Completed [The Amphitheater] Sights and Sounds (Rinya)

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 63, 513 AV

Jorin looked haggard and tired on stage, dragging his feet and wearing a hunted look on his face. If there was no bond, Rinya might have thought he was actually feeling that way. In reality, Jorin was... well he was actually feeling pretty good. The nerves had finally gone, as he'd gotten into the swing of the play and he could really get into his element. But it was interesting; Jorin mused as dragged himself to a tree prop and leaned against it. Despite his skill at acting, he'd still never been able to hide any of his emotions from Rinya.

And he very much liked it that way.

And it seemed like the same for Rinya. Especially now, as Jorin had to struggle to keep from looking back at the actor's box to where he knew he'd see his mate. There was a shrill cry, thankfully muted by the curtain, which he knew had to belong to the lead actress. Great, and he had to act opposite her the next scene. Lifting his head, Jorin looked up at the branches of the prop, while lamenting,

"And here do I find myself, weary beyond my years,
only stars above to hear my plea, only ground to feel my tears.

A dozen men I had with me, stout of heart all told,
their hearts are beating with Dira now, their blood do runneth cold.

Alone am I in distant land, the dogs do bay for blood,
the enemy's number once a trickle's count, now flash upon the flood.

My heart did I follow here, and though the hours grow long
Yet still I follow my heart's true path, to home it sings this song."

Jorin hadn't written those particular lines, even though he did have a hand in writing a few of the lines for this particular production. It was one of the reasons he'd tried to hard to get Rinya to see it; he planned to surprise her later today by revealing that he'd had a hand in its creation.

Sure, he wasn't the primary author, who had final say in what dialogue was kept and what was scrapped, but he had input! Well alright, only about a dozen lines, but Jorin was sure they were good ones! They had to be good, right? Or else they wouldn't have kept them in!

After about a tick, a group of men wearing the distinctive black that this particular production chose to represent the Alahean forces strode up onto the stage. Pointing their swords at Jorin, they threatened him with a slow painful death where he stood, or a quick painless death in Alahea after a sham trial. Jorin chose neither.

"I do not fear you," he stated, drawing his wooden sword and facing the small band of Alaheans with a quiet dignity. "Come then," he called to them. "Attack me, if you dare. Kill me, if you can."

At this moment, as Jorin swung his wooden sword at his enemy, one of the actors playing one of Jorin's soldiers floated up onto the scene in a ghostly white costume, face powered white to tell the audience he was a ghost.

"I offer what little strength I have to you," he wailed, "For even in death our hearts beat as one!"

And more and more ghosts filtered out onto the stage, offering their strength to Jorin's character, who seemed to slip and slide past soldiers may times his size and strength, felling them. When the fight was over, there was only one man left standing among the Alaheans. In trembling terror he asked Jorin who he was.

"Someone who had nothing to lose, and everything to gain," he replied, his sword raised in triumph.

-------------

The stage hand was looking at Rinya like she'd grown a second head. "S-she's the lead actress," he stuttered out, fear evident on his face as though saying it would summon her. "I'm just a stage hand... if I talked back to her, she just has to smile at the right person and I'll never find work again..."

He sighed when Rinya indicated she didn't have anyone to impress. "I really wish you wouldn't wear such... provocative clothing, then," he said quietly.

"Not that it's any of my business but... unless you're trying to catch some actor's eye with that, it'll just cause trouble for you... I mean I'm sure you've noticed yourself getting all sorts of attention with that..."

The man shrugged. "Listen, it's been nice talking to you but I-"

All of a sudden, the actor's box became crowded as a bunch of other people dressed in very colorful costumes came in. They were clearly actors, and their faces and voices were obviously very upset. They whispered and spoke among themselves, before finally turning to the stage hands.

"OK, everyone off, actor meeting here," one of the actors announced. He took a quick look at Rinya and seemed to be considering something, as the stagehands filed off the stage.

"You there, understudy," he called to Rinya. "We need you in the Pit in ten chimes. One of the actors took a dive and we can't find her usual understudy."

"Taking a dive" in stage acting parlance meant she'd deliberately injured herself as a ploy, usually for more pay. It sometimes worked, especially if a production ground to a halt. But it was always inconvenient. And it was especially inconvenient now, since her understudy had gone missing too.

"Be there!" he called as he motioned for the actors to follow him down the stairs, not waiting to hear Rinya's reply. Even if she had, the sound of heavy footfalls would drown it out. By the time the sound faded, she was once again by herself in the actor's box, alone with the new and difficult choice she had to make.

[Rinya]

Day 63, Season Fall, 513 AV

Rinya resisted the urge to groan out loud as the stage hand tried to explain why he was so terrified of the lead actress. In some ways she could understand it, and she was glad that at the Warren such attitudes were not accepted. You had a job to do, and you did it without complaint. She did not understand why that didn’t apply here. She was the lead actress—not the person in charge. She could easily be replaced by someone willing to do the job with at least half the fuss. Apparently, it was something easy to get away with here.

