2021-03-18: Unfortunately, Riley IS Here to Make Friends

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===============================<* Deku Isles *>===============================

The Deku Isles are islands on the north of the Crater Sea. Some are natural islands, pieces of the ancient continent destroyed in some great ancient calamity. Others are stranger, still: flooded, petrified great tree trunks that stretch out of the water, and hold small settlements inside. The Isles are claimed by Sylvaland, a claim made stronger by the working Elw Teleporters that Sylvaland uses to claim dominion over its far flung empire. The ancient petrified trees, emerging from the ocean, sometimes draw tourists... but dangers can be found here, too. The forces of Ganondorf Dragmire are sometimes seen here.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGufy1PAeTU

<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.

It was beginning to grow late as the group emerged from the ruin, and much to Xander's probable dismay, Riley suggested the two parties make camp together rather than splitting off again right away.

A short time later, as they settle round a fire, Riley idly strums his guitar as if threatening to burst into song, but instead surveys these new friends(?) curiously.

"How did the three of you end up traveling together? Or, well, do you usually? You seem pretty well acquainted." 

<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.

To Xander's assured, absolutely guaranteed dismay and Riley knows it! Xander may have made a grunt or sigh or two, but ultimately, could not fight Riley on this. He'll yell at him later.

Socializing all day has taken its toll, but Xander is doing his best to remain civil. He sits on the ground near Riley, sorting through and cleaning his supplies idly.

"Again, you don't have to humor him. Or you can just make something up. We won't know the difference," he says without looking up.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "I am a Drifter and that is simply what the work details." Ethius remarks, as if on trained cue after Xander reassuring them about the level of commitment being asked of them. Ethius is... still kind of just a guy who is almost noteworthy in how unnoteworthy he seems to be trying to be. He is, on some level, guarded - but to what end is not clear. (He does not seem to be suspecting Riley or Xander of anything other than merely existing.)
     He is not the member of the party with the high Charisma modifier. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Camping with new friends... well, Jacqueline can certainly see the appeal, and it is indeed rather late, so she agreed. After taking a moment to set up some protections around their camp sight, Jacqueline settles down next to the fire, looking toward Riley as he asks his question. She chuckles good-naturedly at Xander's assurance, and shakes her head.

"No, it's okay. It's not big secret, really." Jacqueline says with a smile, gesturing to herself. "I mentioned before that I work as an apothecary, yes? To be more specific, I'm the leader of a group of traveling merchants called the Caravan Kinship. He's a member, as well."

She nods to Ethius, at that.

"And Eleanor is a both a good friend and a customer, so we work together on things like this from time to time." She explains, then looks between Riley and Xander.

"And what about you two?" She asks, curious. "You two seem to work quite well together." 

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"Oh, sometimes," Eleanor answers of whether they travel together. She nods as Jay mentions it's no secret, laughing a little to the idea of making something up. "While that does sound fun, I don't mind answering a little." For her part, Eleanor is already sitting by the fire, having checked on a few matters already and now just sort of here. She doesn't pull her own musical instrument. Instead...

"Quite!" Eleanor chimes in after Jay. "I'm not with the caravan, but they're very lovely, and make for good traveling companions at that, particularly in expeditions like this."

A beat, "I'm actually a member of ARMS, the organization out of Meria." She then waits for the answer to Jay's question. 

<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.

Again, you don't have to humor him.

"Why would they not want to tell me how they met, Xander!" Riley complains. "That's a normal conversational topic."

Ethius claims he merely met the others in the natural course of being a Drifter.

"Hm, well, why did you decide to become a Drifter, then?" Riley asks, apparently still keen on digging into Mr. Hesiod's business.

Jay sheds a bit more light on the matter, and Riley tilts his head thoughtfully. "A caravan of traveling merchants... that sounds like a really romantic lifestyle!" he observes.

Eleanor explains that she's not with the Caravan, but rather a part of ARMS. "Ah, right, I've heard of them. They're kind of a big deal, aren't they? Do you like it?"

And what about you two?

