Walk and Talk

Daina

outside the moot

Daina rubs her hand down her face as she goes looking for the kidlettes that had been taken from the talks. She sighs and tries to let out some of the tension in her shoulders with a rolling motion and looks to Kelly's questioning sound with an all to non committal tone of her own.
She sits down with the kiddos and grows some vine plants that are twined as small dolls and a few others that are like toy swords for funsies. She's holding one of the dolls and dancing it around a bit before holding it out to one of the kids.

Fate

Even having only spent a handful of minutes inside, it draws a stark contrast to the outside: scents are clearer, less muddled outside; and sounds aren't quite so overwhelmingly amplified and combined. (This is quite a good thing, considering how the kids are running around and alternating between kicking a ball and either shrieking with laugher or singing various songs loudly or shouting at each other.)

Hana—Aya's girl—watches Daina, wide-eyed, as she grows and subsequently hands her a doll. She looks at the nearest other adult—Tris—as if humming inquisitively except with her eyes.

Pyotr (not far from Tris) vocalizes a couple 'know that feel' measures. Tris, on the other hand nods and hums an encouragement to Hana, who takes the doll. "Gahsee," she sings. (It's a poorly pronounced "Thank you".)

Daina

Daina smiles a bit and then outright chuckles at Pyotr's response. "de nada" Daina responds with a lingering smile as she shrugs a little. "Guess the newest little bits will need some time to get used to that sort of thing." said sort of to herself. Hands behind her head and tilting her head back to stretch her neck a little.

Fate

Tris sings some sympathy Daina's way. "Not long, though." She watches Hana toddle off a little ways, eyeing the doll all over, and then rushing off to the main group to share. "They've been taking a hell of a lot in stride."

"No kidding." Pyotr rubs his neck. "Part of me feels like they're the ones who should be in charge."

This gets a snerk from Tris. "Can you imagine Jelochka in Vanya's hat and uniform?" A grin spreads over her. "That'd be adorable."

Pyotr catches the grin with one of his own, and looks Gabrijel's way. "You are so right."

Meanwhile, in the distance, the ball slips past Jesse. Kelly runs after it, then, with deft motions, kicks it up over his head and headbutts it back to the group. It makes a beautifully resounding thoop noise. This gets laughter from the whole group, and Lila runs over, grabs the ball, and brings it to Kelly.

Daina

Daina's smile grows a bit as she listens to the adults and then straightens her posture to watch the kids playing. Hands still behind her head as she glances over to the two. "I'm sort of waiting for instructions for the most part, what I can do to help... anything you guys can think of? I ... would rather hang around and visit but... I'm worried we just won't be granted that kind of time... " her song holding strained tight notes along with those of the warm genuine offer to help how she can.

Fate

Tris's grin fades a little. "I dunno. Everything?" Her gaze drops. "I mean, I could think of a hundred things—I'm pretty sure everyone here could. There's just... always something."

It's then that Jerri emerges from the underground network, steadily climbing her way up to the surface.

Tris shakes her head and waves a hand. "But really, I don't give a shit about any of it if we're gonna be getting our home back." She looks Daina's way, then spots Jerri coming over. She sings a light-hearted 'You too?' sort of song, then reconsiders and asks, "Gotta pee again?" It's less a question and more an expression of sympathy.

Jerri rolls her eyes. "Always."

Once more Pyotr jokingly sings the 'know that feel' song, which elicits a friendly shove from Tris. He staggers away a little to keep his balance. Jerri gives Tris a vindicated smile, a squeeze of the hand, and a wink, then looks to Daina. "Hey, you." Her smile turns to something milder, more open, and she steps around towards Daina, opening an arm up in an offer of a hug. "It looks a lot like you're having a tough time." Just like the arm, the observation is an offer, with no small amount of warmth.

Daina

Daina nods her head a little in understanding and then snickers at the exchange between the three with Pyotr getting an effective play shove. She steps over to Jerri and leans into her side for the hug. "I mean I don't have a wee one step dancing on my bladder so there's that" she murmurs with a faint tone of humor. She nods towards the loo and her body language makes the offer to walk in that direction.
"I think I'm having less a tough time than you guys... than our family that's been taken" Her arm tightening a bit before she relaxes it again. "I just want to protect this place... and the rest of the word..." she shakes her head. "I'm still needing protection myself it seems" she reaches up to grasp the lapel of the coat on her shoulders a moment. "Are you feeling better at least? Aaren's still working on you right?"

Fate

Jerri pulls Daina close, settling her into place at her side—but at Daina's offer, Jerri sings a negative.

At the questions, Jerri hums a measure of exasperated relief. "Oh fuck yes. I didn't realize how much pain I was in until after it was all gone."

Tris sings a vigorous 'Oh good!' song. "Talk about good timing," she adds. "To be honest, I was really worried about how labor was going to go for you."

Jerri nods. "Same. But now we can go back to the normal amount of worry." Then she sings a tune which is the equivalent of a handwave. "Anyway. Enough deflection." She gives Daina a half-smile and ruffles her hair some. "Just because we're having a tough time doesn't mean that you don't get to be sad and I don't get to care for my li'l girl." She scans the tableau around her, eyes following Kelly briefly as he's apparently been made into a jungle gym. Eventually she regards Daina again. "Did you wanna..." she finishes the sentence with the Ash 'walk-and-talk' song.

