2017-05-15: Breakfast in Bed
- Log: 2017-05-15 Breakfast in Bed
- Cast: Rose, Alisha Diphda
- Where: Adlehyde - Starfall Saloon
- Date: 2017-05-15
- Summary: Rose brings Alisha some breakfast and cheering up after K.K. put holes in her.
=========================<* Adlehyde - Starfall Saloon *>========================= Located in the southwest quadrant of Adlehyde, the Starfall Saloon is situated next to the local Adventurer's Guild outpost and kitty-corner from an ARMs Meister; the mostly-happy not-at-all-coincidence has turned the Saloon into a popular gathering place for Drifters. The Saloon has been carefully constructed to recreate the feel of a frontier alehouse - it has stables and a livery out back, and the main floor is taken up almost entirely by the sort of dark, slightly dank wooden tables and chairs that appeals to its clientele. An old harpsichord even sits in the corner, although it does not seem to be heavily used. Or in tune, for that matter. The Saloon's proprietor and bartender is known as Honest Tom; this is a bit of an in-joke among the regulars, as the man rarely speaks more than a dozen words over the course of an evening. The Starfall Saloon is widely known among Drifters for offering warm beds, cold beer and decent grub for a fair price, and so it sees a great deal of out-of-town traffic. It is also known for the three rules hung over the bar: NO GUNS, NO FIGHTS, NO CREDIT. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MQRL7xws7w
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
It's morning. A full day has passed since the trek into the ruins of Lahan. Rose's injuries had seen her up earlier than Alisha, though not by much. A day of bedrest had been needed for her too, but she had the luxury of not getting skewered violently by the Trial Knight. It's a pretty big luxury in this case.
Rose felt a bit guilty, needless to say. Punching Sorey? That was fine and forgotten within the hour. She warned him! Don't do anything weird! That was weird no matter how you spin it, so he got the fist. It was self-defense! Shut up. But Alisha getting hurt while they were trying to pincer the White Knight, and not getting to her fast enough to apply healing items, she felt a bit bad for. Really it seems everything's gone downhill since the Sparrowfeathers arrived.
Maybe one of them brought the Malevolence with them?
She'd be able to tell if that was the case though... right?
Questions for later.
For now...
The door to Alisha's room bursts open, as Rose (w/ apron and chef hat, sans jacket, scarf or bolero), carrying a tray with generous quantities of egg recipes and some Filgaian bacon equivalent, enters with a smile on her lips.
"Wake up princess! Nothing says get well like breakfast in bed!" That's not true at all, medical care does, but breakfast in bed must surely be close second. "Besides you know we can't trust Sorey to go around unsupervised so let's get you back in a state to be able to do that!"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha was out cold for awhile, even with the healing applied later. It is the worst injury that she ever took on Filgaia -- and she took a couple of bad ones. Those, usually, did not have her laid up in bed for the better part of a day. And when she woke up...
It was easy for her to brood. The words that K.K. spoke to her came back. 'A failed princess.' Those words echo in her mind, in others' voices. In Ragnell's, when they fought. In the masked assassin's, who asked such pointed questions that Alisha did not have the answer for. In her father's, and that wrenches her heart more.
So, in a way, Rose's timing is perfect, even if she wasn't exactly asleep. She was laying down, and it was a fitful rest. The creak of the door opening makes her turn her head.
She sits up slowly. Alisha has a white shirt on, edges embroidered in gold, and the neckline has bandages visible under them. She hisses a little when she sits up, before she blinks. "Rose?" she asks, her voice still quite tired. Her eyes drifting down to the tray, and then back up at her. She bites her lip, but she smiles up at her. "Oh, that looks very good!"
Then she tilts her head. "How long have I been out...? I think I just woke up a little while ago."
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"About two nights and a day! Don't worry about it, you needed it. Now, chin up, all this food won't eat itself, and I'm not leaving until you're not hungry anymore!" Rose answers (and insists), as she edges in closer to set the tray next to Alisha. There's juice too! Of course there's juice. Fruit mix, nothing fancy, but healthy and great.
Odds are Rose didn't cook most of this.
Once the tray is safe and steady on the bed, Rose sits back to it, inspecting Alisha closer to try to get a read of how she is, while she talks. "I was out a while too, I might have forgotten to take care of myself while I was helping take care of you and everyone else. That Hellion wasn't messing around with its sword, I tell you!" Making light of it is the only way she has to discuss it without immediatly freaking out again about the fact it was a giant spooky ghost skeleton.
