Day 088: Showing Off
Summary: A Warrior and a Maker show off their climbing ability, and are chastised by a Healer and a Horsemistress.
Date: 25 August 2016
Related: None directly
Galle Luther Fayet Afaye 


Site of New Coesbur, Lake Audo
This is a broad, open field of crushed grasses and meadow flowers. The first trees have been felled, and their stumps removed, leaving deep divots of open soil and naked rootballs. Wood has been gathered to be burned that could not be hewned into poles and slats. Crude structures have been built to house laborers. There is always activity around here during the day, and meals are served community style. There is a clear view of the lake and small inlet stream from the knoll, as well as the hulking mass of Alpha Station across the lake.
88 Days After Landing

It is late morning when the fat pony, back weighed down with sacks and bags this time instead of hauling a cart, trots up the road to New Coesbur. Guiding the butter-colored horse is the tall healer of Tondc — a woman who is floating between both villages until New Coesbur's Healing House can be fully established. She is back in those loose pants and drawstring tunic, her boots a bit muddy from a gentle rainstorm that had passed through the night before. She has her hair braided and tucked over one shoulder, looser forelocks pinned back to stay out of her way. She searches the workers and laborers who are still hard at work bringing the newest structures up, perhaps looking for someone in particular.

<FS3> Luther rolls Athletics: Great Success. (8 5 1 8 8 8 2 3)

Luther hangs from a braced-up beam at the top of a newly-raised wall of what will eventually be the Seat of New Coesbur, his legs wrapped around the pole and his left arm looped over it so that he can hang down, dreadlocks splayed out, and reach down to steady a massive post being hauled into position by several Trikru with guide ropes. "Easy… easy… easy…" The repeated word is blurred by the trio of large nails clenched between his lips. The post settles into its notched-in position, and he barks a satisfied laugh around the nails, "Right there! Hold it." He scoots down the beam just a touch, gathering a hammer from his belt, and then, holding a nail to the post with his left hand, begins to drive it back-handed. Or rather, try to drive it. He's lucky he doesn't smash his thumb, and it takes half a dozen strikes before he gets it to the point that he can loose the nail with his left hand and slam the nail the rest of the way home, connecting the post to the beam.

Galle hears the familiar voice, and she looks up toward where the laborers are working. She watches as the beam is put into place, and she does not interrupt as the warrior starts nailing it into place. She tilts her head slightly as she watches, taking careful stock of all those present. Only once she is sure she will not distract does she call out to the group, "Trea!" This to one of the laborers. "I have a package from your houmon." She is stepping around the pony for one of her bags, and she removes what looks to be a wrapped parcel, holding it up to signal to the other Trikru woman. "He is apparently worried you are not eating enough."

Luther actually lets go of the beam with his left arm to hang just from his legs to hammer in the second and third nails further down the wall, his necklace hanging around his face, his dreadlocks dangling even further down, and his shirt gathered up around his arms, revealing the various scars and tattoos across his stomach, chest, and back. The call from below causes him to glance down, blinking in surprise, and then immediately curl up again to grab onto the beam with his left arm again before calling back down, "He should come by here if he wants to give her something to eat. I know he brags that it's long, but nobody's that long."

Fayet ambles over, carrying several planks of wood across her shoulders. She looks up at Luther in horror. "Get down from there! We're building scaffolding for a reason!" She shakes her head and mumbles something about idiot men under her breath, putting the planks down in a stack.

Trea scowls at Luther good-naturedly. "Everything is as dirty as mud with you, Luther." Then the warrior woman smiles to the healer, and accepts the package with a thankful nod. The two engage in some quick interchange before Galle laughs, and casts a mischievous look at Luther as she replies something in undertone to Trea. The two start to laugh — almost giggle — and then Trea departs to see to what her houmon has sent her. This leaves Galle stepping forward, looking over the starts of the Seat, and she nods slightly. "Not as big as the last… but… I suppose the last was a pre-Event structure." Then she casts Fayet a wry smile as she chastisizes Luther, but she does not piggy-back on.