"I really wish you wouldn't wear such... provocative clothing, then," Rinya snapped. She whirled around to face the stage and glared sharply at him. ”It’s not my fault she’s insecure. I can dress however I want, it isn’t anyone else’s business.” She hissed. Unlike the lead actress she knew if she yelled, it was going to be heard. But she seriously considered lighting the clothes on fire—or in the very least never leaving home wearing them again. Everyone so uptight over a petching outfit. It was ridiculous.

Rinya turned to face the stage again, trying to calm the anger in her gut and focus on Jorin’s acting. She barely had time to register what was going on up on stage before more people joined her in the actor’s box. She gritted her teeth, doing her best to ignore them. But luck was not to be on her side. "You there, understudy, we need you in the Pit in ten chimes. One of the actors took a dive and we can't find her usual understudy."

Rinya felt her jaw drop. This was bad… very bad. She didn’t even get a word out edge wise before they all filed off and left her alone in the box. Her insides twisted and her anger—though still present—twisted into a mix of panic. A lot of panic. Firstly, even if she wanted to show up, she had no idea where the ‘pit’ was. Secondly, even if she did—she didn’t know the lines! She couldn’t act! She couldn’t even read the lines if she wanted to! Rinya dropped her face into her hands and tried desperately to get a hold of herself.

If she didn’t show up, someone was bound to come and find her, and then they’d know she wasn’t supposed to be there. And then what? She had no idea how much trouble she could get herself into. Either way though, she knew for a fact that the play would be hurt. If she went on stage, she’d ruin it for sure. If she didn’t—well they would be missing an actor regardless. Rinya couldn’t figure out just what to do regardless.

There was a third choice, though Rinya wasn’t entirely sure how that option would pan out either. She could shift, abandon the clothing that was causing her so much trouble—Rinya felt her fingers twitching at her sides. There was no winning in this situation. None at all. Rinya locked her eyes on Jorin’s frame on stage and for the first time she wished the bond came with some other way to communicate other than just emotions. This was his realm; he’d know exactly what to do. But her state of panic probably hit him hard. And she really didn’t want it to leak into his performance.

If she got on stage, there was no way she could act. She knew that was a fact—and therefore that was not an option no matter how much she would like to help Jorin. The second choice of being caught was only slightly better. There was always the chance someone would find out Jorin helped her, and she didn’t want him to get into trouble that might affect him being able to act on stage—even if he would accept the punishment. Rinya sighed inwardly… either she left entirely or she shifted. And she didn’t want to leave.

Shifting also left her with the option that no one else could be bothered by her apparently very inappropriate outfit. So until Jorin could come find her later—and who knew how long that could be—shifting was the only thing she could do. Rinya glanced down the stairs, trying to listen for anyone approaching. Groaning, Rinya went about stripping down as fast as she could. While she wasn’t entirely too afraid of being caught naked—after all a shift from there was instant and there was nothing they could do about it—she didn’t want further rumors flying around.

For some reason she had a feeling with all the shifting props her clothing was going to get snagged one way or another, she shoved them into one of the boxes regardless. And she did not hesitate in shifting immediately afterwards. She shook her feathers out, hoping the smoke from her shift would dissipate quickly, and realized she wouldn’t be able to see the show from the floor. Much less be able to avoid feet if she remained there. With a push of feathers, Rinya fluttered herself up onto the edge of the actor’s box. In the long run she may actually be obvious as a Kelvic, but having the ability to fly made things a lot easier.

She just hoped her decision wasn’t going to affect Jorin’s play too much.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 63, 513 AV

As the second scene of the second act drew to a conclusion something odd happened. Well, odd since most plays usually just continued, but in this case the curtain dropped, and it was because the third scene took place in a completely different area and the stagehands needed to move around some of the props. It also gave the actors a chance to go over the lines a few times, and to prepare for the next scene.

For Jorin, the next scene was an easy one to prepare for, since he wasn't in it. So instead he prepared for act three, and gussied up his best "stern" look, which wasn't one he used very often. Recently, he'd been practicing his acting in front of Rinya, just because he loved her and loved to see her reactions. But he supposed that practice was really rather useless, because due to their bond she knew what he was actually feeling, an unfair advantage that the audience did not have.

As Jorin practiced a few of his lines, he tried to see if he needed to change the emphasis a bit. He noted the line made heavy use of rhyming couplets, which Jorin found heavy-handed and a bit outmoded. Really, he much preferred flowing lines to stilted couplets but this wasn't a part of the play he'd written. Sighing, he decided at least he'd try to make the lines interesting by saying them in a more singsong manner.

