Amber Sunsets and a Handful of Clams (Sira, Kovac, Aidara)

by **Kovac** on May 7th, 2013, 3:03 pm

Kovac, admittedly, was not expecting the press of Sira against him as they relaxed into the sofa. The closeness of the attractive eagle woman certainly pleased him physically, but he considered the Kelvic more sublte, and more clever, than Aidara, and the mongrel wondered at Sira's true intent. Perhaps it was simply friendliness, or, like her bondmate, she wanted to tease the randy Avora. Regardless, Kovac gave into his baser nature and nestled into the cushions with the Kelvic.

Iosha presented her tongue-in-cheek lecture to the half-breed, and Kovac grinned at his Konti friend as she suggested he was duty-bound to fulfill the whims of the Endals freely. "Well spoken Io, you are becoming a true Inartan, toting the traditions like a faithful ginger!" He shifted reactively as Addy leaned over too far to pour his wine, nearly toppling into his lap. "Hey hey!" Kovac interjected with a laugh, leaning further into Sira, trying to center his glass under the wavering bottle mouth.

Gaining his composure, the Avora continued to reply to Iosha, giving the Konti a wink. "But be careful what you commit us to, you have no idea what kind of whims these Endals may have!" Kovac took a generous drink of the sweet wine, eyes darting to Sira next to him before watching Addy take her seat, uncustomarily drinking from the bottle. She shared the tale of her rough day, justifying her informal method of drinking.

"Well Addy, maybe we can help you relax after such a hard day." Kovac offered, lifting his glass to her in a salute. He stood and retrieved his lute, settling in again next to Sira. While the others sipped their wine, and Addy chugged hers, Kovac plucked at the strings, tuning the instrument.

Then the Inartan healer blurted out her statement. Kovac looked at her at first with a perlexed look. He had never heard the girl sing, and he knew for a fact she had no idea how to play the lute. He certainly couldn't just up and teach her how to play, but her pleading, exuberant, almost child-like face was hard to resist. It had been his mother's lute, it was his most prized possession. Handing it over to the buzzed healer was not preferable. Kovac looked over to meet Sira's golden gaze, as if asking her for help. No, Sira would find this humorous, there would be no salvation coming from the wind eagle. Pleading eyes shifted to those of the lovely Konti, but she had already stated her opinion on submitting to the desires of the Endals.

With a glance at Io, Kovac hesitantly reached the instrument and plectrum to Aidara. Addy was a friend, one he loved, and so he relinquished his lute to the tipsy healer. "Don't show me up, Addy." Kovac teased, allowing himself a smile.

by **Sira** on June 7th, 2013, 10:16 pm

"Petch that! That dek licker can find his own food. If I find anything extra tasty, I'm eating it myself."

Sira took a drink from her glass of wine, a small sip, but it was good wine and she could already tell she was probably going to end up drinking more than she intended. That was, until Addy started drinking directly from the bottle. Nothing slipped past Sira's gaze.. except for when it did, but this time, Sira did not miss Addy slogging away at the bottle when she thought nobody was looking. Sira wasn't too worried.. in truth, if Addy needed to, she could sober herself up with her own gnosis. A simple poison like alcohol really wasn't much of a problem for a healer, when they could deal with things like snake and spider bites, which were much more dangerous. But Sira was also aware that sometimes Addy just binged. Luckily, she was not nearly as dangerous as Sira could be when she overindulged.

Addy's rough day at the infirmary was not really all that special to Sira. While she felt for her bondmate, of course, she had lived with Aidara long enough to know that days like that happened from time to time, and Sira had heard a lot worse stories. Of course, the one story she had never heard was the one story she never wanted to. The one she caused herself. But Sira quickly shut that thought from her mind, and turned back to enjoying their evening. And then of course Addy decided she was going to become a musician.

Sira could tell the healer was drunk, and she could also see the look of worry on Kovacs face. She almost considered saying something.. almost, but Kovac's suspicions were right. Sira would find it amusing. Perhaps if she had known how special the lute was to him things might have been different, but to Sira it was just a piece of wood with strings attached. It wasn't anything special, and she could easily buy him a new, better one if Addy did end up breaking it.

"Oh, play us something upbeat, Addy. I want to dance!"

Sira jumped to her feet, stepping over Kovac's legs and reaching for Iosha's hand, pulling her out of the chair.

