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[Liss]

Liss pushed open the door to the main room and found a place for them to sit. She would have taken him somewhere more private, since he wanted to probably stay hidden, but that would have probably made him uncomfortable. "Anything. What do you do? And in that regard, I still don't know your name." She smiled, wondering if her charm could get her any more information about him. She would give as little as possible, of course. She still hadn't decided if he was a spy or not.

[Ricket]

The main room was... big. Noisy too. Obviously it wasn't the working time for these people, but Ricket figured there must be lots of clean up and getting ready for each night. It only seemed logical. "Name's Ricket. I push boats--well, I don't do the pushing as much these days, but I make sure they go where they need to go. Come from Urteau, just upstream." He still didn't have anything to hide, so he felt no worries in explaining things. She had hair, and she admitted to potential sneaky tricks that obligators could have, so she must not be on their side.

He knew he could talk about boats for some time, but... sometimes people could get tired of a body rambling on and on and on, so he figured it'd be best to return the favor, try to know more about this other rebel. It would help to protect one another, right? The more he knew, the more he could trust her. And if he could trust her, he could help her. "I... suppose it weren't very mannerly for me to not ask the same. I, uh, I reckon I know what you do, for a livin', that is, but don't know no name for you. Better to know than just call you by your job. You're a person, after all." That little core of things was for him the reason for rebellion. That he was a person, not just a tool. Skaa weren't hammers, they were allowed to breathe and feel and love.

[Liss]

Liss laughed softly. "You don't have to be that careful about it. Everyone feels like my profession is a subject to be avoided, but to me it's the best life I've known. I have beautiful dresses, and I am rarely beaten unnecessarily as the bruises wouldn't look good." She shrugged and then smiled. "I'm Liss. And trust me when I say that there are definitely better subjects to avoid. You'll be able to tell when we light upon one of those."

[Ricket]

That was... not entirely comforting, to think she would show some anger or something to whatever he might say, but such was life. He nodded simply, still trying to scan the room and understand what this place was that he was in. So many bright colors, more than he'd seen up close... well, ever. Even transporting the very rare shipment of cloth, it was always sealed up and the dockworkers even only saw leather. He refocused himself to respond to the information he had learned. "Yes, Miss Liss. I reckon I'll be careful." There were plenty of questions he had about how a rebel cell could even function in such a place, but he knew not how to go about it.

It wasn't as if he could just start talking about rebellion in the middle of all these people. Some of them might have fake hair, or worse! He decided it'd be wisest to just ignore that for now, and hopefully he could play at being innocent. The problem, of course, was his one leg. It was an identifier not shared by many others, and one which would be damning evidence if he were discovered. The problem he faced now, though, was one of confusion. He didn't understand this place at all, so he felt himself powerless to assist in any real way, or to offer any genuine conversation. "So... you... like dresses?" He was trying hard not to be inconvenient for her, but he really knew nothing of this alien world he found himself in, and there was little chance of that changing.

[Liss]

Liss nodded, still amused by how awkward Ricket seemed to be. She really didn't know what to do to make him more comfortable, as she rarely had this problem with people. "I have all these gorgeous flowy dresses in my room. I only really wear them when I'm working, but they're so fun to walk around in. Obviously they aren't as complicated as some women's dresses," She deliberately avoided saying 'noblewomen', "But they are still pretty."

"Before I came here, I knew this woman, Della, and she would get me some of the nicest dresses I think I've ever gotten to wear. They were even nicer than...others." Again, deliberately avoiding certain subjects. She didn't like reminding herself of such things.

[Ricket]

Well, that didn't work. Ricket realized he was still doing very little to add to the conversation. Normally, on the river, there was plenty of idle chatter about the flow and the current, as well as the rowdy chant or two to keep pace. Idle conversation, whenever it could be afforded, was generally founded on the relationship the crew already had with one another; building a relationship, a friendship, just seemed natural to do via work....although he sincerely doubted either of them would conform well to the occupation of the other.

"I suppose nice dresses are nice. I mean, you can be... flowy... in them." He was floundering, he knew, but fortunately, that one word was something he could latch on to. "I don't reckon you've ever felt how the Channerel flows, really seen what it means to flow, have you?" Floating downstream, that flow was something he could relate to, something he could understand. "Does the dress flow with you, or... do you feel it flowin' through you, maybe?" For a more educated person, it might seem like he was asking some philosophical or deep ontological questions. But for Ricket, he was really just wondering what it felt like, whether he could actually relate to this woman on some level.

Edited by Chautauquan, 20 February 2014 - 10:48 PM.

[Liss]

This was definitely not the normal kind of conversation she got. Liss laughed and shrugged. "I suppose it flows around you. I've only seen the one river that runs through the city. I've never gone past the city walls, and definitely never been on a boat. Tell me about it." She smiled invitingly, her eyebrows raised slightly, and crossed her legs. Her posture was casual and relaxed. She wasn't working, after all. Just having a conversation.