He also noted while on stage a brief surge of panic from Rinya. He'd broken character to glance worriedly at her when she did and she seemed torn about something, her eyes showing clear anguish over some decision, but he couldn't tell what that decision would be. And then she'd glanced furtively around and secreted her clothes in a box and... shifted? Huh. Jorin couldn't understand why his mate would do that. Did she really fear running into that understudy so much?

But it didn't matter. As Jorin walked by the "Pit" (really just a small indentation in the rear of the Amphitheater that many of the actors liked to gather in), there appeared to be something of a minor meltdown as the lead actress was screaming and stamping her foot and being a general nuisance.

"No! I won't, I won't, I won't!" she was screaming, stamping her foot with each "won't". Jorin raised an eyebrow. From her tone one would be forgiven for thinking someone had asked her to sacrifice her newborn child, but more likely they just wanted to to wear a dress she didn't like. Sighing, Jorin trotted over to see what was the matter.

"I will not play second billing! I am the lead actress!" she screeched. Jorin raised an eyebrow, glancing at the stage master with some curiosity. Now why would he want to bump her down? Well, he supposed he'd have done that ages ago if he were the stage master, but that was another issue entirely.

"Look, we went over this before, Talya took a dive and we can't find her understudy. Only your understudy is qualified to take your place, the others hadn't been here because they were prepping for Beautyfest," the stage master tried, but the lead actress just shook her head, sending her hair flying everywhere.

"I will not!" she continued, petulantly, and Jorin groaned.

"The show must go on," he said to her gently, and gave her a calming smile. The lead actress just sneered.

"Yes and I should be top billing!" she replied haughtily. Jorin nodded in agreement.

"yes, indeed, you should be, but unfortunately the production needs you in this role," he soothed. "Think about it! You'd be a heroine! The whole production saved, because of you."

The woman's cheeks flushed at the flattery, and she stood rooted for a moment, before her vanity won out over her pride. "Fine!" she sniffed, "but I expect to be well compensated for this!"

Jorin smiled. "Of course," was all he said.

After the debacle with the actress, Jorin decided to take a break in the actor's box and find out why Rinya had decided to transform. There wasn't anyone there at first, and if he'd been anyone else, Jorin might have been forgiven to just go back out, but he knew that Rinya was a bird, so he looked up, to see her pretty brown plumage fluffed out a bit and her golden eyes looking down at him.

"Hi Rinya," he called and smiled at her. No matter what form she was in, he still loved her all the same, and he made sure to take her clothing out of the box she'd stuffed it in and carefully folded it, placing it into another box that had his name on it. The boxes here were also for personal affects that the actors could not bring onto the stage.

"That's actually pretty clever," he admitted, and gave his mate a little wink. "The view's pretty good from up there, I imagine, but I'm not going to be in the play until act three."

Jorin shrugged. "Want to come down? I can show you around backstage while we wait for the scene to end," he offered. "Or we could just stay here and watch it," he suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

"Up to you," he concluded, with a soft smile.

[Rinya]

Day 63, Season Fall, 513 AV

Rinya was content to sit and wait everything out, she really was. Being in her bird form gave her freedom human form did not. But she had missed parts of the play and it was hard to keep up with it. And Rinya couldn’t help it. Her feathers fluffed outwards and she sat pressed into herself, almost as though she was cold. Rinya realized she was probably going to look like this a lot in the coming season. Including the possible annoyance over the fact that it was just cold.

With the second curtain down, Rinya wondered how much longer this play was actually going to be. Part of her—despite how much she enjoyed watching Jorin—was really dreading the rest of the play. In two curtains she had been flirting with, mistaken for an understudy, nearly thrown on stage, and been figured out by at least one of the stage hands. Her head was starting to swim over the entire debacle. She wasn’t even getting to enjoy his show sadly. So even as the people began to move things about again, Rinya remained firmly rooted where she was to avoid the rest.

It wasn’t long however before Jorin turned up in the actor’s box. He greeted her with smile and she returned the sentiment with a soft whistle—but stubbornly refused to move from her spot even with her mate close by. Jorin must’ve seen her undress from the stage—she was seriously glad she couldn’t blush in this form—because he reached into the box where her clothing sat and put it into another one. Rinya cocked her head slightly, whistling at him again. That had seemed… counterproductive to her.

"Want to come down? I can show you around backstage while we wait for the scene to end, or we could just stay here and watch it," Rinya internally debated if that was such a good idea. The amount of people that had already seen her tonight made for a bad choice of mingling. Especially since so many people had commented on her outfit. Walking arm in arm next to Jorin was just likely to cause trouble for him as much as it would her for the rest of the play—then again she didn’t plan on being human for the rest of the play once Jorin had to go back to stage.