<FS3> Luther rolls Athletics: Good Success. (1 7 6 6 2 1 7 2)

Luther scoffs at Fayet's call, "Scaffolding takes too long, Little Raccoon!" Still, he tucks the hammer back into his belt, nodding at Trea's response, "Dirtier," and then grasps the beam with both hands, carefully lowering one foot and then the other down to the top of the one-story wall before he settles down to sit atop it, his arms stretching up to the beam above so that they brace him, "Apparently a lot of men hear that complaint, Galle." He laughs aloud at that, then shakes his head, "I think the stained glass is unlikely to happen again either." Apparently, he at least visited Old Coesbur's Seat. Now that they're off dirty topics, he adds in, "We put the walls up yesterday. All hands were needed."

<FS3> Fayet rolls Athletics: Good Success. (1 8 1 3 2 3 8 3)

Fayet is not amused. She hoists herself up onto a beam, climbs onto the wall… apparently just to smack Luther on the back of the head. "You're a damned showoff, is what you are," she accuses him. She calls down to Galle, "If he falls and breaks his neck, don't you dare fix it!"

The Healer looks somewhat amused when Fayet chases up after Luther, and she crosses her arms loosely at her chest. "I suppose that I shouldn't fix your neck if you fall either…" Then she offers a wry smile to both, though her gaze cuts to Luther a bit sharply. "Well… I'm happy to see such progress made. I spent far too many hours in the berry patches yesterday." There is a strange accusation in her tone, but who she is accusing and what of is a mystery. She glances over toward her pony, stepping away to begin to unload the bags.

Luther tilts his grin up to Fayet as she clambers up and moves out to him, not even trying to dodge the smack for all that it makes him wince and rock forward, stretching his arms out over his head where they clasp on the beam. "Ow!" The complaint is pro forma, and he is chuckling again immediately, "Of course I'm a damned showoff. Hello, Warrior." Galle's challenge to Fayet causes his laughter to redouble, although it trails away when the Healer's sharp tongue flashes back at him, and he winces a little and responds, "Sounds like a nice place to spend some time. Nicer than sweating your ass off here putting up walls."

<FS3> Fayet rolls Athletics: Great Success. (8 7 7 8 8 3 1 1)

"I won't break my neck. I climb stupid things for a living," Fayet points out. "Besides," she adds, batting her eyelashes, "I'm too pretty to die." She tests the beam above them for stability, then jumps up, swinging a few times for momentum, before dismounting with a flip. She sticks the landing with a flourish. "If you're going to show off," she calls up, "Put some effort into it." She heads over to the pile of planks and grabs a few, starting on that scaffold.

Galle just shakes her head at the two, and hoisting bags up onto her strong shoulders. She looks over toward Luther at his comment about the berry patches, and she rolls a shoulder. "It was a nice place to think, yes." Then she shakes her head at Fayet, chortling slightly. She doesn't say anything, just watching the two horse around while she unloads the pony with the herbs gathered to refresh the stores in the healing tent.

"Hey… we Warriors do not like being called 'stupid things.'" Luther's grin flashes broad, and then he laughs at the Maker's claim, and gives a sharp whistle of approval at the dismount, dropping his hands off the beam to applaud. Instead of trying to top that, however, he just grasps onto the top of the wall and hangs down so that he can brace a foot on a stud and drop to the ground. "Don't you know, Galle, thinking is bad. It rots the brain. Acting without thinking always turns out better." And then he blinks, snorts softly, and shakes his head a little, "Which of you is going to be first to say that you're a big strong woman who doesn't need a hand from little old me?"

The steady clip-clop of a horse approaching at a trot precedes Afaye's appearance, and Lin's white mane flutters in the breeze as she prances - oh yes, prances - into view. Knowing full well that she's back around civilized humans, she lifts up her hooves a little higher to the point of looking nearly foolish. Afaye scowls and barks a quiet order to the horse, but it does no good; Lin is a princess and always will be.

The sight and sound of men at work draws Afaye's attention, and she nearly dismounts before Lin can come to a full stop after a light tug on the reins. The horsemaster runs her fingers along the mount's neck as she leads her closer to another horse, and the sight of Galle coming around to unload the pony causes her to call out a cheerful, "Heya, Galle! I haven't killed him yet. Did you bring me a prize for being so patient?" The him is quite obviously Luther, because it is toward him that she flashes a toothy grin.

Fayet rolls her eyes at Luther's quip. "I have not been climbing any Warriors lately, thank you very much," she retorts, working away at the first level of the scaffold. She grins and waves at Afaye when she approaches. "You need a hand with that, Galle?" she asks, much more politely than Luther does.

