[Closed] Stacking Meats, then Meet and Greet

[Maro Seran]

He sat silently at that. It was a strange comparison to hear, but he supposed with knowing little of how people like Maro lived their lives, as Maro in turn knew little to noting of how Yazad lived their owife as a servant, could draw such a comparison. The thought of settling down also reminded him of those rare arguements he heard when his uncle was talking to the others of their kint, the ones who settled in cities and lived in one place. It was only a moment in time, but Maro seemed still like a satatue as he gave a silent thoughtful gaze into the air, brows furrowing.

"That.... is not the first time Maro has been asked that"

He admitted with a sigh, a hand restimg upon the table, fingers tapping against the wood.

"To answer that Maro also has to say that comparing his families wandering as a picnic.... is not quite right"

He stopped the tapping of his fingers against the wood, his brows straightening as he then ran a hand through his hair, sweeping it back. The sound of a sausage being cooked upon a pan struck his ears with a sizzling sound.

"An picnic implies that everyday is pleasant, easy, a paradise without worry of the waether or of other people or creatures giving us trouble["/b]

He then paused, his eyes going to a faraway place for a single second.

"That food does not run out, that the wagons don't break down and lose a wheel or the pack animals do not get sick. But they do, and sometimes the hunt doesnt end so wel and ymwhat food you jave needs to be rationed carefully.

And some people and creatures can be cruel, or perhaps simply desperate"

And then there are people who look away from the wrongs, as if it werr only natural or right for it to happen.

"I suppose in that way settling down sounds fantastic, especially because it wont jist be Maro and his famiy for almost everyday of a month.
But for people like Maro to live in the fity we're expected to act a certain way, stop doing certain things, to... whats the word? Conform?"

Maro smiled bitterly at that, sitting silent as a plate of food was placed before him with a mug of mulled ale, soon followed with the gentle thud of a mug hot cocoa being placed before Yazad.

"Would we still be Seran then?"

[Yazad]

The Stacks

21st of Intas, 2720 - 12th Hour

I f Yazad thought that the life of a hunter was hard before, that thought had certainly been solidified by Maro’s almost bitter reply. The playful man had grown solemn, as though the subject was one that caused him considerable conflict. It was, Yazad knew, not easy to break away from family, from tradition, from the only lifestyle that one had lived ever since they were born. Regardless, he did not think of things quite as darkly as they turned out to be when Maro explained. Yazad listened attentively, lacing the fingers of his hands and resting them on his knees.

Insufficient food, broken wagons, and sickly beasts of burden were struggles that Yazad had never had to worry about in his life. There was something especially grim about the way Maro spoke of cruel and desperate people. This, to the passive, was the hardest part to process. He simply could not fathom it--that sentient, cognisant people would intentionally harm one another. "I do imagine that you will be expected to behave as city dwellers, yes. And that in turn means changing daily habits and long-standing traditions. Not an easy feat, now that you had put it that way." Yazad admitted thoughtfully, his fingers going up to tuck a lock of inky black hair behind his ear. Had anyone asked him to conform to a lifestyle that is unlike his current one, then...he may or may not consider it, depending on a number of factors, but it still would be a struggle.

"Ah, thank you very much." The passive smiled and uttered his words of thanks when his hot cocoa mug was placed on the table before him. Instantly, he wrapped his hands around the porcelain to relish its warmth. "No, I suppose not. You would still be Maro though, would you not? I suppose it is a question of whether or not you think of yourself mainly as a Seran, or as Maro." Yazad commented smilingly then fell silent, leaving the hungry hunter some time to eat his breakfast.

[Maro Seran]

Time Stamp

Maro chuckkled at that, perhaps he would still be, but it was strange to mot be Seran.

"Maro would still be Maro of course.... but at the same time different. Same but different, perhaps more like the wicks here"

He lifted a sausage with a fork, turning it about before taking a bite of one end, chewing it only briefly before swallowing it down.

"And while Maro spoke of the downsides, if he were to become a city wick, a tsat, he'd be giving up the upsides "

He then pointed towards Yazad with the sausage. Smiling impishly.

"After all, Maro grts to meet interesting people for one".

He then turned the fork around and ate the rrmained of the sausage, savoring the taste before swallowing it down. He then grabbed the mulled beer amd gabe it a sip, enjoying warm ale, lettjng it warm his body as he closed his eyes. He then looked at Yazad again before speaking.

"And there are the sights to behold, one could live their entire life here and perhaps only see the beauty of the mountains from below. But they would not see the beauty form the top nor, both the nystery and majesty of the Wraithwine Woods, the vastness of the sea that is home to Old Rose Harbour. And can when you explore the places where the animals live..."

His smiled turned great then, a complete turn from his somber expression.

"There is nothing like simply seeing a deer approaching a stream to take a sip, or to see a wolf quietly lazing upon a flat stone as its pups roughhouse with each other."


