May 10 14:39:16 106 PA
From Chronicles
This flat is an airy one, with two double bedrooms, a decent sized kitchen and a reasonable bathroom. The flooring has been replaced with hard wood floor, worn but practical, throughout the whole apartment. The living-room has a lovely view across the city, hidden only when the wooden blinds are closed. The room itself has some small touches, like rugs, cushions and some furnishings. It has a small wooden desk below the window, piled high with papers, all marked with oil and grease stains. Beside it, a well worn leather chair squats and a tower created from books leans against a desk leg. Nearby, an ancient sofa is pushed back against a wall, the cushions suitably squidgy and soft. In front of it, a small coffee table has a small collection of mugs, books and other assorted chaos piled on it, surrounding a large plant that is thriving. In front of a warm, flame heater, a large sheep skin rug lies, looking welcoming and cosy. The kitchen appears to be mostly in order, with a bin that suggests the resident survives on a variety of take outs and yet cooks from scratch, and a sink that has a mixture of mugs and machine parts sitting beside it on the draining board. The most used item in the room is a coffee machine, permanently on the go. At one end, a growing collection of real cooking items contradict the take out boxes, suggesting that either one person with a split personality or two people live here. A small collection of herbs grows out of small pots there, thriving well despite the machine parts near by. Caliopa's bedroom has a double bed in the middle, with a patchwork throw over it. Her clothes are mostly stacked in shelves in the wardrobe, one lone dress amongst jeans, combats, t-shirts and sweaters. One pair of heels amongst the boots and trainers. Sage's bedroom is simple, neat and tidy. In one of the corners, a small replica of a stone garden is placed, the colour of the rocks matching the throw over the bed.
With a little nervous energy, Sage toils in the kitchen. On the counter, there is a fancy-looking tea set sitting on a tray. There is a pot of water on the shove that hasn't quite come to a boil yet. To give herself something else to occupy herself while she waits, she seems to be making cookies based on the smells that waft through the air.
Caliopa returns to the apartment, quietly for once. Removing boots at the door and leaving them there, she pads barefoot into the kitchen. "Makin' somethin' nice?" She asks as she bends to pull a bottle of water from the cooler. She leans against the doorframe, resting her hip against the wood, the vest and combat pants ancient and black, hiding the oil stains well.
Distracted by her own thoughts and waiting for things to become ready, Sage doesn't seem to notice that her room-mate has come home. She tenses when she hears the other's voice and looks over offering a tentative smile. "Hi..." She says softly, hand raises to tangle in a lock of hair. "I..." she begins, "... was told last night that tea meeting is today..." Its been hanging over her head for a bit and now instead of relief, there's a little anxiety in her. "Should have picked something more engaging that cookies..." She casts a glare at the oven as she can only wait for them to be ready.
"Tea meeting..." Caliopa repeats the words slowly, her forehead wrinkling until her memory of the discussion reemerges from underneath the clutter of machine related thoughts. "Oh! Your cookies should be grand enough for anyone. Reckon they'd make grown men beg." The sturdy support is offered with a warm smile. "Want me to hang around or go back to work?" She takes a sip of her bottle, curling fingers around the cool bottle.
Nodding to the slowly spoken words as if they were already understood, Sage takes a peek into the oven to gauge the readiness of the cookies. "Almost..." She murmurs, before she looks over to the other woman at the question looking like a woman in need of a hug. She is just about to answer when there is a knock at the door. She sighs, glancing to the things that she has just about ready. "Maybe you don't have a choice..." She says with humour that's a little fragile.
Caliopa moves at the glance, offering a quick hug, her smile softening. "Ain't a problem. I was offerin' in case you wanted me gone." She comments, glancing towards the door. "You want me to get that, so you got time to think?" She rubs her hands over the combats, removing some of the oil from them, and readding it from the patches on the pants that gathered some. "Ain't a problem." She repeats.