"You are not all stupid things, but the majority…" Galle flashes a smile toward Luther now, and then she turns her attention back to the bags as she sets the first load in front of the tent. "Yes… I'm sure acting without thinking always has the results you want." Her tone is dry. She glances to Afaye when the horse emerges, and she offers the woman a broader smile. She shakes her head at her friend at the mention of not killing Luther yet, snorting herself. "Yes… bags of herbs to unpack. The best prize." She shoulders up another load of bags from the short, but broad pony. Then she chortles again at Fayet's reply to Luther. "I think he wants you to climb him, Fayet." Then she offers a small smile to Fayet and nods. "Thank you, Fay."

Luther gathers up his dreadlocks, winding them carefully down the back of his neck and using two of the tendrils to tie the rest back, "Too busy working, of course, Little Raccoon. More's the shame." The prancing approach of Afaye and her mount causes him to chuckle, and he shakes his head… only for his amusement to get cut off sharply by Afaye's comment. He presses a hand to his chest, "Me…?" His brows and voice both go up at the end, and then he allows a chuckle to burst forth. "It's gotten me everything I am today, Galle. Four square meals a day," most people have three, of course, "and a roof — or a tent — over my head." Despite the offer from Fayet as well, Luther moves over to Galle's shaggy pony and hefts off a couple of bags, following her over toward the healers' tent. "I just think it's a shame that such skill at climbing isn't being used."

"Who has skill at climbing?" Afaye inquires, draping Lin's reins over the horse's neck and letting her wander off to graze while she assists the group in hauling Galle's fat loot to the tent. She slings a sack over her shoulder and is promptly rewarded with a loud sneeze as the scent of the herbs wafts toward her. She sniffs and rubs her nose with her forearm, but still manages to find a moment to take in Luther's appearance as he walks away. Grinning, Afa nudges Galle silently with an elbow before following in his wake.

"Such skills are available upon request, and I don't remember any requests," Fayet retorts, hefting one of the bags of herbs. "Anything for you, Galle," she says when the healer thanks her, grinning. "Oh, you missed my award-winning landing, Afaye," she says, completely immodestly, her grin turning toothy.

The nudge from Afaye causes her to blink in surprise, but then she realizes what the horse mistress is looking at, and she scoffs with a slight shake of her head. The corner of her mouth does twitch slightly though, and she gathers up the last of her bags. "Fayet and Luther were, of course, showing off their skills at balance and acrobatics… and accusing each other of being show-offs." She offers Afaye a wry smile before she takes the last bag to the tent. She then works on drawing up the canvas so she can work on unloading the bags while still engaging with those outside.

Luther nods over toward Fayet at Afaye's query, adding on to the Maker's own comment, "She smacked me for being a show-off, then did some twirly flip-thing to get down off the wall." He flashes a grin at Fayet, then bends down to set down the bundle of herbs, only to straighten up and scoff at Galle, "You say that like being a show-off is a bad thing." Stepping back from the new pile of herbs and other such boxes, he reaches out to clap Galle lightly on the upper arm before he heads back for another load, if one exists now that they have a train of people unloading, "I'm hurt you think so badly of me."

Eyebrow waggles and sidelong glances - these are Afaye's forte. She is silent, more or less, as she dumps the bag unceremoniously beside Luther's deposit. Rather than turning back, she merely lingers at the entrance to the tent and props her fists on her hips while watching Galle go about her business. "Oh, listen to Luther the tender-hearted, so full of feelings. Showing off isn't bad, Luth, but why not have a little laugh about it, yeh?" One eye closes in a solemn wink for the healer as Afaye pulls up a low stool set outside the tent and flops down onto it, legs splayed in an unwomanly position of utter relaxation. She laces her fingers together behind her head. "How is everything in Tondc?"

"I was just saying, if you're going to show off, don't half-ass it," Fayet says matter-of-factly, setting down her sack in the tent before heading back to work on the scaffolding.

"I would never dare suggest that," Galle says flatly in response to Luther's scoffing complaint, though the corner of her lips twitch slightly. Then she tilts her head, looking at the warrior as he claps her arm. Her smile takes in a warm lightness. "I don't… if I did, I would call you careless." Then she ducks her head slightly to gather some jars from a bad as she steps into the healing tent. She starts to set things into the makeshift shelves, thankful that Sev has maintained her organization system. She starts to tuck jars away in their places. The question from Afaye draws a slight shrug from the Healer. "It is as it was when we first left, but there is a certain relaxation settling in. The quiet before harvest time." She looks after Fayet, calling after. "Thank you, Fayet!"

