get the moonlight out of your hair

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone When Harper agreed to meet her at the VlamVloed, Lily couldn’t help but feel like it might be a date. Which is absurd, because they’d just met and neither of them had actually said anything about courting. Regardless of what it is or isn’t, she spends a considerable amount of time going through the five or six dresses in her wardrobe, moaning over what it was like to have twice that many, and trying them on again and again. Eventually she settles for a dark blue one that compliments the green of her eyes and the fire of her hair. Perhaps too modest for her taste, but this is not a courtship. She arrives at the bar with a slight flush in the brisk evening, stupidly foregoing a wrap; the breeze has tossed her hair into a bit of a blown-out mess, but she gathers it to one side and twists, pulling it into some semblance of submission. As she approaches the bar, she realizes Sunjata isn’t there - in fact, she hasn't seen him in quite some time - and idly wonders what he’s doing or where he’s gotten himself off to. However, the thought doesn’t last long as she orders and then carries her drink to a half-lit corner and settles in, relishing the feeling of the burn in her throat and familiarity of this scenario. This feels like home - except the men are nicer and cleaner and - okay, it isn’t quite like old times. But she’s missed going to a tavern in anticipation. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

Lily is not the only one worrying and fussing over wardrobe or connotations surrounding their planned meeting. Dates aren't really something Harper does, especially not after he'd lost the woman he thought he'd someday marry. But he had told himself he'd try, and the word itself has not been said, so there is less of a pressure on his chest. Though he's still excited. Lily has a gravitas that few others do, and she'd certainly ensnared him easily upon their first meeting. He's eager to see her again, and potentially talk about the vast differences between their centuries.

Harper doesn't have much by way of wardrobe yet, but he has managed to worm his way into the esteem of most of the shop owners in the Grounds. He decides on a dark navy silklike shirt and some simple leggings which highlight his assets. Some men are blessed with good butts, what can he say?

The VlamVloed is familiar territory to him at this point, which helps settle what remains of his nerves. Lily is easy to spot with her vibrant hair, and he's quick to order his own so he can join her, sliding into the seat opposite with a warm smile. "You look lovely, you're blowing my competition out of the water," he teases as he sips at his drink. "How are you? Did you go to the Festival?" Harper is curious how she has fared, as this time of remembering lost ones isn't easy. He hadn't participated himself, lucky not to have lost anybody here in Caido, but he'd taken the time to do so alone.

Harper

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Harper’s appearance in the doorway of the VlamVloed sends a little thrill through Lily. Not quite butterflies, because lord, how long has it been since she’s been truly nervous with a man? But because he looks good and she’s happy to be out of the house not like she’s living Astor’s lockdown fantasies or anything. She gives him a little wave and waits for him to get his drink, taking a small sip of her own in the meantime. Mmmm… going to have to remember not to be a lush tonight. Flashing a wide, bright smile back at Harper as he sits down, it’s quickly followed by a duck of her head as he compliments her, a blush spreading across her cheeks that no - can’t be seen in the dim light, but the redhead can feel the heat on them. Is there competition? The thought speeds through her mind, in one ear and out the other as she shoots him a look with “Flatterer.” “The Festival of Lights?” A brief nod. “Yeah, I hung a lantern for a lost friend. They’re really quite beautiful when they’re all lit up.” She isn’t sure whether or not she prefers the woods of the beach for this kind of thing, but in the end the result is similar and though she’d been alone in her remembrance the quiet reflection did not go unappreciated. “So how long have you been here? What do you do... " trailing off for a moment, Lily was going to say something else, but switches to finish with "instead of security stuff?” merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

The dim lighting hides her reaction from his discerning eyes, but the duck of her head and quirk of her smile is reward enough as he sits down and places his glass upon the table. More interested in the lovely lady before him than the admittedly fantastic brew. "It's not flattery if it's the truth, is it?" His grin is impish and unrepentant, happy to dole out such compliments if it inspires such a reaction from her. It's not as if she doesn't deserve them by virtue of appearance alone if he were to be that shallow, but her spirit is what brought him here in the end.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he murmurs, mentally wincing at having asked the question in the first place. Instead he reaches to attempt to brush a thumb over the back of her hand in a comforting gesture. "I came after the crowds left, but the lanterns were breathtaking. I don't have the hands for art." Harper wiggles his fingers helplessly, aware that he has the artistic talent of a colorblind toddler.

"Almost a year," he responds instead, and internally boggles at it once the math is in place. Has it really already been that long? He still feels fresh-faced and foolish in this land. "I help out at the Monster Hunter Guild, but I'm good friends with Phoebe and she has offered to employ me as a security guard of sorts for a brothel she's setting up in Torchline." Grinning at the fact that it's still just 'security stuff'. He's still unsure about the change himself, but Harper has always been willing to give things a good old college try before calling it quits. "I'm not used to not having a job admittedly. And you? You said you were an entertainer, what kind of entertaining?" He'd been keenly listening as always, but he's honestly curious to know more about what little she'd let slip last they'd met.

