One, two, three... eat!

[Vega]

Zi'da 40th, 717

"So, apparently," she said, poking her head out slightly from under the blanket, but really not much, "this isn't unusual for this place." Outside of their tent, there was a hailstorm happening which had to be seen to be believed. She'd insisted, earlier, on going out and making sure that Peg and Storm were well covered, sheltered and not afraid. While she'd done that, she'd suggested that he just bring in food enough for them to see this storm out. Then, she'd made sure that the spare tarp covered both of the horses and protected them as much as possible. Whilst she was doing that, it wasn't too bad since they were in a sheltered spot. It was in the running between the horses and their tent that she got absolutely drenched, through her clothes within trill. The same for him and so, they'd got into clean and dry clothes and wrapped up under blankets. "Arlo, do you think maybe we're a bit deranged fer livin' like this?" She didn't think so, not at all, but she had to admit that a warm hearth and a hot bath certainly wouldn't go amiss, now and then. Maybe now. "I mean, it's gonna get worse before it gets better. D'ya think we should rethink stayin' in an Inn?" Shrugging, she pulled the thick blanket around them both which had been a gift for him and, somehow, kept them completely warm and comfortable.

If only she could get a nose warmer of that stuff, Vega thought, wrinkling said nose and pulling the blanket over it with a grin.

"Do you reckon anywhere in the 'ole of Idalos is colder than this?" It didn't seem like a complaint, it wasn't. She quite liked the idea in fact. If she was going to be cold, then she should be cold in the coldest place. Good job it hadn't been this bad as they'd made their way back from Almund, though, she commented. After that strange meeting. "I 'ope Qit'ria's a'right. For a sev'ryn she's not really very good at lookin' after 'erself, you know. I dunno. Maybe she's not quite as bad as I thought." Her eyes twinkled humour then and she added, "I still hate 'er, of course. Jus' so we're both clear." It was a principle.

Pulling her knees up to her chin, Vega looked at him and grinned. "So, do ya wanna do these gifts then? To-trial is knowledge. A gift of knowledge, I mean, that's tricky, I 'aven't got much to begin with, so I don't got much to share with you." She was teasing, entirely. "But if you've not got yourself sorted for the three trials, we might be stuffed an' need to wait till the weather sorts. An' as for the feast on the fourth trial, what're we gonna do?" As the thunder roared and the hailstones bounced off the ground, she shifted over to be as close to him as she could. "It's funny, innit? I mean, we're vaguely soggy, an' can't go outside without gettin' soaked an' we could 'ave jus' stayed in the Inn in Almund, but I wouldn't want to." Once Cylus was done, she said, they were going to have to work out where they went. "We could go back to Rharne, if you wanted, see your stepfather? On the way somewhere else?" Her eyes, always telling the story of her emotions in the colours within them, lit with the wanderlust which was so much part of them both. "I mean, Rose at the library told me that there's three universities. Viden, Rynmere and Scalvoris. We've never been to either of the other places, though she says Viden's right cold. An' apparently Rynmere's full of nobles who are probably all livin' it up in each other's underwear." Vega did not have a high opinion, it seemed.

But, she said, there were lots of places and she was happy wherever they went. It was all new and interesting to see. "So, you wanna, then? " Vega asked, nudging him excitedly. When he said yes, she beamed, kissed him and then turned away to rummage in her bag where she brought out a wrapped parcel. "I 'ope you like them. I got 'elp, an' they should be good. An' if they're not, I'll thump Rose the librarian," never mind that she was an elderly lady, it seemed, "an' then get you better." Wrapped up were two books, both of them filled with maps, but not maps of land. One was charting the seas and oceans of Idalos, nautical maps, and the other was filled with star charts and how to navigate by the stars. She watched him open them, attending carefully to his expression. It had been a risk, because she herself couldn't read and so she hadn't known exactly what she was buying, but Rose had helped a lot and so, they were good books.