"We've known one another since we were kids," Riley says. "I left town to have some adventures... and it didn't go too well with me on my own, so eventually I came back and dragged Xander into it with me this time, whether he liked it or not!" Riley seems to be playing a game where you only lie by omission, at least for the moment.

"Seems like you like it at least sometimes," he adds, looking to Xander. 

<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.

"Some people like privacy."

But there goes Riley, digging for details.

"Drifting, a traveling apothecary, and ARMs... sounds like real hero stuff." Xander idly turns a vial over in his hand, contemplating something a moment too long before he sets it down. ARMs, even. Does Riley have any risk assessment at all?

Xander looks up at Riley with another one of his sighs. "I don't hate it."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "I am someone who holds an interest in lost or out-of-place technological relics." Once again, this sounds a bit too scripted, coming from Ethius - who remains the most neutral and guarded of the lot, as organizations are introduced between the Caravan Kinship (of which he is part) and ARMS (of which he is not). "Such a career best facilitates this interest."
     "...It does appear one of you is missing an eye," Ethius remarks as the story is told about how Riley and Xander have taken after Drifting themselves. "It seems it went better for you than your companion, Mister Riley." 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline beams at Eleanor's agreement, then looks toward Riley at his response.

"Romantic... well, maybe a little." She replies with a sheepish chuckle. "It's been very fulfilling, though."

She listens curiously, then, to RIley's explanation.

"Oh, childhood friends... it's wonderful that you still travel together. It's a very reassuring experience." Jacqueline replies approvingly. It reminds her a little of her own story... and perhaps because of that, she doesn't pry too deeply into his tale.

She looks toward Xander, then, looking a little embarrassed as he comments on 'hero stuff'.

"O-oh... I wouldn't go that far. I just like to help out where I can..." She replies... though she smiles a little as Xander say he 'doesn't hate' being dragged along by Riley.

...She sighs, though, at Ethius's observation.

"Th-that's a little..." She starts, then looks back to Riley and Xander. "Sorry, he isn't the best at tact, sometimes..." 

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Ethius is what he is. "Privacy is nice," Eleanor allows. "For private things. But I make no secret of my vocation or my general aquaintances." She's admittedly curious about Riley's question to Ethius as well, but she doesn't get much of an answer this time.

But for ARMS, "Yes! I wouldn't say whether or not we're a big deal, but we do our best. I..." Her face falls a little, as she thinks of something--it's subtle, but it's there for the perceptive. "Yes, I do rather like it."

"Oh, dear." Ethius does lack tact sometimes. Eleanor doesn't immediately comment on that, instead favoring, "It is nice that you could stay friends! My own best friend is someone I've known since I was a child, too." 

<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.

Real hero stuff. Riley doesn't miss the word choice, his smile going a touch hollow as he looks at the fire. Right, real heroes, exactly what they aren't. But why not pretend, sometimes? So what if they don't deserve to? It's not like they can make themselves any worse by indulging.

Jacqueline seems a little embarrassed at being called a hero.

"Trying to help people sounds like enough to me," Riley says. "Not everyone does even that much."

Eleanor says that she liked being part of ARMS, though she seems maybe to be a little sad about something. It is nice that you could stay friends!

Riley waves his hands a bit. "Ah, we're actually partners, too, incidentally."

I don't hate it, Xander says, of traveling with him.

"That means he's having a really fantastic time," Riley translates, with a confident nod.

Ethius reveals a tidbit of actual information about himself. "Lost technological relics... that seems like a pretty cool thing to Drift around searching for...."

And then...!

It does appear one of you is missing an eye.

Riley startles a bit as Ethius goes there, and does spare a moment to check Xander's reaction, but then leans back with a rueful smile, ready to start more trouble.

"...Ah, well, that's a sad story, he caught the attention of a very capricious and terrible person who stabbed him before he even got to start on any adventures... I guess we're both pretty unlucky if you look at it that way?" 

<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.

"Pragmatic," Xander says of Ethius. It's meant to be a compliment, but one would be forgiven for not being certain given his generally gloomy tone. Lost and out-of-place relics is probably an exciting life focus.

"Helping where you can is the exact definition of hero stuff," he says to Jay. It has the same tone as his comment to Ethius. Another compliment? Yes? No? (Yes.)