Harper

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Raising her glass to his insistence that it’s true, she won’t play coy enough to deny his words. A woman has to know her worth, when to accept a compliment and when to be demurely humble. The trick is finding what works. Waving away his feelings about her loss, Lily replies, “Unfortunately, death is a as common here as it was at home. More monsters, less disease, but -” a shrug, as if to say that it’s a part of life. You love. You lose. And then you start the cycle over again. His finger waggling gets a small chuckle at her, if only because her artistic endeavor was a dick-shaped lantern, more the work of a graffiti artist than a true sculptor. “This one was… not so artistic. A joke, but I like to think they approved.” In fact, she knows Lucas would have approved of anything that went vulgarly against the grain, anything that had more of a home at an orgy than at a memorial. Leaning forward, Lily focuses on Harper as he talks about what he does in Caido and how long he’s been here. The news about Phoebe, however, draws an audible reaction. “What?!” she exclaims a bit incredulously, as if she can’t believe the words that are coming out of his mouth. “So that’s why she left the Medical College? For a brothel?” Upon hearing it said aloud, the entertainer reconsiders. Well. The Medical College had been kinda shit an pointless. A noble endeavor, but the girl had been more enthusiastic than realistic about its success. “I suppose the world’s oldest profession can always need a good midwife and healer,” she concedes congenially, with a bit of a raised brow. And then they’re on to her, again. While the redhead doesn’t blush, she does hesitate for a moment, pointer finger circling the rim of her glass. “An… entertainer of Men, mostly. I can sing, dance, and play the harp… but I was most successful at, ah, losing on purpose at cards, drinking champagne, being witty and … playing the highborn, proper lady or the milkmaid, and everything in between…” And while she’s generally not one to be embarrassed about this sort of thing, there’s still a bit of a stigma in her mind. She knows men in her time don’t want anything other than a modest virgin who obeyed their husband. So all she can offer is an off-hand shrug to Harper and allow him time to digest it. “By the time I tripped into Caido, I’d become a sought-after companion. But I don’t miss it. The freedom a woman has here is more than I’d ever dreamed of.” And the best part is that she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to in order to be self-sufficient. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

Harper hums in soft, contemplative agreement. "It's not that I'm unused to it, but the world here is certainly more...wild. Deaths happen but not at the hands of wars or interpersonal violence. It's difficult for me to adapt to." Yes, they had reached the cosmos and found other life in the future she will never see - never would have, even if The Voice hadn't intervened - but most loss of life came from war, human greed, and complex diseases. Not monsters and magic.

Her laughter is enveloping and soothing, and his smile follows in turn, grinning at the implication of a joke lantern. "Then it was perfectly done all the same." Harper himself would rather people remember him in a positive light, than mourn his loss. An unlikely occurrence considering how much grieving he's done for others, but it's a nice thought, and he's glad Lily could do so if only once.

A laugh is startled out of him at her exuberant response, chest shaking with his chuckles at her incredulity. "Frey asked it of her, but she seems eager enough for the role." The reasoning behind her decision aside, it's still not what he would have expected of the terribly young woman. That, too, is something he's finding difficult to get used to here. "The place was a wreck when we started, but hopefully since it was once well-established my job will be easy." Shooting the performer an impish grin. He's not afraid of hard work, but he's also willing to avoid all out brawls. Hopefully people will respect the sex workers and that will be that.

Temporarily his eyes drop to the light finger she traces round the lip of her glass, soaking in the words that fall upon his ears. Harper certainly isn't one to judge - look at his current employment after all - and instead there's a great deal of respect in his features as his gaze lifts to hers once more. "You're far more talented than myself, then. That takes a kind of wit I've proven not to have." Alluding playfully to how easily she'd tricked him in the Greatwood. "In the modern world, it took a long time before that freedom was seen. And some still lingered long past the days of equality being written into the law. I'm glad you can enjoy it here, where that history isn't so prominent." Refusing to say it's non-existent, as it always seems to appear wherever genders, religions, and races mingle.

Harper

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Laughing in realization, Lily nods at the news of what prompted the move. “That does sound like something they’d do.” The two women - herself and Phoebe - are probably the two most well acquainted with Frey, if only for their interests and professions. Some part of her thinks them mismatched with Safrin and Ludo, wondering why Caido needs a god for sex when they have a god for life. Though the two aren’t necessarily one and the same, they often go hand in hand. “What do you think of Frey?” she asks impulsively, leaning forward over her glass with a hushed, conspiratory tone. She’d never say anything to anyone about his answer, but he is so well spoken and kind. Flirts well. Easy to look at… Lily would hate to have to think ill of him. “Do you have a… preference? For the Gods here?” In other words: what kind of man is he? Safrin’s man? How boring and rigid, they have plenty of those. A follower of Ludo like her adopted sister, fierce but maybe a little brainwashed? One of the Voice’s? Have there ever been non-Ascended followers? Or does he toe the line more than she does, no favorite, waiting to see what life throws at them and their needs? At least he isn’t judgemental. That much is evident, and she smiles at his compliment. “Well, perhaps I’ll rub off on you a little bit and your so called non-existent wit will improve.” After a sip of her drink, her expression falls a bit to hear that it takes women so long to become free. She’d almost forgotten that they’re so far apart, that though their hands could touch if they wanted to, it breaks all the rules of time and space to do so. “What are… the big things that happen between my time and yours?” Tilting her head a bit to one side, the redhead regards him with a searching gaze, fully absorbed in their conversation. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