"Neither was that knight guy, really. Are you gonna brood and brood over what he was screaming at you? He sure seems to know a lot about all of us to make those kinds of jabs."
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"Oh--oh my Goddess," Alisha says, looking embarrassed. "And all of you cared for me the entire time? I owe everyone a debt for that." She sits up straighter, when the tray is set down next to her. She looks down at the tray, before she picks up her fork and stabs into the egg -- and takes a bite. She smiles at Rose, afterward.
She still looks tired -- slightly pale, from all of the blood loss, and less made-up than usual. Alisha typically has her hair done up, but it hangs limply around her shoulders today. And, besides, her green eyes still look a little dull -- but that may not have much to do with health.
"Neither was. They... I haven't seen someone so skilled with a sword," she says, quietly. She shakes her head, before she looks up at Rose, and smiles. "I'm glad you're fine. I didn't see much, but I saw you move in there. I..."
She quiets, again, though.
She doesn't intend to speak honestly, at first. Alisha has learned to keep most of her feelings to herself -- even if she can't hide when something bothers her, she has a way of keeping her words to herself. She tenses, a moment, before she speaks quietly.
"I--I am not brooding," she says, slightly defensively. "I just... I have thought about what was said. It isn't easy, to pretend... to pretend that it didn't have a ring of truth."
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"Well there were a lot of injured, and luckily we had a couple more people on hands with first aid knowledge! Oh, did you know Sorey can HEAL people? That's a thing! It probably did you the most good of anyone gathered. I wonder how many other Shepherd tricks he's keeping in his sleeve," Rose ponders, figuring the next thing she knows Sorey'll reveal he can turn giant and smash people or something equally ludicrous.
Or maybe summon a a lot of sheep.
He's the Shepherd, right? Name had to come from somewhere.
"Ah, yeah. That sword skill was something. But I don't know, something about it felt off. He wasn't fighting to kill, it felt like? All that skill was being used to aim exactly where he wanted. He kept talking about judgment and pyres, but that's a bit over my head. Some priestly man I met going down that cave the other week also kept talking about pyres, so I'll try asking him sometime. Bin? Vin? Yeah Vin, that was it."
Switching to the matter of truth, Rose puts a hand on Alisha's shoulder. "Hey now, you're not a failed princess. Being stuck here isn't your fault, and honestly I never liked the mug of the weird council your dad's got ruling for him. A bad princess wouldn't have set off with the Shepherd to try saving the world or... whatever it is he's going to do now." Rose laughs to herself at the bad joke she just thought of. "Well, maybe there's some ring of truth to what he said. You ARE a princess. His statement was half true!"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"I have seen him do so... it is amazing, isn't it? What the Shepherd can do?" Alisha asks, with a smile. She isn't surprised that he helped heal her. Somehow, she knows, the Seraphim assist with that. Except...
Except that she doesn't know how. She hasn't ever seen Armatization.
She frowns, though, again as she thinks of K.K. She nods to what Rose says. "Yes," she says. "He wanted to prove a point. That strike... he did it so expertly. He ran me through, but he could have pierced my heart with that strike. He didn't."
The knight didn't to tell her that she was a failed princess. She looks down at her lap -- until she feels the hand on her shoulder. She blinks, then looks up at Rose. It's a small smile, but it widens a little more at her joke. "I... I know. The Council has not always acted in the best interests of Hyland. I feel anyone can see that. But I..."
She looks forward again. "...I wonder if helping the Shepherd is right. I don't doubt Sorey's mission in the slightest. It must happen, to save the world from Malevolence. But... am I failing my people? Am I choosing the easier way, because it's clearer? Because it's in front of me?"
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"Are you? Right now you don't really have a choice anyway, do you? It's not like you can snap your fingers and go back to Ladylake right now no matter how hard you want to. So what's the point worrying about it?" Rose asks Alisha, although she doesn't leave it at that.
"I mean, sure, maybe, just maybe, if you'd stayed behind things might be even better there right now. Or maybe they'd be a thousand times worse! Maybe you'd have gotten killed trying to help, or maybe you'd have ended up with a knife in the throat for your effort. Maybe some Hellion would have killed you because without the Shepherd you can't handle it. Maybe there's nothing you CAN do to stop Malevolence," she even says, before pausing.
And grumbling a bit. "Not sure I agree with that at all, but I think you get my point."
