2023-05-23: Beleaguered Bar Banter
- Log: Beleaguered Bar Banter
- Cast: Shige Kiwako, Hannah Curie, Ruth Pauling
- Where: Klein Port Ward
- Date: May 23, 2023
- Summary: During a freelance bartending gig in Klein, Shige gets to be witness to a conversation between Hannah, who wants to be left alone, and Ruth, who seems determined to tell her something.
=============================<* Klein Port Ward *>============================== Gateway to the rest of Filgaia, bursting with goods from ports around the world, the Port Ward of Klein City has all the sights and scents one might expect of a region on the sea and populated by sailors. Occupying the least rocky terrain and the most favorable access to the coast in the area, it has capacity for many ships all at once, and is always abuzz with officials checking goods and manifests and trying to ensure that taxes, duties, and laws are properly observed in trade... though they are not always successful. Given the quantity of travel here, there are many inns and common houses and other businesses catering to those who come and go, and the sight of the Central Ward up at the top of the cliffs nearby can provide the sense that the whole ward is under a watchful eye. ...To the paranoid, anyway--for the most part, matters are smooth, though there's a significant local police force that seems to some to exist mostly to break up the fights between bored men and women of the sea on leave. It's said that the markets here have at least a little something from all over the world, though perhaps most popular are textiles: with the ocean so close to the cliffs, the ports grow quite chilly at night. BGM: Chrono Cross - Another Termina
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
It's a late evening and it's a port town. Shige's managed to hustle her way into a paid position again so she can continue doing the other side of her work! Admittedly, there's actually not a ton of difference between mixing or pouring a drink and listening to the soul's woes than there is to listening to an actual soul's woes in some spooky mansion. At least that's how the feline beastkin sees it. The rush is largely over admittedly. Quieted down and heading towards that cleanup phase. Shige's dressed in a simple button down blouse, her lantern chained to her hip and the usual long skirt to go with it all. She's not adventuring, it's fine right?
Said lantern's still giving off a hint of spooky blue light despite being hooded at the moment. Don't worry about that too much though. Wiping her hands dwn on her bar rag tucked into her belt, she rinses and wipes out a shaker and turns to look the crowd over. Eyes on a few glasses. passing to make sure there's nothing needed before finally she just plants her hands on the bartop and takes a moment to survey further out. It's slow enough for the time being to breathe.
At the least, it's not standing room only though.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
The week has been... weird. A mission into an odd otherworldly space, some unexpected (and emotional) reunions, and an invitation (which was more of a demand) to stay at the Klein estate. She was happy to see Eleanor again, she truly was, but all the same... she needed some time to process things. And so she'd headed out to find a place to be alone and think.
A bar seemed like a likely place. She didn't often drink, but given the weird mood she was in...
She steps into the bar, black cloak wrapped around her, and a red-tailed hawk riding casually on her shoulder. She looks young, barely into her 20's, though she's got a bit of a hardened look to her from her time on the road. She walks right up to the bar and grabs a seat, slipping off her courier bag and setting it on the floor beside her. (Strapped on top of her bag is a wrapped bundle, presumably a rifle of some kind by the shape of it.) The hawk hops off her shoulder once she sits, perching on the back of the stool next to her.
She folds her arms on the bartop (she's wearing fingerless gloves, and underneath is just a plain shirt, cropped denim vest, and denim shorts) and takes a deep breath, clearly pondering something. Then she signals to Shige. "Hey. What's on offer?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Not all that far behind Hannah, another silhouette darkens the doorway. There's a small bit of a stir into silence when a certain heavily dressed individual comes walking in on mismatching boots of deeply questionable quantity (there is a point where 'second-hand' is so generous that it's better to say 'third-hand,' they're that bad). The people of Klein are aware of who this is, for the most part.
A larger patron's even shifting away when she walks past, approaching the bar with her own hood up. Her hooded shawl and overcoat are of a lighter color than Hannah's, but under this lighting there's something a bit dreary about it, resembling a rainy sky. All the same... she takes her seat, which is two down from where Hannah sits, to her left.
