Closed [Windswept Condos] Home Life (Rinya)

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 52, 513 AV

Yet another day come and gone, and Jorin was heading back home, trudging along the tree-lined path from the Amphitheater back to the city of Riverfall. He was quite exhausted today; the shenanigans of the Amphitheater amusing as always but also tiring. Jorin considered stopping by Kyloe’s Butcher Shop to pick up a light snack, but thought better of it. He could have dinner at home and he could live a few more chimes to get there. At least Rinya would be there; a comforting new constant in his life.

When he got to their condo, he quietly slipped the key into the lock and turned, pushing the door inward and stepping inside. The condo was dark; an unusual circumstance that Jorin wasn't all that used to. He wasn't worried, at least not yet; on rare occasions his mate got home after he did. Usually that would be because Riastren had her on a different schedule, or perhaps a double shift like that first time he'd met Rhys. Regardless, he'd wait patiently for her to return.

Deciding to at least warm up the place a bit, Jorin went over to the fireplace to start it again. Picking up some of the prearranged wood, Jorin walked over and dropped it into the small pit that was designed to contain the fire. The wood clattered on the hard surface with a hollow sort of sound, and he shrugged as he went over to get some tinder and kindling from the small pile off to the right. The prepared tinder took a spark well from his flint and steel, and the small orange glow of fire burst into life quickly enough.

Jorin quickly placed the flame down onto the the pit, putting the smaller kindling sticks atop it and blowing on it gently to encourage the fire to grow. After about two or three ticks the flame began licking and catching the kindling until there was a small fire going. At this point Jorin nudged a few of the larger fuel branches toward the flame, hoping to get the fire nice and cheery for Rinya when she got home. Usually it was her that did this for him, so it felt nice to be the one that built the fire in their home for once.

Dinner was going to be a somewhat simple affair. After his rather disastrous first attempt at being a chef, Jorin realized that the book he purchased as a book of beginner recipes, not a book on beginner cooking. The issue being, of course, that the book made certain assumptions about the skill level of the reader that were not in fact true when it came to Jorin and Rinya.

About the only thing he made that day that was even somewhat edible was the fish; and that was only because Rinya being an osprey would've been able to consume it raw anyway, so even if he'd undercooked it, she'd have been fine. But 'fine' wasn't good enough for Jorin; if he was going to cook he would much rather make something decent-tasting.

Jorin walked over to their small kitchen and grabbed a few bowls. He then took two eggs from his somewhat diminished count, having wasted a few trying to make what turned out to be utterly inedible sludge, and then chucking a few at his mate when they had their little game. Jorin couldn't help but smile when he remembered it.

Despite the sting of the mustard seed powder being somewhat fresh in his memory, Jorin chose to remember the warmth of their game, how freeing it felt to just have fun with his mate. Her smile and laughter brightened his day like no other, and ten fistfuls of mustard seed powder wouldn't have dampened that.

Jorin cracked the eggs over the bowl, this time taking care to not let any of the eggshell get into the mixture. He wasn't sure if that was what caused the rather disgusting slop to be so gritty last time, but he wanted to be extra-careful this time. In addition to the eggs, Jorin had ground up a bit more of that mustard seed powder.

Just a pinch, this time, not very much, and he picked up that powder and sprinkled it onto the eggs, taking a wooden spoon and beating the eggs vigorously, while also taking a pinch of salt and sprinkling it onto them as well. He continued to beat the eggs for about half a chime, turning the bowl first this way then that way, unconsciously copying the brief glimpses he'd caught of actual chefs doing this exact thing.

He didn't know how long he was supposed to beat the eggs until they were "done", but he stopped when they looked mostly mixed. Now for the hard part, actually cooking them. Jorin placed the beaten eggs into a small pot and placed it over the fire. He didn't know how long he was supposed to stir the thing, but he figured it needed to be longer than the last time. Jorin watched the eggs carefully, as the chimes went by, until he could smell the pleasant odor wafting up to him. It made his stomach growl slightly; he hadn't eaten much that day at all.

The eggs began to sizzle slightly and Jorin stirred it, almost as though he were still beating them, making sure to mix them thoroughly. He had no idea whether this was actually how he was supposed to cook the eggs, but they were turning a pleasant fluffy gold. So at least they looked nice. The real question was whether they'd taste nice. He decided to wait a few more chimes before removing them from the fire, but sank the spoon into the pot nonetheless and scooped up some to taste.

