nexus_sages | A Chill in the Air

The Nexus may have seen a glittering and glorious ball the night before, but every party must end. Every overindulgence has its morning-after regrets. The pains of burning eyes and revolting stomachs have visited more than a few people like malevolent fairies. And then the lucky denizens of the Nexus get another treat.

Cailleach may well be the grumpiest looking grumpy old lady ever. If she'd been sucking on lemons for a thousand years she could not look more sour. White hair fragile with age is hidden beneath a scarf and within the hood of her raincoat. Her glasses are old-fashioned, her makeup is out of style, and her shoes are sensible. Do not ask her for candy. She is not your granny.

What is is watching the goings-on with increasing vexation. Something about everyone passing by seems to set her to an ever-increasing amount of angry muttering. Finally, she can't contain it anymore. "Why don't young people prepare for the lean times coming? Do you all think it'll be sunshine and flowers forever?"

It doesn't matter who answers. She's grumpy and demands an audience.

((She's going to be 100% mean to just about everyone, be warned. #sorrynotsorry))

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Not especially. He's attracted to people with titles, but having one of his own just seems like too much work. Just like preparing for things that may or may not come to pass. That's also too much work.

The words she seems to have for him are cold and bitter, aren't they? He's had sentients say worse to him before, though, no doubt they will say worse to him again. If anything it's the proximity - the wound of losing the May Queen still feels fresh. The scoundrel seems to flinch just slightly at the message.

"Soft and mortal. Yeah, sure, I suppose I am. You forgot good looking and clever, though." Come on, he's earned those two. He's pretty sure.

"I learned things from the warm season. You can't expect anything to grow without planting a seed. Good things come to those who wait. Etcetera."

Edited 2016-11-18 02:54 (UTC)

He shouldn't mistake any of this for his being a special snowflake. She loves all her little snowflakes the same--that is, not at all. (But she'd be especially unimpressed with him if he fell out of love in a day. That would take a special kind of cold.)

One corner of her mouth twitches like she wants to smile at his response but it's just too much work. Or maybe she forgot how. "Oh, yes, waiting is grand. What good things have come to you while you've been waiting here?"

"So let's skip the part where I say something trite about personal growth. What I have done is been able to slow down long enough to get some overdue maintenance done on my ship. Something I wouldn't have been able to do at home."

Because he'd have to be lining up job after job to try to catch up on the money he's owed people. Here he's been able to take his time. When he stopped trying to do the hairbrained thing - gamble till he had enough to buy new parts - and actually, did a little work. Things came together much better for him.

Hmm. He has a reasonable answer for that. She hmphs softly, unwilling to be thwarted so easily.

"Slowing down, eh? So young to have peaked. But probably for the best. Everyone slows down if they have the fortune to grow old."

Funny how taking the sensible path pays off sometimes. It's almost like there's a reason most people choose to do things that way.

"I see what you're trying to do."

She's going for his ego. To be fair, it's a relatively large target and somewhat easier to hit than you might expect. The idea that he's gotta take it slow as a knock on him - that he's already peaked - the notion would worry him more from another source. This lady is trying to ruffle his feathers, though.

"It's a fact of being in motion that sometimes you gotta slow down. The only things that don't are the things that can't move at all." He jerks his thumb to his chest. "Nobody ever looks at me and wonders if I'm standing still."

"Do you? Smart boy." Somehow, it just sounds worse when she's saying something 'complimentary'. (Yes, the idea of her being complimentary is thought with sarcastic air quotes.)

Egos are usually big, easy targets. It's nothing personal, however personal it gets. Not for her. It's just more business as usual. She is the cold wind that ruffles feathers, and the smart birds fly away before she finds them.

"No, I'm sure they don't. You've made so much progress."

If he could roll his eyes hard enough to have them fall out of his head, he'd be picking them up off of the ground right now. Far as he can tell this lady isn't trying to teach him anything or offer him another point of view as much as she'd simply trying to get under his skin.

Han has always spent most of his time in cold, dark places. More used to seeing cold shoulders than open hands.

"Did something happen to you or have you always been this cheerful?'

It should be in no way surprising to him that some people are just mean for the sake of being mean. If he's forgotten that part of life, then there's her lesson for him.

"Many things have happened to me. Nobody gets this old without things happening. People are made of things, and experiences chip away at the excess. The only potential the young possess is in what order the flaws are uncovered."

It's not as if he necessarily expected to sweep her up with his charms. There are a few that seem immune to the one-two punch of this Corellian's good looks and the personality that comes with it, but not many. He half-hoped that they could have an good talk, though. The chance encounters that Han's had with people in the nexus are often the best ones.

"Yeah, okay." He says with a shrug. "You're the pass off cryptic phrases as wisdom type. If you can keep being this non-descript no one will ever prove you wrong."

A Chill in the Air

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This bitch is harder to play than I expected. :/ She's mean even to me!

Jerks are actually easier for him to deal with then other things. It's nbd.