2019-11-10: Fighting for Love
- Log: Fighting for Love
- Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline
- Where: Meria Boule
- Date: 10th November 2019
- Summary: Riesenlied falls asleep after the fair games, and Odjn and Noeline have a chance to chat.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied's had a big day out at the Festival and has even spent some time walking on her feet afterwards; she looks rather exhausted by dinnertime, though -- and after some minor grumping for Odjn to get her to actually eat before retiring, they're back at their inn room in Meria Boule where...
Well, Muni is outside, sleeping in the stables. That seems to be something the dragon just doesn't mind doing.
Odjn herself is tuning a little guitar to play a quiet ditty to lull the Hyadean to sleep, still with that uncertain frown on her face. She's gotten real good at the guitar. Guitarette? Tiny Guitar.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is helping in regards to that last part - she's half-sat half-lying on the bed with her partner's head in her lap, her fingers drifting lazily through Riesenlied's newly-white hair. It doesn't seem right to interrupt Odjn's music with talk and chatter, so for the time being she's content to close her eyes and let the time idle by, appreciating how good the dragon has gotten.
Every so often she peeks one eye open to sneak a glance at Odjn, still a little concerned around the little dragon's reticence. It's not that she doesn't understand it - quite the opposite, she's had to face those feelings before. It's more that she's not sure what answer she can offer, or whether she even should offer one. Just because she's decided on her own brand of resolve doesn't mean that Odjn must as well.
But those concerns are far off after the peaceful day, and the note of pride from Riesenlied's attempt at walking is still foremost in her mind.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Odjn pauses as she watches Noeline stroke Riesenlied's hair rather comfortably, her eyes rather fixed towards the new colour. There is a bit of hesitation, as she finishes her stanza and thinks of setting the guitar aside; but as Riesenlied stirs again, she decides to keep playing her comforting little lullaby.
"... it's ... getting worse still, isn't it?" Odjn asks, breaking a silence that only the tiny dragon might feel is awkward.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline pauses in her strokes for long enough to lean down and place a gentle kiss on Riesenlied's forehead, letting out a light breath as she does so. When she straightens up, she's not hiding the look towards Odjn this time, paired with a quiet and slightly wan smile.
"... it is," she confirms as gently as she can manage. "We've been doing what we can to account for it and work around it - and to be honest, she's a lot better at walking than she was a few months ago. Still, every time she taps into the Ley, things progress a little further. The situation on Spira meant she felt the need to transform into her draconic form for a while. This was the result," she adds as her fingers sift again through white hair.
"But... I couldn't just tell her not to fight for those she loves. Not after her tearing herself apart for so long wondering whether she should," she finishes with a light huff of air.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It's rather easy to see that Odjn's working through some emotions as Noeline explains, watching her give Riesenlied a kiss and looking to that sad smile of hers.
"You've... you've really grown, you know that?" Odjn mumbles, maybe her own way of trying to space her reaction out. "I'm glad. When you first bombed back into our lives I was kinda suspicious. I was hot-headed, you were hot-headed, I thought we were gonna pull her in different directions."
She scratches her own scaly cheek with her claw.
"What's all this about... fighting for love?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"... well," grumbles Noeline, feeling somehow like she's on the defensive. "I really don't begrudge you any of that. I wasn't exactly a terrific influence." There's a moment where she goes to fold her arms, but then realizes that would mean not petting Riese anymore, so doesn't. "If I'd known then what I know now, I wouldn't have been so flighty and indistinct. Honestly, the length of time she's been watching out for me..."
She shakes the thought away, and has the grace to look a little embarrassed. "... though I think Riese would say I'm still hot-headed when it comes down to it. Just-- at different times, for different reasons.
Odjn's question leaves her silent for a long while. "... love carries a sword," she echoes Riesenlied's line. "For the longest time, Riese has shrunk away from anything to do with fighting. But... there are going to be times when that's the only way we can protect the people we love. So long as we fight with the right goals in mind... I can't say it as poetically as she can," she breaks off to grumble softly.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
To be honest, the both of them going on the defensive just feels -- nostalgic, the way they'd bicker with Riesenlied in the middle. Odjn sniggers just for a moment as she cackles, "Huh, she did? She always lamented a lot about wanting to follow after you -- geez, the nights that I'd spend patting her into bed sometimes!" A pause. "She did also tell me to send some letters along."