It was... bland. Surprisingly bland for the salt and mustard seed powder he made sure to put in. Perhaps he hadn't put enough? But the eggs were already cooked, and he wasn't sure if putting them in after the fact would even work, or would make the eggs taste even worse. At least they seemed edible this time; no weird slimy, gritty parts to it. But it would be a stretch to even claim it was decent-tasting.

Ah well. Practice made perfect. Jorin shrugged as he stirred for a few more chimes before taking the pot off the fire, using the wooden spoon to shovel a bit of the bland-but-edible eggs into two bowls. He knew his mate preferred fish, but with his skill in cooking he wasn't confident he could make a fish tasty enough for her.

Besides, she tended to just fish out the bay for her food anyway, so he wasn't even sure she'd be hungry when he came home. He supposed it would depend on whether she had time to fish as an osprey this day. Regardless, better to be safe. If she wasn't hungry, they could save the eggs for tomorrow.

Jorin settled down near the fire, sitting down on a nearby chair and balancing his bowl on his knee as he started to eat his portion of the eggs. Chewing thoughtfully, he stared into the fire, his mind stewing over the day's events, barely noticing the bland taste of his meal. The sound of the door being opened drew his attention. Rinya had finally come home.

"Welcome home, Rinya!" he greeted her. Despite the sense of frustration he was feeling across their bond Jorin made sure to give her his best smile. It seemed both their days were pretty frustrating today, but now that they were both here, perhaps they could help one another get over whatever annoyances had bothered them this day.

Jorin got up and went to the kitchen and retrieved the bowl of eggs, but it had gone cold in the interim so he poured the egg back into the pot and put it over the fire for a few more chimes to warm it back up.

"I made us some eggs, in case you're hungry," he explained, giving Rinya a sheepish smile. "They're not very good, but at least they're edible."

"So how was work?" he asked, even though he could already pretty much guess how it went. Nonetheless he asked anyway, figuring she'd probably want to talk about it.

x

[Rinya]

Day 52, Season Fall, 513 AV

Rinya was… unhappy to say the least. Granted she never claimed that she actually ‘loved’ her job, but it very rarely caused her to stress out. There were the occasional dangerous parts of her job. Like the Glassbeak attack and the intruders poking their noses around for secrets meant to be well kept, but for the most part her job was fairly safe and repetitive. Then there were days like the one she just had. Nothing went right, and it seemed like everything disastrous that could happen… did. Rinya wasn’t used to being so thoroughly unhappy with her job, but some things could not be helped.

So when she finally got to return home, she actually took a longer route in an attempt to calm her nerves. Jorin undoubtedly already felt her frustration, but in her current frame of mind she was afraid she yell at him. And he most certainly did not deserve that kind of treatment. Especially when it wasn’t even remotely his fault. And that was made all the more true when she opened the door to the condo to find Jorin sitting in a chair in front of the fire, a bowl of something in his lap. Even with his own frustrations wafting through the bond he managed to smile for her and she did her best to give one back to him.

As she placed her longbow and quiver in the space next to the door as always, her eyes watched as he got up and grabbed another bowl on counter. As he emptied the contents back into the pot, she made her way across the room to stand next to him. He had made eggs… again? She could quite remember the disaster that they were before. Pursing her lips slightly she observed them the best she could from the pot. At least they were not runny like before. They had been—interesting to say the least—when she had thrown them at her mate.

But the fact he had thought of her was touching and she leaned over to kiss him on the lips briefly before letting herself slide into the chair next to his with a rough sigh. ”Work… ugh that’s a word I don’t even want to hear about right now.” And while it was entirely true—and Jorin wasn’t likely to push the subject—she knew he’d be curious. So she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair.

”It was—very long. Apparently several the guards got confused on the rotation, and Rhys ended up being pulled from patrol duty to… I don’t even know what else. He wasn’t very happy about it.” She grumbled. She hadn’t seen Rhys so upset—well ever. But that might have been because… ”I got stuck with some bull headed Akalak that figured I wasn’t even decent enough to learn his name. He must usually be a night shifter.” Rinya leaned forward slightly, rubbing her temples in an attempt to stay the headache that was building behind her eyes.

”And that wasn’t even the worst part—as if the rotation wasn’t enough, apparently inventory went missing. And guess who got to go look for it all.” Rinya shot Jorin a meaningful look before sighing again.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 52, 513 AV

Well, it was quite clear poor Rinya was definitely upset about her day. Her statement about not even wanting to hear the word 'work' certainly resonated with him. And apparently Rhys had been pulled from patrol to do something else and Rinya had ended up with another Akalak who was even worse by the sound of it. Though how anyone could be 'worse' than Rhys, Jorin was sure he didn't know. Then again, he supposed it depended on the definition of the word 'worse'.