Rose withdrtaws her hand to wave it dismissively in the air. "No sense worrying. You can't know all those things. You can't know how it would have turned out if you'd done this or not done that. What you CAN do is decide what you WILL do. Would someone who's failed her people decide she'd put her life on the line to give them a better world to be in?"
It was getting easier for Rose to say these things. Alisha had more than demonstrated that she was the right person for the throne. That's what counted.
"Now, come on, the food'll get hot! Then let's talk about what you'll do next instead of wondering what you did or didn't do!"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"I..."
Alisha tries to protest. Those worries and self-doubts aren't easy things to let go of. But, Rose's argument isn't one that can be easily refuted, because she has the right of it: she doesn't know what would happen if she was back there, and she can't get back to Ladylake. She hesitates, and then she nods once, before she smiles a little.
"I... I suppose she wouldn't," she admits. "And I do care for them."
She nods, then she cuts up another chunk of scrambled egg and takes a bite -- and a piece of bacon right after. She pauses after chewing, though, to tilt her head. "Oh, did you eat yet?" she asks. "And--what do you think we should do next?"
Is 'we' presumptuous? She isn't sure. She hopes it isn't.
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"A bit while helping Eguille cook," Rose says, pointing at the chef's hat on her head. Do chefs really wear these or are they all made as funny props? She's not sure! But it matches her apron. Nonetheless she helps herself to a slice of bacon, as it's a cardinal sin not to enjoy it.
"We? No idea! I know I've got some orders to take care of so I know travel's on the menu, but I don't really make long term plans like that. I guess it'd be fine to leave Eguille in charge for a while, honestly he was always a bit better than me at all the paperwork. Probably because he's the one who taught me to do it in the first place!" Rose laughs, especially at the thought she's in charge despite his presence.
How DID that happen anyway?
She never really questioned him on it. Probably Eguille just doesn't care to be in charge and he's happy to see Brad's successor at the reins. She's more of a people-person anyway, he's better at the business part.
"There's some stuff I have to take care of before I promise any kind of I'll travel with you, anyway, so for now why don't we figure out what YOU want to do? Helping Sorey's nice and all but you sure you just want to be a footnote in the Shepherd's quest? Find something only you can do! For him, for everyone."
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"Oh--yes. You have your business," Alisha says, with smile. "It does sound nice. You're very close to all of them, aren't you? Eguille and the other Sparrowfeathers."
She hasn't met one besides Rose, really.
She nods, then takes another bite of her eggs. It gives her a moment to consider her answer to what the merchant says. She doesn't want to end up a footnote in the Shepherd's quest -- whether it was for Hyland or something greater. Her eyes drift down at her rapidly emptying plate, then she sets her fork down.
"I want to help people," she says, quietly. "I don't... I don't want to only be thought of as the princess who will never have the throne. Or the person who found and helped the Shepherd. Or... as the princess who abandoned her kingdom." People said that, after all. The masked assassin said as much -- and Alisha has no reason to doubt her.
"And the people here, too," she says. "I must think of Hyland first. But... this land needs people who will help it, too. Especially if problems from our world have come here. But--"
Her brow furrows. "Is that what you meant? Or did you mean something more personal, for me?"
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
Rose shrugs, but not to ignore Alisha's question. It's more of an open-ended "I'unno." than anything. "You make what you want out of what I said. I don't have the answers for you, sadly, or I'd be charging you a premium for them! You kind of have to figure this stuff out yourself. Where you want to go, how you want to get there. Walk, run, take a horse, fly? Alone, with other people? For you, for others? If there was just one way to do things right it'd be a pretty boring world!"
Another slice of bacon. It's right there, how could she not.
"I just know when life looks bad you gotta keep pushing forward and ignore the voice telling you not to. Actually you should always ignore that voice anyway, not just then!" It's a life philosophy that's gotten her quite far. Well that and being secretly guided by a ghost, but don't tell her that.
"So, what does Alisha Diphda want to do? Not the princess, not the Shepherd's companion, the person! What's on your mind right now besides this delicious breakfast and weird knights?"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
What does Alisha Diphda want?
She hesitates. She has to think about what she wants -- about how to separate Princess Alisha from her. It proves harder than she would like to admit to. She picks up a piece of bacon, and then eats it, before she looks at Rose.
"I want those things I told you," she says. "I do want to see people be safe. But, sometimes... I would like to breathe easy. Spend time with friends--or go exploring, or... have breakfast." She looks at Rose, and smiles a little brighter. "Without worrying about whether I am helping Hyland. Or the world."
She takes a drink of her juice.
