nexus_sages | made waves with some friends I know

Dances can express many a thing. Revelry is usually the biggest and most commonly used one. They can muster up that much right? Right?

Brienne would never pull from Frea's touch. So once they've linked arms it's so much for her plan. Here they are. The three of them. Her gaze moves from her friend's sweet, smiling face to the captain of the stars who prefers not to be called captain. How curious. The corners of her mouth start to curl. Just a little.

"Clint is an excellent cook. Yes. Everything is very flavorful." She holds a sigh in her throat until it disappears. She can do better than this. "What was your favorite thing, Frea? Perhaps Cap--Perhaps Han would care to try that. Even if not hungry it would do well to sample."

It might be too bold for some, but Frea will give Han an encouraging smile when he goes for her hand. Her fingers curl comfortably with his and it's only a few steps before she's swinging their hands lightly as they walk. It's a good thing Brienne's got her company manners on or else Frea would probably be skipping, too.

Frea's got revelry enough to spare when it comes to the dancing. They can borrow some of hers to get theirs going. If she can get them both smiling, she'll consider the day a great success.

"He's still here. But I think Lucky's asleep." Frea's assuming everyone knows Lucky the Pizza Dog. Who doesn't love a superhero pooch? "My favorite thing to eat, you mean? Hmm. So far, the burgers. But I bet we're going to have s'mores."

Whatever the hell 's'mores' are, she's excited for them.

He's not object to being called Captain so much as he objected to being called Lord. He's definitely not a lord or lordly by nature. In fact, he might be the anti-lord. He's also, not the Captain of any of these three ladies, or of anyone else in the Nexus, so he isn't going to insist on being called that. He tends to feel like only small men force their titles.

It's quite a trio that the three of them make, huh? When life gives you Kavasa, make kavasa juice, that's what people always say. Might as well act like he is perfectly at ease with the situation till he is and with that, you've now only got to worry about your bodyguard in terms of getting a smile, Frea.

Anyway, his appetite is as fickle now as ever. By now, the May Queen has no doubt come to expect that of him. And since he just finished a beer, he's not really thinking about food at all. Would he try something? Probably.

"I don't know what a s'more is either." He chimes in, not all that helpfully. His fingers squeeze Frea's briefly before he aims a question at the knight in their party. "So I've never seen anyone around here ... put together like you Brienne of Tarth. Where do you hail from?"

An anti-lord would be such a radical concept to grasp for Brienne. There are so many assumptions with title. Lord Commander, Lord Captain...Lord of this, that or the other, they're ingrained manners. So at the very least she is attempting to see him for his accomplishments. It's deep seated in her desire to be seen for hers, so very used to being thought of as an ugly joke of a woman.

Jaime Lannister, the golden lion with his tendency to buck decorum now and again would prefer title. Except when it came to her. His name weighs heavy on her as Oathkeeper at her hip and all her promises on it.

"I also have liked the burgers very well. S'more?" Burger is a very new word for her vocabulary. It comes out a little different, accent of the common tongue and all. Yeah. That delicious dessert thing is unknown as well. Huh. Well at least two out of three are in for another surprise. Brienne has liked nearly everything she's devoured so far. Except for the dark, dark beers. Since she's kept to wine.

Put together. That almost makes her frown. Again. "An island off the coast of The Stormlands. One of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. To my knowledge no other is from there in this place. ...Yourself?"

Poor Brienne, surrounded by people who prefer not to use their titles. But she knows Frea respects her many accomplishments, and that's something. Something better. Ironically, Frea loves calling Han 'Captain'. Mostly when she's teasing him.

Han can smile all the smiles, Frea's not worried about that. Quite the opposite. Smiles are good and always welcome. And always returned. The squeeze is returned, too, before her fingers work their way between his to lace their hands together.

"A s'more is..." a bunch of ingredients they've probably never heard of either. Hmm. "It's a sweet. You toast part of it over the fire so it gets gooey, and it melts another part of it, and you put the melty gooey parts inside, um, a kind of cookie. They're more delicious than I'm able to explain."

Not the best sales pitch either, but she hopes they'll trust her enough to at least try them.