But at least she kissed him briefly before launching into her description of her day. Jorin returned her brief kiss, and shook his head sympathetically when she mentioned inventory. Gods, that was a word he could live without hearing again. Chuckling slightly, Jorin reached out to stroke the back of Rinya's hand sympathetically.

"Sounds like you had a pretty rough day," he observed. "I gotta say though, I'm not exactly found of inventory myself." It wasn't even the fact that he was in charge of managing it that annoyed the petch out of him. No, it was the ancillary expectations that came with it.

"So one of the stagehands comes up to me today and he tells me that we apparently need more wooden swords for the next production," Jorin began, grimacing at the idea. He really wished they just gave him an inventory list at the beginning of the day, not run up to him at all hours demanding this and that.

"Well that, at least, was a fairly common occurrence. We need more of these. We need more of those. Make them appear out of thin air, o great mage Jorin. Just conjure it out of nothing like you usually do. They didn't realize the delicate balancing act that inventory management often entailed." Jorin knew he was pretty much whining at this point, but he pressed on.

"They didn't comprehend, apparently, that acquiring inventory from one area often left them short in others. So it was like the old riddle. A man tries to walk across a bridge with three apples. However, unfortunately, the bridge would break if he just carried more than one across. How would he be able to cross the bridge with all of his apples?" He wondered, briefly, if Rinya might've heard this riddle before, but he gave her a chime to answer, before shrugging and giving her the solution.

"The answer, of course, was that he would juggle the apples in the air, always keeping two in the air and only ever having one in hand at any given time. But that only worked if he was an expert juggler. And if he should fail at any point, if at any time two of the apples came down simultaneously, he'd be forced to sacrifice one, else sacrifice all three when the bridge snapped beneath him." It was actually a riddle his father had told him, a long time ago. It was supposed to teach what his father had called 'lateral thinking'. He never thought it would ever have any real application, but apparently he was wrong.

"And that was what inventory management's like. Juggling apples on a rickety bridge," Jorin concluded wryly. "So today they added another apple to the mix. Get those wooden swords... within three days." He shrugged. "That would've been easy, except apparently they forgot to mention I had to do it within existing budget. Which meant unlike usual, I couldn't slice and dice somewhere else to make up the difference. I was forced to get a little... creative. I hate getting creative. At least in that way."

With a sigh, he gave his mate's hand a little squeeze. "Sorry for taking over the conversation... so what happened with that Akalak of yours?" he asked. As he did so, the aroma of the eggs wafted over from the pot and he quickly removed it from the fire. He wasn't trying to cook it for a second time, after all, merely warm it back up since it had gone cold during the time he had waited for Rinya.

"I, uhh, made some eggs," he explained lamely, as he carefully picked some of it up with the wooden spoon and into the bowl it was in originally.

"They're not that great, but at least they're more edible than last time," he mentioned, as he offered her a bowl before sitting back down. It was not much of a gift given the clearly bad day she'd had, but at it was the least he could do for her. And maybe in a few seasons his meals would actually taste good, rather than just bland or worse.

x

[Rinya]

Rinya nodded slightly when Jorin mentioned that she had a rough day. There really wasn’t any doubt about that. And while Rinya knew to some extent that Jorin did inventory himself, he never actually spoke at length about it before. It seemed her crankiness was wearing off on him—or he had his own and she had just started something that in the long run they both needed to get off their chests. But in all honesty she had no idea what actual inventory entailed, but according to Jorin it sounded like even more of a headache than he actually wanted as well.

As Jorin brought up the question of the riddle, her brow furrowed slightly in thought. Riddles were never her strong point, her father had always been more concerned about training her in the physical aspects of the world. But she tried none the less to figure out the riddle. With no success, after a long chime she shook her head and grinned at him helplessly with a small shrug in answer. Juggling… well she supposed that made sense, but it seemed like a lot more work than was needed. Of course if she thought about it that way—riddles were always more work than necessary. And apparently for Jorin that was what inventory was to him. More work than necessary.

”Well I’m sure you did just fine in getting creative. You may not like being that kind of creative, but it does happen to be your forte.” Rinya grinned weakly at him before shaking her head. He apologized for taking over the conversation and Rinya couldn’t have minded less. It was a distraction from her own day, though as he brought up the Akalak she winced. But the smell of eggs distracted them both enough for a moment. He brought the bowl to her and she took it gratefully with a hum.