The hug is warmly accepted as Sage draws some comfort from it and offers a smile as thanks to the other woman. She nods faintly to the comment about the offer to leave. "Please." She adds to the question, before considering the other woman's attempt to remove the oil. A faint look of amusement comes before she turns her attention to the task at hand. She takes a deep breath as she begins to make the final arrangements.
Caliopa gives her a thoughtful look, as if Sage was a knocking engine that needed some consideration. As she turns towards the door, she takes up one of the cloths she leaves on the side, rubbing her hands against it until the majority of the oil is gone. There is a moment, uncali-like, where she pauses by a mirror, checking her appearance before pulling the door open, stepping back with a smile.
When the door opens, there is a gruff-looking man that has the appearance of a man that's endured the wilderness for most of his life. Beside the man is a woman that seems to be younger than the man by about decade, but has the appearance of having spent a fair bit of time in the harsh wilderness as well. "Hello, is..." The woman begins politely enough before the man cuts in curtly, "Where's Sage?" The man will be the first to enter, followed by the woman.
Caliopa gives the woman a warm look, as she closes the door behind them. "Puttin' things right so they are perfect for her guests." The comment is spoken softly, but the genial friendliness is seeping away. "If you take a seat, reckon she'll be out rightly with your tea 'n' all. My name is Caliopa." Possibly a first, her full name given, the formality showing. "Pleasure to meet you. I share the flat with Sage."
The gruff man simply gives Cali a curt nod before giving her a critical look to assess the woman, but it is hard to tell from his features whether he approves of the mechanic. His eyes shift around the apartment as if judging it as well. In contrast the woman seems to remain polite, if not a little friendly, as a smile is offered to Cali. "Oh, Sage has told me a bit about you... it is a pleasure to meet you too. I'm Natasha... and this is Elder Hardcort." She indicates the man beside her, before the man makes a gesture towards an open part of floor where it seems they've choosen to settle down instead of conventional chairs.
It seems Sage has finished off the rest of her preparations as she comes out with the tray that has the tea set and a small plate of cookies. "Ma!" She says with a friendly tone, with a slight questioning undertone as if she hadn't been expecting her mother to have been there. Her gaze drifts to the gruff man then. "Elder..." She replies with a flat tone that's just polite enough not to be rude. "Where's...?" She doesn't seem to notice any of the other Elder's around. The man responds with, "I've requested the privelege of addressing this myself." To which Natasha gives an uncomfortable nod. "Oh..." Sage replies as she comes over to settle the tray down near where the other two have taken a seat.
Caliopa follows them, settling herself on the floor. She rests one arm over her knee, tucking her other leg beneath her. "Seems we get more cookies each then." She comments, giving Sage a quick smile, brown eyes warming as they rest on the other woman. She doesn't reach to take one anyhow, aware that there is some formal process here that she does not understand. "Gettin' to eat Sage's cookies is a real privilege." The comment is spoken softly, with a smile, but somehow seems to be more than about cookies.
A small smile is flashed to her friend as Sage settles down into a kneeling position. She carefully takes up each small tea cup and pours some tea before offering them to the Elder, Natasha, Cali and finally herself. While this is going on, Natasha looks over to Cali. "Yes, she's become quite the cook." Once the tea cups have been distributed, she begins to offer the cookies around. The Elder flatly refuses, and Natasha accepts one with a polite 'Thank you'. The cookies are then offered to Cali in case the other woman would like one as well. She doesn't take one for herself for the time being. Instead, she settles into a seating position and looks over to the Elder. "I understand there is a matter the council would like to bring to my attention." She intones formally.
Caliopa takes one willingly, her usual appetite after a day's work unsullied by the evening's proceedings. She settles more properly, her legs crossed, her arms resting lightly on them as she dissects the cookie. "Thanks, Sage." More warmth than usual in Caliopa's voice as she directs the polite words to Sage. She settles, waiting for the tea ceremony to proceed.
