2018-04-19: Currying Favor

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========================<* Meribia - Merchant's Row *>========================

Meribia was once both the largest city and port on the continent from which it draws its name; both honours have since been ceded to the Holy City of Pentagulia. It is nevertheless a major commercial centre for the entire Meribus continent, and all manner of goods are found here.

Merchant's Row is the name given to the merchant district of Meribia, which runs from the landside entrance through to the centre of the city. Everything from weapons and armour to more mundane household goods can be found here, and the atmosphere is highly competitive, with barkers screaming from both sides of the Row.

The largest shop in the city belong to the legendary Ramus family, an ancient line of merchants that has been operating since the time of the Dragonmasters. While Blue Master Lunn speaks formally for the city, Ramus is an influential figure.


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Sometimes, it's the littlest things that stand out.

        It's a terribly lovely but mundane day in Meribia; the ports are bustling at the peak of day, with large oceanfaring ships pulling in as trade hits its stride with Pendrago. In the midst of the marketplace, there's suddenly a cry as a child whimpers and looks around...

        "Oh dear... what's the matter?" asks a white-hooded figure, as she kneels next to him.

        "I can't find my momma..." whimpers the child.

        "That's no good... I'll help you look for her, okay? Don't cry," speaks the figure in a genteel voice, a warm and genuine smile as she holds out a hand.

        "O-okay," nods the child in turn. "Momma was shopping for spices... she had red clothes..."

        "That's a good boy," nods the figure, whose hood peeks out on both sides like she were a large-eared beastwoman. "Let's see, spice stands...?"

        It would be quite the effort, with the marketplace in full swing. Not to mention the Althenan Guards marching around doing their routine patrols.

        But it's not like Riesenlied to ignore something like this either. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

An important part of business was getting your name out. Jacqueline knew that to be true. She had worked hard to spread word of her business back on Filgaia, with her reputation as the proprietor of Jay's Curatives and Curios helping her spread the word about the Caravan Kinship.

Here on Lunar, though, she didn't have that advantage. While she had done some work, she and the Kinship were still relatively unknown. And so, she had a plan - a simple one, but it was a plan nonetheless.

She makes her way through the marketplace with a bag full of flyers, glancing about surreptitiously for places that she would be able to display or hand them out. At the same time she's taking mental notes of all the goods on display, taking note of their prices for later reference.

Not too far away from where the woman in the white hood has agreed to help a lost child return to his mother, Jacqueline can be found putting up one of said flyers. She steps away, looking over her handiwork with a proud smile.

Perfect. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        Meribia is a bit too warm today to be dressed up in a hood and wear enough clothing to minimize any exposure of your flesh in any way, shape, or form, but, here we are anyway - one fairly tall man is doing just that, going about the ports of Meribia for whatever reason someone like themselves would, in the company of one Miss Jay who has decided to start putting up flyers.
        "I would not recommend this spot." This is what this particular follower has been saying for the last, what, eight or nine spots? What the hell does he know about marketing? It's not like he's ever really participated in putting up flyers before. And now he's participating in suggesting against putting up flyers!
        ...
        He turns his head at the shape of the white hood a ways away. This allows Jay ample opportunity to sneak up a flyer or maybe three. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Jay isn't the only one doing a bit of selling. With her is a woman in a pale blue dress that comes off the shoulders a bit, her hair let loose but with a single narrow braid coming down over a shoulder.

It's too dangerous for Catenna to dress like Jean in Meribia. Such things that she'd do in that outfit are outlawed. But there are other elements of business she can pursue.

It's why she's carrying several tiffins - metal canisters full of the Lunarian curry she's been working on fine-tuning practically since she arrived.

The Owlet has come along for the ride, poking its head out of Catenna's travel bag discreetly before ducking back inside to continue nipping at the bit of pemmican Catenna set in there for it. The priestess smiles faintly and glances down, then back to Jay with a clear of her throat.

"It seems like a perfectly fine spot to me, Jay," she overrules the CaraKin's lumpiest member as politely as she can. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        It isn't long before the perhaps mistakably cat-like person in the white hood -- in a familiar Baskar gown of white and blue with flowing sleeves -- comes across the CaraKin trio with the child, who perks up with a sniff and says, "That smells kind of like what mom cooks...!"

        The hooded person blinks, before smiling warmer to say, "Is that so? Good job, that's an amazing clue." The child seems encouraged, looming over to Catenna's stand as Riesenlied looks towards Jacqueline -- and takes one of her fliers.