[Ricket]

Around. That makes sense. He nodded approvingly at her description, and when questioned about his further work, grinned widely. "Well, it's much different goin' upriver from downriver. Upriver's mostly a painful lot of work, and pullin' and pushin' the whole thing. But downriver, that's a whole 'nother thing." He began moving his hands about, trying to make a boat with one, and show how the river moved with the other. "Now, when you really get goin' on the current, like so, you get to moving so fast, you sometimes get scared that you'll fall right up into the sky. It's almost like what I figure flyin' to be." He continued showing little finger movements of eddies and rapids, various obstacles in the stream, and just the right way to put the pole against your chest so as to push it faster.

His words were coming more freely now, as he tried to communicate what joy he felt on that river, on the little narrowboat which was almost as much a home as his home city... "Best of all, even though you've got a noble on-board, barkin' his orders.... you feel free." It was something he didn't really think of, most of the time; it was something he had to work through with other words, to really get the idea across. But deep within, he knew that out there, he wasn't just a tool, he mattered to his mates. He meant something, and so he was given his freedom to be someone.

[Liss]

Liss listened with a smile, wondering to herself what it really would feel like to fly. What would it be like to be one of those magic allomancers who flew around the night skies and the mists? She pushed those thoughts out of her head and brought herself back to the conversation. Luckily for Ricket, her mind had missed the talk of nobles because of her wonderings.

"It must be nice to be free like that. I mean, you could run, couldn't you? Just run away without looking back. You're out there in the open. You'd never have to deal with...them again."

[Ricket]

Ricket covered his head, as though to mimic the shaved condition of the Ministry. "You mean the bald-types? They normally only bother us on the ground. Right there on the river, we are free. You know, sometimes I think if we all just lived on the river, we'd not have so many problems with each other." He was waxing surprisingly wordy for his normal habits, but once the river got on his mind, he didn't see much reason to stop it. Back home he'd tell stories of his time away, and had gotten accustomed to being able to do so. Of course, it had to be frightfully boring, or else he'd not have his sister giving him the stink-eye while he regaled with his latest adventure with a muddy branch.

He pondered a bit how to go about what he wanted to say, and how he could say it. He was hoping to show a sort of common ground, to show the sameness of it all.... but for that, he might have to oblige in a tradition he was normally loathe to keep. "I don't reckon you have much clean water for washin' up; leastaways, not for types like me. But... could I just have enough for my face, maybe?" Perhaps it would be revealing to be clean, but as he had noted earlier, his evidence, his weakness, was much further south than his face. And right now, he wanted to help put something of peace into this situation.

[Liss]

It was actually really interesting. She loved hearing about the outside world. Her world was confined to bedrooms and darkness. She had rarely gone to any of the fancier parts of the city, even. She tried to stay away from nobles because she knew that she would end up dead. Her only contact with them was through work.

Liss smiled wider, knowingly. "I can ask, if you'd like, but I don't know myself. There is definitely clean water to wash in, but whether we have some for you..." She tried hard to keep her face straight but cracked and smiled in a teasing manner. "I'm sure we can get you something to wash in. I'll definitely have to ask, but we also have private rooms that you can hide in."

She was fairly certain now that he wasn't a spy, but she was trusting. Much to trusting to be a rebel, but she couldn't really change it. "Do you know the rest of us here? Or at least some? I've never seen you here before, but I've only been here a year, and I'm still getting used to things. Because if you do, I can go get whoever it is."

[Ricket]

Ricket shook his head violently. "Oh-no. No no no no. Not a bath, not a bath. Just a washbasin, just for the face." Laughter was good to hear, it was an honest thing. And it was a joyful thing. Folks seemed so inclined to look down, they forgot that it sometimes was much nicer looking up, seeing the drifting ash, feeling like you could stare over at the sun forever... it was not as bad as people made it out to be, so long as you could limp home at the end of the day.

"Hiding would probably be good, but, uh... I don't think you'd appreciate my--" He really didn't like fessing up to this, but it was the best way to say it. "Well, my stink might make your work harder. I don't know anythin' about this place, really. I just.... well, I--" He couldn't quite say what he was doing, admitting to dropping off packages would basically be a death sentence if a bald one heard him. "I came nearby, but I don't know nobody inside. It's... not my place, I suppose." Rust it all, he was driving the wedge in again, trying to block up the way, rather than opening up the blockages. "I know I sound mighty foolish, but... could I ask you to be patient with me?"

[Liss]

Liss laughed and nodded. "Which is exactly why you need to bathe. I assume that you would rather hide until they've forgotten about you." She smiled at him and leaned back in her chair. "Of course I can be patient with you, and if you ever want different company, believe me when I say that there are others who will be less difficult to converse with. They don't have as many triggers." She still sometimes assumed that everyone was as violent as she, though she knew that not everyone was as happy about it.