Taking a careful bite trying to avoid the heat, Rinya groaned slightly. The eggs really weren’t incredible, but all things considered they were wonderful to her. For one, she didn’t have to make something to eat. ”It’s not a big deal Jorin. Considering I haven’t eaten anything since I left the house—this is perfect.” The grumbling was back, and she took several more bites before she sighed heavily. ”Our inventory is nothing like yours—well I’m sure to some extent it is but we don’t exactly buy our weapons for others.” With another shrug she rested the bowl across her legs.

”Apparently though someone decided that the new swords shouldn’t go on one of the floors with all the other weapons to be sorted properly. No—they needed to go with the food. And not just in one spot, but spread out through all the floors.” Rinya huffed and shook her head, one hand returning to her temples, making circles into the skin with more force than was probably necessary. ”So I wandered up and down the stairs of the Warren for hours dragging heavy weaponary to their proper place. After all—why bring them to one floor when you can sort them now.”

Nevermind that it wasn’t actually her job to sort the weapons, they had people hired specifically for that job. Which ironically became hers for the day. ”Then I still had to put up with the Akalak from hai, talking about himself the whole time. Not to mention we had to do our usual patrol on top of it all…”

[Jorin Ertihan]

x

Jorin just smiled at Rinya when she mentioned that getting that creative was his forte. "Thank you, Rinya," he replied warmly, "but I don't mind telling you there are times when I definitely wished I wasn't so good at it. People hear 'oh, Jorin can work magic with those numbers!' and then apparently it becomes my job to make miracles happen."

Even though Jorin groused about it, there was a tiny sliver of pride in his voice. He was perhaps justifiably a bit proud of being able to actually pull off these "miracles", which were not so much miracles as him spending a goodly chunk of his day adding and subtracting and multiplying and dividing furiously until ledgers balanced out.

Jorin watched his mate take a small bite of his eggs, looking for any indication from her face or the bond to tell him how well he did. He himself thought they tasted like a whole lot of nothing, which was disappointing but at least it was a step up from tasting out-and-out bad or worse, being flat-out inedible.

He needn't have worried; she outright told him that she hadn't eaten since leaving the house, which was several bells ago so her hunger provided the spice his cooking clearly didn't. The rumble from her stomach punctuated her stomach and he could help smiling at her.

So someone had messed up the inventory and decided that swords should go with food. Unless there was a new diet for steel that he didn't know about that was probably just someone being lazy. If the foodstuffs were kept on a higher level he might've just dumped the new weapons there with the intent to sort them later, then conveniently "forgot" about it later so that it became, quite literally, someone else's problem.

Or in this case, Rinya's problem. Rinya was rubbing her forehead and it was clear the day she had gave her more of a headache than she was letting on. And though Jorin couldn't actually feel the headache itself he could definitely feel her frustration at what was apparently an extremely laborious several bells of her dragging the weaponry back.

Rinya still hadn't told him about what exactly made that Akalak the 'Akalak from hai' though. All she said was that the man talked about himself the whole time which, if he was being honest, rather sounded not very much different from Rhys. He got that Rinya was at least somewhat comfortable with Rhys, though if he was being honest he was somewhat jealous about how comfortable with Rhys she was.

So he honestly didn't see why another man who acted similarly would be such a discomfort since he assumed she was already used to that sort of behavior. Perhaps he did so in a particularly overbearing manner. Jorin could not be certain.

"This Akalak of yours sounds like a certain Akalak we both know," he commented with a wry grin. "But I've encountered lazy workmen before. At the amphitheater it wasn't the actors or the stagehands though. The actors are too high-and-mighty to deal with inventory and the stagehands know better since they deal with it day in and day out."

Jorin shrugged. "No, it's usually the understudies that leave costumes all over the damned place, or forget to return a prop to the Racks for proper sorting, or just leave a general mess of things."

Glancing over at Rinya, he tried to lighten the mood a bit by continuing with a bit of a story from the day. "So this morning I had a similar experience, actually. So, we keep a running tally of all the dresses that we have for any given production, plus a few extras in case of rips or tears or somebody spills wine all over." Jorin grinned. That had actually happened more often then he cared to think about.

"Actually that one time I asked you to join me to go to Rosela's to buy clothes, kind of a similar deal to what happened this morning. Actresses kept 'poaching' dresses from the racks without telling me." Now it was Jorin's turn to rub his temples.

"And the truth is I wouldn't mind them doing it if they'd just tell me so I can balance the inventory but noooo~. No, of course they don't tell me. I mean, why should they tell me anything? I'm just in charge of the inventory and have to make the sheets balance out or else the difference in the books comes out of everyone's pay." And of course, when that happened, whose fault was it? Certainly not the actors. Oh no, it was never the actors. No, it was always Jorin's fault. Sometimes he hated his job.