        "Hello, Miss Jacqueline..." as she looks down towards the flyer, then towards the Owlet.

        Riesenlied internally rolls and squees at how wonderfully round the bird is.

        She's only disrupted out of it as she looks towards the much taller hooded figure and realises that it's probably... Ethius... and gets a bit more nervous. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

It was the perfect advertising strategy. Jacqueline puts up and hands out the flyers while Catenna entices with delicious curry. Who could possibly ignore it?

Jacqueline frowns slightly and looks over the flyer as Ethius says he doesn't recommend it. By all accounts, it looked fine to her...was there something she was overlooking? It was shielded from the wind here, so there was no chance of it getting blown away, and...

Catenna overrules Ethius, and Jacqueline smiles and nods to her.

"Yes, I thought so too." She agrees with a nod and a smile. It's as she's looking for the next place to put up a flyer that Riesenlied approaches them. Jacqueline recognizes her immediately.

"Ah, hello! It's good to see you!" Jacqueline greets with a bright smile. She knows enough not to refer to her by name, not in a place like this. "How have you been? I hope everyone's been well..."

It's as she's saying this that the boy with her catches her attention.

"Ah, who's this?" She asks, looking toward him with a polite smile. She didn't recognize him, so he couldn't be someone from Wayside...
Noeline (noe) pages Riesenlied, Jacqueline Barber, Ethius Hesiod, Fei Fong Wong, and Ida Everstead-Rey: Do you guys mind a spectator and/or a Noe
Riesenlied (Riese) pages Noeline, Jacqueline Barber, Ethius Hesiod, Fei Fong Wong, and Ida Everstead-Rey: i do not 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        Ethius adjusts where he stands when eyes meet between the owner of the hood with the notable head protrusions underneath and himself. His back turned to Jay and Catenna in that moment, there's no read to be given about the reaction of Catenna's opinion being held over his on the matter.
        It's a rare opportunity to plaster even more flyers! Mash 'X' for bonus points!! (...Or not.)
        "Who is the child?" He asks in that same tone of his in which he typically converses. Not able to be considered friendly, warm, or... much of anything, beyond an inquiry about who the child is. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

The Owlet is, in fact, a round bundle of soft grey fluff with a little beak and big yellow eyes. It pokes its head out and stares at Riese.

It tilts its head to one side, then the other, as if terribly, terribly curious.

Catenna, of course, recognizes the mysterious hooded stranger right away, and she brightens just a little, straightening and shifting her armloads of tiffins. "Oh, hello there," she greets, smiling gently and inclining her head. "I hope you have been well."

She doesn't name names. She saw the posters around town.

Instead she shifts one of her little cases of enticing-smelling bounty in her arms. She holds it out to the hooded figure and her little front, her smile quiet and fond. "Are you hungry? It is not quite the same spice mix that you are used to, but I have used fresh local ingredients." 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Riesenlied tilts her head and manages to answer both Ethius and Jacqueline's question at once. "He's searching for his mother, who went shopping for spices..." with a gentle nod towards Catenna.

        The child perks up further to express, "I'm Rashni! I'm hungry, but... I should find my momma..." with a conflicted look, as Riesenlied pats him on the head. "It's all right, perhaps we can get something that you can walk with?" as she gives Catenna a wink and passes over a silver in a faintly surreptitious manner. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"Ah, I see... Spices, hm?" Jacqueline comments, thinking it over. She'd been looking over the whole place, and fortunately she had a pretty good memory. "I think I saw a stall selling spices on the other end of the marketplace. Perhaps we should check there first?"

It sounded like Jacqueline had decided she was helping out, as well...though she also sends Catenna an approving smile. It was a nice gesture. Ethius, however, gets a slight frown for his tone and general lack of friendly phrasing before she sends the boy a smile.

"It's good to meet you, Rashni. I'm Jacqueline Barber, and these are my friends." Yes, Ethius, you're included in that too. "Let's see if we can't find her, shall we?" 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        Ethius takes in the name and the reasons provided. When Rashni introduces themselves...
        Ethius comes down to a kneel. He does this gradually - a pace measured as to have the gesture be as unthreatening as might be imaginable within the circumstances of being surrounded by strangers who may or may not already be asserting themselves as though they were initimately familiar company already.
        "Rashni." Ethius addresses, in a tone of voice that is noticeably softened. "I would imagine that your mother must already be looking for you. Where would be the first place she would normally find you?" 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Somehow, Catenna is not surprised that Riesenlied has picked up another adorable urchin.

