4-29-04

Characters involved:
Rahier
Keita

RW Abbey: Cavern Hole
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This room is slightly smaller than Great Hall, but still of a size large enough to accomodate a great number of gathered beasts. A large fireplace is set into one of the walls, and there are a series of small tables and chairs near one end for beasts who are eating late, or simply prefer the smaller tables for their meals. Cushions and blankets have been set in one corner.
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Exits/Entrances:
[G]reat [H]all
[Ki]tchen
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In contrast to the dour showing of yesterday, Rahier has visibly improved. The paleness is gone, and his ears are perked, and alert. He idles over in front of the fireplace, using a poker to shift one of the logs, quite the happy smile on his face.

Meandering into the cavern hole from the kitchen, and no doubt previously from the wine celler, Keita spies Rahier and makes a bee-line for him. She flops into a chair nearby, with a grin, "'Llo." And then, "Ya look a sight bettah than ya did. Come int' some riches durin' the night?" Hee.

Rahier doesn't start at the doe's voice, instead, his smile turns upward into a grin. "Heya," he returns, placing the poker back by the side of the fire. The buck settles quietly in a chair opposite hers, still grinning. Hm. He pauses to consider, tilting his head up at the ceiling. "..P'raps."

Ha. The doe snickers, softly. "You 'n' Maria made up, I take it." Keita kicks her feet up on the arm of a chair opposite hers.

Hee. Rahier shifts a little in his seat as she says that, paws folding. Almost antsy. :S "Yeh..." he trails off, eyes drifting down from the ceiling towards her. Heehee. Silence. "..I'm gonna be a father," he suddenly pipes back up. Beam. XD

Keita blinks, obviously taken aback for a moment. And then... "Ah.." Clear throat, "Ya mean, ah, Maria's caught pregnant?" Blink. Blink-blink.

As she doesn't exactly share in his enthusiasm, Rahier tilts his head, brows knitting together with a bit of a short laugh. "..O' course. What'd y'think I meant?"

Keita coughs, shaking her head hastily. "Nothin'. I mean, ah... congrats! That's great, Rah!" Hee. The doe reaches into her tunic, pulling out her characteristic flask with a grin. It is tossed. Of course.

Rahier snorts, catching the flask in his lap. "Y'actin' weird," he comments, albeit, lightly. The stopper is tugged from the flask, and a sip taken. Eyes widen, as he begins to beam again under the praise. XD "S'gonna be great. Havin' a lil 'un.."

"Aye..." Keita grins, a bit overly-goofily at that point, for it to just be 'aww, I'm so happy for you'.. stuff. But, heh, she checks it quickly, coughing and looking away from him. She stands, "So, ah, she just tell ya las' nigh'?"

Rahier's grin matches hers. :D "Yeh. She did. Ain't feelin' all that well, but.. she's got me, eh?" The buck snickers, drawing one footpaw up onto the chair. "Ahh... gonna need a bigger dorm, an' everythin'. Maybe I can build a lil' crib! O' somethin'.." He's gushing. XD

Naaaaah, ya think? Damn, if Rah wouldn't guess immediately, she'd tell him about -Rory-. Gushing isn't fair when it's one-sided. Rawr! Her grin wavers a bit, but she nods, "Aye... well, could always cut a barrel 'n' half. T'would serve."

Rahier snickers, tilting his head at the idea. "Ohh, I think I could have a fair paw at making one o' m'own." This is a doubtful prospect, as the buck possesses.. little in the way of woodworking skills. ;p He grins, again. "I think that'd be better. I -wanna- make one. F'him." His brow furrows. "..O' f'her." Heehee.

"Ahh, well.. if'n ya want t' get all fancy 'n' all..." Keita hehs, softly. "S'pose I could give ya a paw, sometime." Because, you know, Keita won't be making her own crib, or anything. Nooooo. Dern it. It's horrid containing bubbliness.

Rahier presses a claw to his lower lip, thinking. "..I do, though.. s'gonna be my kid." The buck looks quite somber, for the moment, staring down at the floor. "Want it t'have th'best." His eyes flick to Keita. "Y'know?"

"... Uh. No, uh, 'course I don't know." Blink. Blink-blink. Keita rubs at a spot behind an ear, frowning slightly.

Rahier's brows knit, again. That wasn't the reaction he expected from the doe. Wha? ;p "...Are y'sure you're alrigh', Keita?"

"... Hm?" The doe glances Rah's way, having managed to get lost in thought in the short period between her words and his. "Ah. Yeah, 'm fine."