Off Topic

20gn deducted for 2 x books

[Arlo Creede]

"It's already colder than it was back in Desnind at it's worst," Arlo complained when a flurry followed Vega back into the tent, and they'd swapped out their damp clothing for dry. "If it's a sign of things to come, Cylus is going to be miserable." He was even more grateful for the blanket Faith had given to him than he'd been at the time. Having been in Scalvoris so much longer than them, she'd surely known what was coming. Even if he hadn't. While she'd been looking after the horses and making sure they had some straw to nibble on to help keep them warm, he'd gathered up what he thought they'd need so far as food inside the tent. He had the slice of dragon wood that would help keep the inside of their tent warmer, that he could also use to heat up their meals and keep a pot of hot tea going.

Maybe, he'd agreed when she suggested they might want to look into renting a room for the duration of winter. The horses might appreciate warm stalls too, while they were at it. Being travelers was all good and well, but if Cassion had a handbook out for what was expected, Arlo didn't think the Immortal would insist on his followers wallowing in misery for more than a cycle on end. In fact he'd probably think that anyone who did it with any regularity had gone and lost their mind. "If there's a place colder than this, I can't imagine how you wouldn't freeze to death in less than a bit after going outside." If there was such a place, it would be last on his list of favored places to visit in winter. Right below the hotlands as a summer destination.

Hopefully Qit'ria, he added, would have had enough sense to either get better at surviving the wilds, or rent herself a room at the inn. "You think I'm not sorted?" Arlo teased her when she asked about the trials of giving. He'd been sorted for quite a while after all. As for the feast, well, if they were holed up in place that long, unable to get out of their tent for any amount of time, he'd just have to make some sort of feast out of what they had available. As for where they'd go once they were able to again, like her, too long in one place and he started to get restless. "I don't care that much about the universities," he admitted. "If we were to pass nearby Rharne, next we did, I might want to swing closer and visit the farm."

He'd written, he told her. Partly to keep in touch. And partly because he suspected that his stepfather might have worried that now that his mother was gone, Arlo might just drift away. He'd written then as some sort of unspoken reassurance. The man was still his father, just like he'd always been. "Yes, I want to," he said, shifting topics and back to the trials of giving, just as Vega handed him a package. She couldn't have chosen better, Arlo realized once he peeled back the paper to find out what was inside. Books would have been welcome enough, all on their own. He had no real interest in formal classroom learning. But books, especially those that were useful to some aspect of who he was? That kind of book was the kind that inspired him, and his expression made it plain to see as he opened one then the other and thumbed his way through the pages.

"Vega," he said and smiled. "Thank you. These, these are perfect." Navigation, not just on land but in all aspects of it had been something he'd developed a keen interest in. It fascinated him, the idea that you could find your way not just with an ordinary map or compass in hand. But by the stars, the suns, the moons themselves. He leaned in and kissed her, and in nearly the same motion reached under a nearby leather cover for a box that had to have been there for a number of trials, but he'd stored other things on top as if it was a small makeshift table.

He'd wrapped it in some hide he'd tanned a while back, and left her to remove it and open up the wooden box for herself. It was a woodworker's kit, containing all the bits and pieces it should. "I know we've got a carpenter's kit," he said. "But I was thinking of those boxes you were making, and carvings on them if you decided you wanted to whether you chose to sell them or not." So a proper kit and tools to do it with, was what he'd been thinking.

[Vega]

Zi'da 40th, 717

"If it's a sign of things to come," she said, snuggling in next to him and wrapping the blanket around them both, "then we are gonna spend thirty trials in the dark, wrapped up together. That's all. An' you, you steaming dweeb, are gonna remember that fardlin' chicken leg wot keeps you warm. Have you got some kind of mental block about that?" Pulling herself as close to him as she could, Vega seemed in a surprisingly good mood all things considered. "If we stay in an Inn, that's a'right. An' I think that yer right, the 'orses would like it. Bein' stabled." Warm. Dry. Not unutterably miserable. "But it'll be an adventure either way, won't it? It's like, when you work or go to your classes. They aren't your usual places, but they're all stories to tell, aren't they?" Nudging against his neck with her nose, she grinned as she teased him, pushing against him like Peg did when she was looking for treats.

"Jus' think. When yer all old an' you've turned up to the dinner table without yer trousers again, you can be mumblin' about that winter on Scalvoris what almost did for you, it were that cold." Bumping her shoulder against his, her expression was teasing. "You're well adorable when yer a grump, you know." Pausing just long enough, she added, "like when yer swinging your legs, sittin' on a tree. That was nearly this time last arc, you know." Leaning across, she lifted her hand and turned his face, kissing him as her fingers curled in his hair. "I'm real glad we found each other. Even if you did look twelve with yer swingin' legs."