Han asking Brienne a question is taken as another good sign! She turns a bright smile up at Brienne. "Isn't she amazing?" Of course that's what Han meant. What else could Han have meant?

It's true, Han comes from a place where titles are often used very informally. The notable exceptions are Imperial Officers and assorted others with delusions of grandeur. He gets that some cultures are just more into titles than others and as a man exposed to many cultures, he's at least mindful of that. That title assertive societies tend to be caste systems, though, is something that he's noted and that is not something he cares for at all.

At any rate, Frea is most welcome to call him all kinds of things, and Captain is an apt pet name for him all things considered. That she wants to call him something is usually more important to him than what she's calling him.

"Uhh. I don't really know her yet, sweetheart." He says with a shrug. He's not being glib so much as ... he's just the galaxy weary type. Been around the block. Seen a lot of things. Takes a bit of work to impress him. "I don't know that I've quite reached amazed, but I'm steadily working my way up to it."

The comment of 'put together' was not meant to slight. He just was lacking the word for 'knight' in his vocabulary. They don't have any of those in a galaxy far, far away. As a rule of thumb, he tries not to slight people who look like they could mop the floor with him unless Chewbacca is around.

Where he's from ... how does one explain where he comes from to a person he's almost certain doesn't come from a place with space-travel? "My home is very far away from this place. You'd need to pass many, many stars and planets to get there. The world I was born on is Corellia."

Edited 2016-06-06 14:07 (UTC)

Titles given can so be dishonored. The grandeur is from serving the position to the best skill and ability, not privilege or abuse. That is where Brienne stands. Noteworthy accomplishments and then honor. Her travels from her island home have made her more worldly bit by bit. Old knights and seasoned warriors have looked upon her with hope or with pity for her idealism.

"I shall try a s'more and see if I can explain it after." So far gooey makes her think of pudding. No encampment anywhere, not even the riches of the Young Stag would have had pudding. Talk about a means of sweetening this curious turn of events.

She's unsure if Han's behavior to her is a positive nor a negative. It's a very diplomatic thing to say. Believing he's critical is the easiest way to comprehend his behavior as an interloper. At least it would be a judgment she'd earn.

One meeting and she is his sweetheart? Corellia must not have a courtly means of how a gentlemen conducts himself. Though still an improvement from wildling behavior as she has heard tell. Dealing with a wildling would be far more cut and dry.

"How does one do that exactly? Pass through stars I mean." An easy question to answer that's not 'what's a planet?'

Titles are only as important as people decide they are.

"Han, my captain," and how she can sigh his name then purr the title is really an excellent question, "this is the part where you try to win favor with me by winning favor with my friends."

Silly man. Doesn't he know how this works?

"Okay." Brienne gets a grin for being game to trying something new. These two're likely to catch on to a lot of Frea's tricks tonight, watching her use them on both of them like this. She's not particularly concerned with being caught out doing it. What's wrong with spreading the smiles around? "I'm sure you'll know better words for it."

Brienne is, after all, the gently-raised one amongst them.

Ooh! That's a question Frea can answer! "Very carefully." Nobody said it was a good answer, but she's made herself giggle now.

[[Admittedly, I'm pretty canon blind with GoT, but even I didn't escape the majesty of Briemund. lol.]]

"Impress your friends? That's what you want?"

Usually it's steal this money or exotic object for me or Han, fly through this Podon shapped hell for me or break my friends out of jail or help us blow up this moon-sized battlestation. Frankly, he might be more at ease with one of those.

As for Corellian Men, believe it or not, he falls right into the stereotype behavior for them. They're known to be brash and encourageable. Come to think of it, so are the women. It's not that they're all that way all the time, but when a whole planet's worth of humans get a certain reputation across an entire galaxy ... well, there must be something to the observation.

~~One time? No way. This guy has likely skulked off to be with Frea as often as she was permissive. It's somewhat surprising he hasn't run into this steadfast knight sooner.~~

Carefully is a good answer though and Frea gets the 'you don't even know that half it' slow nod and slight smile out of him.

He takes a moment to give Lady Brienne the best answer that he can think of. "You don't really go through them because they'll burn you up like small suns if you get too close to them. Ya gotta plot your course around them. We have ships that fly and can navigate through space ..."