Eleanor's face falls a moment, and though Xander catches it, he doesn't press. 'Hero stuff' has its known downsides. Childhood friends, on the other hand... "You ever travel together like this?" he asks, before realizing, oh no, he's been successfully dragged into a conversational exchange. Damn it.

Riley's partner specification wins another averting of Xander's gaze and some vague noise from his throat. The tension in his jaw gets even worse with Riley's translation efforts. But he doesn't deny any of it.

Ethius brings up the eye, but it isn't the questioner himself who gets it glaring at him. Xander turns his narrow gaze to Riley. "Yes, one of us is." But the explanation Riley provides only makes Xander exhale out his entire lung capacity and place his face in his hand.

"Yeah, that guy was a real piece of work."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    It is an extraordinarily tactless question, from a strange man who seems to be able to speak and observe such things with exactly the same straight face as he has virtually anything else (going by how he hides the lower half of his face). There isn't any change in his tone or demeanor in making the remark, as if it were purely as conversational as... anything else.
     "...I see." (That does not sound like 'I'm sorry' unless he's from a part of the world where that sort of thing suffices, but if so, it sure isn't a place anyone here has ever been, or heard of.) He doesn't pass Jay and Eleanor any looks based on the surprise and shock (nor does he adopt such).
     "I will not pry on the matter further," says the man who verbally stuck the crowbar in the eye socket and then left it there. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline glances toward Eleanor, noting that brief downturn in her expression. She doesn't press the matter, though, instead offering her an encouraging smile.

And... she basically gets called out by both Riley and Xander! Her face goes a little red.

"W-well, maybe, but..." She starts... but, it's clear she doesn't have a retort ready or a way to refute that, so she just kind of trails off.

Still, though, she perks back up a bit as Riley explains that they're partners.

"Ah, is that so? That's wonderful! I'm happy for the both of you!" Jacqueline beams genuinely, clasping her hands together at the news. She does look toward Eleanor curiously at Xander's question, before looking back to Riley as he addresses Ethius's earlier comment... and then to Xander, at his response. She raises an eyebrow curiously... but, doesn't pry further.

"Hm... that sounds awful... I'm sorry you had to go through that, Xander." Jacqueline says. She sends Ethius a brief Look for bringing it up, but says nothing further. 

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"Partners! Even better," Eleanor says, though she doesn't pry and ask 'what kind of partners'...yet. But they do seem to get along very well. Riley's translation wins a little laugh from Eleanor too. And sure, Xander's voice is gloomy, but... he is ensnared in conversation!!

"Sometimes!" Eleanor answers brightly. "She's in ARMS, too. We spent a lot of time together when we were out in Spira, especially."

Spira...

But--the story. 'That guy' and being unlucky... Eleanor's expression shifts to sympathy. "That's probably for the best," when Ethius says he won't pry further.

"Well, I'm glad that you've come through all of that, at least." She glances at Jay, thoughtfully, consiering more evidence for one part of the equation...

There's something odd, though. That particular kind of intonation...

"Ah! Well, I hope you don't mind the awkwardness; Mister Hesiod means well, at least. He just is very... direct." 

<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.

Yeah, that guy was a real piece of work.

Riley smiles at Xander, so innocent you can practically see the halo.

And then Jacqueline and Eleanor are expressing their sympathies to Xander because... well, that's how normal people react to such things. He assumes. He'd nearly forgotten.

He coughs a little and tries not to look so gleeful; when it comes to that event he has all of the emotions and if he has settled on some of the stranger ones to express, well, he and Xander have to live with one another, and that would be impossible, or at least gruelingly sad, if he was going to be appropriately solemn and ashamed about all the things that have passed between them.

Well, I hope you don't mind the awkwardness. He just is very... direct.

"It's not always bad to be direct..."

Still, there are some less violent topics to potentially fall back on, such as Eleanor's travels with her friend. "I've never been to Spira..." he ventures. He assumes it's the name of a city or region he hasn't heard of. 

<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.