It was a good thing that he'd written to his stepfather, Vega said. She genuinely thought that, he was a good man and he'd been a big part of Arlo's life. He was his father in all but blood and, frankly, she thought that blood was less and less important these trials. When he said that he didn't care about the universities, she worried slightly that it was because he didn't care about books, since the universities presumably meant lots of books. But yes, he'd got himself sorted for three trials and he was ready. Vega beamed in delight and grabbed her gifts for him.

Then, she watched him and she grinned in delight. He was pleased with them, there was no doubting it and she couldn't be happier about that.

"They're a'right?" They evidently were, judging by the way he kissed her ~ a gesture and sentiment returned with enthusiasm. Then, even as he was kissing her, he was also grabbing the small table-thing that had been there a few trials now. Vega looked at him in some surprise and then, excitement evident on her face, she opened it. "Oh! Oh, I've never even seen these!" Vega's hands moved over each tool and she was obviously delighted. "These are great, Arlo, Thank you. I can learn loads an' you were right. Jus' using the tools, it taught me loads. I think I'm gettin' better again, an' yeah. Thanks, really." Looking around a sudden, but very genuine, frown darkened her brow. "That's rubbish. I can't use it in 'ere, I'll just make loads of dust. Well, now, see.. That caused a definite huff but, judging by how much time she spent during that trial, while they were stuck inside the tent and unable to go out, doing whatever she could with those tools to practice.

The storm, however, continued for the rest of the trial and well into the night. The next morning dawned with a thick blanket of snow nearly half a foot deep which had fallen in the early breaks of the morning but the hail had stopped and, whilst it was astronomically cold, it was at least dry out.

Off Topic

You want to take us to the next day? Do all three days in one thread?

[Arlo Creede]

There wasn't a thing wrong with his memory or way of thinking, Arlo had argued in regards to the wooden chicken leg he'd ended up with after reemerging from the mysterious fog some time back. It was only that in this case, why did he need it? "This blanket keeps us plenty warm," he reminded her, making sure the thing was tucked round both of them at once. "And besides," he added and grinned a little. "we do a good job of keeping each other warm." There did come a time, now and again after being cooped up inside the tent so long, that he'd needed to step outside just for wanting to stand up straight and stretch a little. It grew tiresome having to move about on their knees, or forced to walk like a primate might instead. It was then that he took the chicken leg with him.

"Everything is a story," he'd agreed. There'd be plenty at the inn if they decided that it was the place to be. It might be nice to take a trip to the privy without having to trudge through a blizzard to find a good spot. He'd never looked twelve, he'd countered, but then knew that he had one of those faces that too often had caused others to mistake him for younger. "It seems like yester-trial sometimes, and sometimes not," he added, referring to the moment they''d met. "It was my lucky trial at any rate." But of course they were, Arlo told her when she asked about the books. "They're more than alright. They're perfect."

He couldn't have been happier then when Vega seemed happy with the tools he'd gotten for her. He knew what he needed to get by when it came to swinging a hammer or making repairs on the cart. But Vega seemed to enjoy working with wood more than he did. So he'd hoped she'd like it. "Well you can fiddle with it a little in here, familiarize yourself with the tools and sooner or later the weather will clear up." And it seemed it would, but only after a long night where the wind howled and more snow piled up round the outside of the tent. Arlo though was up before Vega and before she woke, he'd already checked on the horses, made sure they had their grain and straw and fresh water to drink.

He was back under the covers next to her when she opened her eyes and he smiled, kissing her and making sure she'd have a hot cup of tea in her hands. "Morning," he said and grinned. "You know what t'trial is? It's a trial for laughing and I've got something that might get things started." Something for her, he meant, and reaching aside of their bed he retrieved a soft package and handed it to her. When she opened it, something about what was in there would look familiar. She might remember those bees they'd stumbled across, and the fact that he'd spent some time preparing a number of the hides. But then those hides had seemed to disappear, not seen again until now.

