01-15-06 1

Characters involved: Keita & Oxeye.

Halyard Village: Main Street

Why is Keita out and walking? Well, she's out and walking because, for once, /she/ needs to clear her head. There's a very light flurry of snow, but she barely notices it as she clumps along with hooded head down against the chill.

Keita stops in the middle of the street, lifting her head up - tilting it back, in fact - in order to look up at the sky. She blinks as snowflakes fall into her eyes, and with a small grin, sticks her tongue out to catch some.

Sulky. It's not a good sign with Ox. It usually matters the buck is discontent - usually with one or more superior officers. And that's not untrue here, either. The boxer still hasn't been fully debriefed on what exactly happened out in those dunes yesterday, but that doesn't stop Oxeye from being broody about it. He wants to get back to Salamandastron and see Zoe. But, well. He ought to speak with Jarril first. "... Not that'll do good," grumps Ox, much to himself, as he trudges down the main street aimlessly. Skulk.

"Mmf?" This is all the sound Keita can manage with her tongue lolling out. The doe turns, slowly and with her eyebrows raised, and only when she sees Ox does her tongue disappear. Ahem. Her ears flick back, and she limps idly towards him. "... Not that what'll do any good?"

Oxeye's eyes sharpen from their darkened, unfocused state - settling on Keita. Surprisingly, a lopsided grin appears. Welcome enough, seeing as Ox's always relieved to see the doe still around. It fades slowly, though, as the buck gives a heavy shrug. "Politics. Ah'm not back a day from up north an' Ah'm already weary o' it h'all." He squints, and then snorts softly. Baaah.

Keita smirks faintly, leaning forward on her crutches. "Well, what d'ya expect ovah there in that mountain o' yers? 'Tis kinda chock full o' politics. They're seepin' int' my happy existence here in Halyard, I'll have ya know."

The boxer jerks an ear towards the tavern, where Ox presumes Jar might still be holed up. "Th'worst o' 'em, Ah know." He matches Keita with his own dry, humorless smirk. "Makes a buck wondah why he's avoidin' promotion. Sometimes wagah Ah'd enjoy not havin' t'take ordahs." Pause. "'Course. That would buy righ' into th'whole system, now wouldn't h'it?" Ox wrinkles his nose. "Makes m'head hurt, 'Tah."

Keita shakes her head. "I honestly don't undahstand why yer with that lot..." Implicitly implying Zoe, as well? Always! Ah ha. She glances towards the tavern, as well. And then, thoughtfully, "Ox? Have ya heard from Rory?"

A small frown. Now, even in Ox's darkest moments, the buck hasn't directly questioned his place amongst the Patrol. After all, there's Zoe! "Now, jus' wait -- " Blink. Ox tilts his muzzle, eyes getting all squinty again. "What's that, m'gel?" His voice takes on a genuine hesitancy. "... Ah thought she was... Well. Ah was undah th'impression ye an' her... Ye know." Cough. Awkward.

Keita scritches awkwardly at an ear. "... Uh, no. Rory... she's gone. I figured /you'd/ know." She shrugs, again awkwardly, and turns to look towards the tavern. "Nevah mind. How's the fam? The little darlin' deah 'n' all that?"

Keita scritches awkwardly at an ear. "... Uh, no. Rory... she's gone. I figured /you'd/ know." She shrugs, again awkwardly, and turns to look towards the tavern. "Nevah mind. How's the fam? The little darlin' deah 'n' all that?"

Um. "Wait a bloody minute, there," Ox says hurriedly, eyes widening. "Ye mean she h'ain't been 'round here? How long has she been - /why h'aren't ye out lookin' for her/?" The buck is understandably aggravated, the last thought on his mind Miette and Zoe.

Keita's ears dip, not looking back. "She's been gone since before the takeovah, Ox. She left off one day, but I figured it was nothin', that's just the way she was sometimes, but then the vermin took the village. I /couldn't/ go lookin' for 'er."

Oxeye's ears straighten. "An' now? Somethin' aside ye crutches stoppin' ye?" A little harsh, but the brother is concerned. Increasingly so. "Hell, Keitah, she could be dyin' righ' now." Or already dead. But, erm, that goes without saying.

Keita leans forward on her crutches, staring hard down at the ground. She bites down on her lower lip, then shakes her head. "She /left/ me, Ox. So aye, I took that as a cue she didn't want t'be found. But, y'know?" She snorts, a bit bitterly. "The lack o' a leg did slow me down a bit."

Ox's voice drops to a dark whisper. "She tell ye that herself?" He snorts in return, unconvinced. Rory didn't think or feel lightly of Keita, Ox is positive of it. Not even when she... well, got pregnant. "So what. Ye shrugged it h'off by now? Found some othah doe t'keep ye mind off h'it?"