[Ricket]

Hiding until forgotten sounded good. It sounded really good compared to being caught and dying. Taking a bath sounded less good. Significantly so. "You--you don't mean--But maybe I could just--" He recognized, though, that for all of the smirks and the laughter, there was plenty of valid reason to get him washed up. Were he clean, he could avoid people poking in and finding him. Ironically, the thing which kept him safe from being searched too thoroughly was now possibly exposing him. Resigning himself to his fate, he nodded, perhaps too much looking like a prisoner being led to execution.

But he wasn't going to change his clothing, no madam. He had his coat, his trousers, and he saw no reason for getting into a dress. He needed to be able to work, to do things. So perhaps his clothing was muddy too. If that was the case, he'd just bathe in his clothes. Not like they'd never been wet before, and he knew how to deal with being a bit chilly. "But none of that par-foom stuff. I can't rightly be if I don't smell like a piece of work."

[Liss]

"You don't have to use perfume, and your clothes will be fine. I don't think many other skaa have a second outfit. I only have two, actually, other than what I'm wearing. We may have to look nice, but we're still skaa." Liss said with a serious laugh.

This man was definitely odd, for a skaa. Usually her laughter made them uncomfortable. She had been told that nobody should be as happy as she was. It was, apparently, unnatural that she laughed so much. To her it was just one more thing that made her unnatural, and she couldn't do much about it.

[Ricket]

That was a great relief. The images of having to be stuffed into something not designed for work was absolutely horrifying for the river man, but he could tolerate merely hiding out, if need be. It would be thankless work, likely, and he saw little that he could do to help within a room (save perhaps tighten the ropes, if sleeping tight was preferred in such places); but sacrificing work for life was sometimes a decision which needed making. But the comment 'we're still skaa' seemed a bit off to him. "Well, you're a person, more than that. We're all people, right?"

That one scrap was how he held to the rebellion, how he held to any sort of conviction, was that idea that everyone was a person. That skaa and noble were words, but everyone still had ten fingers.... at least five toes, two eyes, one nose, one mouth, and other simple things like that. They might cover up in all sorts of different things, but until they forced themselves to be different, like putting black paint on their faces which didn't wash off, they were all still basically individuals, living and breathing the same air and ash. He hoped he could get that across at some point to the young woman.

[Liss]

Liss shrugged, but nodded. She did agree, but she knew that for some reason skaa were not like nobles. "I think we are. At least, I can say, having seen both skaa and..." She took a breath and told herself that she would stay calm, "noblemen without their pants, there really isn't anything different with them." She smiled to hide her internal struggling and unconsciously dug her fingernails into her arm. She had found that even just inflicting a little pain on herself kept her from flying into a rage. Life was a constant struggle against a state where she would be happy and everyone else would be dead, and once everyone was dead there would be no reason for her to be happy.

"But for some reason we are just skaa, at least to them, and we don't have the resources to have very much. Even if there is no reason for it, we're still their slaves."

[Ricket]

Seeing the sudden grip on her arm, he noted that something wasn't quite right to her stance. Having enough siblings to pack a warehouse meant getting something of experience with emotions, even if it wasn't really practiced. "You hurt or summat?" He wasn't quick enough on the uptake to know why, but he could know something was wrong.

The talk of resources, things like good food and perhaps more clothing, was familiar to Ricket, but at the same times foreign. "I mean, I understand that the beatin's aren't the greatest, but really, all that fancy stuff... I reckon I don't need it all. So long as Ellie's well, and we're fed summat, I don't see why it matters whether I'm in silk or burlap. I figure it don't hurt to be happy with what we have, right?" So long as folks were people, right on the inside, perhaps it didn't matter what they were outside. "I don't think it matters much what others think so long as we know who we are."

[Liss]

Liss shook her head with a smile. "I'm fine. It keeps me calm." Was the only explanation that she gave for her odd behavior. He didn't need to know it was to distract herself from wanting to hurt other people.

"You must have a good life." She said in reply, still happy. "Your siblings sound like they've got a good life as well."

[Ricket]

That was responded to with a shrug. "Good life, bad life, who's to tell but the one livin' it?" It seemed simple to him, just decide to be happy. People could sulk, but it never seemed to make them any happier. Sulking only begat more sulking and grumbling and resulted in just a bunch of necks bent out of shape.

He motioned over Liss' general figure, just a quick swing of his arm to try to get her to look down and examine herself. "Look at you, clean, well-dressed, young and full of life--" He didn't want to get himself in trouble, but his thinking was that if she were so against her line of work... he'd try to get her someplace else, a change of pace to keep her living and strong. But it wasn't his place, wasn't his right to judge others, he figured. Judgement was what obligators did, and it never seemed to be a good thing.