Jorin sighed, and grinned over at Rinya. "Sorry about that... gets a little frustrating sometimes. Especially when I remember that, technically, 'inventory manger' wasn't even in my job description."

"So did that Akalak do anything else besides just talk about himself? Because I gotta say, I would've thought you'd be used to that by now, considering your usual partner..." Jorin shrugged slightly.

"But I mean, they still made you do your usual patrol? Didn't they at least give you a break, or something? Especially after hauling all that stuff..." Jorin sounded, and felt, rather incredulous. Seriously, was Raistren trying to exhaust his mate to death?

"At least the patrol was relatively uneventful, right?" he tried hopefully.

x

[Rinya]

Rinya couldn’t help but snort at Jorin’s evaluation of her temporary work partner. This titan was nothing like Rhys—and really it made her realize just how luck she actually was to have the womanizer as a partner. ”Jorin—you’d love Rhys if you saw what I had to put up with today.” And there was little doubt about that statement. The fact Jorin and Rhys didn’t always mesh—Rhys being such a smart mouth and attempting to put his own claim on her—was an understatement compared to this other male. It would have strained Jorin’s acting skills to the limit in her honest opinion.

Jorin went on to tell her about the understudies being incredibly lacking as well in the general ‘do your job’ kind of way. From leaving dresses and props everywhere—which as Rinya could imagine caused it to be quite difficult to keep a proper inventory—to just the general ‘borrow without permission’ issues. Rinya herself was lucky enough to avoid that particular problem. While she may have had to borrow a dagger earlier in the season, the fact of the matter was the Warren didn’t exactly ‘loan’ out the equipment stored, unless it was something dire important.

”Well telling you that they are taking something implies they think that they cannot do it. After all, you are such a difficult person to converse with.” Rinya rolled her eyes in sarcasm and went about finishing off the bowl of eggs. Jorin finished his rant about how inventory was also technically not in his job description, but she could see how he fell into being handed the task. It was likely they were informed that Jorin was decent in his math skills. And Jorin also wasn’t one to exactly tell someone no. With the right circumstances, she could see a job being pushed off on him once or twice—and suddenly it became his job permantently.

”Rhys may be a womanizer who thinks he is a gift to all women—but he respects my ability as a guardsman. He may call me pet, he may even see me as one, but even a pet has it’s uses… and no that’s not directly from Rhys. That is directly from the Akalak I was paired up with today. Rinya growled out, putting the bowl on the floor next to her. Standing, she made her way over to his chair, sitting down at his feet and laid her head against the side of his thigh. She wanted to be close, but she wasn’t entirely sure the chair itself would hold both of their weights.

”Rhys will be a breeze to handle after today. I’ve been paired up with other Akalak before—that don’t think much of me for being Kelvic. And that’s fine. But this Akalak kept asking me what sort of things Rhys had trained me to do. And when I told him that I wasn’t Rhys’ pet, despite the title, he asked what good was I if I wasn’t aware of my… status.” Rinya snorted roughly. It had never mattered before, even Raistren had some faith in her. But this bull headed Akalak couldn’t see past her proverbial feathers, and it was more than just annoying this time around. There was nothing she could say or do to change his mind—she got lucky if she got to speak at all for that matter.

”Sure the relative patrol was quiet—if he had shut his face. I would have preferred dragging weapons up and down the stairs all day to listening to him. Rhys has the ability to carry a… decent conversation.” Decent being someone that didn’t just insult her all the time. Rinya never thought she would see the day when she craved her friend’s presence. She kept that to herself however, since Jorin did have a hard enough dealing with Rhys on occasion. She didn’t want to make it worse with the fact she had grown to be friendly with the Akalak.

Sighing roughly, Rinya closed her eyes and tried to focus on Jorin’s presence next to her. She didn’t have to work with the Akalak again, at least it wasn’t likely to happen. Not after the whole day finally culminated into a fight—an unusual one in the very least. Lifting her hand, she rested it on Jorin’s knee, tracing small circles into pants. ”Actually I think you would have been fairly impressed Jorin. Rhys stood up for me.” It wasn’t entirely uncommon for Rhys to walk her part of the way home. ”He was waiting for my patrol to be over so I didn’t have to walk home alone. He overheard the Akalak drabbling on and on… he tried to get in the way. But of course he got a talking to about not ‘teaching’ me anything.” Rinya rolled her eyes. It didn’t entirely surprise her it ended up violent. Seymantis was just as protective of her since the Glassbeak attack as Rhys was.