When she unfolded the stuff, Vega would realize that there was a garment, or two in there for her. Black and yellow, bumblebee striped long johns, top and bottom in one piece, the kind with a flap in the back for convenience. But that wasn't all of it. There was a stocking cap in there too, striped just like the underthings, soft and warm. And atop the cap was fixed a pair of bumblebee wings, just like he'd teased her about before. Of course he'd tanned the hides, but had needed to hire the services of a seamstress to get the job done. "I think she was fairly sure I'd lost my mind," he told Vega.

Off Topic

Long johns and cap = 15 gn

[Vega]

She'd been more than content the trial before, experimenting and exploring the new kit. The tools fascinated her, the ones which were new, and she did what she could to test them out without creating dust or any such in here. He was right, she enjoyed working with wood. It was physical work with her hands and that was what she was good at, what she enjoyed. There could be no doubt just how pleased she was with the gift, judging by the amount of time she spent fiddling around with it.

The wind howling around them had meant that she'd had trouble getting to sleep and when she woke the next morning, she knew by the look of him that Arlo had been awake and out before her. "Mornin' to you, too," she curled into him, happy to linger in the kiss and the feeling of being half asleep in his arms. Her eyes looked up at him, deep brown with gold in them and she smiled. "I like wakin' up with you." Her smile turned wicked, though, and she added, "you always make me tea." She enjoyed a warm cup of tea in the morning, it helped her wake up which was not, of course, what she meant but that was a given between them. But she wasn't fully awake when he asked her if she what trial it was and Vega frowned, thinking about it. A trial for laughter, he said and she grinned. Of course it was. Then, he reached to the side of the bed and pulled out a package.

Vega was more than a little intrigued and, when the package was soft she looked at him with delight in her expression. Her eyes had shifted from the brown which was a colour even he saw rarely and were now green and orange with flecks of lilac in there. "What's this then?" She put the cup down, sitting up in their bedroll and opened the parcel. As she realised what it was that he had done, Vega's guffaw of laughter probably scared the horses. "Oh, Arlo, look at these!! Oh, Treid's snowballs, Arlo, these are fantastic!" Vega looked at him with utter delight on her face and, without pause, she pulled the hat on her head. "Whatcha think?" The long johns caused a hoot from her and she turned and kissed him, ridiculous hat still firmly on her head. "Oh, you nutter, I love you." It was rare that she said that, just like that, and she looked a little awkward, then shrugged slightly and grinned. "Well, I do, so I dunno why you're gettin' yer panties in a bunch." He wasn't, of course, but that had never stopped her. Deflect and deny, that was her strategy when feeling vaguely embarrassed and she wasn't about to change it.

"I can't believe you did that, I really can't." She shook her head and then turned to get his gift, which seemed to be a box of some kind. "I'm not sure about this, now," she said, her uncertainty evident. "For a number of reasons, but a'right, so. I 'ave to give them to you an' tell you what they are an' why. A'righ?" She hadn't got him one thing, she explained, because she wanted to give him lots of reasons to laugh, in lots of different places and at different times. They were all small and silly things, though.

Evidently, she wasn't joking when she handed him some chalk, a stick like the professors at the university used to write on the big blackboards. "That's to make both of us laugh," she said with a sudden wicked grin. "At any point where we're on our own, you can use it to join up the dot-to-dot of an Immortal that my freckles make." She thought he'd remember the time, in the jungle where they'd both been soaking wet, behind the waterfall at the fountain of youth. He'd been looking at her strangely, or so she thought at the time. Now, of course, she knew exactly what that look meant and she realised that she'd seen it more than once before they were together. Having entirely misinterpreted, she'd grumbled that her freckles might as well be a dot-to-dot of an Immortal and he'd steered clear of that part of the conversation.

Then, with a rather wry grin, she produced a bee-skin hat, although there were no other items of clothing. This one, though, had ear flaps and she grinned at him. "I was gonna offer to wear it for you, to make you laugh, but I've already got a 'at." Solemnly, but with utter mischief in her eyes, Vega learned over and put the hat on him, pulling the earflaps down and very carefully tying the black wool ties under his chin.

