faderift | ( closed ) high above the smokestacks

WHO: Lakshmi, Magni & Tofa
WHAT: return to the Gallows and totally fine not awkward intros
WHEN: a day or two before the event
WHERE: Gallows courtyard
NOTES: none foreseen

Magni alerted Lakshmi that they were approaching the Gallows. Very different from her other arrivals here, when she had no one waiting for her. Marcoulf was a dear friend, but it was different with him. They were not the sorts to wait on one another, when each had work to do. It was more likely that they'd find each other eventually with a bottle of something potent. And, as much as she loves Marcoulf, she has never longed to see him the way she longs to see her Marnikarnika now. She stands at the front of the boat, and the moment they are in reach, a little before they dock, she jumps across to alight at the Gallows. Never has she been so excited to be back in this place, this bustling, miserable city with slaves immortalised against the cliffs.

An owl flaps across after her, and lands on her shoulder, before she looks back to her sister and tilts her head. Excited, eager, come on, Tofa.

From there, to the courtyard. Magni, injuries finally healed, able to move as freely and easily as she had before the Battle of Ghislain, looking around for Lakshmi. Where is she?

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Shockingly private done shockingly publically, and if she had more to care about - a title that meant something beyond pride, enemies that very particularly wanted her dead, she might even be subdued for once. Might stop how her arms hang so tightly even when her feet lift off the floor. But she can at least take some comfort that in the days after a battle as horrendous as Ghislain, that she is neither first nor last to be worried about someone who has finally come back.

That is less about kissing, and more to do with taking long, deep, relieved breathe, laughing, bright, into Magni's mouth before she pulls back, peering down at her for once. Eyes lidded and warm, carding her fingers lose through her hair, bumping over the tight braids laced to her crown.

"Saawariya," she sighs it long, still tracing, still mapping, some task of making sure. "Do put me down, you can carry me off later."

Smile warm and gentle as the morning sun, Magni lets her forehead rest against Lakshmi's jaw a moment before she complies and sets her down. Aware, in the last couple of moments, of her neglected sister. While her hand stays at Lakshmi's back (keeping contact, staying close) she reaches out with her other hand to Tofa, beckoning her closer.

"Tofa an Halvor o Talonhold, my sister." Come here, be with us.

Oh, did no one realise how bad it was going to be for Magni to be relied upon to do introductions? Did no one consider this?

"Lakshmi Bai, Queen of Jhansi. My—" well, she doesn't have a word for that, and just sort of looks to Lakshmi, perplexed, before she looks back to Tofa and offers an awkward shrug. I told you about her, the shrug says, although still unhelpful.

"Your Mistress." It's laughed, more than anything, as she's put down. Because - well, it's easier than say dig into Magni's side over the notion first your father is Thane, and now you tell me you have a sister? Perhaps repayment and punishment for neglecting to mention this bit of information, especially ahead of time.

Rather, the girl looks dreadfully awkward. Couldn't imagine why, of course. But if this was Magni's family then -

Lakshmi drops, in greeting, to touch the dirt in front of Tofa's feet, then lifts her hands, to press palm to palm. Briefly, bowing her head over them, eyes lowered with. "I am honoured to meet you, Tofa an Halvor O Talonhold."

Mistress. Tofa turns her head and finally lets her eyes drink in the two women and she feels herself soften from her embarrassment. It means she can actually look at the woman her sister is enamoured with properly, tilting her head and drinking her in with an idle sort of amusement, something like a smile ticking at her face before she finally moves closer so that she might introduce herself.

Lakshmi's greeting shocks her - she wasn't prepared for it, and her eyes flick to Magni in shock for a moment before she breathes out and motions for the woman to stand up. She can't communicate unless Lakshmi is looking at her, and she tries to get her attention to make that possible, looking a little pained and hopeless before she signs to her sister, trying not to feel her shame rise up and clog her throat.

She cannot introduce herself properly. How mortifying.

I am glad to know her.

Her gaze lingers on Lakshmi, before the lowered gaze and her familiarity with Tofa's challenges prompt her to look to her sister. Gently, she sets a hand at the small of Lakshmi's back, what she hopes will be understood as a subtle prompt.

"Tofa says she is glad to know you." And, because she realises she really hasn't actually given either of them much help with this, "she stands rightly amongst the bravest and most skilled of Talonhold." Not just the hunters, but all of their Hold, although she's not in a rush to describe the brutality of what happened to Tofa so lightly.

She signs as she speaks, so that Lakshmi can see the movements, the tilt and shaping of her hands, and perhaps begin to learn them.

It takes her a moment, to understand, to look between them and begin to wonder, to follow along. Then - as she had done many times before when pressed with something others might decry or ask sharp questions of.

Lakshmi bows her head, understanding with it - and carries on as if there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary with any of it, and does her best to make do. This was her family, now, and family must have support and safety above all else. "And I, you. I am happy too..." Until she realises, as she watches Magni's own hands, and the impulse to do it herself rises up.

There she clears her throat, polite as she might. "It might be... hard, for me to use such a voice back for you - " and with it, Lakshmi offers her own, and perhaps, a commonality to some degree, the wounds of Ghislain finally healed.

But they would not bring the last two missing fingers and side of her left hand back.

It is not something she needs to be embarrassed about, Tofa knows that; her Hold had worked with her for years on understanding that there is no room for shame when the loss of her tongue had been done in battle. Learning to live without a voice had not been an impossible task - she had not been particularly loud or vocal, much like her sister - but it is painful at times.

Meeting strangers is one of those times, and she glances to Magni, suddenly nervous, feeling like she's swallowed something.

Shaking her head, she begins to make signs with her hand, glancing at Lakshmi's fingers before she turns to Magni. She should look at Lakshmi in the eye, she thinks, tilting her head down, but she also knows she has to ensure her sister's understanding before she can make sure that Lakshmi herself understands.

We will make it work. Her fingers flex, unsure, nervous. Sister, please. Shall we walk?

The tension in Tofa, the way she moves her hands, catches and keeps Magni's attention even more sharply than usual. "We walk," she says in agreement, her tone enough to illustrate that part of what Tofa said, as she stoops to make sure she has gathered all their things.

"She says that we'll make it work," Magni explains to Lakshmi, as she shoulders a pack. And then, she looks to Tofa. "Maybe we put all your things in my room, and then we see to your accommodation."

Generally speaking, Magni has never been the one to provide someone with a tour, or context. She is always the outsider entering a situation, and there's a great many cues that she is probably missing in the grand checklist of ways to look after someone who is brand new to a situation despite her experience as the new person. (Sorry everyone about this elk masquerading as a human.)

( she can't believe she's in love with this elk. )

"We will," she was family now - and everything that was, everything it wasn't, and simply as it's mean, Lakshmi will do her damndest to that end. Magni's people were her own and that was the end of that.

"Why don't we... " there is a shift, pausing, and she realises its hard to know when she is being spoken too or not. She taps her fingers - well, there were conversation methods she knew through fingers. But they were quite different. "... before we go. Here. When you want only my attention, please do this." She forms the gesture with her fingers, curling them around. "Then I will know it is me."

Tofa looks between Magni and Lakshmi before she softens, breathing out gently.

It's a kindness, to be before someone who is making an effort to be considerate of her ailment. She lifts her hands and begins to move them, shaping them into the same motion Lakshmi had made - a name sign, something she recognises. She knows that it's something simple and recognisable, and she appreciates that more than any kind of hand sign or word could ever be able to express.

Turning to Magni, making her sister's name sign, she motions.

I will help carry. A nod. And then we can talk more.

( closed ) high above the smokestacks

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