There was also the choice of trying to perch on his arm for this little tour, but that probably would be even weirder. Jorin wandering around back stage with a bird that just kind of appeared out of thin air? For a few chimes it almost seemed as though Rinya was ignoring him. She wasn’t mad at him—after all it wasn’t his fault the people he worked with was nuts, though to some extent Rinya was amazed Jorin turned out so… nice after dealing with all these people day in and day out. She would have lost her mind a long time ago.

But she didn’t have much time to spend with him, and since she wasn’t technically annoyed at him, she fluttered down to the floor of the box and shifted. Wasting no time, she snagged her clothing and pulled them on, before turning to face Jorin, an unreadable expression across her face. Though she was sure her emotions gave it away. She was nervous, and hesitant. And if she was completely honestly a little embarrassed.

”You should have told me this outfit was going to cause trouble.” She grumbled, not looking at him. She could have shifted a long time ago and gotten out of so much if she had just known. ”Apparently I’m a hussy, and the stage hands wished I wouldn’t dress so… gods what was that word? Oh yes… provocative.” Despite her words to the stage hand, she hated to admit that the words got under her skin a little. They were familiar, only this time her worth was degrading as well as worthless.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 63, 513 AV

Jorin was quite grateful when Rinya came down and transformed. While he truly didn't mind her being in her bird form, he missed being by her side. It was absurd; she was here, as close to him as it was possible to be without being onstage with him and that just made him want to be with her more.

”You should have told me this outfit was going to cause trouble.” Jorin just looked at Rinya, confusion clear on his face and through the bond.

"Rinya, you look beautiful in that dress," he replied. "I know that understudy was giving you grief; they all do that though. I doubt he'd have acted any differently if you wearing something different."

Jorin didn't know it, but that wasn't actually true. If Rinya had been wearing her work clothes, the understudy would have thought she was just a stagehand and all but ignored her.

"Of course, I might be a little biased," Jorin admitted, and he flushed as he looked her over appreciatively. She really did look fantastic in this outfit, although once again, Jorin felt the desire crawl up his spine. There were a few people milling about, mostly stagehands, but a few of the actors and understudies were there too, practicing their lines.

Up until that point they mostly ignored Jorin and Rinya; the actor's box was not a hotbed of activity during the intermission and the cast and crew had other things to do, so Rinya's shift into human form went unnoticed.

”Apparently I’m a hussy, and the stage hands wished I wouldn’t dress so… gods what was that word? Oh yes… provocative.” Jorin frowned.

"Who called you a hussy?" he asked. He did not like it when people insulted his mate. He'd have to have a talk with whoever that was. "And Rinya, your dress is fine. If other people have a problem with it they can deal with me."

Jorin was perfectly willing to defend the fashion choices of his mate. But more importantly, he decided it was time people realized she was his mate. Or at the very least that they were together.

Smiling, Jorin reached around, wrapping an arm possessively around Rinya's waist to draw her close to him. He didn't care that some of the actors, understudies, and stagehands had looked over curiously when he did this. Some looked eager to see what this new development was, but Jorin ignored them. Looking Rinya in the eyes he leaned in close and kissed her deeply. If that didn't explain their relationship to the cast and crew, he didn't know what would.

Jorin could feel himself getting a bit lost in Rinya as the kiss continued, his latent desire combining with the urgency of finally being able to do this after two acts of only being able to watch her in the actor's box. Gods, it never felt any less wonderful. In fact, Jorin realized each time felt better than the last. He didn't even hear the (somewhat muted so as not to alert the audience) whooping and cheering and whistles of appreciation until he'd broken the kiss.

"Alright, fellas, show's over. Get back to work," he growled at them with false annoyance, but the giant grin on his face gave him away. Jorin kept his arm around Rinya's waist as he led her down the steps of the actor's box. She'd already seen the stage, so it was time to show her what was behind it.

As they stepped down, Jorin began the little tour by waving to the right with his free hand. "Well, that over there's the Pit," he explained, indicating the small indentation. "We actors kinda use it as a gathering ground. I dunno why, exactly, I think it might be because it's conveniently located." Jorin shrugged, as he moved them along.

"I really wish I had time to show you the props area," he mused. "It's really a lot of fun. They've got all kinds of stuff there." With a little shrug, he added, "maybe after the show."

[Rinya]

Day 63, Season Fall, 513 AV

Jorin’s confusion surprised her a little. He must have realized that her outfit might have caused issues. Then again, Jorin was not like almost everyone else around here either. But regardless of the fact he didn’t understand why she mentioned it, he just insisted that she was beautiful and that no matter what she would have worn, she would have gotten grief. Well that didn’t exactly make her feel better. Dress like a hussy, or dress like a worker—you’d still be tormented anyways. How did Jorin put up with this? She would have never made it to actor, she would have been thrown out for violence.