Her jaw drops. "Wait, were you secretly flirting through letters all this time?!"
She pauses in turn and looks to Noeline as she explains. "... do you remember... how she used to be? She carried a sword. She fought for what she believed in -- finding the Tainted a home. And..."
A pause. "I don't know. I guess I've been struggling ever since what happened to the two of you happened, in that Temple. But it felt like she was fading away... like..."
She sags. "A lot of what I admired about her was gonna go away too. And that made me feel a bit shallow. Knowin' how you stood thick and thin with her."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"--you as /well/?" Noeline blurts in open astonishment, then this time she definitely huffs. "No, we were not! That's the problem! Here I was thinking I was grandiosely headed off on my own and instead, at every opportunity, Riese was quietly and insistently making sure I was safe and well! It's-- I can't describe how pleased and humbled by it all I am, and how I feel a little childish for disappearing for so long," she dissolves a little into a pout.
It doesn't last, if only because of the way the topic shifts. "More than the Temple... I think Elru itself was the catalyst for so much of this. Between everything that happened to Riesenlied, her treatment at Alhazred's hands, reconnecting with her father - and then losing him again..." Noeline trails off for long enough to let her thoughts settle down before they can affect her partner over their link. "That would scar anyone."
"... I think you're right. I think for a long time she /was/ fading away - and finding herself again is a journey that still isn't over, and will take some time yet. But she's getting there, day by day. ... and I know she doesn't blame you one jot," she adds, turning softer. "She'd rather you worked through it however's best for you. ... I can understand the impulse."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Odjn blinks and droops. "What? No, she asked me to send a few letters to other people sometime. How'd I know that was all--" she scratches her head with both of her talons and whines. "Geez! She was usin' me for her big flirty network!!"
She stares towards Noeline, then back to Riesenlied, then back to Noeline again. "Double geez. That's so Riese though... she doesn't speak up, she winds up sulking for a long time about it, then comes up with an idea that's about two hundred times more complicated than if she'd just /talked/ to you in the first place."
A bob of her head. Odjn looks rather sour about Elru.
"It started in the Temple. That's when she started... breaking down, right?" Odjn furrows her brow. "But... you're right. At that point I'm..."
She pauses.
"I mean. You know what happened. I wasn't /there/. I couldn't /deal/ with it. Everything starting from thinkin' about the Drifters going there and open war breaking out and everything I ever knew about the Photosphere as a home going up in flames and..."
The little dragon furrows her brow deeper. "I couldn't deal with it. I wasn't there for her when it counted most."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"... story of /both/ our lives, really," Noeline shoots back with a grin she can't fully suppress - but she turns silent again, letting the dragon get all a lot of her own pent-up thoughts and worries in turn.
"You're right," she admits. "But, at the same time... the Temple was also our first hint that perhaps there was more out there for us. It brought us at odds with the Photosphere, but it also gave us a sense of purpose that allowed Wayside to propel itself into being." She lets her hand drift through Riesenlied's hair again.
"... I don't know how much I should blame the Guardians for everything, but I'm more inclined to want to lay it all at Alhazred's feet. I'd thought that, perhaps if she could make peace with Odoryuk, that might help her situation... and it has, but not quite in the way that I hoped."
She furrows her brow, and lets out a breath. "She doesn't blame you for that. I guarantee it. And I-- I know the feeling well enough. I was barely thinking, back then. Just acting out of sheer stubbornness and pique," she grumbles, then her brow flickers. "But more importantly than that, we are here now. We all have a tendency to get stuck on 'what if's - but the simple fact of the matter is that Riese is glad to see you."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Odjn tucks her head down and says, "... yeah. I mean, I came here with Muni for a reason. And that reason's that I wanna give it another try." She puffs her face up and says, "I betcha Ruby's missed me! I gave Riese a little gift to her, wonder if she's passed it onward?"
A quiet hum, as Noeline talks about Wayside, and Odoryuk...