With his firk he lpicked up a slice of his egg, sliding it into his mouth and quickly swallowing the thin slice. Mentally he decided to omit the fact that said animals also tended to be hunted, he learned long ago that some find the contrast jarring. The Seran learned long ago that Nature was both beauiful and frightning, as cruel as it could be gentle.

"For as much I could possily attain by settling down, I would lose just as much, possibly more."

He picked up hus ale again, taking one sip then a deeper gulp before gently placing the mug upon the counter. If he were honest to himself, it was an arguement he had eith himself plenty of times. One of many that affected the direction of his life.


"Tell me, of your life here, should you journey to travel all the hot cocoa in the land, is there something you would, do you believe you could leave all that you have here to do it? Perhaos eben yoir life as a servant? "

[Yazad]

A Vague Tavern

21st of Intas, 2720 - 12th Hour

I t was an interesting thought, really. To be the same yet to be different. Yazad had thoughts of his own in that regard. What if he were not Yazad the passive, but Yazad the galdor, heir to Achilleas Logarchon? His life would have been entirely different then, but in what way? Would he still be the same person he is now, or would he be someone else? What if, in some other world of imagination, he lived a life so unlike his current one? It was an amusing thing to think about, but nothing for him to dwell on.

The passive watched with blinking eyes as the hunter wolfed down his sausage, but the man did say before that he was hungry. "I am hardly knowledgeable about wicks, sadly. It is good to know that city-dwelling wicks are named ‘tsats’ I suppose one does learn something new every day." Yazad smiled, then followed by taking a sip of his drink. The moment he looked up from the cup, he found the sausage pointing at him.

"My, I am flattered that you consider such a meeting an upside." The man beamed at his companion, placing a hand over his chest. Maro was alternating between talking and eating, which tried Yazad’s tendency to try and correct the other’s behavior. Table manners aside, the man was pleasant enough, with a lot of interesting things to say. Certainly the type of person that Yazad cannot meet often.

Dreamy wistfulness tinted Yazad’s eyes at the mention of sights to behold, and the beauty of the world that he will not be able to witness. It sounded lovely enough--to walk the woods, to look up at mountains, to see animals frolic. "What views these must be, I can only hope to behold them one day. Never have I seen a living deer or wolf, though I would very much like to. Or a tiger. I would very much like to see a tiger." Yazad commented smilingly, taking another sip before looking up at Maro. "There is indeed an upside to every downside, so it is wide to look at both rather than simply the latter." Maro appeared to recover quickly enough from his earlier slump, which Yazad was thankful for. To be sour so early in the morning is a terrible tone for the day. Perhaps his merry chugging of ale had something to do with his lifted mood.

Yazad gave a giggle; light and clear as the chiming of a bell. His smile, and his gaze, gained a softness that came so easily to them. Maro’s hypothetical question, even with the tempting addition of hot cocoa, was an easy enough one to answer. "No, I am fairly certain that I would not leave. I have a duty to the good master, and upholding duty comes before any desire or whim. Additionally, I am rather a creature of habit. I would like to continue to wake up and clean the house, cook meals while humming, feel the day’s breeze as I put up the laundry. It is not a grand life by any means, but it is a life that I have come to be content with."

[Maro Seran]

Maro hummed at that, using his fork to seperate a bit of egg before swallowing it. He could only wonder what a life as a servant to Galdori was like, from what little Maro knew it was dependant on the master, but overall the impressioms given to him was that it wasn't best of lives.

Yazad seemed to represent otherwise, and who was Maro to judge, especially someone so devoted to their role? A hunter could only bemoan their lack of knowledge on themself, and Maro could be silently mature about simply not having the knowledge to know how city folk live to guess how Yazad felt about their own life, and like how many of the tribes lived different lives, city foll certainly lied in many different ways despite being rooted to one place for most of their lives.

In their own way Yazad also provided Maro insigt for his own dillema, a question he'd been asking himself for years now but despite always believing he had the answer there remained that doubt, which was a little less now thanks to the converaation had.

The hunter pushed aside his fork and plate to cradle the mug of mulled ale, bringing it up for a sip as his mind had a million and one ideas running through his mind yet not one had decided to take turns going through, so it would be down to the one bursting through the crowd.

"Maro supposes he can understand such"

He lifted his mug again to take another sip, eyes looking at nothing in particular while his face kept up that smirk of his.


"But if you ever desire a great change of scenery, perhaps give some of the wandering tribes a try. Maro's sure they'll appreciate one with such a sense of duty"

And Yazad does have quite the smile, although Maro still could not tell if the person before him was aan or woman, but why bother? It was pleasant company all the same.