".. So yer lookin' forward t' the kid, I guess," Keita adds. Hee. Give the dear something more to ramble about, it's only nice.

Rahier quirks a brow. Uh oh. XD "Oh, like hell. You're actin' like I do. What's botherin' you?" Role reversal. :x

Keita snorts, shaking her head. "-Yer- actin' paranoid. 'M fine." Hee. She sends a glance his way, and smirks. Because smirks are normal.

Rahier laughs. A short laugh. ;p "I ain't. Y'actin'.. dodgy. T'isn't like ya. C'mon, spill it. T'would only be fair." After all, he's usually the badgered. XD Rahier peers across at the doe, paw still holding her flask.

"Y' -are-." Another snort, and the doe shifts around in her seat, so that her head rests on one arm of the chair and her legs dangle over the other. Ceilings are fun to squint at. "Picked out a name fer the kid, yet?"

Rahier frowns, and looks pointedly unhappy that the doe's now staring at the ceiling. "No," he half-grumps, taking another drink from the flask. Mrf. "I ain't much f'names."

"Aww, y'not? Yer mum 'n' dad seem t've done a fine job. 'Rahier'. 'Tis a nice, strong name." Hee. It's hard to tell if she's messing or not, and she holds a paw out over her head, snapping her fingers, "Toss't here, wouldja?"

Rahier snorts, taking it to mean that she is messing. ;p "Well, I already got th' 'I ain't havin' no kids' bit from ya, so I guess I won't be gettin' any suggestions from ya, eh?" He takes another pull, before capping it and tossing it over, in a slow arc.

He's got good aim. It lands in her lap and she takes it up, unscrewing the cap. It is held to her nose, and sniffed. At which point she wrinkles her nose, but.. surprisingly, takes a long drink. Heh. She then recaps it, tossing it back over her shoulder, with possibly more questionable aim. Heh. She's silent, for a moment, and then she speaks, her voice sounding oddly amused. Tickled. "Y'know, I nevah actually liked this stuff?"

Rahier quirks a brow, as he once more catches the flask, in one paw. Big drinker. ;p "Really?" Hum. It's more of a grunt than an actual question, and he shrugs. "Guess that's why I never see y'drinkin' anythin'."

"Aye. That'n I can't drink worth nothin' 'fore 'm drunk." This is uttered along with a snicker and a shrug, "S'pose I get that from the "fearless leadah"."

Rahier snorts rather loudly this time. Only now, it leads into laughter. "Oh, aye. S'that why y'send her so mucha y'stuff?" Heehee. Rahier takes another small sip, grinning around the flask.

Despite the snickering, Keita's relatively somber, still staring up at the ceiling. Heh. ;p She smirks, nonetheless. "Aye, she likes the stuff. I remembah.. couldn't a been been but when I was four seasons, I s'pose. Was at the mountain fer the last time, then." She nods, a bit. "Ole mum got drunk offa 'er arse. Last time I saw 'er fer at least a coupla seasons."

Rahier tilts his head. "Oh, she gets drunk off her arse, alrigh'." Smirk. But.. huh. "...Oh?" He asks, an ear suddenly perking, and turning in the doe's direction. "What happened?"

Keita's shoulders jerk up in a shrug, "Don't remembah all tha' well. She'd been.. actin' odd fer a bit, 'n' then one day.. Hannah showed up. M' grandmum, y'know? 'n' Zoe was actin' real strange.. cryin', 'n' kissin' me." The doe shakes her head, a bit. "Drunk. S'pose she was upset, on account o' sendin' me t' stay with Hannah, again." Another shrug, and then a few seconds of silence. "Nevah much cared fer the mountain, anyway. Wasn't home." And then, her paw reappears, making a 'come-hither' gesture. "Toss it?"

Rahier sniffs, slightly. Just clearing the nose. Heh. He takes another draw from the flask, shrugging after she finishes. "Never knew m'parents. Not m'proper parents, anyhow. I tell y'that, ever? I used t'always wonder what they musta been like. Where they were.. why I couldn'ta known 'em. Had m'teacher, but.. I reckon it jus' isn't th'same." With another easy toss, he sends the flask her way.

The flask is caught easily in her lap, and the cap is removed, again, and another bit emptied from its contents and down her throat. Her nose wrinkles again, but she pays the taste no heed, "Y'nevah mentioned, nah.. but ya didn't miss out on much, s'far 's I c'n tell." The doe shrugs, now nursing the flask, thoughtfully. Oh, but she's going to end up drunk off -her- arse. Heh. "Ya teachah?"