Folded hands in gloves rest on the countertop, the Granasian rosary wrapped around her otherwise bare right forearm glinting in what light is left here, head somewhat bowed. She doesn't speak over Hannah's ordering, since her question is likely the same.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako gives the bird a look more than anything. While she doesn't have a problem with animals. She didn't back home at least, this isn't her bar. More importantly with this many people around, she's more concerned the poor thing might get spooked. Oh well, not an issue for now. She claps her hands together like she's dusting them and looks to Hannah, "Home brew and some liquors." She gives the woman a curious look, trying to get a read on her.
Ruth's entrance throws her off her game almost entirely because the room went quiet hwoever briefly. "That's new." she mutters, but shrugs it off. Usually it's her making the room go quiet. She has weird shadows following her and all. (Not really. The quiet part. The shadows are real!)
Back to her first customer. The.. first of two not the first of the night. "If it were me, I'd suggest something rum based, you don't look like a whiskey sort." She drums her fingers getting down low briefly to get a better look at first Hannah then Ruth. "Hm, we have a pale ale that's easy going as well if you're not into the harder stuff." For Ruth, "I don't remember you being as much a fan. The pale ale's probably about right." She taps her fingers. "Mulled wine, heated might be nice too?" She's guessing. Drifters are eclectic. Makes cold reads rough.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
The hawk looks back at Shige curiously with a little tilt of his head. He seems... pretty chill, all things considered, and largely unconcerned with the other goings on in the bar. When Ruth enters however, his attention turns towards her, and there's a sense of... tension, a more focused glare.
"Leave her alone," mutters Hannah, "Long as she minds her own business this time."
This time? That's not ominous.
As it happens, Hannah doesn't drink much, which might make getting a read on her a bit harder, even on top of being a drifter. She looks like a more down-to-earth type, though, so probably doesn't want anything too fancy. She considers the options. "Hmm. Gonna get chilly out, so something warm might be nice," she says with a nod to the last option. "Wouldn't say no if you happen to have something to eat, either. And if I could trouble you for a bowl of water I'd be much obliged."
The ater is for the bird, naturally.
She's glancing at Ruth with some suspicion out the corner of her eye, despite telling Zephyr to just leave the other woman alone. She can't help but wonder if the other woman followed her in here, though.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"Pale ale is fine," Ruth speaks. "I'll have it straight, in a smaller glass." If Ruth's ever drank around Shige before, Shige would be aware that she nurses her drinks and also doesn't... seem to care if said drink has gone warm or flat. She dresses the way she does even on warm days, and in warmer climates, as if such a thing doesn't bother her. She draws some silvery coins from a pouch and sets it down on the counter. (Some of the coins are Lunarian Silver instead of Filgaian Gella, turns out. Filgaian Gella and Lunarian Silver have nearly become completely interchangeable over the last handful of years, to the chagrin of... quite a few people. But they spend, since they're made of the same material.)
Ruth doesn't speak up about what Hannah mumbles, but when she gives a side-eye, Hannah might once again see a tiny glimpse of Ruth's gaze under the hood. That long, lifeless, distant look. Her smile doesn't reach those eyes.
More importantly, though... Ruth doesn't look like that monster she was when they left the Memory Maze. The strange haze of sorrow that surrounds her isn't there on a spiritual level, but after seeing her like that... can one really see her for what she looks like right now?
"It's all right," she says without facing closer to Hannah. "You're safe," she adds as she clenches her right hand a little tighter in saying so. "This part of Klein gets rough in the evening hours. No one will approach you."
There was that silence when she entered. Those words are said as if honest truth.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako looks between the two. Particularly both the reaction, then the reprimand actually working. She narrows her eyes and considers options. Is that another one of the Poltergeists? Yes she knows the actual title. No she won't use it in her own head anymore. As for the lunar silver coins, she checks them just out of habit, not at all seeming bothered by the stamp. She's spent enough time over there to be quite content being home where death is normal and comes on a train. Kind of.
"Got it backwards." She shrugs. Laughing it off as she fishes up a mug, checking it for any particular nastiness before wiping it out and filling it. Sure they're washed, but she's guest starring here. Keep your own standards, don't expect them to do it!
Ruth's comes up first. As does the bowl of water. "Keep the tail end away from my bartop if you could please." She nods to the bird. "Unless that's a talk-y one." She glances down the bar at the others, pausing to begin heating the wine, giving it a quick stir before refilling a drink further down.