"Come on, Io, show us how they dance in Mura!"

by **Iosha** on June 15th, 2013, 3:30 am

Iosha watched the group with a smile as she sipped her wine. The konti was pleasantly surprised at the sweetness of the wine, and she watched the scene unfold between Kovac and the little red headed healer. Aidara seemed to be quite familiar drinking her wine because the bottle was almost gone. To get into the spirit of the night, Iosha drank about half her glass in one large swig. It was tasty wine, and she was sure the two Endals would replenish the wine when the first bottle was consumed. Sira brash comment about Kovac getting his own food made her almost spill her drink in lap as she laughed out loud. When she regained her composure, Iosha looked up at Sira with a smile and teased with a pout on her lips, “That is too bad Sira, I was about to put in my order too.” A few chimes later, Iosha started giggling to herself when she saw Aidara trying to grab Kovac's lute, and the konti watched her archery teacher cringe as he held the instrument close to him. Suddenly, the man's green eyes met her, and she could tell he was pleading for assistance from his new friend, Kovac.

Iosha set down her glass, stood up, and sat on the ground next to pretty red head. She gave Kovac a reassuring smile, patted the man's knee, and said softly to Aidara, “Do you know the lute was his mother's?” The konti looked for a random chip in the varnish or a scratch in the wood from everyday wear, and she gave her new friend, Kovac a impish grin, and said to Aidara, “I was told Kovac used to sleep with the lute when he was baby, and if you look very carefully at this..” The pointed a web finger at the random chip on the lutes surface and said in a soft voice, “When he was teething, he used to chew on the lute like a beaver.” Iosha looked up at Kovac, stuck her tongue out at him, and said to Aidara, “So the lute has sentimental and nutritional value to our lovable snarky archer.” Feeling the warmth of the alcohol starting to kick in, Iosha ran a webbed hand through her hair and continued, “Maybe if you sit next to Kovac, he could show you a few cords, Addy.” Iosha stood up, flashed him a half grin, and went back to her seat. As she nursed her wine glass, Iosha watched in silence as she watched the three lively Inarta. As the konti finished the wine glass and set it on the table next to her, she thought to herself that she hadn't been around such energy since she lived in Avanthal. It was nice know her mother stories about the Inarta were true.

Suddenly, the beautiful kelvic reached out a hand to her and pulled her to her feet. Sira wanted to know of any konti dances, and Iosha sort of inwardly cringed at the thought konti dancing because she wasn't much into the arts like her mother. She was into the science of medicine and the magic, so she didn't have time to dance like most of the other konti girls her age. Iosha gave the kelvic a sheepish look and said softly, “Would you believe me if I said I didn't dance much as a child.” Iosha looked away for a moment realizing she was being a stick in the mud. She said with a weary smile, “I was kind of student for twenty years of my life, so I can do your taxes or write a essay pretty well, but I am not sure how to dance.” Iosha didn't want to bring up her dancing in Ravok because it wasn't kind of dancing not suitable for a dinner party. She might dance like that for a future lover, but she won't do it today. Iosha started to feel awkward holding the kelvic's hand not sure what to do.

by **Aidara** on June 27th, 2013, 2:50 am

The room shifted wildly as Addy turned her head, bravely attempting to follow the conversation that was moving much to fast for her now that the wine hit her; Having had no time to eat throughout the day left nothing in the little woman’s system to prevent the alcohol from slamming into her full force. Half a bottle down and she was still sitting upright, so that was an accomplishment at least.

Giving no specific response to any of her companions past smiles and ill-placed giggles, her laughter interrupting Sira and Iosha both as they tried to joke and talk with each other; any social skill that Addy had managed to garner over the years was shattered by the plumb flavored liquid, the slight bite of the wine hardly slowing her down as she took mouthful after mouthful.

“I’s sho’ you up e’ry wish… wish… which way, Kovac. You’s just w’ash.” Drunk though she may be, Addy still retained enough self to know that she had to be careful with the lute that Kovac reluctantly handed over. In fact, as unable to filter herself as she was, Addy exaggeratedly took the lute with care, slowly rotating until she could sit back down and lowering the instrument onto her lap.

“Shhhhhhhhhh.” Lifting a weaving finger to her lips, Addy nudged the wine bottle away with her toe and laid the lute across her knees, her hands resting gently on the strings as she waited for silence to fall. “This’s a song I learn’d long time ago.” Sira, Iosha, and then Kovac were each given a very serious, if glassy eyed, stare before Addy began.

