Day 0 | Festival Event: Wine Race

[Eileen Marsh]

"I don't need help with my contracts normally, but maybe contracts on the water are more difficult" Lydia commented with a rare thoughtful expression "I see. I'm sure I can help, assuming that doesn't void said contract?"

''Oh no'' she shook her head ''There is no contract going on right now but we could have fun.''

[Lydia Storm]

''Oh no'' she shook her head ''There is no contract going on right now but we could have fun.''

There was an almost confused look for a brief moment, before a frown.

"So...for sport? I haven't done that, but if it's ok in water it would make for interesting practice."

[Hadrian Martikova]

She gave him a sidelong glance.

"You must be a very, very strange person if you actually believe that. But cheers to strangeness."

He clinked glasses with a smirk.

"Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think you give yourself enough credit. I thought it was sweet the way you lit up back there when you were talking to Alexios. And of course you helped me save face earlier with those two girls. I don't know. I get the feeling you're a good person that just needs a break."

[Laila Bridger]

He clinked glasses with a smirk.

"Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think you give yourself enough credit. I thought it was sweet the way you lit up back there when you were talking to Alexios. And of course you helped me save face earlier with those two girls. I don't know. I get the feeling you're a good person that just needs a break."

That... got a shrug.

"I hate to see good booze go to waste. And far as Alexios goes... his boy went out the way a few of my squadmates did. That means we've got something in common."

[Hadrian Martikova]

"I hate to see good booze go to waste. And far as Alexios goes... his boy went out the way a few of my squadmates did. That means we've got something in common."

"That's fair. I wrongly assumed you're a softy underneath that badass exterior. But you corrected me." He winked. "Speaking of booze not going to waste..." he refilled her glass. "...Mind if I ask what you do for fun between jobs and day drinking?"

[Laila Bridger]

"That's fair. I wrongly assumed you're a softy underneath that badass exterior. But you corrected me." He winked. "Speaking of booze not going to waste..." he refilled her glass. "...Mind if I ask what you do for fun between jobs and day drinking?"

"Mostly look for jobs and keep fit to be ready for jobs. Not like House Ecaz is paying me anymore."

Was that... a sip? Yes. A generous one, but still an actual sip.

"Between that and the occasional bar fight, recreation's thin on the ground."

She paused.

"Used to like reading- nothing deep or complex, just a bit of fiction on my downtime, but had to sell most of what I own to make my way here."

[Hadrian Martikova]

He clicked his tongue, "You know what they say about all work and no play."

Not like he has any right to talk. Still...

"I can at least say we've got that much in common. And the best place in the world to read is this little spot I built in the garden. There's a firepit, the insects are sparse, its roofed so the rain doesn't deter. Just me a rocking chair, the smell of herbs, and flowers in bloom."

He smiles and takes a sip.

"It's the perfect place to relax after a hard day of chores."

[Laila Bridger]

"Huh. I had a spot just outside of the barracks. Back of the chow hall. Smell wasn't great, but it gave me some privacy."

[Hadrian Martikova]

He quirked an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? Sounds like a little slice of heaven."

[Laila Bridger]

"It was nowhere anybody wanted to be. Which meant I had it to myself. And let me tell you, a barracks full of women of fighting age is a lousy spot for quiet reading. We had fewer disturbances than the boys, but that doesn't mean it was ever peaceful..."

[Hadrian Martikova]

"I can imagine. At least going off of the stories my brother told me." He placed the wine down and laid back soaking in the sun. "Any favorite books? Lives you'd rather have escaped into?"

The sun feels nice.

[Laila Bridger]

"I dunno if you'd have heard of 'em- I was mostly just about to afford local Ecazi authors in cheap editions, and none of it was high art... Sonia Glass had a whole bunch, like Love on Kaitain, Winds of Elacca, Six Blades For Talit, A Thorse For All Seasons, gleeful trash like that. Then there was Bertram Carson, he had a whole series about a handsome young forester and his various heroics. Whole series was called Blood and Thunder."

[Hadrian Martikova]

"Oh man, A Thorse For All Seasons? Now that takes me back..." He rolled back onto his side, "The idea of riding a thorse at all seemed absurd to me. Then I read that and found vineyard life so much more boring by comparison. I even tried convincing dad to let me extend the barn, build a corral, and clear some riding trails."

He smiled and shook the bottle.

"His solution? Give me a reason to love wine more. Vineyard life never appeals unless you can taste the fruit of your own labor." He sipped, "So imagine my surprise when I read that most people consider Caladanian wine to be the best of the best." He laughed slightly tipsy.

"You know I actually read a few books from Ecaz. And I'll take the romance in Winds of Elacca over the one in Love on Kaitain, any day of the week. Cause Winds of Elacca... that was the one where the two protags were drinking cheap local stuff and pretending it was Caladanian right? Confessing their attraction to each other using fogwood?"

He remembered the headache inducing plots and schemes from Love on Kaitain though. Nothing says fun like reading through whole chapters of, 'I know, and you know, and I know that you know that I know, and as a consequence you're expecting me to zag. And I will zag, but only because now's not the time to zig.'