[Jorin Ertihan]

x

Jorin just couldn't help his smile when he heard Rinya snort. She usually tried not to do that. It wasn't, after all, ladylike and he did appreciate that she tried to act such for his sake even when it really wasn't necessary. But he found it so quintessentially Rinya he wouldn't want that part of her to change for all the world. Though he seriously doubted he'd 'love' Rhys. Ever.

He might grow to tolerate the man, maybe. And that was if he could perhaps show that he actually had respect for his mate rather than seeing her as a pet, or worse a piece of meat to be purchased and owned. Still, Rinya's comment about them not telling him because they knew they weren't supposed to brought a smile to his lips.

"Those understudies," he chucked. "Always trying to get away with something." Truthfully, the usually did get away with it. After all, he wasn't exactly a harsh taskmaster when it came to inventory management. At least he didn't think he was... perhaps the understudies and stagehands disagreed with him there.

After telling him about what the Akalak had said about her, Jorin couldn't help but feel the heat rise in his chest. He never liked hearing that sort of opinion espoused by anyone, much less someone Rinya had to work with. And despite the fact that she had implied this was an unusual circumstance and therefore she wasn't likely to have to work with this man again, it still burned him to hear her being called a 'pet'. Yet again.

Rinya had laid down her bowl and gone over to him, laying her head against his thigh. Jorin absently began stroking her hair, occasionally going over to stroke her cheek too. She just seemed so tired and he wanted to make her feel better. Also wanted to distract himself from wanting to confront this Akalak himself. Given his own track record at the Kendoka, that would not be a confrontation that would have ended well.

The mention of Rhys was... unsettling. Jorin did not like the man, but he could appreciate that he was willing to protect his mate from an unpleasant situation. And it certainly did sound unpleasant, with all the talk of 'training' and how Rhys did not 'teach' her anything.

The issue with Rhys had been, and probably always would be, the fact that he just would not stop hitting on what Jorin felt was his. And not in the sense of property, unless one meant emotional property. And in that sense he just as much belonged to Rinya. And really Jorin was torn.

On the one hand, getting that jealous meant he didn't trust Rinya. That he honestly believed that she might leave him for greener pastures. And while the fear of that actually happening was one of his most deepest-seated insecurities, he didn't actually think it would happen. But he couldn't help but get rather hot under the collar, to see how comfortable Rinya was with the man.

So it left him in a quandary. If he didn't get jealous an argument could be made that he did not love Rinya enough. If he did, then he was a domineering control freak who wouldn't let her make her own friends outside of himself. He tried to find the balance between the two but it was hard sometimes.

It was why he worked hard to try to accept Rhys, but there were times when the man seriously pushed his buttons, and he wondered if he did it in on purpose.

"Well, sadly I find most of the Akalaks tend to treat Kelvics that way," Jorin sighed, sounding rather sad. "We have a few Akalaks in the Amphitheater too. I mean, it is the Riverfall Amphitheater, you'd figure there'd actually be more Akalak there, although I suppose acting isn't considered as appropriate a vocation as a guard or warrior."

Jorin definitely knew what that was like. His father Rosik was a very severe man when it came to what was an 'appropriate' vocation and left nothing to the imagination about what he thought of the arts, despite his own wife being an artist, no less. It wasn't that he necessarily dismissed his wife's life's work, but he nonetheless saw it as an 'inefficient pursuit of time' as he would put it.

"We have a Kelvic or two, as well, mostly terrestrial Kelvics though." It wasn't something Jorin had actually told Rinya about. The fact that there were a few Kelvics at the Amphitheater. "There's an... unspoken prejudice against them, though. Like as though the consensus was that they weren't smart enough to become full actors. All our Kelvics are stagehands, you see. Not even understudies."

It was something Jorin was trying to change. And as an actor he actually had a fair bit of leverage to change it, but all his political capital was not sufficient to change the status quo in any appreciable manner. And it annoyed the petch out of him because he thought this was one thing he really should try to accomplish yet he encountered resistance at every turn.

"They aren't mistreated," Jorin sighed. "Well... I guess that's a matter of perspective. I happen to think they're grossly mistreated, but then I'm just one actor. But it's hard to change mindsets once they're made."

Unless one had the power to simply tell them otherwise. It was something Jorin had considered at one point. Actually playing the game the actors liked to play, and try to gain true political capital. But politics was a game that Jorin hated, and he knew once you stepped into that arena, the doors closed behind you. There was no getting back out.