When she returns, she leans against her side of the bar. "They'd have a bad time trying. Just because I'm noodle armed doesn't mean I tolerate rowdiness beyond the usual level you expect from a port town bar." She grins. "I'm Shige, I'll be your bartender and a sympathetic ear if you need one." There's a pause, "Food." a look back. "I think they've got a house stew. Probably some grilled meats." She taps her chin, "The wine was kind of sweet, but warmed up it'll be easy drinking. Something savory with it's my suggestion.
A glance to Ruth again, "You doing okay? Been a bit." One leg lifted, she leans on the bar, leaning closer to both. Looking perfectly relaxed. Her shadow may or may not be doing something completely different. It almost looks like it's watching the wine on the heat. Must be a trick of the light though.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah slides the bowl of water over to Zephyr, who proceeds to drink at it... though he does keep an eye on Ruth in between sips.
"Don't worry, he knows better than that," reassures Hannah, speaking in a sort of flat, and maybe just a tad tired, intonation.
Hannah, meanwhile just has regular Gella to drop on the bartop for her meal. Either she hasn't kept any Lunarian currency around, or... she hasn't made the trip.
Hannah scowls a little when she sees Ruth looking back at her, and very determinedly puts her attention forward, instead. She's not as familiar with the area, or she might be tempted to go find another bar. But by the time she did all that... She's already sitting, and doesn't feel like getting up for a bit.
When Ruth tries to be... reassuring? She's honestly not sure what Ruth is trying to accomplish, but she snorts derisively. "I can look after myself just fine, thank you," she says to nobody in particular, deliberately not looking Ruth's way. "Besides, it's not other people I'm worried about right now."
So instead she watches Shige a bit as she goes about her work, eyes drawn to that lantern and studying it out of curiously. That's an interesting glow it has. She nods as she introduces herself. "Name's Hannah." She inclines her head a little. "That's Zephyr."
Zephyr chirps as his name is mentioned.
"Stew's probably the way to go, then." She's maybe a tad underdressed for a port town at night, so a little bit of extra warmth won't hurt her.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"Thank you." Is about all Ruth says to Shige as she takes her drink. She gives it a gentle sip, eyes closed for the moment for what little hit of flavor that hits her lips before setting it down.
"Is that so," Ruth replies to the 'it's not other people I'm worried about.' She doesn't pry over Shige's offer to be the ear that one is spoken to. But she does comment as such, hardly moving from where she sits, faces, and occasionally sips.
"Zephyr is very well-behaved." A little smile, though hard to see under the hood. "You two must be very close."
"...I'm feeling," she says to Shige as the stand-in bartender asks. Feeling what? Good? Bad? "It's all I can ask for, some days." A light 'clink' when the glass taps against the bar again. Between Shige and herself, any sort of problems that could pop up are well in hand, unless one counts Ruth as a problem. (In a lot of contexts, she sort of is.)
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako tilts her head back like she's listening to something. One feline ear flicking. She nods and glances back at the pot for a moment. The shadow's looking a different direction again. "If I told you it's the guiding light of a train for the dead would you buy it?" She says it straight faced. It's true admittedly. There's an impish grin though. Sometimes reality's just weird enough and messing with people can always be fun.
"Works for me." She wipes her hands again as she checks on Ruth's cryptic commentary. Nothing new though. She's gone back to a neutral face. That professional vague smile. "It's wrapping up for the night. I might join you two for a drink if you want the company." Sure there's a few others, but most of them are sailors. They're her people, but they all have the same stories! Usually.
The shadow flickers and seems to tap Shige again. She pauses, then sighs. "Yeah yeah." as she pushes away and deftly pours the wine into a mug with a handy... handle. Setting it before Hannah, she glances to Ruth again. "You want food too? And.." She gives Hannah a look. "Your bird well trained or uh. More? Since I told you my trick?" She's got a light tease there. It's funny to her. She disappears without the answer first though to get the stew and some bread. She can get more for Ruth if so. Part of this was also an excuse to refill a mug further down. Cash out another and have a brief chat with the probably owner before returning.
"No harm in accepting help when it's there you know." She pauses. "Most of the time. Usually." There's a scowl. "Ignore that. She's fine though."
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Ruth's 'Is that so?' ears her another side-eye from Hannah as she considers her reply. She could just ask flat-out what Ruth wants from her... but given how the subject got onto her magic last time, she really doesn't feel like broaching that subject.
