Sel's Happy Campers [Rei]

[Rei]

Erilena was paying strict attention to the story. By now food completely had fled her mind. Her complete attention was focused on Aramis and the rest of his story. Tilting her head the greenrider considered. A flute? What did that have to do with the story about the brothers? Oh but she figured he would get to that so the woman kept her comments to herself and even smiled at the thought of the scruffy vagabond playing music for the Lord Holder and his murderous son. Imagine! They had to have been surprised that someone who looked like Aramis could play such lovely music. It all went back to that common phrase. Things where not always what they appeared to be.

When the hobo got to the part about how they didn’t believe it was him who was playing so lovely and how it had to be the flute she snorted. It wasn’t really surprising that they thought that really. Erilena found herself getting drawn more and more into the story and when he reached the part about where the bone for the flute was found her eyes widened to probably near comical proportions and her hand flew to cover the mouth. It was a gesture of surprise as well as an attempt to keep from blurting out the obvious end to the tale.

When Aramis finished his story Erilena waited to gather her thoughts before opening her mouth. There where so many things she wanted to ask but subjecting him to a rapid flood of questions would probably be really, really impolite. Fighting back the urge to just blurt them all out at once, and burry the vagabond in questions like the poor Lord Holders son Zaza had been buried, she smiled. “What happened to Tzvi then?” Surely they didn’t let his deed go unpunished? But then, if they did punish Tzvi what could they have done? Hang him? Exile him? Then who would be the next Lord Holder? Before Aramis could answer that particular question the greenrider voiced another one. Surely two questions wouldn’t be that many to keep track of? “And what about the flute? Did you keep it?” A flute made of the bones of a murdered man. That had to be bad karma right? Or maybe not if the man’s death had been a avenged. And furthermore maybe the flute had played so beautifully so it would be noticed and Zaza’s death would be avenged. Hmmm.

Now Erilena wasn’t quite sure of she believed in ghost and spirits and things like that. But karma seemed to be real enough sometimes. Although perfectly good people got their share of bad luck too. So who knew? At any rate she could definitely adapt the story for the creche kids. Maybe leave out the part about Tzvi chopping his brother into pieces. That might not be a good thing to tell to the little kids. Especially not Ralor. That child had enough issues on occasion as it was without adding pretend chopping of his creche playmates. Curious eyes again going to Aramis she waited for his answers, only then remembering the remainder of her food. Drat. Popping another piece of fish into her mouth she chewed slowly. It had gone a little cold but no matter it still tasted good. Couldn’t let it go to waste not when the friendly vagabond had so generously shared with her.

[Lotty]

What an active listener, coming up with so many astute questions to ask him. He had to be on his toes to answer all of them that she had for him, but took them one by one nonetheless. As for the fate of Tzvi that was easy enough. She had that little mystery solved all by herself. Mostly, "Well yes, he was exiled as all Lordlings are when they do something wrong, but as you can imagine so many in the little hold thought such a punishment was inadequate. One's death is not righted by excommunication alone," he began to explain, "besides, our little caravan surely has its share of exiles amongst their numbers, and while it isn't the life of a Lord Holder, it is something that can be adapted to... especially if you enjoyed being free," which Aramis himself did very, very, much. Maybe it was the principle of being cast away that hurt though, because as far as he was concerned his escapes and get aways were all a matter of choice.

"So Tzvi was sent out on a boat to the little island he would have to call his home... but the rumors all say that they sent him to the wrong one, one that doesn't get saved from Thread..." and the rest could be figured out easily enough. Yet again that left another sort of mar on the tale that probably left it a little child inappropriate, but then he didn't rightfully expect that Eril would go repeating his stories out loud. He had crafted this tale specifically for her, and if it never got any further than that was perfectly fine with him.

The next question took a little more thought to answer, and he scratched at his beard in thought. Hmmm. Maybe just one little lie at the end wouldn't sully everything? He leaned forward towards the greenrider and tempted her with the promise of elusive treasure, "Maybe I do..." he pulled away and sauntered off back towards his bag and dragged it along the shore back to where the two of them were sitting. As soon as he was seated himself he began to dig around in the sack to feel for the flute that just had to be down there among all of his other useless commodities. Sighing, the movements inside began to slow and he pulled his hand out with a marked bit of disappointment on his face, "I can't seem to find it. Maybe you'll have better luck though... mind reaching in and grabbing it for me? I'll hold the sack open for you," he waited a moment before realizing that he had her looking for something that she had so little knowledge of, and clarified his request, "It is the only flute I own, so it should be pretty easy to identify..."