Jorin flushed after a moment however, noting that he may have been biased about the whole thing anyways. There was a sense of desire coming from him again—faint, but most certainly there. It caused her general annoyance of the entire situation to dim slightly. While she didn’t appreciate anyone else’s opinion of her outfit—they were sticking their nose in her business—Jorin was more than welcome to make as many comments about her outfit, good or bad. Especially if he felt that way about her.

"Who called you a hussy?" Jorin’s tone went a little hard. Rinya couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at him, tilting her head. ”I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two screeches don’t count.” Really it hadn’t been the lead actress calling her a hussy that had bothered her so much. The stage hand’s opinion that she was just dressing to cause trouble had been much harder to stomach.

"And Rinya, your dress is fine. If other people have a problem with it they can deal with me." Rinya couldn’t help but snort at his comment. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t believe he could stand up for her—he already had against the stage hand. But Jorin didn’t exactly incite fear either. ”It doesn’t really matter Jorin.” She would get over their words quickly enough. Jorin apparently had other ideas though.

Jorin drew her in close, and Rinya almost resisted. It was bad enough she was attracting attention with just her clothing, if the rest of them saw this kind of affection she could only imagine the things they could come up with later. But then again—she was already labeled a ‘hussy’, and by the way Jorin was looking at her he was going to kiss her. What better way to solve issues with his own rumors?

So Rinya didn’t bother trying to complain that this could be a bad idea. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed back as intensely as she could. She didn’t care if she got lost in the kiss, or that there were people around them. In some ways she was laying as much claim on Jorin as he was her. Even if the girls around here may have viewed him as a lost cause, he had her and there was no point in pushing the issue further. But the moment Jorin pulled away from the kiss, she nearly buried her face into his chest. Apparently they were quite the show.

"Alright, fellas, show's over. Get back to work," Rinya mumbled into his chest incoherently as she tried to gather her mind back into reality. Jorin led her down the stairs and Rinya wrapped both her arms around his own waist, leaning on him. Jorin pointed out the ‘Pit’ and Rinya huffed slightly. ”Apparently I must look like quite the understudy, because the actors wanted to put me on stage. Something about a girl getting hurt and being unable to find her understudy?”

Rinya shook her head slightly. ”Putting me on stage… you can’t be any more desperate than that.” Rinya mumbled. ”I know you love acting, but how you put up with these people day in and day out... I would have killed someone by now I promise you. How do you do it?” Rinya craned her neck up slightly to look up at him. "I mean... they think you're gay... or rather... thought." Rinya couldn't help but shoot him a grin.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 63, 513 AV

”I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two screeches don’t count.” Oh. Right. Her. Jorin wondered briefly if there was something about him that attracted all the vain, stuck-up actresses. Why couldn't he meet the normal ones? He'd seen a normal one once. But apparently they were an uncommon breed, rarely seen outside of their natural habitat.

Jorin felt the slightest twinge of hesitation when he drew Rinya in for their kiss, but he knew that was probably because she was worried it would cause trouble for him. But he didn't care even if it did, since he wanted everyone to know. He knew it was a bit possessive, but he wanted to publicly lay claim to Rinya, and in their kiss he could feel that she was doing the same with him. And it definitely felt right.

When they started walking, Rinya had wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against him, and Jorin couldn't help smiling, the warmth spreading through him not just from the contact. It felt really nice, walking around like this, and everyone who saw them immediately knew from the intimate way they were holding each other exactly what they were to each other.

Jorin raised an eyebrow when Rinya said that they wanted to put her on stage. "Yeah, one of the girls took a dive," Jorin confirmed. Realizing Rinya wouldn't know what 'taking a dive' meant, he explained, "basically, she deliberately injured herself to get more pay. Well... it's usually about pay, although sometimes it's about other things."

Jorin shrugged. "Technically, we don't know if she actually took a dive or she legitimately got hurt, but the grapevine has it that it was a dive, because the injury was rather convenient, being that it happened just as the new production was about to go live."

Jorin chuckled when Rinya asked him how he put up with the shenanigans that went on in the Amphitheater. "Well you get used to it," he grinned. Something fell in the distance with a loud crash, and there was several shouted curses and a few stagehands rushed over to see what new disaster they needed to mitigate.

"One thing I'll say is, it's never boring," Jorin added with a twinkle in his eye as he looked over in the direction of the crash. He sure hoped it wasn't a prop that broke, or poor Rinya would be bored to tears watching him put out yet another fire.

Jorin actually laughed when Rinya mentioned they thought he was gay, with a playful grin of her own. He grinned back at her. "Gay... yes. I've actually heard that one. I decided to let it circulate instead of trying to stop it because I figured it might cause the girls to back off."

Jorin continued to look Rinya in the eye. "Truth is, Rinya, before you came along, I ignored a lot of the shenanigans, focused on the acting," he admitted. "Oh I'd go on pranks and stuff, but the... games really didn't interest me. Still don't, but..."