A soft smile is directed to Cali at the warmth she offers, but Sage's face becomes more neutral once the ceremony begins. Her gaze directed towards the Elder, she awaits the proper response. The gruff man seems to have a bored look at first, but there is something in his eyes that belies this. "Yes, we have noticed certain things that seem unusual in your behaviour that have raised some concerns." All spoken formally as if they were following a script. Sage's lips pursing briefly as she considers the phrasing. "I would be glad to hear them." A slight flatness in her words, but enough to remain polite. A frown forms on the man's features before they are smoothed away. Perhaps, that is not the proper script for this stage. The woman named Natasha seems to remain quiet as if she had been brought along to be a mere observer. "Very well." The man says, "I... We have noticed questionable things. You have not seemed the same since you accompanied that group to see what happened with the Militia." He pauses, "Trying to sell yourself in that auction, turning your back on your people, and don't think I don't know about your living it up in that place called the Alibi." It becomes clear from the tone that he speaks some of these accusations that he hasn't thought too highly of Sage. Sage frowning at the words, but before she can interject the man ends up taking in the tea from the small cup and offers it back to Sage for a refill. "I see your concerns." She utters, trying to remain polite.
Caliopa's frown deepens as the man speaks, and she glances between the three, clearly biting her tongue. Finally, it gets the better of her and the words spoken bluntly are blurted out. "She sold a few hours of her time to support a hospital so the kids 'n' poor folks in the Dregs don't die for the lack of one. Seems to me that it is a worthy 'n' rightly generous thing for her to be doin'." The blunt words are given with a direct look, to the elder, her forehead creased into a frown. "'n' them at the Alibi, well, Desmond 'n' Kesslan are both honorable men, who were fightin' to prevent folks like you from dyin'." She subsides then, giving Sage an apologetic look, the red head finally proving that Caliopa does have a temper.
When the blunt words the man's attention shifts to her with an angry glare as if the redhead had interrupted his carefully rehearsed meeting script. "With my son!" He blurts angrily, before he pauses like someone that had tipped a card he had intended to remain hidden. Natasha seems to like that Cali interjected but dare not speak and the hint in her feature is soon to vanish before the Elder looks over to her.
Sage having looked over to Cali when she had interjected has tilted her head as she considers the other woman. Her expression is a little hard to read before her attention quickly moves back to the man. "Is that what this..." But, the man seems to recover sufficiently to rudely interrupt Sage, "How is she to you?" He asks, still not forgiving Cali for her interruption and thrusts a forceful finger towards the redhead. Sage, for her part, takes a deep breath and reaches her hand over to rest on Cali's shoulder. "She is like a sister to me." She says, before the man interjects once more. "Aha! So, you admit to turning your back on your people!" He seems determined to try to keep Sage off balance.
Caliopa, raised amongst men, living in a man's profession, isn't shaken by the fury and returns it in kind. "So you're pissed 'cause you lost control over your son, 'n' cause he is livin' different to you? 'n' so you reckon to be takin' it out on Sage? Don't seem honourable to me, nor rightly fair. But some folks, they can't accept their own failin' and got to blame it on someone else." She hesitates, glancing at Sage, a flush rising. "I ain't helpin', Sage, so perhaps I ought to keep my mouth closed." The look she directs at the elder is speaking, however.
"Elder..." Natasha says uncertainly with a level of discomfort. It seems the formalities of the ceremony are being brushed aside for what is shaping up to be a personal matter between the Elder and Sage. "I do not...!" Sage replies, with her own expression beginning to darken. However, like a bull charging through a room full of china the tirade only seems to get fueld by the redhead's continual interjection. "No!" The man begins to raise his voice in anger and points towards Sage this time. "She caused us to move here! Into greater danger! And, I'm sure she left the medicine man's book behind to ensure my son would not be able to take his rightful place as the true medicineman and council member! Until /she/ came along!" A baneful glare being directed at Sage that seems to stun her into silence for the time being. She knew that some people didn't approve of her causing this move, but to baldly accuse her of some grand conspiracy? She looks over to Cali with a strange expression, but there is no accusation. This out burst seems to draw silence from the man, Natasha and Sage. Sage taking a deep breath as she looks back to the man. Her features a little pinched.