Edited 2016-06-07 13:35 (UTC)

[[New stuff every day and they canonly have not spoken two words to one another directly. It's all Looks!]]

Brienne clears her throat and now smiles. No, she will sit this part of the exchange out. Frea would not have said it if it had crossed her mind. Could he be capable of impressing? Now that is something she finds herself interested in. While her civilization is the very least evolved in technologies, she is relatively seasoned where it comes to knowing types of men from being in an army, being a prisoner and being a lady of title. She believes she'll be difficult to impress.

~~Every now and again Brienne does find herself engaged in conversation elsewhere. Or simply is misinterprets observations. In this case well, she didn't catch on soon enough.~~

"And this is something all men can do where you are from or a specific skill you've acquired on your own?"

They've now come back to the group more or less. Still linked in arms. Brienne gives Frea a tight smile. She believes the spirit of the festivities are what motivate the May Queen to keep the mood light. Playing both dear companions up does not seem contrived nor even odd to her. So much trust she places in her.

[[Looks say so much!]]

"Among other things." She keeps her tone light since they're not in private, but the look she flashes Han out of the corner of her eye is pretty clear. If this is the hardest thing she'll ever ask of him, he should count himself lucky. And it's not as if he doesn't know she'll make it up to him later.

Frea firmly believes that there's no reason Han can't impress Brienne, and vice versa. They're both amazing and impressive to her, so obviously, they should impress each other, too. Jealousy? She's not at home to that idea.

~~Brienne sleeps and does mortal things and can't keep up with the herds of deer Frea goes running with. She's not easy to guard since she has a habit of running off. But she always comes back.~~

Now they're back with the group. She wants to dance, but neither of them has seemed interested in that idea. So sad. She supposes cuddling will have to suffice. A little rearranging of pillows and blankets should make room for three.

That there hasn't been much she's asked of him and it often being mutually beneficial when she does is significant. When you spend your time running around with other scoundrels, it often becomes an exercise on figuring out who can do what for you and exploiting them for it. He doesn't begrudge anyone for behaving that way, he does it himself too, it's just tedious. An aspect from home he hasn't missed all that much.

"I'd think that piloting a starship is in many ways is like being good with a sword." Not that he knows Brienne all that well, but he thinks that metaphor might resonate a little more strongly than others. "Anyone can learn to do it, if you put in enough time and energy in, but some people have aptitude that others don't. Not to mention it requiring sure hands and nerves of steel."

It does pain him slightly to let go of her hand enough to let her rearrange pillows and blankets, but when he realizes that's the aim, he does try to help. Going so far as to carefully shake off one of the pillows that seems to have gotten all sandy.

"Did you ladies meet each other here or have you known each other before?"

Looks exchanged here and there. Frea is so very fair. And for the demeanor of a wandering tomcat, Captain Han Solo is also an attractive man. Then there is big Brienne of Tarth with the two of them. She sighs a little.

"Doing it right will save your life." Not a question but an observation. The stars could as perilous as the sea. Shipwrecker Bay that Tarth resides in has killed lords and sailors alike.

Brienne does her part and sees that already there is sufficient help. In light of that she unhooks the leathers that keep her sword and scabbard at her belt. Oathkeeper will still be within sight and reach. Removing it makes it more comfortable to sit.

"Frea was among the first people I met here in Nexus." Sweets were involved then as well.

Frea does try to be fair. Fair is nice, it makes people happy. It's so much better than cruel, like that voice in the back of Brienne's head telling her she doesn't belong. Everyone has their reasons for feeling like tehy don't belong, but listening to them makes them come true.

Not all magic is kind.

Once everything is arranged, Frea takes off the towel wrapped around her waist and folds it up to set aside. Then she sits right in the middle, long bare legs stretched toward the fire. They'll have to arrange themselves around it. How terrible.

"All my friends are from here." She pauses to think about it before adding, "And they're all here right now, too. That's nice."

"You got it." He says with a nod. "A pilot who doesn't know what they're doing won't remain one long, one way or another."

Best that she's in the middle and they (Han and Brienne, that is) arrange themselves around her. Putting her two friends that are not quite at ease with each other yet, side by side would be a social overextension.