He shrugged. "I can fully enjoy myself here, now, because I know I have someone to come home to. Someone who I love, someone who loves me. So I can enjoy life in the theater, knowing my beautiful mate will be home waiting for me."

Jorin then grinned again. "Besides," he added, "you have to admit days like today make for excellent stories later."

Leading Rinya further down, he arrived at an area with large racks of wooden weapons of all shapes and sizes, among other props scattered around. He remembered showing this to Kirsi and Krima, a while back. "Welcome to the Racks," he announced, spreading his left arm dramatically. "Please forgive the mess, it always looks like this by the second act. Nobody ever puts stuff back where it belongs."

Jorin led the both of them over to one of the older props, a fancy carved tree prop that had actual branches. But interestingly, the tree was painted a deep crimson red, rather than the usual green or brown. "The weird thing about this prop is, nobody is quite sure where it came from," Jorin stage-whispered to Rinya, as though telling her a great secret.

"It's true! Even the old-timers here don't know where exactly it originated. You ask four different actors, you'll get four different answers." Jorin grinned.

"My personal theory is that the founder of the Amphitheater proposed marriage to his wife under a tree like this one, and commemorated the prop to remember the event. But then his wife died, so he had the tree painted red to symbolize his lost love."

Jorin spoke his story in hushed, dramatic tones, his face completely serious, but Rinya would feel through the bond that he wasn't really being serious with the story, and he confirmed it outwardly a few moments later by breaking into a giant grin.

"OK, it's probably not true," he admitted sheepishly, "but you have to admit it's a pretty good story, right?" Jorin sniffed slightly. "None of the other stories even have any drama in it! I mean if you're gonna make up an origin story, it should at least be entertaining."

Jorin laughed a bit, and for no reason at all drew Rinya in for another kiss. Because... why not? Even though, like usual, nothing was going right, people were taking dives, a prop probably smashed a few chimes ago, and he'll probably be pressed into working another miracle to fix yet another minor emergency, today still felt like the best day ever. Rinya was here. Nothing could go wrong.

Jorin felt the warmth he felt before become stronger as he kissed her. Like her love was a blanket that wrapped around him, a cocoon that made him feel happy and safe. When he broke it off he couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face. Yes, this was definitely a good day.

"-orin. Jorin!" someone was calling from behind him. Jorin turned around, still smiling.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Did you need something?"

"Uh, we... kind of need you over at props," the stagehand said, wringing his hands slightly. Of course they did. Jorin sighed. Well, maybe not a good day.

"Come on, my love," Jorin prompted, not at all embarrassed to use the name in front of other people. She was, after all, the love of his life, why shouldn't other people know that? "Let's go see what they broke now."

[Rinya]

Day 63, Season Fall, 513 AV

Jorin took the time to explain to her what a ‘dive’ was, and that was another thing she couldn’t understand. Injuring yourself to get more pay? How did one accomplish that? Not doing your job meant not getting paid. Rinya couldn’t help it, she snorted slightly when Jorin mentioned that that he wasn’t sure if the injury was on purpose or not, but it seemed convenient. ”How do you people even get paid? Pulling stunts like the lead actress does—or getting yourself injured—it would never fly at the Warren. Kavalor and Raistren would have your head for such foolishness.” Rinya shook her head slightly. Even Rhys knew when to keep his mouth shut.

”Never boring, but always the headache.” Rinya muttered under her breath as she watched people jumping around to make sure everything was ready. She wasn’t even sure she would have been able to handle being a stage hand. Her eyes widened a little as Jorin actually admitted to letting everyone think he may be gay. In some ways it really was a good way to keep the girls away, but she was pretty sure that was ruined now. Rinya huffed lightly. ”Well aren’t you the sneaky one. Though I’m afraid you’ve ruined that image. And you know not everyone is going to care if you have a girl waiting at home for you.” Rinya teased lightly.

To some extent she knew that was true at least. Much like the stage hand that could care less if she was preoccupied with someone else, the girls around here seemed very much the same. Not that she was entirely worried, but she did not enjoy the thought of girls throwing themselves at Jorin for the sake of throwing. He went on to explain that he mostly was able to stay away from the games. It seemed odd to think of Jorin as the prankster though. There were still so many things she had to learn about him it seemed.

Jorin laid on the romantic words and Rinya fought hard not to scowl at him. It wasn’t fair that he was so good with the words. ”Excellent stories huh? I think I prefer you coming home with them, rather than being in them.” Jorin steered her towards a section full of wooden weapons and the such, looking very much torn apart. But he led her over to a rather red painted tree. ”You romanticize everything my love don’t you?” Rinya questioned him as he laughed.