"With luck, we shall find her soon," Catenna answers the disguised Tainted one, smiling a small, sympathetic smile. "If there is any way I can help you, I would hope to...." She looks down at Rashni, a hint of a blush at her cheeks. "...What does your mother look like?"

She catches the wink. On cue, Catenna reaches into her bag, stowing her tiffins on the small cart that's come with the group. Opening one up, she retrieves a pair of large cups and begins spooning the food within into them. What's inside isn't quite like one of her normal curries - the chunks of pork are larger, the spices are milder and much more approachable, and there's more of a sweetness involved in the complex taste of it all.

She offers one of the bowls to Rashni. "Perhaps this will help," she says. "It has a handle, even!" He'll be able to carry both it and a spoon along with little difficulty. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        N-now now, this one's got a mother, she's not willing to take him in to the Wayside fold!

        Riesenlied has a gentle nod, and steps a half-pace back as she lets Ethius soften his tone and talk to her, as is Jacqueline. The child looks towards them, thinking for a moment to say, "Um... I don't know... mom usually goes to the big city herself, this is the first time I've been here! We're from a small village..."

        Catenna asks what his mother looks like. "Umm, really pretty, like you, miss! She's wearing the sarong she usually wears... it's yellow today!" He looks appreciatively towards the tiffin to go, "Wow! That looks so good! Thanks, Miss Catenna!"

        Riesenlied looks towards the three to say, "The other end of the marketplace sounds good... let's do that." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Someone walks out of an ironworker's shop as the group makes its way to the other end of the marketplace. A slim, tallish woman in a long, tan traveler's cloak steps out onto the street, a pack on her back and a bundle tucked under her arm. The shadows of her hood obscure the fine details of her face, but she's merely 'some woman', and not 'anonymized to an unnatural degree'. Ida is silently thankful that the shop staff either weren't paying attention to the Guard's postings or didn't care about them. Either way, she's walked out of the shop with crucial bits of climbing and mountaineering gear. Considering where her little group os headed next, Ida felt the trip was necessary, despite the risks.

        The little group passes by, small child in tow. Ida stays put a moment, watching, swallowing down the sense of uncomfortable recognition.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline glances toward Ethius for a moment, a little surprised by his change of tone. Well, she was hoping he would, so she appreciates the change. It is uncommon from him, though...

"A yellow sarong...I see..." Jacqueline comments, as Rashni replies to Catenna's question. And this was the boy's first time in the city, so there wasn't a place where he would usually wait...

Jacqueline takes a moment to consider this and nods, before nodding toward Riesenlied as well. She closes her bag of flyers before starting to make her way toward the shop she mentioned.

With any luck, his mother would still be somewhere in the marketplace. She was probably looking just as frantically as he was, she had to imagine...

Along the way, she passes by a woman in a tan traveler's cloak, but she doesn't appear to have noticed her... 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        They are visiting from out of town, then... this does complicate matters significantly. Fortunately for all, Raphni is able to describe in detail their mother's appearance - yellow sarong, 'really pretty, like (Catenna).'
        Having sidestepped the need to introduce himself by circumstance - his favorite kind of circumstances, that can be ticked on the trading card as such - he allows Jay, Riesenlied, and Catenna to take point in seeing the child reunited with their mother. They will need the extra pair of eyes focused elsewhere.
        He looks about themselves in case he catches someone in a yellow sarong running about somewhere in the crowd. For a moment, that stare of his settles upon the woman in the long, tan traveler's cloak.
        No, 'settles' is the wrong word. It's an incidental sweep. That stare of his is easily recognizeable.
        Moments later, he begins the delicate but speedy process of taking back down the flyer(s) left behind before catching up. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna's smile is small and gentle. "You are welcome, Rashni, Try not to eat it too fast." She is blushing a little, though, at 'really pretty like you.'

(Children say the sweetest things,) she reflects with a touch of kindly mirth.

Straightening, she nods and begins to move along with Riese. She shifts her travel bag over her shoulder, checking on the Owlet with a quick look and a smile before beginning to move along with Jay, Riese and the lad. "Then we shall look for a yellow sarong. Surely we can recognize that much." With the food given over to the boy, she hands the second cup to Riesenlied.