"Fortunately, there wasn't any such shenanigans today," he offered. At least that was some good news right? "Just the usual mayhem. And then there were rehearsals..." which was yet another issue in and of itself. Jorin sighed. Maybe helping Rinya take her mind off her own day by talking about it would help him get over what they asked of him today.

It was something he'd been putting off for as long as he had been there. He successfully faked it many a time and he was hoping he'd grow skilled enough in Acting that he'd be able to fake it forever. But maybe he wouldn't be able to, and if he was unable to do so, would he still be able to work there? Jorin wasn't sure, but he wasn't sure how he was going to tell Rinya, or if she'd truly understand.

Regardless, he continued to stroke her face and hair and asked, "So Rhys got in a fight with this guy?" He tried as hard as he could to keep the jealousy at bay, but he knew Rinya could still feel it. Every time the man's name was mentioned he felt it, and he probably always would to some degree. But still, Jorin knew he couldn't fly off the handle every single time he was mentioned. He'd just have to learn some self-control, was all.

x

[Rinya]

There was a twinge of jealousy Rinya had come to associate with Jorin when it came down to Rhys. It wasn’t entirely surprising—nor did it actually bother her. She had a rather unhealthy jealousy herself, one that often led to violence. Asking Jorin not to be jealous was—unfair. Besides it was actually somewhat touching he cared enough to be jealous. But it was the main reason why she didn’t tell Jorin just how comfortable she was with Rhys. There was a mutual understanding between the two of them and Rinya wasn’t uncomfortable with the idea of having at least one Akalak for back up. Especially after the day she did have.

Jorin’s anger was not surprising either. He detested the way they saw her, even if most of the time it had no actual effect on her life. For the most part Rinya was able to fly under the radar. She didn’t cause much trouble to start with, and she most certainly wasn’t a social butterfly. Most of the Akalak guard didn’t even know she was Kelvic unless the directly working with her. It was something she was honest about with him however. If Jorin caught wind of this—excitement that occurred, he would want to know why she didn’t tell him about it.

With Jorin’s touch however it made it so very clear just how comfortable she was. ”You never told me about having Kelvics at the Amphitheater.” Honestly she had never asked—it wasn’t actually a thought that crossed her mind. Rinya wasn’t naïve enough to think she was the only Kelvic in all of Riverfall, but she also didn’t go looking for them. Dust was the only Kelvic she sought out for companionship—and even then Dust had approached her first. But it was an interesting fact none the less.

Rinya hummed slightly as Jorin mentioned that they weren’t actually actors, but stagehands only. The amount of work a Kelvic had to do in a city like Riverfall was rather amazing actually. In the very least the city itself didn’t collar them and demand more. But Jorin wanting to change how the Kelvics were treated—not just at his work but everywhere—wasn’t likely to be an idea that stuck easily with anyone. Rinya herself would have just preferred to leave it alone. Granted it was that kind of thinking that also meant change wasn’t going to come.

But there was something else bothering him. Jorin’s voice alone gave it away—that there were more words behind it all. He sighed and just continued to stroke her face, and it took quite a bit of effort for her to remain awake at all. But he questioned what happened further at work and Rinya had to take several ticks to remember what she had been talking about to begin with. ”Well I didn’t actually see too much of it to be honest.” Rinya stated a little sheepishly. They had just made it outside of the Warren when Rhys had come up to her, obviously intending to take her home.

”You know me, I don’t really pay much attention when two males prostrate towards each other. Before I knew it there was a punch thrown… and I’m not even sure who threw it first. I just ducked out of the way.” Rinya grinned slightly. Several of the guards had rushed forward to stop the impending fight but, ”Raistren had to step in… sent them to the arena to clear it up apparently.” Rinya snorted again. It almost seemed barbaric, fighting something out that didn’t even truly have to do with either of them. If anyone should be fighting, it was her.

”Whatever… they can have their little tiff, so long as it doesn’t come back on me.” Lifting her head a little, she rested her chin on his leg and smiled up lazily at him. ”But it was the first time I’ve ever seen Rhys fight for himself. Usually Seymantis is the over protective one. I’m so very glad to be home away from it though. I thought the day would never end.” Rinya closed her eyes for a chime, before opening them again and staring at him in the eye. It was still there—whatever was bothering him and she stifled a frown from coming to her face.

”What is it Jorin? Did something else happen at your work?” Rinya raised a brow at him slightly. ”It is written across your face… in your voice. Something is bothering you.” He had been more than kind enough to listen to her rather full and—most annoying day. But judging by his own words about how is day was, there was more to it and he didn’t want to really think about it. ”If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine as well, but I’ll listen just the same you know.”

