Event | Landfall | Bresilyk | Markutte

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: December 3 - 11, 2013
Location: Markutte, Bresilyk (landfall)
Situation: Tu Vishan makes landfall at the winterbound republic of Bresilyk!
Warnings/Rating: Please include warnings in comment subject lines

OOC Post | Approved Items | Special Gifts
Aihsohlow | Phorezton | Markutte | Countryside

The commerce town of the tried. Temperatures within the dome are kept at a lofty 18C (62F) year round and the population of Markutte dresses less in furs and more in linens obtained through trade. Their long hair is frequently shorn short in the current fashion and they are, on the whole, less hardy than their kin in Phorezton and Aihsohlow, but even more friendly as they are currently in the throes of the Harvest Haul, a festival that concludes their rare growing seasons and agricultural bounties.

Trade. That's the foundation of Markutte and there are three town squares that are home to transient stalls and merchandise from the country and all surviving areas of Konryu. Many kedan have made their way here and occupy the occasional stall space, selling their wares and exchanging gifts with the citizens as they grasp the nature of the festival underway. Once again, visitors that make the trek here are expected to donate a gift that will be regifted at random, earning access and a stamp of their tin visa that resembles the oblong crystal coin used as currency in this realm.

Police are on the lookout for financial crimes here and will demand visas of any they suspect to be committed fraud, short-selling merchants, or thieving in any way, shape, or form. There are three vistas, one in each market square, upon which heralds stand and announce the crimes and punishments noted of the previous day. Minor theft is common and the punishment is a brand upon the criminal's neck; major theft results in a loss of a finger for each item stolen; fraud here is punishable by death, but only twice will there be an announcement of an execution during the landfall.

The auctions here are quite lively and characters can expect a minor bidding war to obtain their items, but each item is in pristine condition and provided to them wrapped within a thin set of furs as a thanks for their purchase.

Customs | Settlement | Auctions | Harvest Haul | Other

Comments

[imaginate]

[There's that unsolicited praise thing again. Very, very briefly, he looks confused, but then shrugs. It's less of an issue to accept praise in an area he thinks he's good at. It's the other things - being a good person, or being wise - where things get messy.]

[And this is pretty much Jim's dad, even messier.]

A couple of days? Business has been good.

[pikes]

I'll say.

[ Pike gives praises when he means them. ]

I haven't properly thanked you for those gifts. Not just the paintings.

[imaginate]

[Gratitude is another box of messy with a side of 'holy crap'. He's not used to it. Even when Jim has been piling it on him, it's bizarre, and makes him think the person giving it is being manipulative. Everyone has an ulterior motive, in Kyle's world. Even altruism is one.]

No problem.

[Playing it cool, nbd.]

[pikes]

[ casually pretending that they're not awkward around each other without jim or anything. s'all good. ]

How long does it take you to paint one?

[imaginate]

[Kyle's wary. An unknown is an unknown, no matter that he knows what Pike's relationship with Jim is - the man's motives are obscure to him, and as such the razor-sharp edges he's acquired over the years are poking holes into his social skills.]

Depends. Some of them [he gestures to one of a large tree, from Wood Sector] take maybe an hour. Others [he points to a different painting, that of an open field which Barry will eventually purchase] take a few weeks.

... That's assuming I have free time.

[Because he works several jobs to keep the cabin fever at bay, just as Jim does.]

[pikes]

[ pike voices that, because he's had the same impression with jim before. ]

Cabin fever?

[imaginate]

[He's momentarily tense, annoyed at being so easily read - but it bleeds away quickly, and he looks up, at the sky, before looking down again and meeting Pike's gaze, steady.]

[Quietly:] I belong up there, not here.

[pikes]

Circumstances don't always go in our favor, but we make the best of it.

[ he doesn't glance at the cane in his hands, but he's thinking it for sure. ]

cw: war horrors

[imaginate]

[Kyle, however, pointedly looks at the cane, studying the inlays, the subtle shifts in Pike's body language as he leans on it. (A bad leg, probably.) He's familiar with the way people move - hell, Wally's a joy to paint because of his movements when he's running - and he's even more familiar with how they look when they're in pain: doubled up with it or dying.]

