Scene #8923: Bees, Bracers, Birds, Burdens, and Bercilak

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	APIARY O1-B This is on some world recovering from ecological collapse, and part of the recovery solution is bees. Some sort of... bee nursery here, to be precise. There's a large field of flowers, artfully planted in gradients of colors, and every few dozen yards there's an artificial beehive, constructed out of wood, rising up out of the ground. The regular spacing of the hives, and the hives being the sole thing breaking up the flowers, would remind one of a graveyard with tombstones were things not so colorful. There's also a nice little cliff overlooking it all, and it's not too too far from the closest warpgate. Kale's here, with a portable cooler set out on a picnic blanket. His attention is, at least momentarily, focused on a stray bee that's landed on his foot, so he doesn't look up right away when Bercilak arrives.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bericlak arrives in his usual fashion--impossible to be missed, for the noise of his hoverbike. The green armored behemoth (the bike, that is) rattles the cooler as easily as Kale's chest on its approach, and the hiss-roar of the pulse detonation engine 'dies down' to interspersed bangs as the bike slows to a stop. Quiet comes when the bike's lift gently stops and it presses down against the hardy grass of the cliff. Bercilak dismounts, in black jeans and a matching tee under a 'vest' (it was a jacket, or maybe part of a uniform, once, but the sleeves are torn off) in olive drab. "Thou didst ifind a beauteous place for an outen," he says, hooking his green thumbs into his beltloops and surveying the apiary from the overlook. His red eyes drift down to the cooler, and he smiles, then taking a seat on the blanket. "What itides, Kale?"
Kale Hearthward	The bee flies away, though even if Bercilak wasn't loud there wasn't a way he could have approached that wouldn't disturb it. "Found it during a recon mission about a year and a half ago," says Kale. "Things were in worse shape back then. I'm glad it's recovering." Kale doesn't answer right away. "Beer?" He gets up and opens the cooler. "I've got... some dwarven ones, Oily Oaf, it's better than it sounds, and Cave Wheat... and some human ones if you don't like dwarven..." "... also some sandwiches, and cookies..." "... So. What's happening..." He sits back down. "We're trying to deal with Petra and the Quicknest situation. I was hoping you could help with that." "... Or, if you can't, then I've got a different favor to ask."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Beer? "Oh, fuck yea," Bercilak laughingly answers. "Oily Oaf shalt be mo thanne afin." He takes the proferred beer pops the cap off with the webbing of his large thumb--rather deft, for someone who could just shatter the neck of the bottle. The Green Knight also helps himself to a sandwich. "Gramercy," he says, motioning to Kale with the lip of the bottle. We're trying to deal with Petra and the Quicknest situation. I was hoping you could help with that. "Bahahaha!" He throws his head back, undercut mohawk whipping backwards with the force of the motion. There's the sense that he'd slap his knee, too, if it weren't for the sandwich in his hand. "That bicche is alwais ofcausen trouble. I am toknoue som-what of Quicknest," he says, as the laughter fades. "So als, her debellen hit." He takes a bite of his sandwich and washes it down with a swig of beer. "I might agess thy wille ther-onoven--and thou might likli agess my swaringe. Ak, I am ne-the-less bihowen of this... favour. What manere of favour couldst I do thee, Kale Hearthward?"
Kale Hearthward	Kale looks relieved at the reaction he's getting. "Great. Have you met Ru Li Cheng yet? I think you'd like him, he's very earnest. He's the one leading the effort, I'm just handling getting the team together..." "We might be moving as early as later this week. It depends on if we find a good opportunity, or if... she makes a move first, I guess. She's been acting very... bored with running a country. And, uh..." "... Bored is bad. Bored is, she's going to do something, we just don't know what." "We've got... me, Futaba, Ru Li, and Ishirou from the Paladins. Hibiki's joining us, and Aidan-" Kale pauses, and decides to not speak on Aidan right now. EIther Hibiki's going to handle that, or Liza's going to handle that. "-is along too, as well as Sarracenia. So you'd make eight, which is probably as many as we can get before it stops becoming a team and starts becoming a mob." Kale's ready with the favor. "You gave me this, a while ago." He reaches under the blanket, and pulls out a duffel bag, from which he in turn pulls out... the bracer that Bercilak gave him last year, after they fought. "... Could you teach me how to use it?"
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bercilak makes a noise of rumination, a rumbling 'hm' that draws comparison to a hibernating bear rolling over in the throes of sleep. His brow creases, and he chews in relative silence as he thinks. "Wel, thou'rt toknoue me," he says. "I bileve in 'speke shit, gate hit.' Verily, Aidan didst speke shit in ample fourme. Not that alon, but neli didst he fuck us." 'Us' probably meaning the Watch. "Ak," he says, "The mo I am ofheren from him, the lasse I bileve beting his dull asse shalt mend its pace." A throaty chuckle punctuates another sip of beer. "I shalt assist thee," Bercilak decides, "If onli bicause Quicknest nede not be douren, for him at-rennen his mouth. Lanhure I may presumpt a sportful batail from Petra, if half-del spake of her nau-adais is treu." The sandwich is gone, washed down with the rest of his beer. He blinks, then, at Kale's bracer, and barks a laugh. "Thou feried that aboute e'er sinnes, and not once ithought to ofaxe? Bahaha! Yea," he says, "I trow I must, at that," running his now-empty palm over his forehead.