Han takes a spot near the May Queen. "Nice to have them all in the same place. Makes them easier to keep track of that way."

Fair in demeanor, fair in looks. Is it really any wonder at all that Frea attracts attention? Here they were together, Brienne sits cross-legged, tilted to the fire as well as Han. She doesn't fold her arms or lace her fingers but nearly reaches for Frea's hand. For some reason she finds herself hesitant when they've held hands several times today. Would she be turned away? The desire to be present and to belong has kept her from storming off alone.

Separated is a good call indeed. There is no danger. Not right now. There is stillness that isn't exactly peace. Just civility.

"I have as many friends here as I do at home." Which only means something to one person here.

What an interesting arrangement they've made around her. Frea watches her friends settle while considering her options. There is such a thing as too much attention, and at a party like this, she has no desire to be involved in an unhappy scene. Their hosts have been too generous and her friends are too dear to her.

"Yes, it's so much easier when people herd themselves together for me. Because I'm so dreadfully bossy, you know." Frea smirks at Han, not as charmingly as he can manage the look but she's been practicing. "Everyone must always be where I want them when I say."

But then, look at these two. Frea looks up at Brienne with a more tender expression, because she does understand that. She reaches over and takes Brienne's hand, pulling Brienne's arm around her so she can lean back against her guard and drape her legs over Han's lap. Cozy.

"But it's better to have good friends than many friends."

Well, this position seems to put a scoundrel right in range of her feet, doesn't it? Not that the idea of tickling her would immediately occur to him or anything. The truth of the matter is, he was going to show restraint, but she had to get all sassy on him ...

Han starts testing the May Queen's tolerance for foot tickles.

"Listen to you be all glib." Is it wrong of him to think he might be rubbing off on her? Heaven help them all if he is. "As someone who has needed to criss-cross galaxies to catch up with people, lemmie assure you, this is a convenient thing."

Edited 2016-06-10 17:46 (UTC)

Arrangement is right. For all points and purposes most consider Brienne of Tarth to be an unmovable object. They've never seen her like this. Her arm is snug around Frea who smells like the sea and the flowers in her hair look more alive than ever in the flickering firelight. Brienne relaxes even more.

"Authority is what comes with being any kind of queen," she says gently and returns the smile.

The foot tickles get her eyebrows to lift. Oh really, ser?

Whatever a galaxy is, she imagines it may be something large or tedious. A road perhaps? Territories? "You and Frea have met before, Captain?"

The unmovable object that is Brienne of Tarth has met the unstoppable force that is Frea's cuteness. That's one philosophical paradox sorted.

If only Frea could relax the way Brienne is doing. She'd been planning to, but then Han had to go and be mischief. Tickling. How ruthless. She tries to maintain her decorum, such as it is, by curling her toes and tensing her legs, lower lip firmly between her teeth to try to stifle the urge to laugh. "My authority isn't much over people."

Only a little, and only in fun ways. The tickling is not fun, and he gets a glare when he doesn't let up quickly. It doesn't last because the attempt to talk let a giggle escape, and once one gets out the rest want to go too. The trade-off is that she's going to pull her feet away and tuck them beneath herself where they're safe.

"If I had any kind of real authority over the people here, that tickling would have gotten someone in a lot of trouble."

Edited 2016-06-11 03:01 (UTC)

There are more than plenty of people who are willing to treat the spring goddess with perfect consideration. He'd have to imagine almost everybody does. Either due to the fact that they want something from her or because they feel like it's owed to her or maybe they're like-minded with her. Not Han. He hasn't curtailed himself from the moment he met her and he's not going to start now. Why should he?

If what she wants is the standard, he's the wrong man to look to. If that's what she does really want, however, she won't have to look hard to find it. As it is, he has this silly notion in his head that - while it is regrettable to have her pull away from him, on some level, it's regrettable on her end too.

With a perfect tone, practiced in front of so many deluded criminals and rich people with titles, he lays on the 'atonement'. "I beseech you one apology for every grain of sand on this beach, Queen Frea, Mistress of nature and all of life that thrives under the brilliant sun." There's something in his eyes that don't match the words, but it's not impudence ... it's something else.