[Unexpectedly, he thinks of Bzzd, and he looks away, shoulders sagging.]

"It's not what happens, it's how you react that matters" ?

[His mouth curves downwards. It's something John would tell him. It's what this place has beaten into him, right down until it's carved into the bone, that he can't let it get to him, squeeze out more of his life and light than it has. And sometimes, he wants to get angry. To shatter and shatter until he can't feel the raw nerves anymore, because he deserves to fly and there's so little here for him —]

[there's Jim —]

[The storm recedes. None of that shows on his face or shoulders, though his right hand twitches. I want to take action.]

Sky breaks, you pick up the pieces. You get on with getting on.

[He can't quite stop it from coming out like a sullen teacher who's repeated that lesson to a stubborn child one too many times.]

[pikes]

[ Pike's eyes narrow minutely, gaze held straight ahead.

Actions and reactions - unbidden, he thinks of Jim saving Spock's life in Nibiru, through fire and ash, through breaking the all-powerful prime directive that has governed their lives. It still makes pike the admiral angry, knowing what Jim has done, knowing that Jim doesn't regret it for a second.

But - ]

No.

[ His hold on the cane loosens, knuckles flexing. ]

The sky can't break if you still remember how to fly. You only bide your time.

[imaginate]

[Then you've never seen it, he thinks, quietly, remembering dust and storms and hail, the taste of blood in his mouth. Or watched those who get struck by the shards. The ring was a calling, but they all knew: you never left the Corps. You died in its service, and you were lucky, it'd be quick. There was no other end to the story.]

[Jim's world, and Pike's too, was so much brighter. Space was promise and hope. Less terror. Less fire. Kyle'd be jealous, and he had been, at first, listening to Jim talk about home, but more and more he found himself longing for his own, no matter that Jim said it'd made him sound macabre and defeatist at times. Kyle'd never held any illusions about what home was - a hard life and a war without end - but above everything, it was his.]

[Quietly, with a touch of wry humour:] Stick to the rules. [A beat.] Sir.

[Fine, he'll play along, accept in theory that the terms could be re-contextualised (God, he wants to dream freely), but in practice - you didn't win, you never could. You just had to be the last one standing.]

[pikes]

[ Pike has no illusions as to what war is like in any other universe, even one like Kyle's. One is never 'easier' than the other, and comparing is useless. People get struck, get hurt, die. As far as Jim, and most people from Starfleet is concerned, Starfleet is the answer, Starfleet has all the answers. Older people like Pike, relics of their own adventures, know better even if they still like to hope.

War is war, in the end. 'Brighter' does not always mean 'better'.

They've helped give it pause, manufactured the peace. Past mistakes have already started to surface (Khan), and other things will come in time. Perhaps with Jim at the help there is hope for them all - but life goes on, the cycle continues. ]

Generally, someone has to.

[ His own wryness appears. ]

And I am not your superior. No 'sir's if you can help it, Kyle.

[imaginate]

[For Kyle, there's a hierarchy. There always was a clearly defined one even if it didn't make rational sense if looked at from the outside. He was learning to fight that, slowly. Jim was doing everything he could to wipe away the scars, get Kyle to see again through the eyes of that reckless boy who dreamed of the stars.]

[Average service time of a Green Lantern: Four years, three months, one day, thirteen hours, and seven minutes. —]

[He lets laughter dance in his eyes, and for moment looks every bit his age: restless, and full of promise. He knows the value of choosing hope, and given a choice, would pick it over the darkness. Every time.]

What about my needs! Where'll I get my daily dose of casual insubordination?

[pikes]

If you insist, then you'd better get in line.

[ It's not a long line, but Jim just keeps coming back for more.

He sighs, a tinge of exasperation and amusement mixed in together. ]

I'd better leave you to it so you can sell your paintings. Good luck with that.