Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

[Nadeja]

11 Winter 514 AV

It was a bell past the noon rest and Zintia peak was a splendor in the winter light. People bustled through Surya Plaza in a familiar swarm of prospect, their clamor the result of both business being conducted and the egress to and from it. The steadily sinking temperature of the season was still far from suppressing the spirit of the Lhavitians. There was no shortage of vendors and consumers bargaining in the sunlight. A pale haired girl stood in the shadow of the temple, one hand on a wooden food cart, weighing the worth of day with calculating eyes.


Autumn had been long and restless. Nadeja felt a sense of relief to have it stretched out behind her like a banner in the rising winds, all of those aching days she did not know what to do with cleared out with the dead-fall. Too many hours had been wasted worrying over the vagaries of a man who had to mean nothing now that he was not here. She wanted purpose, not phantoms, and purpose had formed for her in the shape of a tiny child near autumn’s end. Her daughter was a miniature perfection, a bright eyed wonder that Nadeja kept close. The house around them had grown stale during the blue days of her pregnancy and once she was recovered from her labor, Nadeja set about airing it out and putting all of her little world back into order. It wasn’t just her world anymore, but theirs.


Part of all that world-ordering meant that Nadeja finally went begging at the Cosmos Center for a loan. The house, after all, was in his name, as well as the food cart and what remained of the pantry stores. With an infant strapped to her chest, curled up right against her heart, Nadeja was no longer willing to merely subsist, to simply survive. Instinct drove her to be better, faster, stronger. Kit was destined to a tragically short lifetime, and that only meant there was no time to waste. While the loan papers processed for the house and equipage, she was issued a temporary license under which to conduct business. This was partially out of sound governance, but Nadeja suspected at least a thin thread of noblesse oblige as well.


Today was Nadeja’s first day out with the food cart on her own. For as far back as she could remember, in the yesteryears she no longer cared to examine, she had come with him out into Lhavit to sell cheap, fast food to their fellow citizens. The food had been different then, flavors that were more to his taste than hers; and, more than that, Nadeja wasn’t interested in continuing with someone else’s legacy. She wanted to make something of her own. It meant a complete re-haul of the business and the menu, but that she had jumped into full speed, researching and planning, hunting and ordering. The food cart had been given a fresh coat of paint and she had, with painstaking care, scrawled out the day’s selection on the chalkboard sign.

Tortilla Pockets
4 topaz kina – Daily Seafood: White fish, green tomato salsa, special sauce, served in soft flour tortilla.
3 topaz kina – Daily Meat: Pulled pork, dates, broccoli slaw, served in hard corn tortilla.
2 topaz kina – Daily Vegetarian: Black beans, spiced rice, fruit salsa, special sauce, served soft or hard.
1 of each – 7 topaz kina

Corn Chips & Daily Salsa
Individual – 2 topaz kina
Group (Serves 4-6) – 5 topaz kina

Fruit & Cheese Kabob (Daily Selection) – 2 topaz kina

Fox & and the Pound Cake
Whole - 1 kina
Slice -2 topaz kina

Roasted Nuts
Sugared or Spiced – 2 topaz kina

Cold Weather Daily Beverage – 1 topaz kina
Sweetened Black Mint Tea

The first bell in the middle of the plaza Nadeja and her cart received numerous curious glances but little patronage. Covered serving boxes and stacks of wax papers covered the surface and she had even stuffed a handful of autumn’s last beautiful leaves into a tin teapot, maple bright and cheerful, to try and add a touch of something. There was a word for it, but it escaped Nadeja as she stood there with a bright smile. Pale golden hair was twisted back and the sleeves of her shirt was shoved up to her elbows. An ivory colored baby sling held Kit to her chest, though only the top of the infant’s head was visible and that wore a rough knit daffodil colored hat. Nadeja had tied a thick, green wool scarf about her shoulders. Grey trousers hung from slender hips and the hems were only half tucked into tall boots. All of her was yet young, though very little was still new. A few more patrons, she decided, and it would just have be a good enough place to begin.

OOCOpen to all. Permission to move forward with business granted by RS Mirage with wages contingent upon the approval of business plan.