Daina

Daina seems to relax a little just with the confirmation that Jerri is feeing better and she heaves a bit of a sigh. "any idea about when you're due?" she questions as she nods at the offer of an Ash walk.
"we can talk about baby arrival later" she allows "probably get -all- the information with Aaren's help" she smiles a bit and let's Jerri lead the way, unsure as to which paths are the preferred around here at least unsure so far.
She does warn though. "I'm not exactly sure what talking I can do... what... is really wrong... what can help" she takes a deep breath and deep and deep and out through the nose. Still feeling the tension in her neck and her jaw lightly clenching repeatedly.

Fate

Jerri hums thoughtfully. "Mid-Vermes, maybe?" (Vermes is just 50 or so days away.) Then she starts them onward, keeping Daina at her side for a bit, but then slowly releasing her so the both of them can have an easier time of walking. Both Tris and Pyotr sing them a brief farewell song as they go. The circuit begins through a stand of rainbow trees some thirty paces from where they were in the clearing.

When Daina offers her misgivings, Jerri asks, "Having a hard time figuring it out or is there something else going on?"

Daina

She laughs a little before her face sort of wrinkles up and she makes a nose wiggling sort of motion as she ponders "Yes? " she shrugs "I just ... we're going to leave ourselves open ...and we... why... why not make barriers to protect ourselves -first- and then do whatever spy bullshit and negotiation later. I don't want another several armies coming in and just quashing any resistance we can offer." She tries to explain her concerns in a concise yet understandable way. Her tone making it clear she expects questioning to clarify. She doesn't feel like she knows the concrete end of her concerns at the moment anyway.

Fate

Jerri furrows her brow slightly, taken aback. There are a few false starts as she takes in breaths to speak, then thinks better of it and closes her mouth. Then, after a moment and a heaved breath, she speaks. "I'm sorry, treasure girl. Who's leaving what open?"

Daina

Daina sighs a bit and rubs her brow a little "ok so... I want to ... close up the pass first and foremost... just... keep out anymore of the people who just... took over." she goes on then to explain about her idea to make stone trees, protective plant creatures etc. "I want to make barriers and protective forces... but if we start off with these attempts to talk to the invaders then ... I'm worried we will just get overwhelmed and have no chance what so ever." her brow furrows "why on the heck leave it open when we don't need anything from out that way..." she grunts softly "they've just taken from the town from the start and all they gave in return was their rules and their governing and ... and fuck that..." her cheeks flush with her ire. "I'm sorry we ever brought anything back here from out there" she shakes her head.

Fate

It takes a moment for Jerri to process, her demeanor turning to something more intent and serious. Then she suggests, "I think you should try talking to Vanya again about that, when there's a better plan squared away. Having a wall really sounds like it could help with a lot of things short of a god." After a moment of consideration (during which she hums Ash's song), she speaks again. "It sounds to me like you feel like you're partly responsible for what happened." Then she looks sidelong to Daina. "Am I totally off-base?"

Daina

Daina sighs and nods her head "yeah... short of a God..." she takes a breath and feels a little... validated by Jerri's suggestion. "I ..." she nods her head "Yeah... partly... if we didn't go running off to do our things and we didn't bring back people... and didn't take the crystals out into the world..." she frowns... "I'm worried I think... someone might have figured out a way to make them more than pretty rocks and... it could be... bad" she swallows thickly. "I've got a seed that's supposed to make a new world but ... I don't ... do we have to end this one first? ... Am -I- going to end this one first?" she shakes her head. "It sounds ... crazy but... so does the whole seed thing... soo there's that..."

Fate

"That... sounds like a lot." There's a little bit of stunned-ness in Jerri's voice. She searches the forest floor for a moment as they walk amidst the trees, occasionally glancing up to double-check the landmarks. With another breath—a more cleansing one this time—Jerri continues. "Daina... first, Dora had been trading with Domochlovek even before Vir was born. It wasn't just you. Second, everything was fine until this... imposter came along. We got more greenhouses, and we got Vanya and Jel-Bell. And there was only one person who could've predicted things going bad, and that's already been covered." She almost says something again, but closes her mouth before moving onto the next thing. "I... can see why you're scared." She sighs. "And I'm not really—" She pulls up short with a wince and plants her palms on her back. "I... just a minute. Back cramps." There's a half-a-pause before she adds, for Daina's sake, "Aaren warned me about these."

Daina

Daina grimaces a bit and offers "should we turn around?" she questions moving to put a slightly warmer than usual hand on Jerri's back and giving a bit of a rub. Waiting till they got things settled about the back cramps and turning around or not before she questions "Who could have predicted all this?" she questions with a furrowed brow, silently offering herself as a sort of walking stick if needed.

