nexus_crossings | Leather and fine wine

Leather and fine wine

The days are getting darker, the air has started to bite. Naturally this means that a certain Winter spirit is starting to brighten. With Hazel's beautiful influence all around him, he's been spurred on to keep busy and ready himself to do an equally (if not better) job. While people may have seen him marching around the Nexus, often with full arms, today he's taking the time to stay in the Nexus to do a little work. Back on his world the weather took a turn into torrential rain. Here, however, it's dry. Cold, blustery, but dry.

Reynard has his trademark leather coat spread out on one of the tables in the Plaza. Two pairs of boots are waiting on the ground, one pair noticeably newer and smaller than the other. His feathered hat rests on one of the chairs, carefully weighted down with a brush. Perhaps it's no surprise then that Reynard is dressed rather lightly then, with his coat all laid out. It's around this table that Reynard moves, brushing and wiping and occasionally taking a sip from a cup. Those who approach will be met with the rich scent of mulled wine and the more cloying smell of whatever he's using to treat the leather.

Finally he pauses for a moment, thinking over his cup before asking, "What is your least desirable quality? What could you stand to improve about yourself?"

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"It sounds like you need an outside perspective," he suggests. "The one thing people find hardest is to deal with themselves. Doctors still need a doctor, and so on. A back and forth with someone who's sharp enough to give you new considerations might even help you harness your… talent."

Which would be the ideal situation, surely. He might not be offering himself (they're still strangers, after all), but he's silently pleased to see someone who sees their own flaws and seeks to use them to their advantage. It's the smarter way of dealing with them, even if it isn't 'good'.

Reynard stops dead halfway through taking a sip to stare very intensely at this new acquaintance. "Loki? Loki as in 'conveniently appropriately named after the god' or… Loki, as in silver-tongued Loptr himself?"

"If you're going to suggest a therapist--" he begins, but trails off, mollified by the further explanation. No, that doesn't sound like therapy. That sounds like a friend. Or a mentor.

Loki isn't sure he could submit to the suggestions of a mentor; swallowing his pride is very, very difficult. His pride is very prickly. Even spiky. Still, the basic idea of sounding board? Not terrible, if he can find someone to trust.

Correction: someone to trust who he doesn't mind laying the burden upon. Harley, he trusts already, but she gives of herself so freely to everyone around her, and is not without stresses of her own. No, that's too much to ask of one person.

His reverie is disrupted by being recognized. Norns, he is never going to get tired of that. He's a little more subdued than usual with the smile and bow--he's had a recent humbling experience--but he can't bite back the little sigh of pleasure. "I do like that epithet. I haven't heard Loptr in quite a while. Yes, I am he. Or a version of him, at the very least."

Edited (typo) 2018-11-13 16:41 (UTC)

"I was in a polar expedition in Antarctica. That's why I've got the coat."

Kinner smiles. He's not thrilled about being dead, eaten alive by a space alien at that, but he is pleased that he doesn't look that way to the stranger. He's honestly pretty healthy, all things considered.

"Thanks for the compliment. It ain't all bad - I've been keeping myself busy here. Makin' good money." He offers a hand. "My name's Kinner. Good to meet you."

There is a very simple reason Reynard would ever refrain from suggesting a therapist: Someone might end up suggesting it back at him. For someone so natural at hiding himself and keeping secrets, the idea of being honest and open with anyone voluntarily is… daunting. Someone to have a glass of wine with and talk nonsense until it makes sense? Now that's a much better idea.

All thoughts on the virtues of a good confidant/verbal sparring partner are forgotten once Loki introduces himself.

Reynard groans, rolling his eyes right around and then heaving a sigh. He sets his cup down on the table, steps away from it and then gives a flourished bow with a pinched smile. "An honour to make your acquaintance."

When he straightens again, the smile gone, he picks his cup back up and immediately takes another sip before saying anything else. "My name is Reynard North."

Setting his cup down and swapping it for a brush, Reynard grins. "Thicker skin? Perhaps you should get yourself a leather coat as well."

Chuffed with his own joke, he chuckles and continues brushing down the worn leather while he talks. "The more fluent you are the more confident you sound, and the harder it is to be pushed around by... strong personalities." He pauses to raise an eyebrow at her. "Do people make a habit of upsetting you?"

Wow! The eyeroll is a new one on Loki. Sure, he gets that kind of thing from Thor but they're brothers, so it's expected ~~and Thor has one less eye to roll with now~~. He looks nonplussed; not exactly offended but very surprised.

And then he bursts out laughing, as if he's just been told the best joke of the year. It only ramps up a notch when North gives his own name, and he has to take a moment to recover, one hand on his chest, the other cupped over his mouth to stifle the giggles.

"Your p-pardon," he says at length. "I did not realize my acquaintance would be so tedious to you. Should I pretend to be someone else? I'm certainly capable."

Shaking his head, he rubs the heel of his hand across one eye to wipe away a tear of mirth. "Yes, hello, I have been warned that you are a spirit of Winter. Are we going to come into open conflict? After what the Autumn did to my brother, I'm trying to decide how far to push my luck."