[Bridget Donovan]

Due to current events with both changes being made to Lhavit, and my character which has essentially been invalidated, Bridget Donovan is being deleted. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

[Dust]

Dust arrived at Surya Plaza early in the day, armed with book and ink stick and the vivid morning light, as brilliant as anyone could ask the sun goddess for. Not that Dust had thought to do so, but since the gift was given, she offered a moment's respectful thanks and set out to take advantage of it. That the early morning air was also brisk, chill enough to have the Kelvic bundled up in her cloak despite the influence of Lhavit's skyglass, was just an inevitable consequence of the season. All of her current clothing -- white shirt, brown pants, brown cloak, and especially the rather battered hat -- had seen better days, but still provided her plenty of warmth.

She found herself a place where no one would likely step on her, tucked up against a railing with her legs hanging over the ledge, her view of the plaza almost, sorta, kinda not impeded by the flow of traffic. All the people going to and fro distracted her for a while, with the ever-changing montage of scenery their passage offered -- here a pair of Shinya, observant in their reserve; there a gaggle of children, only about half of them seeming related to each other; now someone in strikingly colorful robes arguing with a vendor over what seemed only a glass trinket to the raven Kelvic. She felt, for that moment, a strong desire to check out that thing the man so clearly wanted -- but that would mean getting up, and really, Dust liked her current spot.

Besides, she had other things to do here.

Flipping the book open to a blank page -- of which, apparently, there weren't very many left -- Dust gave the view before her a critical examination, then drew its outline with slow care. The plaza made a large square, which light lines and judicious measurement ensured really was represented by a square on her page. Or something that passed as close enough to her eyes, anyway. There were the steps all along one side, signified by a series of lines which came out mostly even, if only because she spent what felt like forever drawing them. There were the gardens leading up to the temple, which she made just blank spaces for now, and the central square, another empty block.

And then there were all the shops. At least she could draw them all as squares, too -- but so many squares, of all different sizes! There were larger places like the pet shop, which had the most adorable creatures, and small places that traded in the most random of things, and every size of building in between. Needless to say, even drawing simple squares to represent the structures Dust could see occupied her for a good long while. Especially as she kept glancing up, comparing each to the others, and making sure she got their sizes right this time.

The sun had moved considerably, the air warmed from brisk to the cool side of pleasant, the noon rest entirely come and gone before it even occurred to Dust that she ought to get up and move around a bit. And maybe find something to eat, she realized, as her stomach's declared its grumbling emptiness. With that plan now in mind, the Kelvic closed her book, tucked it under an arm, and made the ink-stick disappear into a pocket. Then she set out into the plaza proper, on quest for food.

It was the leaves that caught her eye, bright like Syna's light, a splash of vivid color that -- for some unknowable reason -- reminded her of far-distant forests and brought a smile to the Kelvic's face. Then Dust saw the rest of the cart, prettily painted and most importantly of all arrayed with food. It was the girl who stood beside it that clinched her decision, with her hair worn long but sharing almost the same color as Dust's own. A curiously mismatched pair of humans -- well, she thought they were both humans... -- reached the cart before she did, bickering in a way that made her guess them to be siblings. Maybe. If siblings came in that different a height. But Kelvic siblings came in altogether different breeds, so why not?

It was only as they figured out their orders that Dust realized the cart-girl herself wasn't alone -- that she carried an infant on her chest, ornamented with a yellow hat. "Oh! The baby's cute," she offered with a bright smile. Though she proceeded to regard the child for a little bit longer, head canted and a hint of bemusement shading her expression. How she had possibly missed seeing it before?

And somehow, during that preoccupation, it had also become her turn to order. "Two of the meat ones, please," she asked of the girl, "and a cup of tea."

ledger2 meat tortillas: -0.6 kina
1 black tea: -0.1 kina
total: -0.7 kina

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Nadeja]

Dust was studied with a broad curiosity as she arrived with her sketch book under her arm. Nadeja lingered over pale hair, so similar in color to her own, and eventually she smiled. The expression quite easily climbed right up into wide, storm-sea eyes and made her look even younger than she already was.


