[open]

[lumelume]

WHO: Mado and you
WHAT: where are my beloved cousins??
WHEN: whatever month this is
WHERE: the Gallows
NOTES: he's here

There's a strange man in the Gallows courtyard, a man nobody has seen before. He looks shabby, dressed in a long yellow surcoat that has seen much better days, but his face is lit with a plaintive grin as his melodic, Antivan-accented voice rings out:

"Averesk? I'm looking for Kostos, or Nikos Averesk! Have you seen them?"

It's not even entirely clear how he got here, because nobody saw him enter or leave the ferry, and this is not a person who escapes notice easily. Maybe he's a ghost. Maybe he's been living under the island this entire time.

"You there, please! I'm looking for my cousins!"

Comments

[indissection]

Sidony notices the names immediately, especially with the familial attachment linked to them; Nikos and Kostos, who are her cousins. There's an awkward twist of tension in her stomach as she moves closer, adjusting her cloak and her skirts before she crosses her arms.

"Why are you looking for them, ser?"

[lumelume]

He lights up like a chantry torch when someone engages him, his smile wide and warm.

"I've only just learned they were here!" he exclaims, "I've been looking-- you see, I've never met any of my family, but life's too short, isn't it?" Somehow, everything he says carries the same level of enthusiasm.

"Do you know them? Are they here?"

[indissection]

Oh, Sidony is already irate, something tickling in the back of her mind. She might not be well connected to her family any longer - the Venaras tribe are still quite frustrated with her choice to slum herself and wed one Byerly Rutyer - but she has an instinctive, well-trained urge to be polite and cordial to anyone who might be related to her in any way.

That means anyone who is cousin to her cousin. She can feel the headache building already.

"I know of them, yes. I am their cousin. Sidony Venaras Rutyer, the pleasure is yours."

[lumelume]

As impossible as this may seem, the man actually appears to grow more delighted, and louder to boot.

"Then-- then you're my family as well!" he gasps, and steps forward to embrace her very suddenly and very tightly. "Oh it's lovely to meet you!"
He might be crying a little?

[indissection]

“Please, do not.”

Sidony steps out of the embrace immediately and as artfully as she can manage, idly brushing at her dress as she does so. This must be divine punishment, surely, and Byerly will laugh at her horridly when she tells him.

“Do you simply wish to meet them.”

[lumelume]

He doesn't chase her, at least, and one gains the impression that he's used to this reaction. He does, however, remain fixated on her with an emotional smile.

"Oh yes, yes, I would-- but I must also know about you! Sidony! What do you do here?"

[indissection]

This topic is easier at least. If she can keep him busy enough that someone might warn her cousins about the rather large and puppy like problem they now had to manage.

“I am a surgeon. The Head Surgeon, in fact.”

[lumelume]

"Head surgeon!"

He is, perhaps, impressed enough to eclipse the feelings of her remaining family.

"That's so-- well done! You're so important!"

His cousin is a surgeon!!

[indissection]

Sidony, quite cautiously, takes a rather noticeable step back at his outburst.

Best to be safe, she thinks.

"Yes, I am rather important. And very busy."

[bloodandsand]

Poesia had been napping in one of the rare sunpatches in an alcove. Now she was ambling back in her shift, pausing when she's accosted by an adorably earnest man.

"I'm afraid I haven't a single clue who your cousins are, dear," she says, patting his shabby coat daintily, but sympathetically, "Are you quite sure they're here?"

[lumelume]

"Oh, quite sure!" he enthuses, pleased to be approached by someone so friendly, "at least-- it's what I last heard. But this is Riftwatch, isn't it?"

[bloodandsand]

She beams at him, pleased with his pleasure. "It is! So then they must be here." Her brow wrinkles prettily, "But I fear I still haven't the slightest idea who they are. How every troubling. What do they look like?"

[lumelume]

His frown is emotive and tragic, what one would expect to see on a stage actor, except completely sincere.
"That's the problem-- I've never actually met them," he replies, "so I don't know. I only know their names. And that they're my cousins!"