Xander continues to glare at Riley as if he could will him to catch fire, but slowly, mercifully relents with a sigh as he leans back on his hands. "It's fine," he says to the others. "He'll get what's coming to him someday, wherever he is." And then he hopes, indeed, no one pries further. "Just don't ask to look at it. I haven't got any lost tech in there, or whatever."

Ugggh they get so excited about the partner thing. Xander reddens and folds his arms, pointedly avoiding eye contact with everyone again.

ARMs together? Would he and Riley ever gotten wrapped up into something like that. Xander softens, just a little. "...That... seems good. Not having to be separated too long."

But he furrows his brow. "I don't think I've ever heard of Spira."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius receives a Look. It is not the first time he has received a Look. Jay knows that he has almost never successfully survived a full-on Look, and indeed, she gets him turning his head away from her as if in quiet acknowledgement of wrong-doing or guilt (or, perhaps, the Look is just too strong for a man who stares 25/8). He notably does not congratulate or fawn over the idea of them being a couple, as though... the idea, itself, were not out of the ordinary. (or the Look's powers are too strong for him to risk putting a foot in another head-height orfice)
     "I have been informed my presence is... awkward, on occasion," most of the time actually, crit failing to defend himself as Eleanor apologizes on his behalf, "...Drifting," there's an awkward pause in word choice that probably shouldn't be there, "is an occupation that sees me making observations and often speaking or acting on them accordingly. I do not intend any more untoward insinuations beyond that."
     Let it thus be known that Drifters, by job description, shall talk about missing eyes. That is absolutely what it means. For a man almost motionless beyond the necessary motions made to sit, he brings a hand to his forehead as questions come up about Spira.
     "Ah... that," his tone changes, as if finding it difficult to think of what to say, "...I imagine that will come up more in... certain circles, at this juncture."
 
     ELSEWHERE IN SYLVALAND
 
     For like the fourth time this week, a bunch of odd people with strange eyes are in a shouting match with Sylvaland dock authorities about how they are not allowed to throw a ball back and forth in commercial waters. (The arguing 'strange eyed' person does not really care that his words are not being understood, he just wants to yell until they go away because they have found that this strategy works with an impassible language barrier to contend with.) 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline meets Eleanor's glance. She doesn't say anything, but it's clear they're on the same page, at least. She nods, though, as Xander says that the one responsible will get what's coming to him - and, indeed, she doesn't pry further.

She looks toward Ethius then and nods, smiling encouragingly at his explanation.

"And he's very reliable. Things would be a lot harder without him helping keep an eye out for me." She says. She doesn't want to be too harsh, after all.

She does smile, though, as Eleanor mentions her friend and ARMS, and Spira - which, naturally, these two have never heard of.

"I'm not surprised. Most people haven't - it isn't the sort of place the average person can just go to." Jacqueline replies. "It's a lovely place - beautiful beaches, fantastic sights... but it can also be very dangerous." 

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor is very much a normal person! Right? Well, that aside, she acs like one here, noticing that glare and... not, indeed, prying further. It just remains a little... weird. Like that kind of glee if that's the word for it there.

The reddening Xander undergoes is more fun though. "Yes," Eleanor answers. "We don't always get to spend time together now, of course--we have... varying duties... But we still get to work together often."

"Yes," she says then to Ethius, "You're very good at analysis! It's a valuable skill."

Certain... circles. Yes. Spira...

"Quite--it's another world, after all." Pause. "Though you may or may not believe that, to be fair. It's... a long story. But the Drifting life has taken us many places."

She probably shouldn't have said that. She must be tired. 

<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.

The sort of congratulatory response they get about being partners from Jay and Eleanor gets a smile and an ever-so-slightly embarassed laugh from Riley; the term does makes it sound a bit like they might be married, which is kind of why he chose it. Xander doesn't seem interested in calling him out on it one way or another.

Ethius confesses that people have informed him he can be awkward.

"I can tell you don't mean anything cruel by it..." he says, with a glance at Xander since it's not like it's his own opinion that's the most relevant in the situation. But if anything, Riley was the only one here being deliberately callous about Xander's eye...

There is talk of Spira, then, and its apparently inaccessible amazing beaches.

