly, who had been quietly translating (or trying to, anyway, between mouthfuls) to Esta up to this point, stops, then thinks for a minute.

Slavina

Slavina makes a very slight disgruntled face, but doesn't argue. She sits up, picks up the soup bowl and chugs it all in one go, then wipes her mouth off with a handkerchief. She thinks about Janin's statement for a minute. "Sure. But... the way we publicly present ourselves is?" She tests out the idea, looking at Janin and Daina and Kelly for confirmation.

Daina

Daina smiles and looks a little ... sympathetically uncomofortable. Her nose wrinkling at Slavina's suggestion. "I mean, I'm going to be me... how people react to that is their thing not mine. I'm more on Janin's wave with it... but also I shoulda been more sensitive than to draw attention to it and that's really what I'm sorry for. I really thought the shawl was a good idea to 'fix it' enough for you dance with us, I'm sorry it was an error and I'd really like to give you a hug to further express my regret." She gets that out and then her brows arch hopefully as she wants to be friends and give hugs of comfort.

Fate

Janin considers these responses, and then heaves a sigh. Then he squares himself. "I wasn't embarrassed because you tried to fix it. I was... really caught off-guard, and confused, and distracted. And when you approached, it got more..." he searches the floor for another word, "powerful, I guess... which was unexpected and unwanted." He presses his mouth out into a thin line before continuing. "I don't know why it happened. It wasn't an issue before." He rubs a thumb over his forearm. "I'm still trying to figure myself out."

"It's seeing," Kelly pipes in.

Janin looks to him, puzzled. "What?"

"It's seeing. Doesn't have to do anything with anything. Just the seeing is enough to get turned on, most of the time." Kelly shrugs a shoulder. "For me, anyway. And Shea. And Maria. And Dad. I think. Tris says it's a lot more complicated for her. Seeing isn't enough. She's gotta feel, too." He falls silent, reflecting on his words, unsatisfied, but leaving them be.

Daina

Daina nods a little and then looks between Kelly and Janin and nods like she totally gets it but ehhh not all the way like maybe she's a bit more in Tris' camp there. She peers over at Janin and decides not to push for a hug cause it's maybe a problem as well. Foods.

Fate

Janin falls silent, thinking about this for a while.