Caliopa is fighting to keep her temper, literally sitting on her hands as if they might prevent her from speaking more of her mind. She glances between Natasha and Sage, biting her lower lip before shaking her head slowly. "Thought this was meant to be over community business, not an old man's jealousy?" The words are a murmur, bluntly spoken and dropped into the silence. "Sage has real talents, loves you people, 'n' does her best for you all the time, 'n' it gripes your gut?"
High uncomfortable, Natasha seems to give a Cali an appreciative look but seems to have a firm clasp on her tongue. The reason for her being here still being unclear. A thunder head of an expression is given to the redhead from the man. He opens his mouth as if to unleash a new tirade when it is Sage that speaks. "It is supposed to be..." She interjects with a firmness in her tone, "When I speak with the other Elders on this..." She begins as if to make a veiled threat to the Elder that is present. A viciously cruel smile comes as the man's eyes glitter, "Oh, but they won't be hearding it from you. Not unless you get that book back!" He says, digging roughly into a pocket and tossing a simple bracelet into Sage's lap. "You are an outsider!" Looking down to her lap, Sage seems stunned to see the markings on the bracelet. Her anger like a torch being tossed into a bucket of water, she looks to the Elder with a lack of comprehension. "She never told you did she?" He seems entirely too pleased, looking over to Natasha. Sage following the look over to Natasha. Looking even more uncomfortable, Natasha nods. "Its true. I'm sorry." The woman speaks before lowering her gaze. Stunned, Sage looks back down at the bracelet. Now grinning, the man looks over to Caliopa. "We found her in the wilderness. All alone. A reject." He barks a laugh, "My work is done here." He says, rising from his seat and beginning to walk towards the door.
Caliopa is on her feet, rising in a fury as he begins to walk to the door. A petite redhead can, if livid, block a grown man's path and she does. "Reject? A gift to a people that ain't got the brains to know they was given somethin'." The words are spoken in a raised voice, her cheeks flushed. "When fate drops somethin' special in your lap, you're meant to take it, treasure it, 'n' find out what you was needful of, not act like a spiteful, jealous old woman without a brain or a heart. Reckon if we cut you, we'd find straw, not courage." That said, she opens the door, giving him a hard look. "'n' I reckon you ain't welcome here no more." She stands, cheeks flushed, arms folded, fury coming from her in waves.
Surprise registers on his features as the petite redhead blocks his path. Annoyed surprise. A thorn in his side, now wriggling itself a little deeper as his moment of victory gets diminished. "You've fallen under her spell too?" He sneers, but to someone that can read expressions there might be a uncomfortable seed of doubt beginning to develop with this show of loyalty from someone that he didn't even know existed. He gives her a hard look as he gets insulted. He opens his mouth as if to verbally abuse the redhead before he just huffs and stomps out the door.
Containing herself until the Elder has stomped away, Sage begins to break down as her body seems to become wracked with sobbing. Its like a part of her had been ripped away from her without warning. She'd never expected this to come out of the meeting. Natasha has moved over to try and comfort Sage but it doesn't seem to help as much since the woman that had posed as her mother all these years had an unwitting hand in it.
The slamming of the door will certainly wake those of the neighbours who are night workers and Calio[a's cheeks are still brilliant red as she moves over to the two women. At the sight of the sobbing Sage she hesitates, guilt flaring on her face. "Sage..." The word is helpless, uncertain. "I'm sorry I done that." Her temper is gone as fast as it came and with its retreat comes guilt in waves. "Sage...?"