The laughing only forces him to smother another sigh. He's going to need to top up his drink, isn't he? "No offence, but gods cause drama. I'd vowed to avoid gods as much as possible and you've just ruined a perfect record."

Then again... He shrugs. "You're not the worst one I could have run into, but- Wait." Loki's words catch up to him. "What did Autumn do to your brother?" A beat. "And who did you hear about me from?"

Both terribly important questions. If Autumn has an issue with a god he's no going to undermine her, in her Season or his. As for where his reputation comes from... Well, it's either really bad of him, or... moderately bad. It's important to know which.

"Antarctica." Reynard brightens up immediately, face splitting in a large smile. "I went to the Arctic on an expedition once. Beautiful! I haven't been to Antarctica yet..."

"Reynard North." He takes the offered hand in a firm grip and brisk shake. "You're... not a zombie, are you? Or a walking corpse?"

"I'm assuming your expedition didn't get attacked by a space monster. You're lucky. Antarctica was beautiful, but also very dangerous." Spoken by someone who had very bad memories of being stuck in the cold, blinded by white, and stumbling through the snow, terrified he would die before his team found him.

But of course that hadn't been what killed him.

Kinner warmly shakes Reynard's hand and can't hold back a quiet laugh. "No, I don't think I'm a zombie. Or a walking corpse. I mean, I've still got a heartbeat and all my body parts are still working."

"My heart bleeds for you," he fires back. "How do you think I feel? I'm related to so many! But if you do seek to avoid drama, I would recommend not rolling your eyes at people. Offense fully taken, by the way, but I'll decide what to do with it another time."

And probably he'll decide on 'nothing' because he has bigger projects to worry about. He's not even that annoyed.

"I believe the issue has resolved now, where they are concerned," he says. "Or will be resolved shortly. I'm not clear on how their quarrel began; Thor claims to be blameless."

Loki doesn't believe that for a moment, of course. "In any case, organic matter was rotting around him, food included, and he's been living off junk food for a bit. It was heartbreaking to see him so reduced." That doesn't even sound sincere.

"But as far as who told me about you? You'll have to figure out on your own. Snitches get stitches."

Get what by a what now? A frown forms on his brow. "No. No it didn't."

"I'm happy to hear it." Really, he is. Not that he's having the best time with humanity in general, but a living human is better than a walking corpse.

He glances at his cup and then crooks a smile at the man. "I'll tell you what. Tell me a story or two. What happened to you. This 'space monster' and 'dying'. In return I'll pour you a cup of warm mulled wine."

"You're one of the lucky ones. Well, I guess it's more that we were the unlucky ones. There's a lot that can kill you in Antarctica, but folks don't usually get eaten by space aliens."

Make that two of them. Kinner's very happy he's here in one piece and feels alive.

Kinner gives a crooked smile back. He has some good stories from Antarctica and he would like warm mulled wine. "I'll take you up on that offer. It's a bit of a long story. I was the hired cook for a geographical survey expedition - a thirty-seven man team. We were attacked by a creature from outer space. We found it frozen in the ice and took it back to our campsite. One of our biologists, a man named Blair, thought it would be a good idea to unthaw and study it."

Talk of offence being taken gets a 'tsk' and Reynard only manages to stop himself halfway through throwing his eyes to the sky. Normally he has patience in spades, but any being haughtier than himself often drains it faster than a bottle of champagne at New Year's.

Loki talks of Thor claiming to be blameless and Reynard can't quite resist muttering, "Of course he does."

After this he'll have to find Hazel and give her a high-five. Before that he'll have to practice how to do a high-five with Tina. Thoughts which distract him from the mild disappointment of not learning who gave Loki his name, which he only grunts at.

"And Thor? He's your brother? He's here?" It's hard to tell how much that might be a problem during Winter. Hopefully not much, but he doesn't like the idea of competition on the weather front.

Kinner says it's a long story and Reynard just sets his cup down, moving to the box tucked under the table. He pulls out a thermos, setting it on the table, and then grabs a cup. Which is when Kinner mentions their biologists.

Standing suddenly, Reynard looks him dead in the eye, waving the cup at him to punctuate his words. "Never. Trust. Scientists. Especially biologists. They can seem all harmless, but..." He wrinkles up his nose and returns to his task of pouring Kinner some wine.

"Eh. Some of 'em were all right. McReady, our meteorologist, is a decent sort. Norris, our physicist, thought unthawing the alien was a horrible idea. Blair wasn't a bad guy, even, he just did something boneheaded and got us all killed." He's not sure why he's defending his scientist coworkers, he sure wasn't one himself, but they had been a team.

He watches Reynard pour the wine, continuing the story.

"The creature turned to be some sort of shapeshifter. It could wrap around people and digest 'em, copying their memories, then build a copy of them out of...itself, I guess. One of its human victims was none other than yours truly. I let someone into my quarters, they sprouted tentacles, and regrettin' it was the last thing I had time to do."

Loki is looking thoughtful now, though. "Actually, what Thor claimed was that she seemed to have a grudge against the mere fact of his existence. I thought that seemed like a harsh assessment, but I'm beginning to wonder."