Harper merely grins sheepishly at her agreement, because well...it's true. Phoebe goes where Frey leads, without care for anyone or anything else. Harper was just the little tugboat being pulled along behind that particular steam engine. Though he's not expecting to be asked about his own thoughts about Frey. "I've only met Ludo and Safrin admittedly, so I can't say for sure. Life and reproduction go hand in hand, and sexual liberty is something I support, so I don't see why I'd dislike them." Then he's overcome by a chuckle, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair, embarrassed. "Though whether they'd like me, well... I'm not someone who does hook ups or friends with benefits. I'm positive they'd call me a total bore." And, well, he's fine with that. "Safrin has been the kindest to me, but meeting Ludo was amazing as well. Religion was so vague and different in my time, the idea of becoming a devoted disciple to just one is boggling." Maybe with more time and meetings, but for now he's fine drifting along in the manner he is. "What about you?" As an entertainer of all sorts, was she more inclined towards Frey in the same way Phoebe was?

"I wouldn't say no to stealing a bit of your wit," he teases, happy to boyishly enunciate the slight rhyme. It eases away beneath her next question, and he wishes he'd had a more formative education that didn't go from shoddy homeschooling at the circus to learning how to kill instead of his timetables. At least he can give her the big events if nothing else. "Not long after your year there was a civil war, and many Native Indians were forced from their lands and killed in a brutal journey, then forced into small reservations. The slave trade was abolished, women fought for the right to vote. Another civil war was fought for equality for black citizens. Cures for diseases like syphilis, cholera, rabies, and smallpox. The homosexual community -" lord how much does she know, what words are familiar to her? "- fought for their rights for equal consideration for employment, and the right the marry. We discovered a cure for different kinds of cancer. Equality was still a slow uphill battle even in my time. We had our first black and female presidents." He gives a helpless shrug, smiling. "So many bad things, yes. World wars, bombs that destroyed entire cities. But so many good things too."

Harper

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Given Lily’s distant past and less-than-distant past, she finds herself surprisingly content to just… sit here and talk with Harper. No pressure other than what she puts on herself, no expectations that it’ll lead anywhere other than them going their separate ways at the end of the night. And while, yes, she might fantasize about a certain dashing smile and blue eyes later, it feels nice to have a conversation with someone who seems as open to talking about themselves as she is (cough, cough, Sunjata). “I’m like Phoebe,” she says with a bit of a sheepish grin and half-apologetic shrug. “Given my past, it just seems natural. And like Safrin with you, they’ve been quite kind to me. I’ve met her, too - but not Ludo. Honestly… organized religion makes me… tense. Really tense.” Her cheeks puff out as she exhales dramatically. “Which is probably also why I like Frey. They don’t… care about what doesn’t fall under their umbrella. I don’t have to choose a side in this Old Gods - New Gods thing.” She shakes her head a bit sadly, briefly thinking about everything she’s heard and seen lately. “I saw enough discrimination and rules and piety in the Church. Being told you’re going to Hell for trying to make a living week after week gets old, you know?” That seems to be all the vulnerability she can handle at the moment, taking a sip of her drink to steel her spine. After all, it’s in the past and it can’t hurt her now. As Harper begins to tell her what’s happened in the past four hundred years, her jaw literally drops a little, as each war is announced, each group of people fights for themselves, cures for the main ailments of her time are found, and - can she believe it? - a black and a female president? Exhaling in awe (apparently she was holding her breath and didn’t realize it), blue-green eyes are wide and maybe on the verge of tears as she tries to take it all in. “That… that sounds amazing,” she says quietly. “That our infant country does all that? All the bad and the good?” Now the tears are slipping out and she laughs at herself because why in the world is she crying? A dainty pale hand brushes them from the corner of her eyes as she takes another sip, and realizes she’s finished with the drink. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

"You're not the only one. Even in my time, religious tensions were still wildly apparent. I feel like I'm barely adjusting to having physical, present Gods." Still as equally starstruck as suspicious. They have been nothing but kind to him, but the mere idea of Gods and the powers they wield, the individual alignments and stances instead of impartiality...it's intimidating to say the least. So he has remain somewhat reserved so far.

Her tears are somewhat unexpected, but even these are carefully contained, brushed away quickly as if to conceal her emotional reaction. Harper's expression goes soft and understanding. He can't imagine the relief and joy she must feel, if his own love for humanity is any measure to compare it to. "Yes. The greed of man is only equally met by the potential for kindness and desire to uplift that every person harbors. We did so much good." He hopes the same can be said of Caido. Seeing her empty glass, he taps the rim with a smile and goes to fetch her another, returning summarily with a drink and a few more hours worth of conversation to entice him back to the table and the lovely lass who awaits him.

- FIN

Harper