"It is quite mild," she assures her Hyadean friend, remembering all too well the woman's experience the last time Catenna cooked for her.

The Owlet ducks its head back into Catenna's bag. As the group passes by the cloaked figure, the tiny bird stares out through a small opening in the bag, its gaze following the mystery woman as if seeing straight through the disguise. Being a small bird and well-hidden, it doesn't exactly comment on it. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        "Thanks! You're all so nice...! I thought that there might be meanies in the big city, but..." Rashni seems rather clearly impressed, as he starts into his tiffin. You could just see his eyes light up as he starts eating more vigorously, going, "Mmm! This is just as amazing as mom's!"

        Riesenlied does catch Ethius' fervent attempts to take down the posters, and she has to wonder why... is it because the CaraKin's presence is not something he considers native to this world? She can't help but feel a bit sorry for Jay.

        She does stop as she looks to the cloaked person step out of the ironworks, though. There's a quiet squint for a moment... but then she just waves very subtly, not wanting to alarm or frighten the boy.

        She also accepts the tiffin from Catenna with a slight blush and a nod. "Thank you. I'd not even thought about food until now..." but she was a little hungry, it's true... 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        That wave.

        "al-Rashid," says a familiar voice. Ida sounds less angry with the world in general than she did the last time she crossed paths with most of the little group. "Are you borrowing other women's children again?" She manages something of a smile, though the emotion in her eyes is unreadable. Inwardly, it's all a jumble--anger, annoyance, loneliness, longing. "You'd best keep an eye on her, Miss Barber. Wouldn't want her to get any ideas."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline, focused now as she is on her mission of helping Rashni find his mother, does not notice Ethius removing the flyers. This is good for him - if she found out, she would definitely have Words for him.

"Hm, well, not everyone in the city is as nice as we are...you should be careful in the future, just in case." Jacqueline comments with a kind tone, so as to avoid making it sound like she's scolding him.

Still, she chuckles slightly as she notes him enjoying Catenna's cooking.

"Miss Catenna is rather talented, isn't she?" She comments brightly. It's about this time that the woman in the tan traveler's cloak acknowledges them. She double-takes as she realizes who it is.

...She hadn't been aware that Ida was even here on Lunar, until she saw the wanted posters going up. She was also unaware of her current 'condition', and didn't think anything of the title the Guard had given her.

"Oh, hello!" She greets, once more leaving out a name for the sake of the other's safety...and raises an eyebrow in confusion at 'again'. Riesenlied only took in orphans, didn't she? "Ah, no...we're looking for little Rashni's mother, actually. Have you seen a woman in a yellow sarong around? Perhaps shopping for spices..." 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        Ethius, mysteriously - well, more predictably but mysterious in a predictable fashion which... sort of saps the mystery and okay this is going nowhere one moment
        Ethius continues following from a safe(?) distance from the gathered, having somehow hidden the removed flyers on his person like nothing happened. He does notice the traveler in the tan cloak draw closer. There's enough ambient noise all around that much of what's said is lost.
        But not the dropping of a name that suggests familiarity.
        He draws closer as Jay seems to be explaining what's going on to them, but says nothing. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"I hope it will agree with you," Catenna answers Riese with a dip of her head. "The ingredients here are a little different than those from home... but I think you will find it agreeable."

As Jacqueline showers her with praise, Catenna closes her eyes and bows her head for a moment, a hint of rosiness darkening her cheeks. When she opens her eyes again, she clears her throat quietly. "One merely does one's best," she murmurs.

They don't get very far before they're accosted by someone whom, the last time Catenna saw her, was about to beat the absolute shit out of a bunch of people she only partially knows.

Catenna presses her lips together firmly, keeping her expression studiously neutral and simply nodding back to Ida. Now is the wrong place to confront her, she decides. The last thing she wants is her own face on a bounty poster, or for Ida to get on her case for saving that charlatan merchant.

"...Yes, if you have seen a woman in a yellow sarong, it would be most helpful."

Please don't punch her in the face, Catenna's mind fills in. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        al-Rashid, speaks the caped woman as she comes in. She asks her if she's stealing other women's children-- prompting an innocently flustered face as she says, "N-no, no, we are..." ah, there's Jay and Catenna with the explanation and a nod.