Then, she sat back and looked at him, the pair of them in their bedroll in their tent right in the middle of a snow-filled Scalvoris and wearing bumblebee hats. "My only regret is not doin' the wing things." Shaking her head slightly, to emphasise said wings, she handed him the box, though she kept her hand on it, too, not letting him open it just yet. "I know it's silly, an' not as good as it could be. I'll get better, I will. But, I thought it'd make you smile." Letting go of the box, she let him open it. Inside there were a wooden carving. It was, at first glance, a tree, but there were two bipedal-animals there. The first was a fox, sitting on a tree. It was strangely humanoid that fox, and wore Arlo's hat. One leg was dangling off said tree, but the fox seemed to be gnawing at his own leg. The fox had a large, bushy tail but it seemed to be made of feathers. Hanging from the branch was an elephant. It was a female elephant, whose ears were tied under her chin. She was hanging by ropes, much like Vega had been when he taught her acrobatics.

She grinned and shook her head. "I know it's .. but that's you, remember? You told me about foxes what gnaw their own feet off rather than get trapped. You were that fox, you said, when it came to relationships. An', well, that's me, cos of the hat, an, see?" Not that he needed the explanation but Vega leaned and spun the elephant. "She spins. It's probably not right funny, now I think on it." Glancing at him, she couldn't help but add. "Not like you in that 'at."

Off Topic

5gn for the hat deducted.
2sn for the chalk
The carving is expert standard - being made in a solo.

[Arlo Creede]

The trial before had felt much longer than it ought to have been. Being forced inside by the weather had meant a lot of time on their hands. Sure, there were a number of appealing and interesting ways to fill a lot of that time. But sooner or later they'd needed to come out from underneath the covers. Arlo had spent part of that time looking over Vega's shoulder while she fiddled around with the wood working kit he'd gotten her. Other times he'd poured over the books that she'd gotten him. Other times they'd just sat together, sharing mutual complaints about the weather.

"I like waking with you too," he'd said, once she had a warm cup of tea in her hands. "Laying down with you, and all the bits in between." A lot was implied there, and neither of them needed him to supply the details. So he watched her open the package instead, watching her face, her expression and in particular her eyes when she saw what was inside. He'd accomplished what he'd intended to at the least, in keeping with the spirit behind the gift itself. He could only imagine what she'd look like in those long john's, and in fact he was strangely eager to see. But when she put on that hat, he laughed, shaking his head and he reached up to give those wings on the top a spin. "I think it suits you, you know," he insisted as they shared a kiss between them.

"I love you more," he stated as she handed him a box to open, and explained, well, that she'd need to explain what was in it. Looking at her curiously and smiling, Arlo opened it up. The first was a bit of chalk, and at first he seemed a little perplexed until she explained why. He snorted in laughter, and yet when he looked back at her, he said "I remember when I said that. I was thinking how beautiful you looked in there." In that little cave behind the falls, with the quartz studded walls shimmering light starlight and the moss bathing the ceilings, walls and floors with a soft blue light.

That hat though caused another burst of laughter, and he immediately put the thing on his head...matching her more than he had just a few trills ago. "We're a matched pair now. Maybe we ought not go out and about in public this way. Folks will think we're touched." Not that he'd pay them any mind, of course. But still...They probably made a pretty ridiculous looking duo. When he opened up that last box however, a wide, pleased smile replaced the laughter. Clearly, the little statue represented the two of them, separate but together. And he remembered.

They were comical looking little creatures and running a finger over the surface of each one, he said, "You're getting better at this all the time Vega. You've got a real talent for it. And yeah, I remember saying that. If only I'd known." He'd never have predicted that trial, that they'd be sitting inside this tent together. Or would be together this way. "I'm glad I was wrong you know," Arlo said, leaned in and kissed her. "There's no being trapped about it. There's no place I'd rather be than where you are."

The weather had cleared some, the wind was no longer howling, the sleet wasn't falling and time to time, the sun came out if only just briefly. After being cooped up for a good two trials, the break in the storm was just enough to allow them outdoors. If not for long stretches at a time. Once though, Arlo had grabbed his bow and had gone of hunting, and had been lucky enough to bring back a large hare for their supper. He'd cleaned it and roasted it over the fire, and had served it up with some fresh bread. A simple meal, but the first one cooked over the fire that they'd had in several trials.