Rinya didn’t have any hang ups about him leaning in to kiss her this time. But unlike before it was far simpler. Nowhere near as intense, but certainly coated with affection. She had to resist wrapping her arms around his neck again; she knew she would get carried away if she did. But she smiled up at him brightly as he pulled away. Rinya seemed to notice the stage hand trying to get Jorin’s attention long before he did. For once he seemed more affected by the kisses than she was.

"Uh, we... kind of need you over at props," Rinya hesitated for a moment, unsure if she really wanted to end up in the middle of another ‘crisis’ or not, but Jorin’s invite with her nickname attached to it was impossible to resist. Though she did scowl at him slightly, but not before latched herself back to his waist. ”Lead the way oh fearless one. Let me see you fix this one.”

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 63, 513 AV

It was strange. The disasters were all the same. Nothing was going right, as was usual in any production, yet Jorin felt a strange sense of calm. There'd been times when he'd worried, actually. Worried that if Rinya was by his side, he'd do poorly. That he'd be so worried about what she would think, he would flub every single line. And he was afraid that she'd maybe doubt his sincerity if she saw him truly act, since he'd never done it with her at home.

But now that she was here, he realized all those fears were absolutely foolish. He couldn't believe he actually thought she might doubt him. When had Rinya ever doubted him? When Rinya asked how they got paid and expressed surprise that taking a dive even worked, Jorin just gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Honestly, Rinya, I'm probably just as surprised as you are that we get paid at all," he replied with a wry smile. "I can honestly say that in the five and a half years I've been in theater so far, I have never taken a dive. I mean, the idea behind it is, you show the theater that you're indispensable, that your injury causes such disruption that they have to keep you happy."

Jorin sighed and shrugged. "And it doesn't always work, either. Sometimes it even backfires. But some actors just really like to do it, I guess."

Jorin almost chuckled to himself as she told him to lead on, even despite her little scowl, he knew she wasn't angry at him. It was true that the amphitheater could get rowdy at times, and the games and little miniature disasters could often become tiresome even at the best of times, but Jorin found he was more confident than usual that he could fix whatever new crisis had arisen, and he attributed it entirely to Rinya's presence.

"Very well then," Jorin almost intoned, indicating with his free hand that the stagehand should lead the way.

As they walked, Jorin tried to point out other things to Rinya. "That over there's the sewing room," he explained. "It's where Krima, a Konti seamstress who joined the Amphitheater fairly recently, works. She maintains most of our costumes and makes sure that the ones we have last longer than half a season."

Krima didn't seem to be in that day, so Jorin left the explanation at that. Besides, the stagehand continued to lead them to the props area, a little further back. "I have to warn you, Rinya," Jorin cautioned, as they entered the props area, "This place can get a little-"

"Wait! No! Don't step on...!" The warning came a bit too late as Jorin stepped on what looked to be... pieces of glass? What were glass shards doing on the... oh no. Jorin made sure to hold Rinya back, her light sandals might tear on the sharp material and he refused to let his mate be hurt.

"Would anyone like to tell me why there is glass all over the floor?" Jorin asked, with just a hint of steel. Glass was expensive. Whatever shattered would cost the Amphitheater a great deal to replace.

Silence followed Jorin's question, like as though his words had stolen the very air, and now the entire props area was quiet as a grave. Jorin could hear the murmur of the actors on stage as the third part continued apace, and he knew that they didn't have forever to just stand around and glance nervously at one another.

The problem was quite obvious. A large glass prop had smashed to the ground. At one point, it was the headpiece of a wooden prop that was now face-first in the ground, and the whole thing was supposed to represent the earth and the sky, with the glass head-piece signifying the ethereal quality of the clouds. Of course now, the "clouds" were scattered in a hundred pieces on the ground.

"I really hope one of you can give me an adequate explanation for this," Jorin groused. He hadn't budgeted for this sort of expense. Glasswork wasn't exactly cheap, and whoever managed this foul-up was going to definitely see the difference come out of their wages.

The silence dragged on for another few chimes as Jorin continued to look each stagehand and understudy in the room in the face. He wasn't actually angry. Well, OK, that was a lie. Of course he was angry. This prop was expensive, and his mathematical mind was already reeling, trying to think what corners he would need to cut in order to make their budget balance this season.

But this silence was not helping. Deciding he'd had enough, Jorin sighed and signaled for one of the stagehands to approach. "Look," he sighed, both to the stagehand and to the group in general. "We can't just have this area covered in glass. You, you, and you," Jorin said, pointing at the three closest stagehands, "Clean this up. The rest of you, come on, we need to lift this thing back up."

Jorin waited for the three stagehands he'd indicated to first sweep the majority of the shattered glass into a quiet corner. They'd have to dispose of it eventually, but for now at least it was out of the way. Releasing Rinya, Jorin approached the fallen prop and considered it from several angles. The thing was large and bulky, and didn't really have all that many good hand-holds for himself or the stage hands to latch onto. How to lift this thing?