        "Is that your name, miss?" Rashni asks, to which Riesenlied quietly nods. "Yes, but you can call me Nazgul." It's not the first time she's used the name, and she speaks as if she's not even using a psuedonym.

        "How quaint of you," the corpse within blithely comments as she slouches on her seat.

        Rashni does look at the hooded woman, looking towards the pitons and chiming with a kind of innocent expression and some beads of rice stuck to his face, "Wow! Are you a mountain climber, miss?" as she nods to Jay. "Miss Catenna is realy talented!"

        "I'm sure it will," Riesenlied expresses to Catenna with a lovely little smile. "The vegetables here have been more nutritious and filling... I've been feeling better."

        Meanwhile, Ethius may be the first, with his hawkish eyesight, to spot a worried-looking woman glancing around what appears to be an open-air stand stacked high with buckets of ground spices. She's got her hair in a bun, and a bright yellow sarong over her traditional dress. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        "I haven't seen anyone wearing one," Ida says, brushing a stray lock of hair back behind an ear. Ah. How... adorably generous. And here Ida is, buying gear so she and her companions can go locate a mysterious lead to see who or what needs to die as punishment for horrific crimes. She sees the look on Catenna's face--or rather, the studious lack of distinct look. She's not comfortable with this situation. Ida can't blame her. "Not by trade," Ida says to Rashni, smiling politely at the young man, "but I'm going to go looking for something, and I felt it best to be prepared." She looks back at 'Nazgul' again, thoughtfully. "That reminds me. Have you found yours, yet?"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Ethius gets a glance from Jacqueline as he moves closer to them, but her attention right now is squarely on Ida and Riesenlied right now. ...If it wasn't, she might be able to spot Rashni's mother, but at the moment, she does not.

"I'm glad to hear that...but yes, the vegetables around here are really quite astounding, aren't they?" She says as Riesenlied mentions she's been feeling better. She could go further into just how astounding they were...but she doesn't want to make Ethius freak out by talking about that sort of thing right in front of Rashni.

"Oh, I see...well, thank you anyway." Jacqueline replies with a polite nod toward Ida. "Well, whatever it is, I wish you luck...if you need supplies, the Caravan Kinship can always get you sorted out for a fair price."

Jacqueline...clearly doesn't realize exactly what it is she's looking for. She always between Riesenlied and Ida curiously at the last question. 'Found yours'...did she mean the ship? She doesn't ask directly, however. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        Ethius' gaze turns back towards his left, and his head turns.
        Jay will notice that something has Ethius moving the way he seems to do when he exists only in the corners of one's peripheral vision. Rapid. Decisive. One may hope that it's a misconception involving a young Black Thunder Mage trying to practice casting through a wand bent at a very specific range of degrees.
        Again.
        (It's kind of a problem.)
        "Excuse me." Ethius comes to a stop before the worried woman at the open-air stand. His hands are folded behind his back. "Would you happen to be the mother of Rashni?"
        Upon the first affirmation, vocal or otherwise...
        "Please follow me." He'll lead her back with a minimum of flair or ceremony to speak of. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"Yes... everything is much healthier and more crisp here than you and I are used to." Catenna smiles, surrendering the food to Riesenlied. ...Nazgul.

...Nazenlied.

...Riesengul? Who knows.

Catenna keeps her mouth shut from there, watching the way Ida talks, privately wondering if the woman can keep control of her magically-charged emotions long enough to finish the conversation, and hoping like hell she can.

Her gaze darts between Jacqueline, Ida and Riese, the Moon Shaman not quite following the conversation. As though in search of somewhere safe to look, she finds herself doing something she rarely does: She tries to make eye contact with Ethius.

Who is... over there. Talking to a woman in a--

Catenna smiles gently, and reaches down to lay a delicate hand on Rashni's shoulder. "I think our friend has found someone you might know," she murmurs. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Rashni nods a few times as he pumps his hands, saying, "Yeah, that's what dad tells me too! Never go up a mountain without respectin' it." Looks like he's quite passionate about climbing...

        Ida asks Riesenlied if she's found hers yet, and she answers, "I had the fortune of coming here with my own, but the rest are still missing..." which is about as vague as she can put it with unfamiliar company around them. "It's been somewhat difficult to find them." Her tone makes it sound like at this point, she's a little surprised and anxious, like if it landed on land, it probably is in a very remote area... or in the ocean.

        Both were possibilities still.

