quintessent | IC Inbox: Noctium

[Sometime in the initial days of their stay in Primavera, this message comes:]

A riddle for you, my dear Allura:

The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I? 👀

[This is his way of checking up on her...?]

Is this Nikolai?

[only he would be quizzing her like this. But also from her perspective it has been some time since she last spoke to him. Nevertheless, she smiles when she realizes who is on the other side. (honestly, it was a 50/50 shot between him and Constantine, based on tone.)]

And I think I know this one. Is the answer 'time'?

Naturally!

That's a good answer. One can indeed take time... But how does one leave time behind? 🤔

It has been some time, it is good to hear from you.

I suppose I was thinking in the sense that you are moving forward and leaving things and events behind you? It makes sense in a way, although I suppose that is not the answer.

[Drat, she thought she had it.]

It's precisely because it's been some time that I decided to write my favorite princess-with-a-castleship. 😉

Ah, you're right! Everything that has ever happened is behind us. The answer I was looking for was "footsteps", but who says there must be only one answer?

Edited 2021-04-25 04:01 (UTC)

One of these days, I will get the correct answer to one of your games on the first go.

But I'm your favorite? I'm honored. As it turns out, you are my favorite human with the name Nikolai.

Shall I barrage you with riddles daily until you do?

I'm equally honored. Now do be so gracious as to let me believe you know multitudes of humans named Nikolai. It's quite a popular name!

Ah, then I will not inform you that I do not even know a multitude of humans to start with.

How have you been, Nikolai? I meant to contact you once I returned, although time seems to have slipped from me and you beat me to it.

Naturally! It's only the polite thing to do.

I've been grand. Delighted to be back in Sumarlok. Our sojourn in Primavera was dragging on a bit, and that terrible business with those lake monsters certainly put a dampener on things.

But it sounds like you've been away on your own trip. You didn't find yourself yearning for the rustic charm and bracing chill of the mountains again, did you?

I’m afraid not. Rather, I went on a trip back home for a time.

You’ll forgive me if my sense of time is a little at odds with yours, as it has been over ten-thousand years for me since the last time that we spoke. I didn’t emphasize enough before, but it is very good to hear from you again.

[Just going to. Lay that one out there for him.]

[That...he was not expecting.]

That was quite the trip.

So you returned home, but now you're here again. I know you just said as much, and here you are writing me...I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. It usually doesn't take me this long.

You are correct as usual. It is rather complicated and difficult to explain.

All I know is that I was once here, and then I was home again for a time. And now I have returned.

On the bright side, now we have concrete evidence that returning home is indeed possible. Not that I ever thought it was IMpossible.

I know it's rude to ask a lady about her age, so do forgive me, but is 10,000 years quite an ordinary lifespan for Alteans?

Ten-thousand is more of a technicality. I spent most of the time in stasis.

Do you know what that is? It is a little like a magical sleep. I am the same now as I was the day that I fell asleep, so I do not know if those years count.

A lot can happen in that time.

[Such as everyone you know dying, turning to dust long ago. Nations rising and falling and rising again. He won't press her down that treacherous path of recollection with further questions. A change in subject is in order.]

Why, you've likely forgotten just how handsome my face is. I can come remind you, if you'd like. 😉

Yes. It can.

[Text doesn't carry tone, but the gravitas is heavy as she types. Thinking sorrowfully on everything that did change. She's fortunate to have the time that she was home to help process the loss, and a conversation with Keith relieved some of the burden to learn that some of the Alteans had survived, but it is a loss that she'll feel for the rest of her life.

So when he switches topic, she's grateful for it.]

I have a very good memory, but I am happy to refresh it. Text is nice, but I would like to see you again in person.

That's just the answer I hoped to receive.

I know a place in the Emerald District with excellent drinks and lively music. Last time I stopped by, I was serenaded by saxophone and bass, and the urge to tap my foot was impossible to resist.

I'm not certain what kind of music a fish likes to play but I am up for an education.

Meet me in a half-varga?

[...You know what, he'll just let her hold onto that misconception for now.]

Then I won't spoil the joy of learning from firsthand experience. 😄

I will see you there, Allura.

[How long is a half-varga? To be safe, he'll just head out now. And of course, he sends her the name of the bar and its address.]

[To be fair, there's no reason she would know what the fish would be called either. The things we do for jokes.

It's a safe bet for him to make, although Allura wishes for a moment she'd asked for longer, when she considers her last meeting with Nikolai involved holding hands in front of a fire. Stars. The last time she'd prepared for any kind of outing it was an intergalactic diplomatic meeting so... definitely she should dress down from that.

Several minutes of indecision later, she finally arrives - dressed in a simple knee-length dress. While she doesn't look a day over the last time that Nikolai saw her, there's a more subtle difference to how she carries herself. More confident. More world-weary. But her smile is as bright when she spots him.]

Nikolai! [She jogs the last few yards to catch up with where he's waiting, shoes clicking light over the sidewalk.] Apologies for my tardiness. I have been getting used to navigating the city again.

[Nikolai stands waiting on the sidewalk outside the bar with his hands in his pockets, whistling an off-key tune. When she calls his name, his head turns toward her and he breaks into a grin.]

Punctuality is overrated, Allura. Dressing fantastically, on the other hand, is rated exactly as highly as it ought to be.