Kale Hearthward	"Yeah, but Aidan's keeping on speaking shit after getting hit repeatedly, and he's running out of hit." Kale told himself he wouldn't talk about Aidan, but he's doing it anyway now. "Aidan ran his mouth to cause all this in the first place - he's still going to pay for that, it just hasn't been productive to send him the bill yet," grouses Kale. "He was accusing the Paladins of wanting to take things over, and - here we are busting our tailfeathers trying to fix things." "I don't even like Quicknest that much," adds Kale. "Yeah - I mean, I didn't take it everywhere, but... yeah, I hung onto it. Probably should have figured out how to use it before now." Kale gets it buckled on.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	"Clench thy fist, quikli," says Bercilak. "As lik thou wert off-pissed." He demonstrates, holding a meaty green palm up and quickly clenching it into a fist. Another good comparison might be 'like having blood drawn,' if Bercilak had any memory of such--but Kale might, being a shade more used to civilization and doctor's visits. The moment Kale does so, the shield hums to life. The purpose of the little rose-quartz teardrops is to function as a lens for some sort of forcefield. Powered up, the 'shield' resembles a buckler-sized grapefruit, fuzzy white at the seams between the segments and around the perimeter. "The ilksame, ak thrice, to unteld hit." He demonstrates, one-two-three of the same gesture in quick succession. "'Tis withoute heft, thou shalt notise," he says, gently tapping his index against the shield. A static effect ripples across the point of contact, yet being a contained field of energy, it has no weight but the weight of the bracer, as Bercilak noted. "Forthy be so custumed, shaltow ithink to smite with hit, oth that, to upstop a mortual smite." It's not just a buckler in appearance, in other words, but in function--likely given to complement Kale's style. The Green Knight sets the empty beer in the cooler, rather than leave it lying around. "Thou hath chaunged, sinnes ifirst I met thee. Mo thanne I might hath awened, ifaith."
Kale Hearthward	"Clench my fist?" Kale looks confused, but does so. "I thought you'd be telling me how I should hold my arm, not- whoa..." He's wide eyed at it activating. "... I... thought it was just a normal shield, and was asking for combat instruction..." He squeezes three times to try turning it off, and then once more to turn it on again. "I had it all this time... It's just been hanging on a wall in my bedroom. I thought it was just a nice looking normal shield." To be fair to Kale, Bercilak didn't tell him either? Kale looks up from the shield, to Bercilak. "Thank you. I mean I appreciated it back then, too, but... thank you. This will be really helpful." He waves his arm around, testing the (lack of) heft. > "Thou hath chaunged, sinnes ifirst I met thee. Mo thanne I might hath awened, ifaith." "... Yeah." "I think I needed to change. I wasn't happy with who I was. I wasn't... willing to keep being who I was. Who I still am, even. I don't think I'm through it yet." "Petra talked about... change needing to hurt. Not in those exact words, but close enough... and I can't help but think, a little bit, that everything that's going on? Maybe Aidan's got fault, but... like, it's also happening, things happening that I need to clean up and fix, because it's my penance for not changing sooner." "I don't know."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	"Whanne the catirpel weves his huske," says Bercilak, miming a crawling caterpillar with his index, "Whanne hit forcovers him wholli, and his guts bicome slyme, dost thou awene him wounded?" It's not a didactic question, but an open one, which he himself ponders as much as Kale might. "Is he wounded, whanne he shalt brest from that huske? Per happes, saith I. Ak chaunge he must. Brest from that huske he must--and he is toknoue hit, in som wai, withinne." "Thire art som catirpels that art ugsom to espy," says Bercilak. "And som that art beauteous. Ak a papilloun--thei art most alwais beauteous, ei? Som might bisaie 'tis for the colouracioun--not I. I bileve 'tis the labourage. Per happes thire is still chaunge thou might effect, ak to my esteming, thy huske is dight mo fulli thanne thou may ithink; thou'rt nigh-mo to a papilloun thanne a catirpel." "I shalt abide with bihowing the brestinge of that huske," says Bercilak, standing up. "For not alik the papilloun, ifolke may still chaunge, afte thire wings art brode." Dusting off the seat of his pants, he makes for his hoverbike. "Gramercy thy liveneth and thy companage, Kale. I shalt enjoin thee in batail at thy willinesse."
Kale Hearthward	"... That's a good point." Something's wrong, Kale's starting to understand Bercilak without needing a translation. "Thank you... I'll keep that close to heart. The labor is beautiful, independent of the result..." "And I'll be in touch when we know when we're going to make our move." Kale sees Bercilak off, then goes to eat his own sandwich and enjoy watching the bees for a while. It might be the last moment of peace he gets for a while.