        Ethius goes towards the woman in the yellow sarong, though, who looks-- a little alarmed at this person suddenly showing up! But she nods a few times, and follows--

        "Mom!"
        "Rashni, dear!"

        A quick reunion as they embrace, the mother lecturing, "I told you to not wander off on your own..."
        "I'm sorry!" Rashni bows his head. "These nice people all helped."
        She bows her head with a grateful smile and says, "Oh, thank you...! Thank you, all of you kind souls..." as she pats her son on the head.
        "They gave me food too...! It's really tasty!"
        "I'm just about done with my shopping, so let's finish your meal and go home, okay?"
        "Mmm!" the boy waves towards the group.

        Riesenlied has a quiet sigh and a smile as she waves back, looking to the others. "Thank you for all your help..." she looks to Ethius as well, perhaps impressed at his willingness to aid after what happened in the RUins. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Jay gives a sales pitch. Ida can't help but smirk, but she's also clearly stifling laughter. Jay making that offer now is just too funny to her, especially after last night. Caravan Kinship, for all your aimless-murder-supply needs! "I'll keep that in mind," Ida says, after whatever amused her dies down. "But I don't think you want our business. Wouldn't want to get you in trouble." She sobers up even more on that last note. Riesenlied admits difficulty, and Ida gives a nod. "You still have a lot of ground to cover. And with your luck, they'll probably fall into your lap just when things are looking hopeless." Ida can't quite keep the bitterness out of her voice. She watches as Riesenlied and Ethius reunite a young boy with his mother, her expression inscrutable.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline catches Ethius out of the corner of her eye. He's doing...something. Hopefully something productive, and not something that's going to make her regret taking him out around civilized people.

Before she can figure out what, though, Ida catches her attention. Jacqueline...doesn't quite understand what she's funny. It almost feels like she's being made fun of, but she can't quite tell why...

"O-oh, I see... Well, do take care, regardless..." She replies. She wasn't going to push the matter. Fortunately, before Jacqueline can feel too awkward about it, Ethius returns with a woman who can only be Rashni's mother.

"Looks like it." Jacqueline says with a nod toward Catenna, before turning her attention to the woman and offering her a kind smile.

"You're welcome. I just glad you two were able to find each other." Jacqueline replies with a polite bow. 

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        When the happy reunion comes to be, Ethius stays out of the way of it. No 'you're welcome,' no parting remarks, just simply allowing the two of them to continue with their day without further interruption on his part. (Unless Rashni turns out to be a young Black Thunder Mage wielding a staff bent a specific range of degrees. But that is statistically unlikely.)
        (Jay's fears are well-founded in very specific contexts.)
        "Yes. I find it agreeable that we were able to see to an expedient reunion." Comes his response when Rie-- Nazgul offers her thanks. Ethius sure doesn't sound that agreeable! But he hardly ever sounds much of anything other than just a dry reading of words, so, business as usual. Arms behind his back, and everything.
        "While I am understanding of one's concern," Ethius continues. The character of his stare does not change in any perceptible way. He doesn't lean forward or back. His eyelids are not narrowing over his eyes. Come to think of it, he hasn't blinked since he started talking... but somehow, it seems to bear down a little harder as he speaks. If Catenna were still looking for eye contact to tether onto something familiar as an emotional anchor, well, that... may or may not be a good place to dock.
        "I would not allow oneself to get too attached. We have more pressing concerns."
        If Jay looks just past Ethius' right shoulder, she can see where she left the flyers up!
        ...The flyers that have mysteriously turned invisible, like maaaaaaagiiiiiiiic.
        THAT is pressing!! He's totally right. 

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna clasps her hands together and smiles with a simple joy at the sight of the mother and her lost son reuniting so tenderly before their eyes. A couple of small tears begin to well up, but she's able to keep them from showing with a small, steadying breath.

It's sweet enough to take her mind off the fact that Ida is clearly trying not to make fun of something Jay said. She pushes that little nuisance out of her mind and focuses on the joy before her.

From the pack at her side, the Owlet pokes its head out, looking up at Catenna, then towards the boy and its mother. It bobs its head, as if in approval of the situation.

When Rashni's mother does thank them, Catenna merely folds her hands together and bows her head, clearing her throat softly. "I am only glad we could help you both. Please be well."

Catenna does not want to take much by way of credit... but it's nice to know they could do some good.

The nice feeling vanishes as Ethius starts Ethiusing. On top of Ida being her usual snide self, Catenna is finding it harder and harder to keep that smile up. She does her best not to sigh. 