The calm held over night and when dawn broke, it seemed like it might last another trial. Though after returning from his rounds outdoors that morning, Arlo had other things on his mind. "Trial three of four," he reminded Vega, and from the corner he collected a medium sized box and sat it down beside her. Expressions of love came in many forms he guessed, as many forms as there were people. This one, he hoped she liked but it had been guessing mostly that had motivated him. Inside the box, a variety of things but of a similar theme. Fancy chocolate candies, the type that weren't found easily in ordinary places. And little bags too of powdered chocolate, to be blended into heated water and served up in a cup. Was she like other Biqaj in this way, Arlo wondered, even if it was only a half of her? Her reaction he guessed was what would answer that question.

Off Topic

chocolate candies and hot chocolate = 10 gn

[Vega]

A few times, since the first trial, when they'd been sitting together and he'd been reading his book, she'd pointed to a word, usually a name of place and asked him what it was. Sometimes, she'd been able to take a guess at it, recognised one or two of the letters, other times, she'd asked him to spell them out. She only ever got it right or even felt confident enough to guess, he might notice, when her eyes were brown.

Exactly the colour they were that morning when he'd handed her the cup of tea, though when he talked about all the 'bits in between', the brown was replaced by a deep swirling indigo and a crooked, almost shy smile. However, she was quick to bark with laughter at his gifts to her, and when he said he loved her more? Vega opened her mouth to say that of course he did, she was adorable, but somehow she shook her head. "Not possible, I'm afraid." It was true enough in her eyes, although she added teasingly, "we can agree, jus' the same amount, or I'm gonna 'ave to pound you." Their kisses were distracting, but they had all trial so pacing themselves a little wouldn't go amiss. She caught his gaze when she held up the long johns and Vega raised an eyebrow. "You're kiddin', right?" Looking down at them she shrugged and grinned. "Bzzzzzz"

He'd been thinking how beautiful she was, that trial? "I know," she said with a smile. "Now I do, anyhow. I didn't then, I was upset cos I thought you didn't like my silver blood." They were, though, she agreed, a matched pair. It was just what they were a pair of that was open to debate. Probably a fairly lively debate at that. He liked the carvings she'd made, though she shook her head when he said she was getting better and had a talent. When he said he was glad he was wrong, though, Vega grinned. "You weren't wrong. What you were picturin', it would always make you run a mile, wouldn't it? Now as much as then." He pulled her close and kissed her and Vega smiled. There was nowhere he'd rather be than where she was? The same was true for her, and she hoped he knew it, she whispered back to him.

Though, it had to be said she was glad to get outside, even in the freezing cold. When he went off hunting, Vega wondered what climbing a tree was like in the snow and so she found out. It was slippery, she needed to really grab on with her knees and it took a lot of upper body strength. But, when Arlo got back from his hunt, he got a snowball on the top of his head. "Wotcha," she said with a grin, from one of the higher branches of one of the surrounding trees. Then, she pushed off with her legs and grabbed a branch, swinging a few times before she landed with bent knees and wicked smile. "Want a snowball fight?" Dressed for the cold, including her new hat, she was entirely serious, very competitive and not above dirty tactics. Including the sudden revealing of said long johns just before he threw. It appeared, they fitted just right.

However, that third morning, when he'd come back in to the tent, Vega had been sitting, blanket around her and waiting for him. He was quick, keen to hand over his gift and Vega was quick to open it and her eyes told her reaction before she spoke. "Arlo, this is chocolate" Looking at him in obvious delight, Vega turned and kissed him with a ferocity which spoke of her pleasure. "I love this stuff. How did you know!?" It turned out that Vega shared the Biqaj love of chocolate and then some. Each one she tried, though, in fairness, she bit in half and handed half to him. "Try that, oh, that's just... I mean, there is nothin' better. Thank you, so much." It took a few moments before she remembered that she had a gift for him.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. 'ang on." She looked around, put the chocolate out of the way, otherwise she'd never manage to do this next bit and then reached under her pillow. From there she pulled out a very small thing, which she held in her closed hand. "My gift is a story, an' an item from that story. So, when I was maybe four or five arcs old, we were docked an' me an' my cousins went paddlin' in the sea. I was wearin' dungarees an' a straw 'at, so I rolled up my dungaree legs, an' in I went. We played in there for breaks, it feels like." As an adult, of course, she recognised that perhaps it hadn't been that long, but it felt like it at the time So, when they'd got called to the beach where they were all eating, she'd run up to her father and he'd helped her get out of the dungarees and into a dress. "Except, when we took the dungarees off, this was in the leg." She took his hand and put hers in it.There was something small in there, but she kept her hand over his, for a moment. "I showed my Papa it an' he told me that a mermaid princess 'ad put it there, jus' for me. An' one trial, I should give it," Taking her hand away, she left a pretty little shell in his hand. It was beautiful and almost perfectly heart shaped. "Papa said, cos it was magic, put there by a magic princess, I 'ad to wait an' give it to the man I truly loved. So I kept it." She shrugged slightly, and then smiled. "An now it's yours. But I got chocolate which is a lot better than almost anythin'. Sorry. " She seemed, she was, entirely serious. "I'll get you somethin' better when the weather clears."