Besides, Ruth got to see it in action up close and personal, recently. Which might answer far more for her than she's willing to say regardless.
"Tell me you walking in here just after I did is a coincidence."
But Shige's comment earns a raised eyebrow. "Would I believe it? Possibly. Would I purchase it? Not a chance." She's watching Shige's movements, how she reacts to the shadows, how her shadow seems to have a mind of its own... There's something very familiar to her about it, given her own connection to Zephyr.
One which she doesn't particularly feel like sharing outright with two strangers.
But Shige offers extra company, and... Hannah ends up sharing a glance with the bird, almost as if she was asking him his opinion. Zephyr just looks back at her with a little tilt of his head and then goes back to drinking his water.
Well, it it means a buffer between her and Ruth... "Sure. Why not."
She takes the mug in her hands with a quiet, but sincere, "Thanks." She takes a sip, feeling the warm liquid starting to fill her belly, and then sets it down again. "We are." Close, that is. "Not really trained. He's just my friend."
No harm in accepting help... "Is it help being offered, though...?" She's asking this as a challenge to Shige, but it may as well be directed at Ruth. 'She's fine though.' is met with a very skeptical "Hmm."
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"Who am I to turn down a kindness," the almost statue-like Ruth responds to the offer for food. "I wouldn't mind the stew." She likes making the stuff, which stands to reason she must like eating the stuff! Simple travel recipes are a necessity in Drifting, as it were. She has another sip, and only sometimes watches the way Shige's shady shadow friends sway and move throughout.
Hannah's challenge to tell her it's just a coincidence that she showed up is that she just has that little smile on her face as she sets down the glass again. Cryptic and not at all answering, or just taking in the vibe, as it were.
...
As Hannah muses about help being offered, and this seems more coincidentally timed with how Ruth lowers her head to stare into her glass... her right hand raises, and some of the ambient light hits that Granasian rosary to give it more of a shine.
"You're frightened, aren't you." Ruth asks of... Hannah? She's not facing anyone in the moment, and yet...
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige Kiwako flicks an ear at the two.. not quite bickering, but there's something there. She disappears again, mostly to give Ruth her stew. She's got bread and some kind of meat for her own snack. Said snack is set down on a plate. She pulls out a bottle of whiskey, some bitters, an orange and a cherry before getting to work. Simple stuff, simple sugar, simple mix! When that's all wrapped up, she rounds the bar and takes a seat between the two while someone else takes her place.
The ash colored feline takes a sip of her drink and offers it over to Hannah. She seems newer of the two and Ruth's not a hard drinker! Also this keeps them from maybe escalating just in case.
The shadow's split into two and they definitely look off, but that's probably the uneven lighting of the room and the press of bodies. "It's not for sale to be fair. I think I'd get yelled at selling off parts of the train and I'm pretty sure Ge Ramtos in particular would punish me for that level of brazeness." Whether the sip was taken or not by Hannah, she takes a long pull from the doubled drink. She's functioning.
"The help's offered, just non-typically. I offer the same help. Usually my help's for the other side though." she jerks her head to the side and gestures with a thumb like it's a physical place. "Get them where they belong so they can rest or take another spin or whatever it is that happens." She knows a few funerary rites, just... not the hard answers per say. She could probably ask, but to her it's irrelevant in a way. She'll find out when she finds out.
The bird's offered a bit of meat either way. Picked with her claws. "Special friend huh? Well nice meeting you Zephyr. If you're a poltergeist too, I'll have some complaints." It's a seraph right? Maybe? ...nah.
As for Ruth, she tilts her head thataway. "Everyone deserves a break I figure." Kind of looping back to the other side commentary. "Next time we end up somewhere dangerous and stupid, try to remidn me to bring you some spiced wine. I bet a deeper flavor like that'd be great for you. And not too hard on the alcohol." The question about being frightened, not directed at her, gets a perk of those ears and she looks back to Hannah. "of?"
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah's been known to make a stew or two herself. Not explicitly as a travel thing, more because it was an easy way to feed a lot of mouths easily. But that hasn't been a concern of hers for a while now.
She's trying to enjoy her own stew, in between sips of her drink, but Ruth's non-answer is grating on her nerves. (She's doing a really bad job of following her own instructions to Zephyr to ignore Ruth.)
She does relax a little, to have a buffer of sorts as Shige takes the seat between them. But only a little. She gives a small shake of her head at the offer of a sip. "Thank you but not right now." She's got her own drink she's still working on.