One hand swept up at the compliment out of instinct to cradle the infant's back through the fabric of her sling. She rubbed gently and Kit shifted, bubbling out a tiny sigh. It failed to bother the baby a bit to be out here under the sky, cozied as she was up to her mother and by all accounts content to sleep the afternoon away. It was hibernation season, after all, a fact that had taken a while to occur to Nadeja.


Foxes and dormice were not alike in very many ways and worry had spread like frostbite through her as Kit seemed to eat less than her mother necessarily felt was normal for newborns. She looked healthy, but all of Nadeja's instincts were in a fret. She had only recently begun to calm when a neighbor had, quite kindly, explained that the tiny creatures slept nearly half the year.


Of course, Nadeja still worried anyway.


"Thank you," Nadeja replied, her pleasure immediate and clear. "She's been sleeping all day. Her name's Kit. And I'm Nadeja." An eyebrow rocked prettily upward and she ticked two fingers off on a hand. "Two meat tacos and one tea, coming right up."


First Nadeja dropped down into a crouch, bouncing there a bit while fishing a covered pitcher from the bottom shelf of her cart. She had wrapped it in a heavy towel before leaving the house earlier so that when she removed the lid it was still hot enough for steam to escape in a pleasantly scented poof. A clean wooden mug was filled with the sweetened tea and Nadeja offered this first to her customer so that Dust might have something to sip on while waiting for her tacos.


"What's that under your arm there?" Nadeja asked, and she pointed her chin at the sketchpad even while filling a pair of corn tortillas with savory, pulled pork. The juices collected in the fold of wax paper she used to pocket the food. On top of that went a cold broccoli slaw she had made this morning using a mixture of egg yolks, pressed oil, and ground mustard seeds, a little vinegar and red pepper. Finally an extra napkin was folded around so as to keep the food easy to maintain while eating and she offered out the food.


"I hope you like it. Tell me what you think?" The last was added a bit hopefully.

[Dust]

oocSorry for the delay!


The taco vendor went about filling Dust's order, fetching things -- a pitcher and mug, as it turned out -- from the lower part of the cart. Dust looked on with curiosity, her head canted to one side, leaning about to get a better view. The cart was really kinda clever; she could sell tacos anywhere she wanted! Though Dust figured, if it were her, she'd probably find the thing a nuisance. A cart was kind of a lot to drag around, for someone who was used to just carrying all the things she wanted.

Like the little book the woman -- Nadeja -- asked after. "This? It's my map book," Dust supplied amiably. "See..." She pulled it out and opened to the page she'd been working on, laying the book out flat on part of the cart. "I was working on a map of the plaza earlier. I kinda got involved and didn't realize it was already time for lunch," she finished a little sheepishly. "But you're here, so it all worked out!"

Leaving the book in place in invitation for Nadeja to look at it -- invitation only underscored by Dust leaving her payment on the map in question -- the Kelvic accepted her order from the vendor. Two tacos and a tea proved to be a bit much to hold all at once... but Dust already had a solution in mind for that. She set the tea on a corner of the cart, then padded a short distance away to set one of the tacos atop a low wall. She paused there, gaze lifting to the trees and rooftops, scanning across them until she spotted a black-feathered bird. She found one, of course; in all the cities Dust had visited, crows and ravens had always been features. This's for you, Brother Crow, if you want it!

That left her with one taco and the tea, once she returned and reclaimed it -- which oh-so-coincidentally matched up rather well with her two hands. Only then did Dust take a bite of her taco, scrambling to keep the juices from running down her chin. It was really pretty good -- not least because Dust was hungry. She started to try and say as much, but quickly realized that wouldn't work as her mouth was full... and she wanted it to stay that way. The Kelvic made an approving gesture instead, while working to finish her mouthful so she could also say things.

"I like it! I don't think I've had the bread thing before," she continued, loosening the wax paper just enough to where she could pull off a bit of tortilla. "It's even flatter than flatbread!"

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Dust]

oocFinishing this out as a solo...