"...a place the average person can't go?" Riley asks, his interest piqued and sounding eager, "Is it very isolated? Or do you need to traverse dangerous terrain to travel there?"

But then Eleanor cuts in with another detail. Quite--it's another world, after all.

"Wait. What?" 

<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.

There is still enough doubt that it does not mean that, Riley that Xander opts not to fight it.

He gets glanced out for eye opinions and waves it off. "I really don't care," Xander says to Ethius, even if he demonstratively cared very much, if in his own peculiar ways, and only directed at certain people. "It's better than dancing around it."

"Everywhere's dangerous," Xander says. But it sounds... really different from Filagaia... "How would someone get there?"

Eleanor mentions duties and sets his jaw again. "Duties are pretty terrible about that. Sorry. That it gets you sometimes." Maybe he's projecting. But, no, it sucks not to be able to be around your best friend. That's just how it is.

"You're right, I don't believe that."

Pause.

Xander's lack of eye contract slowly turns to looking to the others each very carefully. "That's... some sort of metaphor, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "Yes," comes Ethius' terse one-word response to everyone's observations and sentiments about him and his bluntness, his analysis, his... pretty much everything that makes him, him.
     This once again gets thrown off as he physically reacts, looking away from both of the other men present as if suddenly uncomfortable with how to broach the current topic of what 'Spira' is and where it is, when it is a subject that is growing in discussion around Sylvaland and beyond. "...I... do not believe it is something I could put in words," despite being a Drifter whose job description generally is to... drift places? His hand goes away from his face, bringing it down towards his side. "To be dutiful is to know you can be trustworthy," he abruptly hops onto the previous topic before mention of Spira as if thinking that might be the only way to move from a subject that really should not be awkward at all. "That is... how I would view that, if I were to speak for or against the concept."
     He's not looking too sure if he should define that either, his tone and tempo both finding odd breaks. 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The matter of Spira, and how much they should say... Jacqueline thinks it over. It's a difficult subject. But they've already come this far - it'd be really suspicious if they backtracked now.

"No, it's quite literal." Jacqueline replies. "Generally, ancient technology is involved... and, more often than not, it isn't by choice."

She shrugs. That's less true these days, but... she looks toward Ethius and Eleanor, to get their take on how much they should say. 

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor is still entertaining some doubts that they're married. Business partners could also be plausible! After all, she's very affectionate with her best friend, and they're just friends! That's normal, right? Of course it is.

To be dutiful is to know... Hmm. Eleanor looks at Ethius thoughtfully for a moment, but then smiles at Xander. "It's... all right," she says, and she mostly seems to believe it. "I've been rather lucky, myself."

But--he doesn't believe it. Eleanor 'hmms' a moment, and she could try to backtrack it, but she thinks much the same as Jay.

"Yes, it's very isolated," Eleanor agrees. "As she says, ancient technology; we ended up there quite by accident. ...But it's too dangerous to recommend trying to go to regardless. There's a gigantic monster that haunts its seas and regularly lays waste to settlements. ...That may sound just as unbelievable, but..."

A beat, "If you don't believe it, then just chalk it up to an active imagination, I suppose." 

<Pose Tracker> Riley Arwell has posed.

An amazing place, accessible only via ancient technology, haunted by a gigantic monster that lays waste to civilization...

"I kind of want to go there anyway..." Riley admits.

What? It's good to have some impossible dreams to keep them going. 

<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.

"To be dutiful is to know you can be trustworthy."

"Uh." Xander blinks once. He misses the attempt to reverse back in the conversation, but seems stuck on the statement all the same. "...That's... profound." He frowns as he lingers further on the thought.

"Yeah. It's... lucky if you can be near." But Xander catches himself before he says anything further. Her missing her best friend might have quite different connotations than him missing his own. And -- they do get to see each other, from the sound of it. So it isn't one of those intervene to avert disaster situations. Besides, they probably are just best friends! Stop projecting! And what business is it of his anyway?! Ugh talking to people is the worst.

Xander sighs as Riley professes his desire to go. "Of course you do."

Don't pretend you weren't thinking the same thing, Xander.

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