when the seams start wearing thin

hey mr. trailblazer, spare you a joint paper
it's strange how the days layer, and weigh on you years later

Her joke sparks another bright laugh from Uldren, amusement clear in the panes of his face as he follows her along the path she’s picked to get back to her apartment. “That’s gotta be it.” After years and years, decades even of the difference between, it’s a wonder how those in the Drench don’t have some ability of overthrowing the Platers with how insane some of the families have become. But that’s a problem he doesn’t want to get involved in, nor go down the rabbit hole of it.

He regards her again, following her glance down river toward the lake, before his head angles back toward her. “Is that so?” He asks, his fingers at his backpack strap starting to drum lightly as he thinks, mulling over the options given that she leaves the little breadcrumbs for. “Sounds like a decent way to cool off when Kivan hits.” He poses the question curiously, cutting her a glance with an equally amused smirk.

Prolong it out, of course. He’s gotta show up to the bar and share the businesses between them, right? Maybe after that they could go on some adventure.

Uldren

Ira does not want to get involved in any kind of revolution either. She often hear Drenchers share ideas about something and her own father sometimes muttered about that something should be done. She just wanted to go about her life. Even if the living conditions are not optimal, she had stayed out of trouble so far and things were going alright. Starting a war between the two parts of the city sounded like a very bad idea.

She pushed all those thoughts out of her head and focused back on Uldren, flashing him a sly smile. "I know some paths with fewer thorns in the way. Perhaps I can show you one day." 'One day' is vague enough and could really mean whenever. Even if he seemed nice, she is not about to go away from populated areas with a complete stranger.

Crossing over the river, she takes a turn and follows the road going directly south around Drun. She looked up at at the P02-plate high above. "Do you think the stories are true? That the nobles are really throwing those that anger them off the edge?" It is both unbelievable and at the same time not, seeing as they were already throwing their kids into the water. Tossing people over the edge like trash did not seem too far-fetched.

IRA

hey mr. trailblazer, spare you a joint paper
it's strange how the days layer, and weigh on you years later

“Sounds good to me.” Uldren hums, making note of the offer for later. Perhaps when Kivan hits it’ll be absolutely necessary — he remembers last year he’d practically tried anything to stay cool, suffering with the humidity to the point that his work on his jewelry had slowed immensely and he’d started having to craft at night when it was at least a fraction more bearable.

The river is crossed and he can see the base of Drun in the distance, shifting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder a bit tighter as her question airs and his green gaze lifts to look at the hard to see edges of the Plate from this distance. “Hm, personally? Doubt it.” He pauses, lowering his gaze to glance back at Ira before focusing on the path they’re taking. “If they’re into as much punishment as I hear they are, they’d prolly just rather toss them in the capitol prison instead. At least then they’d be able to torture them for however long their anger lasts.” His nose wrinkles with the thought. Honestly, if it came down to that or getting tossed off DESPOT, he’d probably prefer to get tossed rather than go to prison.

It’s why he keeps his head down so much, continues with the status quo. Does what he can that isn’t illegal to prove his points. Nobody was going to arrest him for selling the Platers fancy looking costume jewelry. “I’d rather not find out though.” He finally decides, casting another glance up toward the Plate, a slight wince crossing his face.

Uldren

Her walking pace slows down a bit while she looks up at the Plate and frowns at the thought of whatever horrors might be going on in the prison when Uldren mentions torture. With a small shudder of discomfort, she picks up the pace again to be away from the vicinity of the core as fast as possible. "No... Better to just stay out of it. It's not like we can do anything about their unhinged traditions, so best to not do anything that gets you involved."

She had played with fire in the past, though. Whenever she had told a rowdy Plater go get out of the bar, there was always a risk it could be someone that could pull strings that could get her into trouble. Or the few times in her youth when she had given Enforcers the finger before escaping into the maze of streets where they could not follow. But for the most part, she kept her head down as well.

"It is not too far now." She adjusts her hold on the bags and nods at the neighbourhood of apartments over yonder. "What's your plan? Walk with all the way to the door or be on your way from here?" Her walk slowed down again and she turns more towards Uldren to look at him with a small smile.

IRA

hey mr. trailblazer, spare you a joint paper
it's strange how the days layer, and weigh on you years later

“Exactly.” Uldren agrees, casting one more glance upward toward the Plate faded in the distance. “So long as they don’t make me do it, they can keep it.” And with the efforts of keeping his head down, he feels relatively safe about it. And his newfound walking companion seems to agree with it.

Her steps start to slow, however, and Uldren matches her, turning to face her a bit more fully, looking to where she gestures toward the apartments before her question hits and he huffs a laugh. “Just killin’ time, really. But if you’d rather part here I might take a walk around Drun while I’m in the area.” A shoulder rolls and a small smirk is aimed her way, as if to answer the question that he doesn’t come to this side often.

Uldren

She looks from him to the core. Turning her head in the direction of the buildings, then back to him. "I'd don't mind the company, but perhaps it's best I show up outside alone. Think my father might already be a surly over me taking so long." A soft laugh leaves her. She does not look concerned about it at all, mostly amused. Her father is an alright man. He might not even care much about what company she keeps (unless they are genuine bad people) other than grumbling and muttering a lot for the sake of it.

"Buut... Perhaps I'll see you around again soon." She adds with another small smirk. She does hope she will run into him again, one way or the other. Curious about what kind of person he is. He had seemed nice so far, at least. More than someone she would just want to lure tip out of at the bar.

IRA

hey mr. trailblazer, spare you a joint paper
it's strange how the days layer, and weigh on you years later

He understands what she means. The benefit of moving here is that he isn’t hovered by his parents, but it is still a weekly call back home to make sure that they knew he was still alive. Here it was just him and his sister and they didn’t particularly care who did what, when each other came home, so long as each other did. It made it easy.

So he flashes her another amused smile, inclining his head a fraction. “Might wanna keep the necklace secret then, hm?” He flashes her a wink for good measure before he adjusts the strap on his shoulder again and takes a deep breath. He intends to go and visit her at the bar, at least, so he knows they’ll cross paths again, sharing business for each other. “Until next time, Ira.” He offers a playful little salute before he steps away, heading toward the core as he mentioned before and disappears down the streets into the darkness.

Uldren

"I'll wear it when he can't see." She responded with a wink of her own and smirked. Her father never visited the bar anyway, so he would not see it there. He did come to the diner once in a while. Perhaps one day, she will earn enough to afford a place of her own.

She bows her head at Uldren, unable to do any sort of saluting or waving in return with both her arms occupied. "See ya around." With that, she starts heading in her own direction, only turning her head around once to watch him disappear into the shadows. She then picked up her pace to finally get home and get some sleep!


{end}

IRA