"We are what we are, you know," he says. "If our providences overlap with yours, it's hardly deliberate."

He's probably walking himself into trouble at this point, but it's not winter yet. Maybe it's better to just go ahead and make a bad impression now and avoid Reynard later, when he will presumably be at the height of his power. "He is present in the Nexus, yes. And he is an alternate of my actual adopted brother, as we are not from the same world, so technically I suppose that would be a no, but I might stick my neck out for him anyway should the occasion call for it."

His smile is faint, but hard to miss, and his gaze is suddenly very intent. "He has duties. He is the king of a people in exile. If he brings trouble upon himself again, so be it, but should he merely be walking through your personal space, I would ask you to remember that the lives of thousands depend upon him."

That's a fair point. Josh gives a one shouldered shrug in acknowledgement as he approaches the table. He should give Reynard something they could actually discuss then. It's not as though there's nothing else about Joshua that's detestable.

"I push away the people who care about me the most. That's probably one I could stand to work on."

Green eyes follow Reynard's motions and widen ever so slightly at the sight of the cup. That is his preferred method of feeling better.

"Absolutely."

"I'm not talking about a job," Kate returns agreeably. "...not only about a job." Her face clouds as she thinks about how to explain what she meant, but apparently that's not what this guy is looking for.

"I don't know, can I choose to wait and see if any of my flaws develop into something bitchy and inflexible and sad and gigantic, and then deal with it? I'm not finished yet." Briefly, Kate shows real frustration.

Loki had actually only been passing through. But the scent of leather and that warm rich spice lingering in the chill of the air slowed the little fox enough to consider the stranger. It was cold enough that his form had responded in kind, a white fox rather than red, slow-blinking at the question posed it. Pausing to sit, tail neatly curling around itself as his head tilted one way then the other.

"I've many flaws to improve, if I am being even partly honest. But I suppose you're looking for specifics aren't you?" A small chuff of wry amusement slipping out, left ear flickering briefly as he thought on the question.

"I... do not ask for help when I should. More trouble has been caused for myself and others in such situations. Perhaps related, I do tend to take offense quickly, even when it might not be meant."

It's not hard to tell she's struggling to explain. Reynard can't help but feel like he's missing something, but he can be patient. "Not finished... growing, you mean?"

There's a part of Reynard that's thankful the white fox talks for a little while. It gives him time to stop in his tracks and wait for the sense of oddness to pass. Usually he's the talking fox speaking with a human. It feels strange to be the human being spoken to by a fox. Really he should be thankful it hasn't happened sooner, but... it's still mildly uncomfortable.

"And... even knowing this, you still do it?" he asks once he's settled himself.

"Everyone seems to think that I have to decide right now," Kate explains. She sighs and shakes her head. "Get married and leave my current job to be with my husband, or stay until I retire. I thought I'd found a compromise, but that's where the time management problem comes in. Or maybe the identity management problem. It's not that easy, trying to be everything you want to be, is it?" She's a little plaintive, a little expectant, like the stranger asking the questions should know some answers too.

Loki is not entirely aware that he'd unsettled the man. It wasn't really his intent, not truly. He'd just responded to the chill in the air by taking this shape, and following his nose had led him here.

"I'm... trying not to. It's not so easy- I burned many bridges, so to speak before I came to the desire to be better, so there are not many anymore who are willing to listen, let alone help. A conundrum of my own making true, but no less frustrating for it. Maybe moreso because of that. I cannot lay blame anywhere but at my own feet for all I'd like a convenient scapegoat."

She makes a slight cough of a noise, that's not quite a snort but bemused before she chuckles for real. A playful twinkle in her eyes. "Maybe.. mayhaps with some fur faux or otherwise..I rather not waste a creatures sacrifice depended upon where I find such.." Though she did have some rather soft blankets that were the faux kind but those we're indoor use.

She hums and nods, She did love words even if it was sometimes hard to find the right ones at the opportune time. "Aye, practice then I suppose." She half murmurs and her eyes go big in an 'oh boy' sort of way. She hums in a humming in thought uncertain debating sort of way. "Well..I don't think ..most of them do it on purpose..though I have some neighbours and friends and the like back home that have a habit of getting themselves into trouble and dangerous situations or have..bad and reckless habits." She begins to try and explain. And then slightly sighs. "Doesn't help when the lot of them are stubborn or think they're in the right. Or least partly so.."

There were some who would take say one step forward and then relapse..one way or another. And well she might be a bit den motherish sometimes but to be honest some of them might legit be horribly maimed, worse or dead if she hadn't stepped in or been so. Though it didn't do her stress levels any good. It had been one of those times when she felt like she'd about reached her limit with worry for one friend in particular that she'd found her way to the Nexus.

Kinner gets a vaguely suspicious look while he defends his coworkers, but when no biologist is explicitly mentioned Reynard feels vindicated enough to return to his task. He pours out the still hot mulled wine and offers over the cup before refilling his own cup and closing the thermos.

"That sounds… unpleasant." He takes a sip of wine and then eyes Kinner. "How can I be sure you're actually you? How can you be sure?"

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Leather and fine wine

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