[Jorin Ertihan]

x

Jorin shrugged lightly when Rinya mentioned he'd never mentioned the Kelvics at the Amphitheater.

"Truthfully, it's embarrassing, because I sometimes forget they're there myself, and i know I really shouldn't. Especially not being mated and bonded to you, I should know better. But they do such a good job of staying out of the way that it's easy sometimes to forget they're there..." It was such a sad thing, and Jorin's voice and emotions presented that.

He was saddened by the fact that those Kelvics had felt the need to hide themselves away, as though being in the limelight was not for them, that the stage was only for humans and Akalaks and they were just pets to do the manual labor the actors didn't want to do. Jorin sighed, and turned his attention to Rinya's description of the brawl.

Ah. A typical male fight. Jorin himself hadn't actually been in too many of those, unless one counted the fights at the Kendoka, in which case he'd been in a hundred and counting. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate how a good scrape could be therapeutic in its own way, though he himself far preferred to talk things over than to exchange fisticuffs. But he could still see the appeal; there was something... solid, about a fight. Conclusive in its own basic, somewhat barbaric way.

"Well, at least they managed to resolve it in a... recognized fashion, rather than just brawling it out on the streets," Jorin tried, as he continued to stroke her face. It was rather calming to do that, and he actually found himself feeling somewhat drowsy sitting by the fire, his mate's head in his lap. If they let themselves they could probably go to sleep right there.

But Rinya's question caught him a bit short. Ah yes... that. Well, he was the one who always espoused no secrets. He just wondered if Rinya would understand.

"Yeah... the stage manager wanted me to try out this newfangled thing that's been gripping the acting world lately. It's called 'method acting' and well... it's kind of hard to describe." Jorin's hand paused for a bit as he considered how to describe it to her, before he continued.

"So traditional acting is what you've seen me do many times. It's pretty simple. You project whatever emotion that particular scene demands of you. If it needs you to be happy, you act happy. If it needs you to be sad, you act sad. It requires, of course, a good understanding of human emotion to successfully fake these things, and obviously there's more to it than just acting out the emotional response, but it's a fairly important part." Jorin shrugged. As far as he was concerned it was the least difficult part. He acted for everyone so it wasn't so hard to falsify emotions, to everyone but Rinya. He'd never be able to fake emotions for her, and he would never want to.

"Method acting's this new craze that's been going around," Jorin explained, and he couldn't really keep his disdain from his voice. It was obvious he didn't think much of the technique. "Basically, it's the idea that in order to successfully fake an emotion you have to actually feel the emotion. Personally I think it's hogwash. If that were true, then centuries of actors over the ages would've been wrong."

More to the point, he'd have to actually feel anger when he played an angry character. He'd have to actually feel love when he played a loving one. The only reason he was able to remain an actor as long as he did was because he knew he was acting. If he became a method actor, at what point would Jorin disappear? It'd be too easy to lose oneself in one's own acting. Or at least that was the fear.

"It's probably just a fad," Jorin insisted, though he didn't sound very convinced. "I... kinda refused to participate. Well, not refused in the traditional sense. I just acted harder. And they couldn't tell the difference so they thought I was method acting." Jorin shrugged.

"Hey it's not my fault they couldn't see the difference. But you would've known right away, my love." Jorin punctuated the statement by lifting Rinya's head a bit and leaning down to kiss her lightly on the lips. It was at a somewhat awkward angle, otherwise he'd maintain the kiss longer, but regardless it was quite nice. The moment was broken, though, when Jorin tried, and failed, to suppress a yawn.

"Oh my," he grinned. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought." He shrugged, and stroked Rinya's face one more time before gently releasing her and getting up, stretching a bit as he did.

"Let's go to bed," he suggested. She did look rather tired after all, and it was quite late. Taking her by the hand, he gently helped Rinya to her feet. Taking a nearby bucket, Jorin put out the fire before leading them both to their bedroom, and a good night's rest.

~Fin~

x

[Translucent]

Congratulations On Your Hard Work!

Jorin Ertihan:
XP: +1 cooking, +5 observation, +5 socialization
Lores: Cooking: Important to keep egg shell out of the dish, The riddle of the bridge and three apples.

Rinya:
XP:+1 organization +4 observation, +4 socialization
Lores: Work: Making up for rotation mixup. Sorting weapons the hard way. Acting: Method Acting immersing yourself in the emotions.


Notes: Neat riddle, I would have just carried one across at a time..though if a bridge was so rickety that the weight of a single extra apple was going to make it break I would probably avoid it anyways

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