[Yazad]

A Vague Tavern

21st of Intas, 2720 - 12th Hour

Y azad nodded to Maro, seconding the other’s understanding. He, too, felt as though the conversation was revealing an intriguing part of the world to him. He is a servant, Maro is a hunter--there was little in common that Yazad could think of them having, but they were both curious, and they were both accepting of the other’s differences.

The passive lifted his cup for another sip that was a smidgen longer than the one before. His drink was cooling down to a temperature that was still considered pleasantly warm. The taste, thickness and sweetness of the beverage were noted silently; filed away in his mental catalogue of hot cocoa samples. A humble collection so far, but one that he was hoping to expand eventually.

"My, you flatter me greatly." Yazad smiled, inclining his head slightly, playfully, to the man sitting before him. The passive took pride in his diligence and work ethics, and was aware that not everyone possessed similar passion about their occupations. Unfortunate, really, as it felt greatly delightful to love what one does. "I am afraid that my current employment is rather permanent, but I shall keep this offer in mind if ever I were to take a different path in life." It was all so hypothetical. He is not the one to decide where he could or could not go, nor was he able to indulge all of his desires. Maro, however, was speaking good-heartedly, and so Yazad could only smile and go along with the thought.

"What of your family, Maro? Do they not visit The Stacks with you?" The man asked, then took another sip of his drink while awaiting the answer.

[Maro Seran]

Time Stamp

Maro could honestly say this has been perhaps the most enjoyable conversation he had this season, granted this wasn't exactly a difficult thing when one lived with a family of hunters who disliked interacting much with outsiders.


"They do, they simply do not like to linger when their tasks are concluded, usually"


Maro admitted, indeed other than perhaps visiting extended family and conversing with other wicks, the Seran's tolerance to stay in cities, especially ones with a sizable Galdori population, was marginally low.

"They feel that... Maro does not know how to quite put it, the state of things? The troubles going about in the land is reason enough not to linger and to carry on with travel, otherwise uh... lets call them 'rude people' will see fit to be unreasonable towards the Seran"

At least those were the general reasons given to Maro, and it wasnt wrong, though Maro always suspected there were deeper reasons. But why crack open the lock to a door when it could only contain a mop?



"Thought I'd find ya 'ere Maro"

Said a voice that was positively annoyed and with raised brows Maro could only turn his head to a woman who seemed to share Maro's feautures, sans that she was shorter by a couple of inches, longer hairz and was quite clearly a woman... also her default expression was, as one member of his family put it, a person denied pudding.



"S-sister! What a pleasant surprise, er... come to enjoy some honeyed mead? Its quite good this season if Maro says so himself"

Maro felt less like a cornered rat, and more like a cornered frog seeking an exit, if Kala was here then Maro may have done something wrong, and that meant an irritated Daebrunno on top of an angry Kala.

All he recieved was narrowed eyes, which Maro could not think was possible thanks to her deameanor in general but there it was.



"Oh come of it, Maro, I ain't been sent to fetch you"

Maro witheld a sigh of relief, because otherwise he doubted she'd willingly spend time with him or sought him out otherwise. Experiance has taught him a unless the bow string was relaxed, the arrow was still primed.


"Instead Daoa sent me to act as keeper, big brunno of mine."

And by his Daobrunno's sideburns he could hear the edge in that tone, carrying words unsaid on how she felt about this peculiar arrangement. She looked to Yazad then and simply gave the servant a nod, before grabbing a chai, plopping down on it, and setting two booted feet upon the table.


"Oh, but don't let me interrupt, I'm sure yer havin' yourselves a rivetting conversation."

Maro paled, looking back to Yazad eith a forced smile. Lifting his mug, which was empty by now he realized, and took a sip.


"A-h yes, where were we?"

[Yazad]

A Vague Tavern

21st of Intas, 2720 - 12th Hour

T hough his smile remained intact, Yazad sighed softly and shook his head slowly, listening to Maro speak about his family and their dislike to linger in cities. Whether it was passives or wicks, it seemed that there was always an established sort of prejudice to justify another group’s alienation. It was a sad state of affairs, but what can be done about it? The raven-haired man found no dislike in his heart for any race or another whatsoever. Not the galdori who had dictated his life, not the wicks whom he knew nothing about, not the humans who only wished to live a good life as anyone did.

"Well, this is--" The passive’s words were interrupted by an interjecting voice, an unfamiliar one, calling Maro’s name with no little amount of annoyance. Yazad’s eyes turned to land on another Maro--to a degree. The Maro sitting across to him had a wider and flatter front, for a start. With such a striking resemblance, the woman might as well be the hunter’s mother, but she did not quite look old enough to be that. Nor young enough to be the other’s daughter. Maro himself had given him an answer with his next awkward utterance.