[Rei]

Wide hazel eyes stared up at Aramis as Erilena tilted her head and gave one short nod to his explanation. Ah yes. Exiled with a twist, an a island not protected from thread. Thus on first fall….especially if he didn’t know it was coming. A visible shudder ran down her slight frame. Terrible but one couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it after murdering his brother in cold blood. Drunk or not. Hmm there where a few parts of this tale that wouldn’t be suitable for the younger kids but the older kids could handle it. It vaguely occurred to the greenrider to maybe write the tale down but she settled for committing it to memory. She had a horribly good one after all. Maybe because the woman tended to cling so hard to everything in her life. Maybe that’s why some of them ran away…mentally kicking herself for that thought Erilena turned her attention back to the vagabond. Who seemed to be deep in thought.

Was it wrong that she wanted to see the flute if he still had it. It was kind of morbidly curious wasn’t it? Not to mention just a bit intrusive. Even if he had kept the flute why should he let her see it? Furthermore it was entirely likely that the bone flute was just buried along with the rest of the unfortunate Zaza. After all would a lord holder really let his son’s remains to be kept by some vagabond? In all honesty it was highly unlikely. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t possible though… When Aramis said maybe he did, was it wrong that the greenrider felt some thin thread of nervous excitement. Oh it as entirely likely he was just messing with her. But he had been soooo nice so far. Maybe he was being genuine and really did have the flute? Then again he had said maybe. How could he not know whether he did or not? Hm.

Watching the vagabond drag his bag over Erilena tilted her head as he industrially dug amongst his things. Then he was making a face and admitting to her almost in disappointment that he couldn’t find it. The blonde was just about to comment that that was okay and she didn’t really need to see it. She believed him anyway. But Aramis cut her off by offering to let her look for it. Eyes widening the greenrider shook her head. “Oh no. I just couldn’t. It would be impolite to dig through your things.” Not that she had any problems whatsoever with digging through her friends things from time to time but, nice as this man was being to her, he was still a stranger and well….what if the woman found something she didn’t want to find? Aramis traveled a lot after all. Who knew what he had in that bag?

Then again…that also was a tiny bit of a draw wasn’t it? Just what did he have in that bag of his? Biting her lip Erilena looked from the bag to the vagabond and in the end curiosity was just too big of a thing to overcome. “Alright I will but just because you asked so nicely.” She ended up saying a teasing lit to the end of her tone. Leaning forward the greenrider plunged one hand into the bag and carefully searched around. If she grabbed something gross….oh Faranth. Her fingers brushed against the brim of a hat then. The texture of said article of clothing being vaguely familiar. Felt maybe? Hazel eyes lifted to search the vagabond’s face hand still lingering in the bag. Hmmm.

[Lotty]

He'd be a liar if he said that all was going according to plan. He hadn't bet on hesitation, but that was a slight trip that could be recovered from. After all, he knew if he smiled just enough he would have his way. A very endearing vagrant this one was, although it did help to be freshly washed and smelling of sweet lavender. Was the flower not a calming sort of scent? It seemed to be or maybe it was normal for the girl to be so yielding to strangers? He didn't exactly know, it was a facet that he hadn't picked up yet, although he had been filing away lots and lots about the blonde into the depths of his mind. Call it a character study if you will... he needed to know people if only to secretly exploit them and reference them in whatever story or song he had brewing.

Oh and of course it was always good to pick up information for other for dubious reasons, but that was neither here nor there.

Ari didn't expect another thing to happen, for there to be that moment when he caught her eyes and just knew that her hand had traced the brim of a hat of his. How could he have forgotten it was in there? He did have quite an affinity for the thing after all, maybe he should take a moment to show it off? Yes, as his brown eyes connected to search her face in response, "Hold on a second..." he piped up as he shifted his hands and reached in himself and pulled out the hat in all of its dirtied up, wherry feather, decorated glory. With a bit of a laugh he spun the accessory on his finger before artfully flicking it onto her head, game he had played earlier with Micah... though he didn't seem to like it nearly as much.