When Natasha realizes that her attempts to comfort Sage are only meeting limited success, she decides to take a different approach. "Come on, girl." She says softly, urging Sage to her feet and slips an arm around Sage to support her. "Cali..." Sage speaks with a tone of misery, as she holds out her arm as if inviting the other woman to come comfort her. Tears have streamed down her cheeks, making her blink her eyes clear. "Not... your... fault." She manages to get out as another wracking sob takes her.
Caliopa accepts the invitation with a wash of relief showing in her expressive features. She hugs Sage tighty, before pulling one of the inevitable rags from her pockets, offering the oil stained cloth to Sage for her tears. "He is an arse, a real dick, Sage." The blunt words spill out, terms learnt from the men she works with, "Reckon he is seein' you so green that he ain't aware how golden you are." Partisan, perhaps but true feelings from the girl that shine in brown eyes. "Reckon you make your own people then. Same as us that ain't got any. We'll make one for all us folks."
With such strong emotions flowing through her, Sage returns the hug fiercely as Natasha tries to comfort her by running a hand over her head in a motherly fashion. "He probably intended this all along." Natasha mutters, definitely not pleased by the development. "Why else would he bring me?" Sage doesn't seem to pay much attention to this as if her senses had been trying to warn her of something else waiting to spring. A half-hearted smile is given to Cali at the blunt words. Her emotions becoming slightly less turbulent as the two women try to comfort her. She doesn't resist any attempt to wipe away her tears as she gulps air to attempt to calm herself further. She reaches out to gently touch Cali's cheek. "Then, you will be among my people..." She says softly, before looking over to the woman that she had considered her mother. There is a touch of sadness shared between them. There seems to be a silent communication that goes on between them. "I guess I better go see what other mischief that man is getting up to." Natasha says with a faint nod of understanding from Sage, "Take care." Sage says softly, as the woman excuses herself from their presence.
"Sage, she still is your ma. Even if she weren't the one done the makin' of you, she had the raisin' of you." The words are a soft whisper, as she wipes away the tears, leaving instead smudges of oil. "He is a dick, but you ain't got to let him take everythin' from you." She gives Sage another tight hug before she steps back, letting Sage go after the woman if she wishes, her hands seeking her pockets.
Unaware of the oil smudges or perhaps not caring, Sage's eyes hold delicate emotions in her eyes as she considers her friend. She considers the woman's words, but seems to find words difficult to come by. She returns the tight hug warmly, and brushes her lips against Cali's cheek as the hug comes to an end. "Thank you." She whispers softly, before turning her attention to the departming woman. "..Ma... wait." She says, walking after the other woman. They exchange hugs as well before murmuring quiet words to each other. A soft smile is given by Sage to the woman who raised her, before letting Natasha go after the moment has passed and holds the door open for the other woman. Watching Natasha leave, Sage closes the door gently and turns to rest her back against the door. She looks emotionally drained by the moments that have passed. Her hand raises to wipe away the tears that threaten to come again. She looks over to Cali, but she can't seem to come up with any words of gratitude. Her expression seems to show it well enough. A thought seems to occur to her as scampers off towards the kitchen, casting a backward glance to Cali as if to check whether the other woman is going to follow or not.
Caliopa hesitates, before gathering up the tea things, giving the woman a moment to gather herself. She brings them to the kitchen, deliberately making noise, speaking before she enters. "Fancy a cookie? We got a load for some reason." She dumps the tea, beginning to run the water, her gaze avoiding Sage, letting her pick the conversation. "If you don't want them, I'll take a few for the kids. Them that come to the garage." She rinses off the dishes she washes, risking a glance Sage-wards.
Sage seems lost in thought as she seems to consider something on the counter. The sting of the cruelly spoken words still with her, but dulling somewhat now. The other woman's words bring wry amusement, "I guess I got carried away..." She murmurs, before she picks up the plate that had been in front of her. Once she turns to face Cali, it is clear that she had expected some sort of emotional turmoil after the meeting. Sitting on the plate is a rather large decadent cookie that looks to be a bit sinful. "Share?" She asks softly, lingering traces of her emotional turmoil still in her voice.