Fate

Jerri's brow tightens a little. "You know, I was thinking about not, but turns out I really fucking enjoy not being in pain, so..." With a grateful pat offered to Daina, she turns and makes her way back, still supporting herself with her hands. Eventually, though, Jerri eases again. After a moment she hums the 'Where were we?' song, then cuts it off sharply to respond. "Oh. The Tsarbog predicted all this. Or he foresaw it happening, anyway. Hence why you and Aar-Bear and Kel all went away." For a moment Jerri's demeanor becomes intent and thoughtful. Then it gives way to exhaustion again.

Daina

Daina paused and then frowns. "fuck... you're right... what the actual fuck... why didn't he fucking fix things. This is bullshit" she huffs and then ... she notices the change in Jerri and silences herself. "Anyway... we're back and ... and we can totally help fix things here, at least make them better... it's going to be ok" she offers a small smile and really does seem to think that's the case and especially wants to ease that weariness she senses in Jerri. She pauses and playfully offers. "Need a little pep in your step?" she holds up her hand and lets it radiate regular warmth and wiggles her brows to indicate she's offering the other warmth.

Fate

Another moment goes by as Jerri adjusts to the whiplash in Daina's moods. Eventually she shakes her head. "Tempting, but..." Hand-wave. "I was just thinking about the difference between prediction and foresight and then realized that that was an Ash sort of question and then I remembered how much I miss Ash and... and my boys and..." She shrugs a shoulder as if it's nothing. "You know. Everyone." But a hard swallow and a turn of the head belies her dismissiveness. "Fuck." Then she clears her throat. But it's not enough. She pulls up short again and brings a hand up to her temples. "Ah fuck. I really didn't want to do the crying thing today."

Daina

Daina smiles a bit "Was kidding..." she murmurs about the warmth thing but then looks distressed. "ooh... geeze Jerri I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry" she murmurs "I can sing your calm song... I think I remember it or er well I know I know mine... it won't be the same as if Aaren did it but maybe it'll help?" she offers the last few words sort of taking up those tones with a questioning offering sound as well.
Inwardly... Shit ... she broke something again... gah fix it fix Jerri fix home.

Fate

Jerri takes a shaky breath in. "It's fine, treasure girl." She swallows again. Tears drip down her cheeks. "It's not your fault." Her voice is strung tighter, as if she can barely keep it together. Another shaky breath. "I'm... I'm just... sad." Then she turns to lean heavily against a nearby tree, pounds it once, hard with the edge of her fist and a growl of frustration, then just gives way entirely to allowing weeping to wrack her. Her manner isn't the least bit closed to Daina—she's just getting hit, once again, with loss.

Daina

Daina looks... ... well she's sad Jerri is sad... and she walks over after the initial whack of the tree and rubs Jerri's back. She looks up at the tree's bows and they kinda bend and groan and creak a little as she beckons them down and they sort of wrap around the two of them in an arboreal hug. She doesn't say anything more and just sort of is there. Her posture offering hugs if they're wanted.

Fate

It doesn't take much on Daina's part for Jerri to sweep her up in as tight a hug as she can manage (given the unavoidably awkward positioning). For a long time they shake together with Jerri's sobs.

Eventually, in the midst of it, Jerri finds her voice again. "I love you, Daina." Even so, her words can barely be made out. "I do. I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're okay." There's a big sniff, followed by more crying.

Daina

Daina just kinda leans into the hug and tries to offer comfort as best she can. She gives a sort of half laugh... "I'm glad I'm okay too" she mumbles a bit. She doesn't mirror the sentiment because she's to afraid of losing anymore of her family to even put that into words. She just sort of tightens her hold on Jerri, careful of the round belly. "Love you too" she does manage to voice. Rubbing her back lightly and wishing there was more she could do. ... more than she planned... she was going to do all she could to bring the rest of the family back home but that wasn't going to help Jerri at the moment.

Fate

Soon enough, Jerri's sobbing slows to a halt. She holds Daina a little longer, then, with a parting rub, pulls away, wiping her eyes and nose with the back of her hand. Then she looks around, and laughs weakly as she finally sees the arboreal hug. "Aww, little treasure girl..." A few more tears escape, but she wipes them away too. She sweeps Daina up again just long enough to give her a kiss on the top of her head. "Thank you." For good measure she shakily sings a song of gratitude as they part. That done, she takes another cleansing breath, takes a moment to steady herself further. "I... um..." Again she breathes a laugh. "Fuck." Then, resigned, she looks Daina's way. "Anything I can do to take care of you?"

Daina

She smiles a bit weakly at the thanks and returns the hugs. A faint hum of 'of course' as in what else would I do?! She puts a hand to the tree and silently gives it a thanks of a glimmer of warmth and the bows return to their position. Glancing over to Jerri with that question she smiles uncertainly. "Help me try and get the others to hear my plans?" she questions "if it's not going to be to much bother for you... you gotta stay here once I leave so..."

Fate

Jerri gives Daina a wan smile. "I can do that." She squeezes Daina's arm companionably. Then, with an inviting tilt of her head, she starts back towards the refugee camp proper.

Daina

Giving a small tightening of her mouth as a smile she nods her thanks and then gestures for Jerri to lead the way. Humming a soft thank you for the walk and talk and trailing after but following.