[Laila Bridger]

"I wanted a thorse, of course. Probably half the barracks did, but none of us said it out loud, and anyway... what the hell would we do with them, you know? Taking one into a fight would be asking for it to get hurt or killed, and we had enough to clean up after as it was..."

She sighed.

"Surprised anyone offworld has read Glass. Her stuff's derided as frothy trash on Ecaz, and, well... you've read it. It's not wrong to call it that, but... frothy trash has its place. But yeah, Winds of Elacca... that was."

She half-smiled.

"Probably shouldn't have read it before I had a better handle on how most people actually approach the subject, but it was... sweet. All that veiled language designed to be not-really-veiled. And then the bit when Colter runs into that burning building after her, when her fiancee doesn't... total crap."

The tone was as affectionate as the words were harsh.

She raised her glass.

"Here's to total crap, and all the wonderful escapes it's offered me."

[Hadrian Martikova]

"I wanted a thorse, of course. Probably half the barracks did, but none of us said it out loud, and anyway... what the hell would we do with them, you know? Taking one into a fight would be asking for it to get hurt or killed, and we had enough to clean up after as it was..."

"Oh? Well when you do visit the estate remind me to introduce you to old Grenadine. She's a sorrel that's still got one of the prettiest flaxen mains I've ever seen. Been in the family since I was a kid." He grinned, "I think you'd like her. Course we also have Astarte, but he's an asshole."

And as she talked he found himself grinning.

"And then the bit when Colter runs into that burning building after her, when her fiancee doesn't... total crap."

"More like best crap!" He snickered, "And hey, fuck the fiancee, he didn't deserve Rachel."

Raised glass: "Here's to total crap, and all the wonderful escapes it's offered me."

*Clink* *Sip*

"Here, here. But I go in for that crap. Once a hard day of work and stress is over, you kinda need it you know?" He grinned. "Though I guess it also keeps you hopeful. And, for better or worse, another word that starts with an 'H'."

[Laila Bridger]

"Oh? Well when you do visit the estate remind me to introduce you to old Grenadine. She's a sorrel that's still got one of the prettiest flaxen mains I've ever seen. Been in the family since I was a kid." He grinned, "I think you'd like her. Course we also have Astarte, but he's an asshole."

"That could be nice..."

Sip.

"More like best crap!" He snickered, "And hey, fuck the fiancee, he didn't deserve Rachel."

"Now is that any way to talk about a scion of a House that isn't Corrino, but if you squint it looks a lot like it?"

"Here, here. But I go in for that crap. Once a hard day of work and stress is over, you kinda need it you know?" He grinned. "Though I guess it also keeps you hopeful. And, for better or worse, another word that starts with an 'H'."

"Usually worse, when privacy's at a premium, let's be honest. That bit by the river..." She gave a theatrical shiver. "Kept popping into my head at the most inappropriate times... nearly got caught biting my lip when we were lined up for some damn inspection or another..."

[Hadrian Martikova]

"More like best crap!" He snickered, "And hey, fuck the fiancee, he didn't deserve Rachel."

"Now is that any way to talk about a scion of a House that isn't Corrino, but if you squint it looks a lot like it?"

*Gasp* He covered his mouth, "You're right! He was a royal asshole. All honors to the great house not-Corrino and its puckered Padishah." *Sip*

"Usually worse, when privacy's at a premium, let's be honest. That bit by the river..." She gave a theatrical shiver. "Kept popping into my head at the most inappropriate times... nearly got caught biting my lip when we were lined up for some damn inspection or another..."

He grinned, "So many romance scenes have come from that author's collection I completely forgot about that one." He looked at their own river thoughtfully, "You know if it were darker out, this would be the perfect place to reenact that scene. Hypothetically of course." He added coquettishly. "And once the event crowd clears out, there are less scenic but more expedient paths to take. Giving this area pretty low foot traffic."

[Laila Bridger]

He grinned, "So many romance scenes have come from that author's collection I completely forgot about that one." He looked at their own river thoughtfully, "You know if it were darker out, this would be the perfect place to reenact that scene. Hypothetically of course." He added coquettishly. "And once the event crowd clears out, there are less scenic but more expedient paths to take. Giving this area pretty low foot traffic."

Sip.

"Hm. And how's everyone's hearing?"

[Hadrian Martikova]

His face flushed slightly. Probably the wine.

"You know, I hadn't taken that into consideration. I don't know about this hypothetical couple I keep mentioning, but I'm pretty noisy myself." He tapped his face in frustration. "Hmph... I suppose his girlfriend could muzzle him if he's like me." He sipped his wine nonchalantly. "I suppose the question becomes, what's she like?"

[Laila Bridger]

"A bit unrestrained, so far as it goes. Might need something to bite down on."

A bit of color hit her cheeks, but only a bit. A bigger tell might have been how assiduously she kept her eyes on the river.

If one were looking.

"So if we're talking about two noisy people..."