She listes as Shige explains about the lantern. "Didn't think such a thing would be. Just making clear what I was answering." She glances at the lantern again. "I'd rather not have something happen by speaking carelessly."
Hannah frowns a bit when Shige assures her help is being offered. She offers help for the other side, which makes sense, considering the latern, but that still begs the question... "And what, exactly, is it do you think it is I need help with? You don't know me." Her voice is a bit strained. She's tense and trying to keep her emotions in check.
Zephyr makes a happy bird noise and makes a short hop with a single flap of his wings to accept the treat. Hannah, staring pointedly at her bowl so she can avoid looking at Ruth, glances up a moment too late. "Wai--" And the morsel is gone. ".... Please tell me that wasn't seasoned with anything." She shakes her head in response to Shige. "Nope. Firmly of the land of the living. He's just a red-tailed Hawk."
Then a pause, and a glance towards Shige. "... 'Too'?"
Hannah's body tenses as Ruth makes that statement, fingers gripping her spoon rightly. She doesn't answer Ruth, but when Shige prompts with the follow-up, she says, through clenched teeth, "Apparently there is someone seeking me out trying to pry into my business. I think anyone would be concerned about that, wouldn't you?" There is a bit of panic underneath, at the thought that Ruth might have an angle on her she's not aware of, though the anger overlaying it is causing her own magic to get a bit pricklier and a bit... off.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
"The Garden of Toldoka awaits all those who suffer beyond death," Ruth adds her own layer of beliefs to Shige's declarations of her work. That's a belief associated with Saint Calucion, a Granasian figure most popular... well, once was most popular in the original context... in Guara Bobelo. Guara Bobelo is a very, very, very different place now. "Your friends... don't seem like they're suffering."
Is it all right for the happy dead to keep staying in the world of the living? Somewhere in these conversational beats, Ruth has herself a bit of the stew. If the stew is a bit warm for immediate consumption, Shige may be impressed to see how Ruth doesn't flinch to the temperature of it.
Before she can give thanks for it and commenting on the spiced wine, well, Hannah has things to say.
Ruth's eyes open as if she might have caught a whiff of something suddenly just as Hannah's strained aggression reaches the point of 'pointed words.' Her right hand parts from the glass over her own heart, fingers curling as she feels the fabric against her own fingers.
"Is it yourself?" She asks of Hannah. "Who you are... what you've done... what you could do?" The smile widens, but it's a bitter one. She shakes her head, brings her hand up to her opposite shoulder, and sticks it under her shawl in order to reach for her shoulder as a twinge of pain flares up from it.
"What we have between us, it's not the same," she concedes, "but I saw how you handled them." Them being the thugs that Hannah brought low, but spared, with that frightening Crest Sorcery. "It wasn't about whether you could protect yourself, was it. Well..."
Ruth draws her right hand away from her shoulder. Since her right side's what's facing Hannah, she holds up her gloved right hand, and with it...
Motes of blackish-purple stream up that arm. The exposed skin of her forearm starts to take a paler hue, as 'it' terminates towards the end of an open hand into the air.
A spiritually toxic force of contradiction, these bearing the 'feel' of guilt, shame, regret, despair - deeply uncomfortable. Shige can see the faintly glowing violet of her eyes even if Ruth's not looking at anyone.
Moments later, Ruth clenches that fist and brings 'it' back in. Whatever remains is merely residual and not at enough concentration to hurt anyone. The seemingly paler skin returns to its previous pigmentation.
"I wanted to say you could be in good company," Ruth says as she lowers that hand back down to her glass.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
It's not much of a trick to sort out tension when it's there. Even if you're supposed to be on the lookout for it normally anyway. As for travel food, the feline prefers dried fishes and breads, but that's neither here nor there. She's a cat.
"I doubt it'd happen just from talking. Though there-" She trails off. Then shrugs. "Not with me at least. Wrong kind of work." She gestures back over her shoulder. "World does that part on its own most of the time."
As for the snack? It's meat. Probably salt and pepper at best. Stuff you'd stick on a sandwich, just not the modern stuff. "Not really. I've got a bunch of spicy mustard under the bread if that's his thing though." That's said jokingly.