She was the hunter’s sibling; an older one, perhaps, with how nervous Maro appeared to be all of a sudden. The poor man’s offer of honeyed mead was all but ignored. There was mention of ‘Daoa’ and ‘brunno’, both of which went unrecognized. Yazad, however, sat straight and smiled politely to the approaching woman, choosing to not say anything and simply return her nod--

--until she sat down on an empty chair with her feet resting on the table.

Yazad often maintained his civil smile easily enough through most circumstances, but a lady collapsing on a seat then plopping her boots on a table was, he discovered just now, not one of them. Mortification took over his features as he looked between the hunter’s sister and the man himself as if expecting Maro to chide his sibling for her atrociously crude conduct, but no such thing came from the other. Was this normal behavior among the wicks? Is this happening due to cultural differences? It could very well be that, in which case he could not entirely be so aghast at that, but still--

"Ah, if I may, my lady." Yazad began, smiling as cordially as his shock allowed him to. Despite the amicable tone, Yazad was barely holding back the instinct to openly gasp in indignation. Had he not been too stunned by the action, he might have done just that. "It is not the custom to be placing one’s feet upon the table in the city." The passive explained to whom he assumed was a Seran who is not familiar with urban etiquette. Do traveling wicks even have tables?

[Maro Seran]

Maro goggled at Yazad's outburst, could he even call it that? It came after that look of dismay Yazad wore that convinced Maro, that yes, the person before him had their own strings they'd like not pulled. Regardless it was still a reaction.

Maro would have snorted at the fact his sister was referred to as a lady, but Maro learned long ago that while his sister admitted to being unlady like, she did not like being laughed at for it.

He learned so the hard way after she doused his dinner with some unholy spice that left him emptying an entire waterskin of water and almost another before his Da stopped him from his unbidden cruaade to emptying the fami's entire water rations.

So he merely turned his head to Kala, who wore a smirk on her face and had crossed her arms. Either she herself was amused to be called a lady, or the fact that Yazad had just chastised her in the most polite manner seen in Anaxas.



"Oh, well were I'm from this 'ere's normal"

Which wasn't quite untrue, Maro knew, but was also an annoyance to a number of his family members, his Da particularly. One side reasoned no one exoects them to be polite, while the other just rather not have their tables be muddied at the very least!. They hunted animals, not became them for all that is good!

Maro turned his head away from his to look at Yazad and mouthed 'not really'.


"'sides, ain't like its yer business on how I sit, pretty boy. This 'eres a tavern, if I can kick back an' relax 'ere ain't a point to come to one now, ain't it?."

Maro withheld a sigh, merely clowing bis eyes briefly and letting a higf escape his nose before calling down another tavern worker


"Two more mulled ale if you may"

He was almost tempted to keep both drinks for himself, but he reckoned one for his sister would work as a bribe.


"ah, bit yes, I apologise for my sister here, Kala, I'm afraid she takes raised in the wilds literally"

A snort from Kala let Maro know how she felt about that slight, but it was tempered by the fact she was going to get a drink out.


"And don't take her comments ablut Maro needing a keeper too seriously, Maro isn't so irresponsible to need a chaperone."

At least, he didn't do anything irresponsible he knew of since seven days. But why air such dirty laundry?

[Yazad]

A Vague Tavern

21st of Intas, 2720 - 12th Hour

T his is normal? Yazad was unable to imagine what a hunter’s life must be like, but it was being made clear to him that civility was not a part of that life. A part of him was curious about what else was ‘normal’ in Maro’s society, but another part, evidently the more vocal part, really did not want to find out. Any more displays of boorish behavior and he might not be able to stop himself from burying his face in his hands to escape the view.

Maro mouthed something silent that the passive was able to pick up, denouncing the woman’s claim, but it did not appear that Maro was willing to utter his words out loud. Yazad stared at the man with blinking eyes before looking back to the third person occupying the table.

"Thank you kindly. I do make the effort to choose flattering colors for my capes." He addressed the woman’s comment of ‘pretty boy’ with a slight inclination of his head, choosing to not say that he was well beyond the age of boyhood. "It is understandable that the good lady is here to seek relaxation, but one is capable of that while also maintaining a minimum amount of public decorum, if only for the sake of cleanness." Yazad pressed on, gently and patiently.

He could hear the hunter ordering more mulled ale, then came an apology for the sister’s, Kala’s, quite literal wild conducts. While Maro was offering apologetic words on behalf of his sibling, Kala herself looked less than sorry.

"I mean no offense to either one of you, nor do I intend to seem unwelcoming." Yazad began, smiling at Maro who might have been feeling awkward, "Maro was just telling me about the wandering tribes. I am certain that if I am to ever be among them, they would appreciate me following their customs as much as I can." Yazad smiled at Kala, his eyes speaking a silent request, then turned his head towards Maro with a little chuckle. "Maro, are you aware that people who say such things are often the ones who need chaperoning the most?" The passive commented in lighthearted playfulness. That really did sound like something a child would say to escape supervision.