Keita's eyes narrow, her voice dropping to match his. "There's not a day goes by I don't think 'bout her, 'bout her 'n' Alex, Ox, so don't ya test me. I lost m' /family/." She looks around, to turn the accusation from herself. "And where were you, that ya don't notice yer own sistah's gone fer half a season?"

"Remembah those politics Ah mentioned earliah?" Ox responds evenly. "Well, let's jus' say Ah'm not th'one who dodged th'mountain for th'easy life." Yes, to the buck, living in Halyard seems relatively low-key - invasions and missing does, aside. "If'n Ah recall, ye are th'reason she /left/ Sala, am Ah wrong?" Not that if she hadn't left, she wouldn't have eventually run off like this. But, hey.

"Politics. Duty." Keita snorts derisively. Obviously she doesn't think highly. "What th'ell is it with you lot that ya think that's an excuse t' take yer family for granted? T'abandon 'em?" She smirks. "So does little Miette even know what you 'n' Zoe look like, or do ya have some fightah show 'er a drawin' o' you every now 'n' then if she cries?"

... Oh noes. Ox's eyes flash, and the fighter struggles violently with his personal integrity to not throttle the offending party. Instead, the buck stiffens. "... Ah'm not good at returnin' fire o' this breed, Keita. An' maybe Ah was out o' line... an' feel free t'call meh unreasonable, but Ah think that was a touch too much."

"Out o' line? Out o' line? Ya've strayed so unbelievably far beyond 'the line' that... well." she shakes her head, incoherent to quite express how far beyond that little line she feels he has gone. "/Don't/ talk t'me about family responsibility, /don't/ talk t'me about 'dodgin' the mountain'... Jus' /don't/." Grit. Teeth.

Oxeye isn't completely disheartened. "Ye know, Ah don't know much o' ye relationship with ye mothah, 'sides what Ah can gathah m'self. Since neithah o' ye like t'talk 'bout h'it. But... From m'perspective? Maybe Miette would like t'see ye mug once in h'a while, eh?" Pause. "Hell. Even Ah would." Not that this was /about/ Keita, in the first place.

It wasn't, but then again Keita's a bit defensive with ze chip on her shoulder. His words have the reaction of fizzling her steam, but, well. Not fizzling her steam, at the same time. Following a long held breath, she shakes her head. "Honestly? I'm happy fer Miette. M'sure she's great. But I don't think she needs me around t'poison things." She turns, searching for the tavern in the flurrying snow. She spots it. "Jus' don't screw it up."

Pause. Wait, why's she looking about? "... Migh' be, but." Ox shifts, trying to test out a less antagonist approach. "Think it's worth lookin' for her?" Yeah, we're back to not talking about Miette and Zoe. Mhm.

Keita squints at the tavern. "Y'know, /I/ don't think she's goin' t' be found until she wants t' be found. If that's evah." And she starts moving, limping along. She stops, however, and cocks her head to the side. "But if ya /do/ find her... tell 'er I love 'er?"

Oxeye scowls. Well. Keita's not really put Ox at ease, tonight. Not in terms of politics or family. Her final request gains a small grunt from the buck. "... Hey. Wait a minute." Ox catches up with Keita. "Ah'm headed th'same way. Don't have t'continue the conversation, o' course. Jus'... Ah need t'see..." Pause. "... m'superior officah." Grunt. Yes. He's taken to rambling, as they head for the tavern.

Keita waits, then, and starts up again once he's drawn level with her. She stares at the ground silently for a moment while they walk along. Then, "I ought t'tell ya, Ox... I am seein' someone."

Oh hell. This time, Ox is genuinely torn between stiffening, ear-drooping, and shrugging it off. He keeps pressing onward, even as he wrestles with the appropriate course. "... It's not m'place t'call," Oxeye murmurs finally. "Ah jus' wish it were othahwise, ye know?"

Keita's next reply is so faint it might be lost in a sudden flurry of wind. "... Me, too." Then, gruffly. "M'sorry fer what I said. No righ'." Sniff, nod.

Oxeye turns his muzzle to eye Keita, though whether it's in response to the former or latter of her two comments... well, it goes undetermined. He only replies to the latter, if that's any help. "No worse'n m'words, m'gel. An' not th'worst eithah o' us have likely thought, eh?"

Keita actually smiles, though she doesn't confirm or deny her thoughts. "Aye, well. Do me a favah? Remembah me t' Miette every now 'n' then. Y'know, 'least make sure she knows m'not dead." They're nearing the tavern, now.

Grimly, the thought crosses Ox's mind that it might be sometime before Ox has the chance. Keita was right about that, the buck barely has time with the little leveret - no more than Zoe, honestly. "... Ah will," Ox confirms, with his own version of a faint smile. He steps forward of the doe, to catch the door in his paw and open it for the be-crutched one.