Back to Ruth, "I don't drag them along without good reason even if I disagree with it on some level. Though." She considers, then adds more somberly, "Some of the stuff I've seen, maybe it would be better." She shrugs. "Not my call yet." She's torn on it, truth be told.
Shige does lean away from the smoke. Teeth bared briefly. Probably the closest to a beastial thing she's done in ages. "I don't need another cleansing." Though she doesn't get up and leave. "Had three in the past month and change. First time that damn wannabe ghost stole my liquor too."
Back to Hannah she says wryly, "Everyone almost always needs help with something. I don't know your story, but you're wandering in this weather with little more than a cloak to keep the cold out. You're in a portside bar which tends to be rowdy and you're hanging out with a psychopomp and-" she glances at Ruth, "What's a non-mean joke I can make?" before continuing back to Hannah, "You need help, just ask. Normally I'd say follow the light, but we've leaned into death talk and that makes people nervous." Speaking of which, one more look back to Ruth, "Also I want to learn more about those beliefs. Might help lay more to rest. Or at least fill in gaps. It helps."
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah does listen, with faint interest, as Ruth and Shige expound on some of their spiritual beliefs and practices. Normally, she might be more interested in that particular discussion topic, despite not being particularly observant of any religion herself. Right now though, she's far too upset to engage in too much small talk.
But Shige clarifies on the meat, and Hannah gives a very firm "No." to the offer of spicy mustard. But she's looking directly at Zephyr, who is still happily working on that piece of meat. "Don't want him getting sick."
'Is it yourself?' Hannah doesn't so much drop her spoon as set it down very deliberately and forcefully with a loud clink. (But fortuntely without spilling anything.) Her hands go to grip the edge of teh bar, knuckles turning white as she restrains herself from taking action. Zephyr has turned alert, too, wings half-cocked and ready for flight.
What they have isn't the same. "No, it's not," she interjects, tersely. She doesn't know what Ruth's deal is, but she's seen enough (or perhaps, seen enough of a lack within herself) to know that much, at least.
She does turn her head to watch that little demonstration though. Zephyr hops back, wings spread wider. Hannah herself is experiencing a particularly strong fight-or-flight response, kept in check through some strained breathing. (Fight might be winning if Shige wasn't between them. Or at least, there might be the drawing of another crest graph, like the last time they spoke.)
Ruth finally gets to a real point, one that utterly failed to materialize in the previous conversation. "There are better ways to approach this subject." Side glance to Ruth. "More direct ways." And then back to her bowl. "That being said... this? is not the place I want to discuss that..."
After a long pause, she finally ends with, a bit quieter than before, and showing just the barest hint of conciliation in her tone, "... I will make note of that, however."
"No, you don't," she retorts curtly to Shige as she mentions not knowing her story. "... I'll be fine," she says grumpily on the subject of wardrobes and port towns. "Ain't planning on being outside much anyway. And I'm a Crest Sorceress. I can handle myself. As I've said."
To Zephyr she gives a small shake of her head, and the bird hops back a few steps and goes back to his water, while Hannah picks up her spoon and tries to resume eating her stew.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Where both Shige and Hannah show their immense discomfort with the harnessing of Malevolence out in the open like this, Ruth's only calm on the surface. Every inclination is to pounce on the release of fear and tension. Every toxic, self-destructive, circular thought to reinforce the despair that gives her drive and purpose.
It's like having the aroma of one's favorite pie just sitting there, in reach, unguarded and waiting to be messily consumed all in one sitting, and having to satisfy yourself with just the whiff of it.
'What's a non-mean joke I can make?'
Ruth doesn't have an answer for that, as she takes another sip of her drink.
"The Paladiennes see to the guidance of the Earthbound Dead," she adds that much detail, but she can't go any further than that because Hannah... has her turn.
"Would you have accepted those direct ways," Ruth says as she has herself some more of that stew. It doesn't really matter to her so much if it gets cold, but the aroma carries better while it's warm and the consistency is better. When you lose some of your senses, you cherish the ones that remain.
To Hannah's declarations, Ruth just bows her head and keeps that eerie smile that doesn't quite belong in the collective mood of the tension between the three of them, but, she'll keep watch as long as the lot of them are still in Klein.
Hannah may be in no danger, but indeed, no one will approach them. Someone taking their leave has themselves a few startled steps when they see it's Ruth, before taking off in a more brisk jog.