Han's eyes shoot over to the fire, then up to the stars. A clear sky tonight is making them prominent. They aren't his starts, and they move far more often than he's comfortable with, but he's grown accustomed to looking at them in his time here. It makes them a little more comforting all the same.

The blue-green of an aurora is visible to the south.

"I met her if I'm not mistaken, the day she arrived here." Captain Solo murmurs. "How does the saying go? I was driven to her like a moth to a flame."

Edited 2016-06-11 12:47 (UTC)

Everyone should. That is how it's done. Rulers are where they are because of it is the will of the gods. That's what Brienne believes being raised in the Faith of the Seven. To disobey the full order of things is to evoke wrath and risk your life and limb. Frea is not anyone's version of a tyrant and has asked to be treated as an equeal--unheard of!--and a friend--even more so!! But Brienne obeys willingly, happily. This is the kind of queen she had dreamed of serving.

And so is a captain of the stars wording as he does, mocking as he does. Her scowl is fighting to come through. "Frea doesn't care to be spoken to in such a way, Lord Captain Solo." Oh. That came out before she thought more on it. Brienne clears her throat and looks down again to the little May Queen, the color in her face might not be so apparent in the firelight. Or so she hopes.

"I...know you're perfectly capable of saying so yourself."

She has no more to say. To Han. To Frea. The fire crackles. Eating up the absence of conversation like kindle.

Frea would be disappointed in the trains of thought of both her friends if she were a mind reader. If neither of them understands she wants only to be treated kindly because she's a kind person, they don't know her at all. She doesn't want or expect obedience because of her title or power, but she doesn't much like the way Han is suddenly acting, either.

What has gotten into him? Her long studying look is interrupted when Brienne speaks. Her eyes flick up to meet Brienne's and her guard gets a pat on the hand, reminder and reassurance, but Frea won't rebuke her for what just happened. Instead, she returns her gaze to Han in time to watch his performance.

"Promise you won't tickle again and I'll forgive you." But he's not getting her feet back just yet. They've both lost something tonight and it's deeply regrettable.

"We did meet my first day," she confirms a moment later. "It was a nice way to start."

If he's lost anything more than the privilege of minding her legs and feet tonight, it would be deeply regrettable. Most of the time they are good together and better than they ought to be, all things considered. Her a good influence on him as well.

His apology that seemed to offend them both despite it not coming out in spite or mockery was the result of conditioning. When you step out of line, especially around your betters, you need to smooth things over. He'd been taught that lesson by stern hands from an early age. Sometimes, he was even smooth enough in his words to put things back to right before everything got too off course, but not this time, apparently ...

Trust that it lacked the passion and recognizable sarcasm of a proper Han Solo insult. The Captain is many things, but subtle is a fairly infrequent occurrence for him.

The thief did learn something about Brienne of Tarth, though, just now. More than just that she's from a backwater place where they didn't yet possess the technology that was so wide spread in his galaxy. Just as well that she has nothing to say to Han because he's starting to think that he might not have much left to say to her either.

"Never, ever again, Frea."

Edited 2016-06-12 07:01 (UTC)

Kindly as a person, not a figure. She deserves that. And more. Much more. And while Frea is miraculous in many ways it is a good thing that she is lacking in the mind reading. Han and Brienne are not at their personal bests.

The patting motion of her hand means that not all is lost. There is mercy. Brienne lightly nods and her lips press together as though she'll say something. An apology anyway. Or another oath. Instead the arm around her tenses to pull Frea closer.

Brienne is born and raised in the dark-like ages that they cringe about. And while she has the body of some kind of giant warrior, she has the heart of a maiden.

"That sounds like a fair way to make amends," she comments lightly.

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Do not tempt me to break out the Brienne and Tormund memes. :P

http://67.media.tumblr.com/31312a26c031c49c4d169f113445b135/tumblr_o7w5uiZxSl1vw1a8fo1_500.jpg

https://67.media.tumblr.com/5946b01e753c56c8e148661c1d79689f/tumblr_o7nsgxXPiT1r4rfweo1_1280.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/22/a7/31/22a7313ef9bb6b6a704b7fa89ebd3331.jpg

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