"But I don't want to forget my station or my duty, either," she says. "I would like, sometimes... to be more than that, at least to some people."
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"That's fine! You can have a day to yourself every now and then. Even kings have those, right? I'm sure your father did things like hunt when he was younger. Just go out and enjoy himself. It's an important part of not going insane! You can't be all serious all the time. Find a hobby, learn to knit, get a safari hat and tour the region! Alright maybe not that last one, it's actually pretty dangerous, but then again you and Sorey think ruin-diving is a hobby so what do I know."
Meanwhile Rose stabs people as a hobby. Or is it being a merchant that's the hobby? It's unclear. Lately her real hobby is basically freaking out about ghosts, anyway.
"Let's start by taking today for yourself before Sorey inevitably says he has somewhere you two should go and gets you back on track to saving the world. Honestly I'm worried he'll burn himself out long before he gets to his goal at this rate. Odds're looking more in his favor if you're there and keeping him sane."
Nevermind the Seraphim, let's keep pretending they don't exist.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"Ah, Father... I believe so. I never saw him very much when I was younger. My mother was a commoner, and..." Alisha doesn't sound sad as much as regretful. This, simply, was a fact of her life. Something she could never change about how she grew up -- something that was was engrained into her life that challenging it was much too painful.
Then she laughs, though. "A safari hat? Rose, I would look ridiculous! B-Besides, my hair is far too nice to be cooped up in a hat. Could you imagine? It would ruin..." She motions, vaguely, at her entire head.
She means the entire hairstyle. When her hair isn't done up, it doesn't work quite as well.
But, she nods. "I think you may be right. We need to be sure Sorey doesn't overdo it. He... will keep trying, until he runs himself ragged, I think."
She gets along with Sorey for a reason.
She hesitates a moment, before she sighs. "I do--ah... there is one hobby I have. It is a little embarrassing, though." She sighs, and looks out the window and pointedly away from Rose. "Singing."
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
You learn something new everyday. So Alisha's not exactly proper royalty for some people. That explains quite a bit about the shadowy council's behavior. Alisha's good nature aside they must see her as not deserving the throne or power. That's terrible. Rose frowns, without voicing that in her opinion power deserves to whoever vows to use it correctly. Some things she has to keep to herself.
She's back to smiling and giggling, even, as Alisha protests ruining her hair with a safari hat. "Hey, you don't look THAT bad leaving your hair like this either. You know, me, I just cut my hair when it gets long, it's a LOT easier to take care of that way. I don't have the patience to do the twirls you do with yours, that's a hour of my life per morning I could use on anything else I want! Maybe for the you-days you could drop the intense styling and try to relax a bit. No one's judging you for the hours of work that's gone into the style around here!"
Maybe back home she had an imagine to give, as the princess of Hyland, but here? Rose thinks it's a bit of a waste to lose sleep over it. Most people don't even know she's a princess!
Then Alisha admits to being a singer. It's obvious where Rose is going to take that. "I'd like to hear it! It's not embarassing at all, everyone loves a good song and voice! Come on princess, your audience has one person in it right now and she's impatient for a demonstration!"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha looks carefully at Rose, when she says that. She half-expects a contradiction -- a statement that it's wrong, or maybe an acknowledgement. She wonders what that expression means; what the frown signifies. The princess smiles again, though, when Rose does. Maybe she can ask her what she thinks of her situation, some day.
Then, she shakes her head quickly. "Oh, I think your hairstyle suits you!" she says. "It's very functional, but it still has style. The clasps in your hair really give it character, too. And it's relaxed..." She tilts her head to the side. "...Maybe I should let my hair down, more, sometimes."
And then, she blinks, and looks back at Rose. Her cheeks are faintly pink. "W-Well... all right, I can't say no, can I? It would be wrong." She closes her eyes, then she taps her fingers against the bedsheets. It becomes clear what she is doing after a moment, because her foot taps in time to it.
She sets a beat, then she sings a few bars:
"Wishing on a dream that seems far off~
"Hoping it will come today~
"Into the starlit night~
"Foolish dreamers turn their gaze~
"Waiting on a shooting star,
"But what if that star is not to come?
"Will their dreams fade to nothing?
"When the horizon darkens most~
"We all need to believe there is hope."
Her voice is clear, high, and benefits from some training, as befits a princess. When she finishes the song, Alisha sighs, and speaks -- but there is a fond smile on her face. "Mother sang that one a lot."