Rahier shrugs, again, somewhat uneasily. "I dunno. S'pose maybe if I had had th'chance t'pick, I wouldn't wonder." He folds his paws across his chest, leaning against the arm of the chair. "Yeh, m'teacher. I call 'im m'father sometimes, jus'.. nearest thing to one, I s'pose. He didn't really talk much, 'cept t'shoo me off t'my studies."

The conversation has definitely taken a turn for the introspective, and Keita's responding appropriately by staring thoughtfully at the ceiling, the flask now wedged between her and the chair. Hee. "How'd ya end up with 'im? Relation o' yer folks or sommat?"

Rahier chuckles, shaking his head. "Nothin' so complicated as that, I reckon. Jus'.. that he was th'only other hare 'round where I lived. I always s'pected he knew summat, but he'd jus' tweak m'ear an' send me off t'bed w'out supper if'n I asked."

"... What happened t' 'im?" Best not to assume, but Keita's silently assuming the worst, what with the past tense usage. She continues to stare squintingly up at the ceiling, the alcohol slowly starting to take effect.

Rahier smiles, shrugging one shoulder. "Died 'fore I came o' age, he did. Died like he lived.. quietly. Can't imagine anyone woulda noticed if I hadn't taken over as th'healer in those parts." The buck just sits.. still, his own eyes directed at his paws.

Keita caps the flask and then cranes her arm back over her shoulder, so that the flask hangs from it, at least decently close enough that Rah could grab it if he wanted to. She allows the silence to ring for a few seconds before she speaks, again. "Musta been righ' hard, losin' 'im." She nods, firmly.

Rahier palms the flask, with a small nod. "T'was," he mumbles. He's always said it wasn't, but, well. He doesn't talk about this often. "He wasn't a great beast.. but he was there f'me." With a small pause in his speech, he considers, while taking a sip. "..S'why I wanna be there f'my kids."

Besides, they're drinking. Conversations are always to either extreme - serious or entirely laughable. And this one's serious. Hee. The doe squints one eye shut, peering at a particular aspect of the ceiling. "Allas jus' figured it'd be bettah t' avoid havin' kids all t'gethah.. Save

"Save 'em the trouble o' hatin' me or mournin' me or whatevan -elsin'- me, latah on."

Rahier sips again, thinking, quietly. "Yeh, but.. I don't have no blood relations. S'jus' me. If I were t'pass on.. there t'wouldn't be nobody left, y'know? I'd jus' be f'gotten. If I have a kid.. who knows? He has kids o' his own, an' so on, so forth. One o' them migh' do somethin' great, someday. Figure.. I do m'best t'raise 'em righ'.. then I can at least do somethin'."

"Aww, y'wouldn't be f'rgot'n.. I'd remembah ya." Perfectly logical, so far as Keita's concerned. But.. she nods, conceding. "S'pose I know what ya mean, though.. bein' the only one o' yer family y'know of. Got t' contin'ya the line 'n' all tha', 'n' a little Rah 'r two.. I wouldn't mind tha'." Heh. She'd better not. She's going to be helping to raise one. And this private thought causes a small giggle. Yes. A -giggle-.

"Always could count on y', Keita," Rahier retorts, only slightly sardonic. Mostly amused. Good job, alcohol. Speaking of that, he takes another drink, settling back into the chair. "Ach, Maria wants a whole horde o' 'em. I think one o' two lil' Rahs s'all anyone could handle."

"Could allas send 'er my way... see if'n I'm not really a buck aftah all. That way, ain't so many Rah's runnin' 'round." -This-, this garners a snicker from the doe, and she switches her closed eye to the other. Squint.

Rahier snorts, grinning. "Oh, yeh. S'all I need is y'stealin' 'er from me." Rahier laughs, twisting to drape his feet over the arm of the chair, adopting a posture that mirrors Keita's. "Y'always were a better buck'n I."

"Aye, well, -yer- the one managed t' get Ror' preggers, aincha? I ain't s'much of a buck, aftah all.." This is murmured wistfully, and without an inch of forethought - or any kind of thought, for that matter - on Keita's part. And then... she's snoring. All of a sudden, and -very- loudly. :D

Rahier laughs, snorting loudly as, again, the end of the flask tips upward, pouring yet more alcohol into his mouth. He's laughing, because the idea of getting Rory pregnant is absolutely hilarious. Wait. No it isn't. -This-, combined with his laughing, causes the buck to cough, spluttering out all the drink he'd just poured. Almost a choke. ;P "What!?" ..Oh great. She's asleep. XD