[This comment is accompanied by an approving glance over her dress. Very elegant! Very tasteful! Nikolai too is dressed for the occasion — or rather, he's dressed as he usually is, but he nearly always looks ready for a special occasion. Given the more experimental fashion scene in Sumarlok, his wardrobe has expanded beyond what would be deemed acceptable in Ravka. Today's sharply tailored suit is in a deep peacock blue pinstripe, the waistcoat a few shades lighter and patterned with neat little rows of leaves.

Disguised in his admiring look is a sort of taking stock of her. Finer clothes aside, she hardly looks any different from his memories of her in the mountains. But Nikolai can feel that slight shift in her confidence, in the invisible weight she carries. He suddenly remembers how she'd spoken of her father and her hopes of someday rising to his stature.]

Shall we?

[He offers the crook of his elbow to her.]

[Just as equally always dressed for an occasion, a dress at the knees is already positively daring when it comes to Altean culture. Not as flirtatious as some hand holding, but it's getting there.]

Thank you sir, [Despite the weight now permanently placed on her shoulders, her smile is no less bright as she takes his elbow. It's already reminiscent of a time long past, but the swelling music from the inside keeps her firmly rooted into the present. The inside is loud - both in decoration and in volume - and her eyes are bright as she looks around.

She speaks, and then leans in close, raising her voice so she can be heard.]

Is this similar to anything you have back on your planet? It seems very... human.

[Loud and impossible to ignore. She means it in the best way.]

[Inside, the bar is all polished dark wood and gleaming brass, glittering chandeliers dangling overhead and angular sconces intermittently lining the wall. To someone from plain old Earth, it would appear as if the roaring age of art deco and speakeasies had returned with a vengeance. But as neither of them are from plain old Earth... Nikolai answers her question with a laugh.]

Nothing in Ravka is quite like this, but if you somehow scooped this place up and dropped it into Ketterdam, it would fit right in.

[And perhaps that's part of the reason he's always enjoyed the Kerch city so much — it demands your attention. A quality he has long chased after.

Although the evening is young, the hour just slipping past what could still be reasonably considered the afternoon, the bar is already crowded with patrons. A cloud of chatter hangs over the room, clashing with the jazzy music pouring through speakers. The scheduled entertainment for the night must be arriving later.

Nikolai leads Allura to an open stretch of the bar counter, where they won't be crammed in with other patrons. Pulling a barstool out for her, he cants his head toward the wall of glittering bottles rising behind the counter.]

If you need help figuring out what in the world to order...

[The art deco style isn’t entirely alien from Altean sensibilities. The colors and styles were different, but there’s familiarity in the rigid, straight lines that make up the aesthetic. It’s much louder here, though. At least for the princess of Altea, the home she knew was full of rigid structure and not so much jazz music and crowded bars. Even being more world weary than the Allura that Nikolai knew before, she’s still at the tail end of a protected life. She’s rarely been in a crowd outside of her work as a diplomat.

Her head is on a swivel as Nikolai leads her, taking in all that the venue has to offer. Once, she accidentally bumps into another patron, gives a hurried apology, and spends the rest of the trip glued more tightly to Nikolai’s side. To keep from bumping into more people, clearly.]

I may need help with that. [Said with a laugh as she smooths her dress and has to stand tall on her toes to reach the taller bar stool. She can’t help but feel a little lost when looking at the display.] It all looks very pretty – I like how that one looks.

[Pointing at one of the more decorative bottles, with a rosy tint to the glass that obscures the liquid inside.]

[Even Nikolai, who possesses more knowledge about various vintages of wine and brandy than anyone has real use for, isn't entirely certain what a third of the bottles lining the wall contain. He glances over the nearest options as he swings into his seat, but soon his eyes are on Allura again.

There's just something about watching someone else try out a new experience. The way her head practically spins around to drink in all the details reminds him of how he must have looked when he first arrived in Ketterdam. He'd been barely out of boyhood and fresh out of the infantry. Relieved to put the blood-soaked mud of battlefields behind him, and eager to see the world, try everything, learn everything.]

Judging a book by its cover now, are we?

[He lofts his eyebrows in mock chastisement, but his tone is all teasing.]

Actually, that might be a fun route to take. A little bit like spinning Makker's Wheel... We won't know what we'll get until it's here in front of us.

[As loud and abrasive as the atmosphere here, the distraction is a soothing balm. Ever since she woke up from her 10,000 year long sleep she's had very little to keep her busy other than the war. But does fighting in the war that took her people count as truly taking her mind off of the tragedy?

Here in the loud buzz, on a planet far away, and seemingly in a separate time from her troubles, she felt... light. Curious. A little bit like the her that disappeared the same time as the rest of her people.]

What if we choose for one another? [A playful grin crosses her face, and she laughs a little,] It will still be random, but it's kind of a game in that way.

[Although guilt makes him reluctant to admit it, it's...nice to forget, for a time, who he is and what he bears on his shoulders. It's not as if he can devote all of his waking hours to worrying about what might be happening in Ravka in his absence. He would go mad, his mind collapsing under the weight of things beyond his control. So he's happy to provide Allura with the same opportunity for escape.]

An excellent suggestion!

[He looks at her expectantly.]

So what will I be drinking tonight? Choose wisely...

IC Inbox: Noctium

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