Luther points down at his left hand, "No, really, I'm hurt. Smashed my hand," indeed, the nail is black and nasty, "and Galle wouldn't even hang around to keep it healing right." Waggles and glances may be Afaye's forte, but deadpan is Luther's, and he's on a roll. Especially given that his finger looks like it's healing quite nicely — except for that nasty nail. He chuckles at Galle's response, and comes to… oh look, nothing really left to carry, so he moves over to help Fayet with the scaffolding, "Luth? Really? Best you can come up with? I suppose I should be glad it wasn't 'Er.'" The chuckle returns, and he adds, "See? If I didn't half-ass it, Galle would call it careless, and then she wouldn't treat me if I broke my neck."

Afaye rolls her eyes toward the sky in silent entreaty for something, perhaps a meteorite, to come and plink Luther on the forehead. Summoning up as much patience as she can, she sticks out her tongue at Luther's back childishly. "I could come up with far nastier names, but we're in polite company. If you keep sassing me, though, I'll yank off my boot and beat you with it." Afaye does not look particularly inclined to do either of these things, in fact, lounging about as she is while watching the others do work, but threats are threats. She is touched by a twinge of guilt for her laziness, perhaps, because she leans forward with a sigh and places her hands on her knees as if preparing to stand. "Need help with anything there, Galle?"

Fayet glances around exaggeratedly. "Polite company?" she asks. "Where?" She hands Luther a plank. "Hold this," she instructs him, before getting up to grab a few more.

Luther is mysteriously meteorite-free, "Bring it, Afaye. Anywhere, any time. Just remember that if you come at me with your boot, I'm likely to be a moving target, unlike my hand was when you kicked it." From many Warriors, that would be a growling, scowling defense of their prowess. From Luther, it's a chuckling joke. "Besides, I want to know what sort of impolite nicknames you come up with besides The Three-Legged Wonder." He takes the plank from Fayet, moving over to brace it up for her to affix in place, "Because like Fayet said, the only polite company here is Galle, and she is in the tent."

"I'd prefer to keep you in suspense, Luther. You'll hear the names when they're due and not before then." Afaye scowls playfully at him, not at all perturbed by his taunting about her martial abilities - or total lack thereof. "Ah, but sitting around is just not the life for me. I should get back to work." She rises abruptly from her stool and scuffs through the patchy grass around the entryway to the tent before heading off toward Lin. "I'll be back in a bit."

The tall Healer is working in the tent, but she has her ear on what is happening at the tent flap and beyond. She finishes with two bags, and then starts in on a third of herb bundles. She pauses, picking up a short, wide jar that is set apart from the others. She looks at it, turning it over and over again in her hand, and then she sets it back where she found it. She calls back out beyond the tent. "I'm going to need to search for some water weed… I couldn't find much in the river to the north." Then she shakes her head slightly, snorting. "I'm not terribly polite… particularly to Luther."

Fayet laughs. "Three-Legged Wonder? We've all seen you in the bathhouse. Must be a grower…" she clears her throat, coming back over with the planks. She bids Afaye farewell, then turns to Galle. "I think I saw some on the other side of the lake. I can show you some time, if you'd like.

Luther snorts at Afaye, "Coward." Nodding over to Fayet, he agrees cheerfully, "Aggressively." Settling his current plank in place, he claps Fayet on the shoulder, then gestures over to Galle, "Let me show her. Then maybe she'll stop trying to take strips out of my hide whenever she talks to me. It has to be worth a shot, doesn't it?" And then he's on his way over toward the Healer, gesturing toward the lake, "I spotted a couple of spots when I was bathing."

Galle is too busy hanging up the bundles to catch much of what is being said outside the tent. She steps to the edge of the tent, glancing between the two. Then she offers a slight arch of her brow, though her lips quirk with a soft smile. "Alright… let me get my things…" She turns back into the tent so she can grab her herb-gathering bag. She hesitates a moment, and then grabs a waterskin from the collection of bags, and then she steps back out to join Luther so they can go hunting for water weed.

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