[Arlo Creede]

The trial before, when they'd had so much time on their hands because of the weather outdoors, it had begun to occur to Arlo that Vega's struggles with the written word were more complicated that he'd thought before then. She'd tried to explain some of it already, and as a result he'd started thinking it wasn't so much what she knew, but what she was seeing when she looked at any sort of writing. But it was the consistency of it that struck him when they were looking over the books she'd given him. Or rather a particular inconsistency had begun to emerge that he realized had an odd sort of pattern to it.

It had only been an idea at the back of his mind however by the time they'd turned in for the night. There'd been plenty of distractions between after all. "Treachery!" he'd shouted at her when he'd returned from hunting and she'd ambushed him from high in a tree. And as usual Lyova hadn't warned him ahead of time. In fact as the snowball fight unfolded, the little diri had delighted in taking part, so much as she could, by darting in and out of the battle, streaking past their heads, dodging snowballs as if the things wouldn't have passed right through her anyway. Sometimes Arlo thought she might like to be human for a bit or two, if only to try it on for size.

And of course he lost the battle, because Vega cheated, and he'd told her so in less than uncertain terms. It was worth it though, to catch a glimpse of those ridiculous long johns underneath the layers of clothing. Oddly or maybe not, the appeal was just as he'd thought it would be. That third morning though, he couldn't have been happier to discover that even a half biqaj, his half biqaj, loved chocolate as much as he'd hoped she would. "Oh, I dunno," he said when she asked how he'd known. "Just a hunch. It's good isn't it?" It was, just as good as the first time he'd tasted the candies. "You can drink it too. There's some powder there and I can make hot chocolate for you."

But her gift to him? He sat quiet, his eyes fixed on her face, taking in the story she told him after she placed something in his hand and covered it with her own. Whatever it is was small but when she revealed it, it was clear just how much meaning and heart was contained in the little shell. "I don't want anything else Vega," he told her. "There isn't anything better or more meaningful. You kept this all that time? For me?" How could she think anything was better? "Thank you," he said, pulling her close and kissing her. It meant more, he told her, than anything she could have bought in any store. Much more.

[Vega]

Vega had truly loved the snowball fight ~ being cooped up for trials had left her with a lot of energy to burn off. Despite their best attempts to exhaust each other, they were both physical people who needed to be active. Sitting around drove her mad after a while. The woodworking tools helped, looking at Arlo's books too. Arlo himself was an almost constant cause of distraction, but still, it was good to run around. She'd won, of course, and she was very quick to inform him that she had not cheated. "I'm jus' usin' every weapon available to me, is all," she informed him, almost haughtily and then let out a squeal as he caught her.

"Bzzzzz," she'd mumbled against his chest some time later. "You're a right weirdo, you know that?" Not that she was complaining in the slightest. Quite the opposite in fact and if he was? Well, there was a simple truth to it and that was that he was hers.