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"Thanks! Oh, these?" Rose reaches up to poke at one of the golden clasps, recalling fondly how she got them. "My adoptive dad gave them to me. I had a matching hairpin but I kind of outgrew that eventually. Ah, come to think of it, this red tunic was picked by him too. Would you believe I've got a dozen of these in different sizes? He gave me my first one when I was... six? Seven?" Around that. Going back that far is a bit hazy, though she remembers certain details far too clearly.
"Mhm, the hair down look suits you. It might look a bit less princess-y but it's alright not to look the party every day!" Then the singing, finally. Rose listens happily to the song, trying to recall where she heard those lyrics before. One of the port cities for sure, back in Glenwood, but from who and which one she can't put her finger on.
Once Alisha finishes, Rose claps excitedly. "You're pretty good! Are you sure it's just a hobby and not a future career choice? I'd go to an opera house or a theatre to hear that again. Was that part of your royal upbringing or something you trained on your own?"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"Yes! I like them," Alisha says. She leans a little closer to have a look -- and then down, to the red tunic, hidden as it is by an apron. "Your adoptive father did? Then--oh, then they must be very special to you! I know... the things that my mother gave me are, to me."
And, of course, there is singing.
When she finishes, Alisha bobs her head -- a little shyly -- and smiles, her hands clutching the hem of the blanket at her waist. "No, it was... my mother taught me about singing, when I was little. After that, I paid for lessons, but it wasn't something my tutors insisted on."
She shakes her head, once. "It was all mine. I always liked to do it, though... I never sang much around others. It wasn't really something a princess was supposed to do."
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"Special..." Rose considers the word. "Yeah. He was pretty special, so I guess these are too." Of course, it wasn't just Brad. Eguille was basically something between an older brother and a cool uncle depending on the day, and most of the rest of the Sparrowfeathers are family.
That's enough of that though. Rose returns her attention to Alisha, oohing at the reveal. "I see, I see! That's too bad, a singing princess would be pretty popular. Still, I bet your mother would love to see what you've done with the talent!" She gathers that Alisha's mother has passed, with the tone she uses to talk about her. "And that's what counts! If you can say she'd be happy then you've succeeded. You know, that's another angle you can use to figure out where you want to go in life. Just ask yourself if she'd be proud of you for doing a thing or making a choice."
Normal people would say not to let a parental figure's judgment affect your life outcome too much. Rose is not a normal person and so does not dispense this critical piece of advice, because it runs contrary to her everything.
"So, how are you feeling now? All cheered up, ready to take on the world?"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
It's advice that Alisha would reject. Her mother may be gone, but she misses her, and the thought of her can drive the princess to a lot. She looks down at her lap, but she has a smile on her face. She nods. "That... that is a nice way to think about it. I think she would be happy that I am here," Alisha says, "and doing what I am."
She looks back up at Rose, then, and she blinks -- before she nods. "Mm, I think so. I should take it slow, still--" She taps her side. There is a little, wispy cloth-on-cloth noise where the bandages are. "--But just for today. I don't want to make the wound worse."
She hesitates a moment, before she folds her hands in front of her, for lack of knowing what else to do with them. "Thank you, Rose. I needed someone to give me a nudge."
<Pose Tracker> Rose has posed.
"Right! Don't you go and reopen those wounds now, maybe you'd like a book to read? I can have..." She thinks, and grins to herself. "Oh, I'll have Rosh drop by with a selection, he's been dying to meet a real princess with a knight's strength to her."
Rose is a terrible boss. At least Rosh no longer has that black eye Alisha gave him that night or it'd be even more awkward. "I wonder if Filgaia's bedtime stories are any different from ours," she now wonders, apropos of nothing but tangently related.
Taking the empty tray of food and glasses back with her, Rose heads back for the door the room, giving the bedridden princess a thumb up. "Yup yup! You just go and call me Nurse Rose, because I've got this all taken care of!" This is a lie, she is winging it entirely. But it's nice to have a normal day where ghosts don't feature, just once.
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"Oh--oh, yes, a book would be wonderful!" Alisha says. She is, after all, a complete nerd. She gets along with Sorey for a lot of reasons. She brightens at the very mention of it.
She hands the emptied tray over, remaining completely unaware of poor Rosh's fate. Without the black eye, though, she wouldn't be likely to recognize him. Her smile turns into a grin, even, when she hears that. "Nurse Rose?" she asks. "I'll certainly keep that in mind. Especially if it means that you'll be back here, later!"
The company really would be nice.