"Never guess where I got that one. A very sour, frowny faced fella sold it to me... err traded it a month back, met on an riverbank. He didn't seem to want a lot for it, a skinning knife, some dried foods....." he leaned back a little bit and began to play with a braid in his hair, "looks better on you than it does on me, maybe you should hold onto it... that way we are forced to meet again..." he winked at her. Here he was using all of those skills he had been learning while with the traders. You needed to know how to make a good sale and close a deal. He liked to think of this as a deal itself, and he was going to sweeten it up with a confession. A show of good will so to speak...

"You know... I don't have the flute anymore. Keeping it would creep me out to no ends... I was just hoping to get you close enough to tickle you. On second thought I realized how uncouth it would be to do such a thing to stranger... but the truth is you just look like the type that would make a great big reaction, and I wanted to see it, hear it. I guess just at the last minute I managed to remember some kind of manners. Civilization is making me such a boring person," and a chatty person at that. He hadn't remembered the last time he had been able to talk so much and so freely. Maybe he should stop while he is still ahead.

[Rei]

Hazel eyes narrowed slightly on the vagabond, her finger tips still running along the brim of the hat. It…couldn’t be could it? Locking eyes on Aramis Erilena stayed silent. Searching in that gaze for something. Some sign of familiarity. It was there but there was also to much of a difference wasn’t there? He couldn’t possibly….it wasn’t possible. Was it? Was it wrong that the greenrider wanted it to be possible? Wanted to maybe be right? But the man was looking away then. Breaking the moment as he spoke and pulled the bag slightly away from her rummaging through it himself. Still the woman stared at him with open curiosity.

Then he pulled up the hat and she gave a smile. It was familiar. Down to the feather topping it. But where did he get such a thing? How had he acquired it? Before Erilena could ask Aramis was spinning that hat around his finger and with an artful flick tossed it. She couldn’t help the giggle that issued forth when the accessory landed on her head. Smiling brightly at him she even gave a few claps. “That was a good toss. You practice it or are you just that skilled?” The words where playful, teasing. The question however still remained. Where did he get the hat? And could it possibly be…. K’sel had had one like it at one time. But how could this man somehow come across the same hat that her adoptive brother had at one time owned?

The hobo had seemed to read her mind as he started to answer the unspoken question. It was hard to totally prevent the frown that flitted across the greenrider’s features. Could that have been K’sel? Maybe? If so then maybe he was still alive. Out there somewhere. Erilena’s hands came up to touch the brim of the hat, settling it more firmly on her head. Sold it to him for dried food and a knife? Maybe. She could believe that he was out there. Surviving. Maybe he’d come back someday. It was…possible. Had to be. The woman didn’t want to think of the possibility that she may never see him again. Aramis was speaking again however and she raised her gaze just in time to catch the wink he offered.

Erilena couldn’t help it. She laughed and then struck a pose for him, trying her best to play up the hat on her head. Smiling again she responded. “Oh yes. I’ll hold onto it for you. Gladly.” Pulling it off her head she tried to smooth down her now tousled hair with one hand, the other pressing the hat against her chest. Hold onto it. Meet again. Sure why not? She could have a hobo friend. That was exciting actually. If he ever came through again they could swap stories and such. Sure it could be a long time down the road but that was okay. “I really would love to see you again. That sounds like a great idea to me.”

Aramis’ next admission had her head tilting and then her eyes widening. Oh. That was just. To funny. Perhaps someone else would have been worried. Offended. Weirded out perhaps. But not Erilena. She found his whole explanation quite amusing actually. He was going to tickle her just to see a reaction? She giggled and gave him a mock worried look. “Tickled by a hobo on the river. I’m sure my reaction would have been hilarious actually. You are a sneaky one Ari. I’m going to have to keep my eye on you.” The greenrider narrowed her eyes on him and then the expression broke and she was laughing again.

“I don’t think you’re boring at all. Quite the opposite. Civilization isn’t always bad you know. Even civilized people can have fun. Look at me for instance.” Winking at him Erilena stuck the hat back on her head and smiled. “I think you should play me another song to make up for your attempt to be all tricky.” Batting her eyelashes at Aramis she tried not to laugh, awaiting his response. She would have to go soon. But one more song couldn’t hurt right?