[bloodandsand]

How terribly sad! Poesia grabs his hands, moved. "Oh you poor dear! How terrible to have never met ones family! I'm sure we'll find them! Many of us have only just returned from a very charming trip to a lovely little jungle and I am quite sure none of our number died, so they're sure to be here!"

[lumelume]

He grips her hands right back. "It's a bit more complicated than that," he explains, but with a guilelessness in his face that indicates he would never intentionally withhold information, "but all's well that ends well!"
However serious he was just a second ago, he perks right back up again. "That's a good thing, dying in a jungle seems one of the worst ways to go. At least it was charming?"

[bloodandsand]

"Goodness, I'm sure it was very complicated, but I'm so glad you're here now, dear." She matches him, beat for beat, as earnest as springtime sunlight. She tips her head thoughtfully at his comment about the jungle, "Oh, I quite agree. It's a terribly anticlimactic sort of death, don't you think? Although I must tell you, dear, we did see a high dragon and if one were to die, I think it would be most wonderful to die that way."

She tugs him further into the Gallows, hands still clasped, "Now, there are very many clever people here, I'm sure one of them will know where to find your cousins!"

[lumelume]

"A high dragon!" he gasps, just in time to be dragged along and completely relent in doing so.

"Do you see dragons often, in this line of work?" he asks amiably.

[sulahnan]

Athessa’s only here to fetch something vital to her role in her mission, so she’s not looking to be distracted for long, but after hearing this man and being singled out, it’s hard not to get a little side tracked.

“Averesch,” she corrects, and looks at this...antithesis of everything Averesch she knows. “Who’re you?”

[lumelume]

He gives a gasp of alarm. "Averesch," he repeats, "how strange! I'll have to remember that."

And just like that, he's smiling, untroubled.

"I'm Amador, but you can call me Mado." A deep, theatrical bow follows. "Street-singer, purveyor of delightful illusions, and... well, and their cousin."

[sulahnan]

She smiles back, maybe at about half the wattage that he does, and nods acknowledgement.

“Well, I’m Athessa, and kind of in a hurry, so follow me. I neither know nor care where Nikos is but Kostos isn’t usually too hard to find.” She starts walking. If they do find Kostos, she knows exactly what she’s gonna say. Preemptively proud of her own wit, she smirks to herself.

“You joining Riftwatch, or just visiting family?” Spoken over her shoulder at Mado, once she stops being prematurely smug. “Or do they maybe owe ya money?”

[lumelume]

"Athessa! Lovely to meet you." He seems to mean it, as well, trailing behind her with a spring in his step (and no doubt, a song in his heart).

"Why wouldn't you care where Nikos is? They're twins, aren't they? Are they not always together?"

[sulahnan]

“Pfft, no, are you kidding?” But before she tells him the truth, that they’re a pair of nearly identical arse-holes who can barely stand each other, she gets another brilliant idea. Ohhhoho she’s going to enjoy this. “That’d be impractical, they’ve got work to do and all, see? And they gotta piss and shit sometimes.”

Athessa slows marginally to walk side by side with Mado, gesturing dismissively. “And Nikos? Ugh he’s just...he loves hugging people way too much, and I’m already not big on people touchin’ me.”

Hehehehehehehehehehehehe. Take that, Nikos.

[lumelume]

He actually looks significantly disappointed by her answer, and the smile on Mado's face wilts visibly-- but when Athessa doesn't elaborate, and instead begins to tell him about Nikos, it climbs right back on.

"Oh! Then I imagine we'll get along famously," he chirps, looking around the high stone hallway as they traverse it. "And I will remember this about you as well, Athessa."
At least he tries.

[sulahnan]

She does appreciate that, really.

"I appreciate that," See? "And don't get me wrong, hugs are fine, but I'd rather be the one to initiate, ya know?"

[lumelume]

"Yes! I love hugs," he exclaims, "but I suppose you don't want them from everyone! Or at least, not everyone wants them from me." This is probably the conclusion drawn from at least one painful conversation, but he is unflappable.

"I forgot that and hugged someone earlier today-- Sidony! My other cousin!" He almost stops, he's so delighted, but just sort of trips forward instead. "She's the head surgeon, do you know her?"