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        In all honesty, it feels like Ida could be quite right. It's not even her own luck, she realises -- there's a kind of pluck that the Waysiders have where they pull through at the last minute, a kind of luck.

        ELSEWHERE

        "DO YOU FEEL LUCKY!?" shouts one of Nall's orphans.
        "I don't feel lucky! I don't feel lucky!" shouts Val as she continues to hang upside down with a vat of pinecones stuffed into her refrigerator cavity.

        NOW

        There's a fond look from Riesenlied as she watches Rashni and his mother depart, looking towards Ethius and... nodding gently towards him. She can understand that viewpoint, at least.

        "... it isn't the only thing we've been looking into," Riesenlied admits. "A way back... it has not been easy, but it has not left my thoughts in the slightest." A pause. "But that isn't conversation for here out in the open." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

        Ida feels as though she should probably clarify what she told Jay, except if she does so, it will inevitably attract more attention to her and her companions when they are still in a very vulnerable position. They still haven't found a proper staging site, and while moving from campsite to campsite works, it makes it next to impossible to properly store the kind of materials Ida needs: books, dig finds, oddments and equipment she needs for her studies. And it feels wrong leaving a trail of Malevolence everywhere.

        She's not thinking about that at the moment. Instead, she watches the boy walk off with his mother. "Indeed," Ida says, to 'Nazgul'. "Have you been up north, much? In the--what do they call it--the Massif?"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Ethius...well, he's Ethius, alright. Jacqueline is completely and totally unsurprised to his reaction(or lack thereof) to the scene before him. Catenna gets a concerned look from Jacqueline at the sort of her vanishing good mood...but the look of concern vanishes as well when she looks past her and spots one of her flyers.

Or rather, the place where one of her flyers should have been. It wasn't torn off the wall, like it might've been if someone took it for later reference. No, it seemed almost...meticulously removed, as if to remove any sign it had been there before.

Jacqueline's head turns toward Ethius to give him a Look. A very meaningful Look, meaning something along the lines of 'busted'. Or, if he were younger, 'you are so grounded, mister'.

This Look lingers for a time, at least until Ida says something that catches her attention.

"Oh! You're talking about the Zulan region..." She comments. She was asking Riesenlied, though, so Jacqueline doesn't say much more than that.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

        Only someone like Ethius could survive the harrowing impact of the warm and fuzzy feelings of a family reunion, fight past the barriers of happiness, and come out triumphantly without for care about anything but whatever his goals are. Unless his goal is, in fact, to ruin the moment's afterglow, in which case, that would answer a lot - a whole year's worth of preparation towards ruining this very moment.
        Meticulous, immaculate, extraordinarily petty scheming.
        His silence is an acknowledgement of Riesenlied's acknowledgement about discussing such matters in the open. This may or may not also be because Jay is giving him This Look.
        Nobody survives This Look unscathed.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna still sort of wishes she could ground Ethius, but half her mind suspects he'd just flatly rip out her spleen and feed it to her.

"Yes, we have been there," Catenna says at the mention of the Zulan massif. Her normally reserved tone is underlaid by a current of something sullen, like someone had just asked her if she'd ever been in an open cesspool.

Catenna has not forgotten the horrors of literal, actual winter and snow.

"One wonders what it is you found there," she asks quietly.

She gives Riese a look, then, her eyes tight at the outer corners. "...As lovely as this place is, I absolutely must return home as soon as possible."

Catenna has duties to fulfill. There are still Statues to be discovered and still Metal Demons threatening to awaken Mother. Every minute wasted on Lunar is another minute she cedes to Siegfried and his allies.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

        Ida asks Riesenlied if she's looked north to the Mastiffs -- the Zulan region, as Jay chimes in. "I, ah, yes..." She lowers her head. "I was buried in an avalanche on Mount Zulan." And she still lives?! Maybe Ida does have a real point about the real devil's luck here... though to be fair, Lucia was there to save them as well.

        A soft sigh, as she looks at Catenna. "It'll be all right. We'll make things right," is her optimistic encouragement. Even if she doesn't exactly have the evidence for it... it isn't like being negative will get her anywhere. And she has kids who look up to her!

        She looks at Ethius and Jay for a moment, before responding, "I should be making my way home. Thank you again for the lunch, Catenna, I'll be sure to savour it."

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