At first, her fingers continued the soft rubbing of the strings that looked nothing more than a strange, almost sexual sort of petting of the instrument. After a few ticks, however, she plucked the string furthest from her and let the chord resonate in the now quiet Aerie. A single note was not all that hard to play, and Addy waited for the first to die before plucking the second. It was a quavering sound, and one that was oddly mysterious and halting in its simplicity.

Whether Addy had her audience on the edge of their metaphorical seats or not, she didn’t notice; it was only a chime or so of the slow plucking before she started to get complex, her fingers blurring as she let ripples of notes stream out from the lute, her eyes closed and her head bowed over the instrument. To her, it was a symphony. To everyone else, it was a terrible cacophony of jarring notes that just slashes at the eardrums.

But that was nothing. The horror really began when Addy tiled her head back and began to belt out her little ditty at the top of her lungs.

“Her feather was ripe for the taking
Eyes a glaze’n gold
Thick was the air in our waking
My body for hers was sold”

Though only a few lines long, the “ballad” was made even raunchier by the lewid hand motions that Addy added along with the words she screeched. Even despite her best effort, not a single note was on the correct key, even if she hit some surprisingly high notes. Try as she might, the wine was the winner this night.

x

by **Kovac** on July 3rd, 2013, 2:21 pm

Kovac turned to Sira as she made her derogatory comment, the Avora chuckling at her pointed insult implying he had applied his tongue to a Drudge. "I would be offended if it weren't true." His attention turned back to Aidara, and her unsteady hands fondling his treasured lute. Iosha, the sweetheart she was, tried to reinforce the value the instrument had to its owner, then, maybe catching some of the Kelvic's snarkiness, turned as well to teasing the mixed-blood. When the ivory-skinned Konti stuck out her tongue, Kovac gestured as if he were yanking on it. He took another, deep swig of wine.

His glance darted again to Sira, his own buried concern reflected for an instant in the beautiful eagle-woman's eyes before it disappeared and they both looked again at Addy. She was being careful with the lute, especially so, her small hands caressing it. A few notes were plucked, and Sira coaxed the tall Konti up from her seat to join in a dance. Aidara then committed a travesty of noise upon the helpless instrument, Kovac cringing as she ramdomly fingered and strummed the strings. His wine glass was drained down his throat, embracing the warmth in is belly and the beginning of a light buzz.

Then came the singing, she hollered more than sung it, the lyrics she belted out randy and suggestive, the gestures she stopped banging the strings long enough to offer leaving little guess as to the meaning of the tune. Though there was some worry for the instrument, and the drunken woman herself, Kovac had to burst out in laughter. A sidelong glance caught Sira as she stood with Iosha, and the Avora inferred that the song was intended for Aidara's Kelvic mate.

"Lovely!" He lied. "Now, how about I play, and you three dance? Or Addy, you can accompany me with some more of your bawdy lyrics."Deftly scooping up the wine, Kovac poured himself another glass, and set the bottle by the far end of the couch, away for the drunken Endal.

x

by **Sira** on July 16th, 2013, 4:30 pm

"That's okay. I'll show you how we dance in Wind Reach."

Or she would have. Even as Sira took Iosha's hands, preparing to start the dance when Addy began playing more than a single note as a time, Addy began her melody, though to call it that was a far stretch. Sira cringed at the sounds being played, all but forgetting about the konti in front of her, and could not help but smile at the raunchy lyrics. When it was finally over there was a moment of silence before kovac burst out laughing. Sira started laughing too, though she tried to mask it with clapping and cheers. As terrible as it was, Aidara had somehow managed to turn the travesty into something epic.

"Wow, Addy. I never knew you could sing like that."

When Kovac took back the lute and suggested they dance, or Addy continue to sing along with him, that brought an even wider grin to her face. She knew Kovac could play, and he would pick something good to dance to, most likely. Sira spun back around to face Iosha, grabbing her hands again. As soon as the music started, whether Addy joined them or not, Sira would begin to dance.

Scrapbook · by **Harrier** on October 14th, 2013, 3:03 am

[indent]

Iosha

Observation	5
Flirting	5
Socialization	5
Interrogation	2

Lores :

Sira

Investigation	2
Observation	5
Socialziation	5
Flirting	3

Lores :

Kovac

Observation	3
Lute	1
Socialization	5

Lores :

Closed Amber Sunsets and a Handful of Clams (Sira, Kovac, Aidara)