"D'she tell you at all about the time she found me, all the way down there in those mountains in Elru?"
She bobs her head. "Real reckless, even back then. But that kinda describes the both of you, really!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"I /know/ Ruby has," Noeline confirms as she folds her arms again, making a show of looking cooly at the little dragon. "She wouldn't stop asking if you were okay, you know. Every time we saw her, in fact."
She falls silent for just a moment, then picks at her hair with a sigh. "... you have very good timing. Without the Fereshte to centre us... it's been a little difficult. Having you here today helped her," she says it plainly.
The Hyadean pauses - and then shifts a little so that she's sat back against the wall, a little more comfortable as she gathers Odjn into her lap. "She has," she admits, and finds herself breaking into a quiet smile. "But for old time's sake, I wouldn't mind hearing it again in your own words. It's been too long since we had an Odjn Story Time."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Odjn shakes her head in turn and says, "I know. I got the news. I was like, 'What?! Riese without her kids 's gonna be in pieces! We hafta go!' and then Muni plonked me on her back and we started flyin' west."
A pause.
"Then she realised she was hungry and came back and then Val an' everyone else packed us with a big sack of potatoes 'cause that's her main diet nowadays, potatoes."
She strums at her guitar again with a toothy grin, starting to strum-- then blinking as Riesenlied starts to stir again. "Hmmn... Odjn...?"
She's leaning tighter against Noeline even before she knows it.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"... honestly... I don't know whether to call you direct or indirect. I'm sure she's been worried that she's done something to upset you, you realize," Noeline sighs to herself, though there's humour and affection laced through her tone. "You should clear the air with her, as well, not just me."
There's a distinct pause, and the Hyadean's expression sinks into a half-lidded stare. "... are we going to have to remind everyone about crop rotations?"
But Riesenlied stirs, and Noeline's attention is sharply turned in that direction, her eyebrows raised. "Riese," she calls as she sits ready to help her partner up, then smiles. "She's here. We were just talking about what she's been up to."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"I know. And that's what makes me feel worse about it," Odjn grumps, before blinking and bobbing up and down with more cheer as she starts to hover around Riesenlied as she gets up from her sleepy state, just like how she used to.
"Riese 'n Shine, sunshine!" Odjn beams. "Heh heh. I haven't used that one in ages..."
Riesnlied rubs at her eyes and says, "I didn't want to sleep for that long... it's not very late, is it?" She reaches to Odjn and instinctively gives her a very tight hug, burbling a bit.
"Hey!!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Whatever Noeline was going to puff at Odjn about, she lets it go as Riesenlied edges towards wakefulness, watching with quiet relief as the little dragon bobs around her partner in a very nostalgic manner. It might not exactly count as opening up to her once more, but it's a start - and she's well aware that such starts are still important steps.
"It hasn't been that long," she promises Riesenlied. "And besides, there's supposed to be an evening sojourn as part of the festival. Something about bobbing candles along the river that runs through the town. I thought you'd want to see--"
She cuts off when Riesenlied gloms onto Odjn, and sighs in clear amusement. "Well, really, I saw that one coming," she notes with a toothy grin.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied sniffles a bit louder as she mumbles, "Oh, Odjn... I'm so--"
Odjn flails a little bit harder as she immediately whines and interjects, "I know! I know! You're gonna say sorry... you're gonna heap a lot of blame on yourself. I know." Her struggling kind of gives way to deflation by the end there.
Riesenlied blinks a few more times, embarrassed as she looks towards Noeline and then Odjn again. "Oh... um." She looks like she's struggling to put the right words out there.
"I don't mean it that way. I'm sorry too," Odjn grouses. "I never meant to run away and leave you alone. No, that's being unfair too. I was just too stressed out."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
At least, to her credit, Noeline doesn't interrupt the back and forth - though when Riesenlied looks to her, she places a hand on the Hyadean's back to smile in encouragement.
"Odjn doesn't want you to blame yourself. ... at the same time, she can't help but worry over how she feels she left you alone," she adds to the dragon's grousing, trying her best to be a calmer influence. "Of course, I said you'd never blame her for something like that, not after everything that happened, but we both know it's never that simple."