The third morning, though, Vega couldn't hide her delight at the chocolate. She loved the stuff, she told him. The thought of a drink of it and a hot drink at that? If he was joking he was being a mean, mean boy and if he was serious? Well, that would just be ecstasy in a mug she assured him. His reaction to her gift, though, was what she had hoped for. When he questioned her, though, she grinned slightly. "Well, I didn't know it was for you. If I pictured 'im, this man I truly loved an', I should add cos Papa said it, who loved me back, well, the guy 'ad these soulful eyes. Like a deer. All big and like 'e was about to burst into tears at any moment." She bumped against him slightly. "An' his name was Sir Stinky Cheese. I kept it in my chest on the boat. I got it back when I got Bruce, but it never seemed like the right time to give it to you." Then, there were the three trials of gifting and she'd thought that it would be the right time. "Durin' my less relaxed an' more cantankerous teenage arcs," she said well aware that she was making herself sound like a paragon of virtue in that moment. She wasn't fooling either of them, she knew. Still, "I nearly threw it overboard I don't know 'ow many times, Arlo." She shrugged slightly and then grinned. "An' hey, what do you mean, 'all this time'? I'm not that old, you cheeky boy."

He knew her, of course, and his reaction to the story and the shell delighted her. Giving him something like that, from her past, made her vulnerable to him in a way that Vega did not easily allow, but with him? It was fine and she was safe to just be who she was. So, as he pulled her close, she returned the kiss and whispered, "I kept all of me hidden away, waiting for you, didn't you work that out yet?" Discarding the chocolate which she suddenly had no interest in, she looked at him with a crooked smile, "I thought you were the clever one, you know. Here, let me show you."

All in all, it was quite a pleasant way to spend the morning.

Though, judging by the weather, their brief reprieve was just that and that third trial again saw the two of them stuck in the tent with hail hitting the ground. The hailstones weren't quite the size of the ones before but still, the would cause damage if they struck in just the right place. Vega was clear that hot chocolate in a mug was so good that she could feel it in her toes. Stuck in the tent, she'd done most everything she could do with her carpentry tools, but she tried again, doing some carving and using a wet cloth wrapped loosely around the wood to stop dust from flying everywhere. It mostly worked. But eventually, she came and sat next to him, nestling into his shoulder and just looking at the book with him. "It's so familiar," she motioned to the map of the ocean. "Papa's got a big map like this in 'is room, on the wall." Resting her head against him, she smiled. "I used to sit an' stare at it for breaks at a time. Imaginin' stuff, you know? He used to put little flags in where we'd been, an' drew things on them so I'd know." Smiling at the memory she asked what seemed to her to be a very important question.

"So, what're we gonna do about this 'ere feast then?" It was due the next day, of course, and Vega had an idea. "We could feast on chocolate. There's plenty there. No one says it's got to be a savory feast, do they?" Though, of course, it was entirely possible that the weather would clear and they could go hunting first thing. That would work, too.

[Arlo Creede]

"There you go again with the soulful eyes," Arlo teased Vega after she'd told him why she'd hung onto the shell for so long. "So a man always on the verge of tears with dopey eyes like a scolded puppy or a deer in a bow's mark," he considered, grinning, "and not a thought in their head either I'd guess." But apparently he didn't have soulful eyes, and that was alright with him. "You were just waiting for mister perfect to come strolling by, I guess." Him, that was. "Good thing you found me when you did, before you ended up old, gray and bent."

In all seriousness though, it couldn't have touched him more, or more profoundly that it had been him she'd given the thing to. She claimed it was just a shell like any other, but it was more than that to him. Of course there were any number of ways to show her, and her him, and since they were still shut away out of the storm, it was the perfect time for that. Not that there was ever a bad time.

By the time the next trial came around, there was more snow on the ground, more ice bending the bare branches outdoors, and more hail beating against the oiled fabric of their tent. Figured. Arlo was starting to think that this weather wasn't going to let up till Cylus was over. It was a good time to make her some of that hot chocolate however, and so he did, along with a good breakfast of oats with dates and honey that would stick with them awhile. "We could do that?" he suggested when Vega told him about the map that her father had. "One of our own, fresh, that we can mark with tacks for every place that we go and visit."

It was the trial though that they should have a feast, she was right. But the weather was making that prospect a little problematic. "I don't think we'll be able to hunt, and I used up the last of the rabbit in last night's stew," he told her. "But I've got a slab of bacon stored away. Some eggs, preserves...For that matter I've got lots of things and we can put together a good feast. What's the tradition then? Does it matter how many there are to share the feast?" If it was more than two, they were in trouble unless they were to count the horses and he soaked them up a good mash for their feast. No one else with any sense would be out in this storm. But if a feast for two was acceptable, well then Arlo had them covered.