Jorin examined the prop even closer. Making the matter worse, it looked like the wood had cracked in several places. Perhaps they should just chop the petching thing up for firewood and be done with it. But with a sigh, Jorin decided to try to salvage it if possible. The glass was bad enough, losing such a large and clearly expensive prop was not an option on the budget they had.

"Alright, you two take the left, you and I will take the right," Jorin directed the three remaining stagehands. They nodded, walking over to their respective sides. Jorin didn't say this, but the weight of the prop, combined with the creaky wood, meant that this was slightly more dangerous than he was really comfortable with. Technically, as an actor, he didn't need to do this, but Jorin always felt that actors needed to do whatever they could to aid the production.

"On three. One, two, three!" As Jorin's muscles strained, he could feel the burn in his arms and chest. He was glad that Rinya had introduced him to archery, as those muscles would have been screaming if he hadn't. His thighs were also getting a workout, trying assist in lifting the bulky wood back up into place.

Jorin glanced back over at Rinya, his face strained but he managed to toss her an apologetic smile. This wasn't how he'd wanted to introduce her to the props area. He wanted to show her interesting props, not bore her with yet another crisis-in-the-making. Still, Jorin could feel his fingers slipping somewhat, so he re-established his hold on the prop and heaved some more.

With a snapping groan, the large prop swung back up into place, landing rightside up again with an almost protesting creak. Jorin sighed with relief as he leaned against the thing, wiping the sweat off his brow and breathing heavily. After a few ticks, he pushed off and smiled at Rinya.

"Well, that was certainly-"

"Curtain in fifteen, people! I want to see you on that stage in ten!" came the shout from the stage manager. Jorin's eyes grew wide. Shyke! He hadn't even changed costumes yet! Running over to Rinya, he decided to give her a quick kiss.

"Sorry, Rinya," he apologized to her, giving her his best smile. She would feel over the bond his frustration at not even having any time to spend with her, but after a few moments of holding her hand, he let go and dashed off to put on his costume. Act three was about to begin.

[Rinya]

Day 63, Season Fall, 513 AV

Rinya followed Jorin without a second thought. As usual. If Rinya stopped to think about it, the idea really should have bothered her. Completely out of her element, and having been nearly discovered many times already she knew one thing was for certain. If it had been anyone else wishing her to stick around in this chaos she would have laughed at them. And possibly been quite snarky too. But this was Jorin and Rinya really considered that she shouldn’t be so surprised all the time when she allowed special attention for him. No one else was ever important enough. And he was clearly happy that she had decided to join him in a tour.

But like everything else, ‘disaster’ meant someone had to fix things, and apparently Jorin was in charge of those problems. But it didn’t stop Jorin from pointing out stations to her, like a sewing room that apparently a girl named Krima attended to. A few names stuck out to her, like Krima—but she had never met any of these people before, so it seemed it would be some time before Rinya got to put a face to Krima’s name. Jorin went about trying to warn her—which seemed a little silly at the moment after everything they had been through already—but he didn’t even get to finish that.

There was a crunch sound from under his feet and instantly Rinya set her eyes to the ground. He pressed her back slightly, but even her eyes could make out the slivers of glass scattered across the floor. And almost instantly Jorin went from attentive mate, to his job. And Rinya was a little amazed at the slightly hard tone that was present in his voice. No one answered him either, and Rinya almost felt the need to squirm as though she had done something wrong. Jorin had a commanding presence—something she rarely saw actually. Normally he let her do all the initiating. She led, and he often followed. Pressing her lips together, Rinya did her best not to grin.

But even as Jorin asked for an explanation, no one answered. There was anger tinting their bond, and Rinya wondered what exactly he was thinking. And how he was going to fix this new issue really. With no one willing to own up to anything however, he was forced to take command. Handing out tasks as though it was a common occurance—though she was getting the idea that it actually was quite common—he went about helping another few try and lift the heavy looking prop up from its current position.

She felt almost useless again. Unable to help, but in the very least she got to watch Jorin—and she refused to admit that she might have been observing the muscles he used to help lift the prop. After several chimes they finally lifted it back to its original position and Rinya grinned lightly at Jorin’s frame, obviously exhausted from trying to lift the petching prop.

”Well, that was certainly—“

Jorin was interrupted once again, and Rinya resisted the urge to sigh. They both had frustration starting to build at the constant interruptions, but this was his job. She didn’t bother trying to return the quick kiss, and simply watched him disappear again. She hadn’t even gotten the chance to ask him how much longer the play was going to last. Twitching her nose slightly, she watched several of the others run about before she turned on her heel and began to make her way back towards the actor’s box. There wasn’t much else she could think of doing at the moment. Though she would give it a good human try one more time. If anything else got in the way—well Jorin would just have to live with her being a bird until they returned home.