The vendor seemed appreciative of Dust's enthusiasm for her food, and gave the map a gratifyingly complimentary regard as she collected her payment. But it wasn't long before other customers came by in search of their own meals, and the raven Kelvic had to cede them the woman's attention. Slipping away from the cart, she ambled about the plaza, resuming people-watching while she ate.

It wasn't easy to manage tea and taco while walking, Dust soon found -- though at least the book could be held securely underarm, and so not add to her problems. The taco, however, had a tendency to spill its innards the moment her attention wavered, or even when it wasn't wavering, despite the vendor's care with wax paper and cone. So she had to stop in short order and gobble the remainder down, albeit not without appreciation for its taste. After, Dust proceeded to lick the sauce from her fingers without concern for the potential audience around her.

She did refrain from snatching up the fallen pieces... well, most of them... if only because watching two different kinds of ants bicker over which nest was entitled to the largesse was most entertaining. Dust crouched down to observe for a while, making up her own narration to explain the ants' actions -- which got even better once she started changing the pitch of her voice for each side. A lower pitch for the larger reddish ants, though she had trouble making it sound quite as gruff as she wanted. A higher pitch for the little black ants, who were holding their own by sheer force of numbers.

That... might have gotten her some odd looks from the other plaza-goers. Just a few. She didn't mind, though.

Eventually, that got boring -- mostly because the black ants finally swarmed and drove off the reddish ants. So Dust ambled back across the plaza to where she'd started, sitting on a stone ledge. The lighting had completely changed with the passing of the bells, but since she was only marking places of things, it didn't matter much for the map. She also noticed the people in the plaza had gotten more numerous -- it was much past the noon rest now, and... the Kelvic thought for a moment. Yes, it would be the dusk rest soon, which also meant sunset. She'd better get on finishing the map, if she wanted to do it while Syna was still up!

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Dust]

Opening the book back up, Dust took a few chimes to study what she'd already drawn with renewed eyes, comparing it to the plaza laid out before her. A small adjustment made the temple a little larger; another squared off the eastward line of shops. Everything else looked... good enough that she couldn't complain, at least!

The outsides of buildings had all been finished. There were just some details that needed to be added -- because the square really wasn't a blank box. The gardens had trees, which she marked with dimpled circles over two lines for a trunk, like some of the book maps used. And bushes, which just got squiggly circles, and flowers and grasses and things that she had to represent with plain old lines. There just wasn't room for smaller detail... not when she was drawing it!

Dust was pretty sure mapmakers used something other than charcoal and ink sticks when they were drawing. She really needed to look more closely through the shops to figure out what. Later. That would involve getting up and putting the map away, and she was busy now...

The square itself had some flowerbeds, and huge shallow steps that cut across it because -- like everything about Lhavit -- it stretched up and down the mountain slope. So those got outlines and flower-lines and yet more long, not as straight as she would've liked lines. Dust tried lightly shading the stair-steps to show that they were stairs... shadowed on one angle, light on the other. She wasn't entirely certain she liked the effect, but it was interesting. She might have to practice that some more.

It took about another bell for Dust to finish with all her lines, at which point the shadows were getting really elongated, her fingers were complaining about holding the ink stick so much, and her legs definitely needed a good stretch. So she put the mapping tools away, got up, and stretched: deep breath, arms up, reach for the sky; breathe out, arms down, reach for the ground. Rising, she shook out her hands and recollected her things.

Taking a moment to regard the amber-lit plaza, envisioning the black-and-white lines of her map laid out over it, Dust smiled to herself. Yes, she was happy with the map, and with the day. Giving a jaunty wave to a rather well-fed black raven on a rooftop, and to the setting sun, the Kelvic headed in the direction of home.

And dinner. Because dusk was always a good time for dinner.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Izuyanai]

Grades : Grades Name: Dust XP: Cartography +2 Drawing +2 Observation +3 Socialisation +2 Lores: Location: Surya Plaza Cartography: Mapping the Surya Plaza Nadeja: Vendor Kit: Nadeja’s Baby Purchase: -0.7kina Notes: Nadeja, please message me once you have your ledger up to date. See you in Syka, Dust! Let me know if you think I’ve missed something.