Caliopa hesitates, aware but not understanding the undertones of the conversation. But she nods, giving Sage a quick grin. "After I got my hands clean." She comments, reaching for soap and scrubbing them. "You weren't carried away, you were livin' a life he was jealous of." She reaches out, breaks the cookie in half and offers Sage the larger of the two halves. "I have two when miserface was talkin'." She explains bluntly.
Sage gives a wrinkled nose expression to the comment about the other woman's hands, "Yes... grease doesn't go well with this..." She says, the humour sounding half-hearted for the time being. She looks down as Cali begins her mind back to the meeting. "I only tried to do the best I could..." She says with a soft sigh, letting the other woman do the honours of breaking the cookie. A mild look of amusement comes at the explanation. "You don't eat enough." She counters, a half-hearted playful comment. It takes a moment of staring at the half cookie before she decides to take a bite from her. She isn't sure whether she really wants it until she begins to chew it and the cookie seems to melt within her mouth. Her eyes sliding shut as she lets the sensations try to wipe away the taste of her negative emotions.
The current game time is: Tue May 10 19:25:23 106 PA.
"I eat more than the kids who come to the garage." Caliopa comments softly, eating her half slowly, watching Sage eat. "Come to Laramy with me?" The words are blurted out, her usual level of tact reasserting herself. "I got to take them parts 'n' it ain't like you couldn't take seedlin's or some such thing..." A quick grin and she murmurs the next bit. "'n' I ain't sure Joachim ain't wantin' you to go special like." The abrupt topic change is unsubtle.
"Then offer them some too." Sage replies, not minding that her cookies will find their ways to appreciate young mouths. The smile on her lips may be in amusement at Cali's argument. She seems to become engaged with savouring the taste of the decadent cookie when the conversation shifts suddenly to something else. Her eyes drift open as she considers the other woman. "Laramy?" She asks softly as if wanting confirmation, giving her mind a moment to churn out the line of thought that she had entertained there. A faint frown comes, "I'd been trying to meet with Joachim about that... but he must have been too busy." She seems to miss the unsubtle topic change in her own train of thought. She pauses, before putting the cookie aside. "When?" she asks, before she seems to recall something else. She fetches herself a glass and goes to the fridge to pour herself a glass of milk.
"Ain't sure when." Caliopa comments quietly, turning to pack the other cookies into a box, "I'll take these down to the garage, 'n' give them to the kids when they come over. One of them is turnin' out real good, reckon I might hire her on when she is a bit older..." She shoves the box into her work bag, turning to look at Sage. "Uh, you gonna be alright? I got a thing I got to do..." A faint flush rises in her cheeks and she shifts awkwardly.
Sage nods to Cali as she replies to her question, before sipping from the milk. She goes to set it beside the half eating half-cookie. "Glad to hear that." She says softly, "I could make something special up for that one at some point if you like." She offers, before she pauses when the other woman brings up the subject of leaving. She wanders over to her friend to give her a warm hug that lingers a moment longer than the others. She takes a breath, "I think I'll be fine, thanks to you." She whispers softly, before she pulls back. "I should probably meditate anyway... it'll help settle me." She says, "So... if you have a man waiting, I wont keep you." She raises a brow as if wondering if the blush and shifting is related to that.
The blush deepens, rushing over her cheeks and touching the tips of her ears with pink. "Ain't a man, so much as a friend. Ain't like...Anythin'." The babbling stops and Caliopa gives Sage a quick grin, returning the hug, before turning towards the door. "I'll be back later, ain't gonna be out later or nothin'." She lifts a hand, turning to go.
Amusement begins to creep back into her as Sage watches her friend's reaction, but she doesn't quite have the heart to tease. "Take care of yourself." She says softly, as she turns her attention back to the cookie and milk.
Tags: book tp, caliopa, sage