"... honestly, it reminds me most of the two of us. Tiptoeing around our past, fretting over it so much... it's better to move forwards together, surely?" huffs the voice of experience with a lopsided grin. "Though I suppose that still took us far too long."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied drags a quiet, long breath as she hugs Odjn tighter, preferring expression through her actions and her emotions rather than through words. And Odjn -- it's easy to see how the little dragon sputters on out and winds up hugging her in turn.
"You found me in the dark," she says. "A long long time ago."
"I remember," Riesenlied smiles, as she looks to Noeline and feels her hand on her back. "Of course, I would never forget. I was small, scared and alone back then too. Just like you."
"Y'coaxed me out of hidin'. Showed me things. Bit by bit. Now I write songs for bards, y'know? I couldn't have ever gotten there on my own."
Her smile gets ever wider. "I would not be where I am now without you as well, Odjn." She drapes her arm around Noeline and pulls her in too. "And Noeline is my witness. I am trying my hardest to not just -- wreck myself and make everyone worry! I am practicing my self-care too."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
With a soft chuckle, Noeline lets herself be drawn in. Part of her is still a little bit awkward around Odjn in a way she wouldn't be with Riesenlied - like part of her is still trying to keep up appearances, and is all too aware that they were very different people last they talked like this - but she still draws an arm around Riesenlied and risks patting Odjn.
"She's been doing well, especially recently," Noeline confirms. "A whole day of running around a festival, and then some walking on top - I'm quite proud. Still," she adds with an amused sigh. "I'm sure she could use some more encouragement and support. Or someone who'll be more ready to nudge her along and take her to task than I am. Maybe I've been getting a bit lax on her," she playfully adds.
"But whatever you choose to do, you've got a home in Wayside, and on the Fereshte. That won't ever change, I don't doubt."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied pouts to the two of them as Noeline starts playfully teasing her, and Odjn chimes in with a similar grin as she says, "We ought to be a bit more firm with Riesenlied. Who knows what she'll do if we leave her to her own devices!"
"I--I'm not that unreliable...!" Riesenlied whines softly, shuffling her scaled legs up lightly and beaming cuteness directly towards Noeline.
"Well, since Riesenlied has been doing her exercises so diligently, we should go for an evening walk...!" Odjn puffs up proudly. "I'll bet you I can take turns pushing the wheelchair too."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Hmmmh... but I'm told I'm a terrible soft touch, despite appearances," muses Noeline, though she can't help but chuckle softly to herself in response to her partner's whine as she nudges in against Riesenlied to offer her a squoze, and a peck on the cheek and then on the forehead. "You see?"
"... I think the evening air would do you good," she offers as she slides off the bed to stand up, holding out her hand to give Riesenlied a way to more easily shuffle forwards towards her chair. "And I'm told the end of the festival is quite a sight, as well. Let's go and see it, and catch up on a few things."
She blinks twice. "For instance, which bards exactly? I'm proud of you, certainly, but Val attaching a kazoo to her fridge motor doesn't count," she puffs.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has that one fly right by as she stammers and says, "You are an incredible soft touch. I'm the one getting worse, with how craggy and scaley..." A pause. "I am still worried of ripping up sheets and having to pay the innkeeper for new ones, you know."
Odjn kinda just stares at that one and is about to open her mouth--
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is quick enough to clear her throat instead, even as she feels the heat rise on her cheeks. Pure training means she doesn't glance in Odjn's direction, knowing that would be the worst thing to do right now, and instead she huffs fondly as she helps bring Riesenlied up. "Figure of speech," she points out. "I just mean that perhaps I'm a little quick to spoil you whenever possible. Not that I'd complain about that," she adds with a hum.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied still looks a bit dumbfounded, but--
--it prompts Odjn to snigger as she goes, "Aaah, she hasn't changed one bit in that regard! It's so precious!" she just about cackles out loud as she gives her a terribly big glomp. "Okay. Let's get prepared. And..."
She looks up to her. "If you're going to fight for love, then let me fight with you too."
Riesenlied has a tender smile as she looks to the both of them. "I'm embarrassed it's become such a rallying phrase, but..." She draws in a breath. "It is important to me."