Closed [Laviku's Secret] An Eve on the Bay

[Dust]

Fall 73, 513 AV evening Syna was progressing steadily through her inexorable descent towards the horizon as Dust and Jorin boarded Laviku's Secret, painting the sea in swathes of amber and glinting white, the clouds beginning to shade orange and pink as dusk approached. Dust wore her outfit from Beautyfest again, probably at someone else's encouraging -- the dress with blue bodice, cream skirt, and embroidered flowers at waist and hip; the headband; the off-white sandals. The ship, for all that it served as an eatery, looked mostly like a ship should -- cabin, masts, rails; rigging and rope everywhere; its surfaces all of well-caulked wood. That is, wood except for where a carpet had been laid down, directing the honored couple past the long buffet table to a much smaller one clearly reserved for -- well, them. Not that they weren't also met at the dock, and escorted to their seats with what might have been a slight excess of courtesy on the attendant's part. The table was situated in the middle of the ship, along one railing, such that they would have the longest and least interrupted view of the city as the ship tacked across the pool. When it did. Even now, at rest alongside one of the piers, that side faced across the bay; they had a fine view of the far side of Riverfall, the left shadowed by the very cliff it was built into, the right bathed in evening sunlight. "It's different than seeing it from the air," Dust remarked as she examined the view. Ravens not being seabirds, she didn't dare the waves the way gulls did; usually kept a quite comfortable height, in fact, and didn't usually fly out over the water as the sun set, either. "This's what I saw when I got here, too -- the waterfall's so pretty from the bay!" Distracted by the view, Dust hadn't entirely studied the table yet. To her perspective, the setting was unremarkable -- there were more utensils than she was accustomed to, and that was the only noteworthy thing. Well, that and the small pouch set beside each place-setting, the glowdust which had been mentioned. To a more discerning eye, the bronze flatware was well-made and recently polished, but not fancy; the wineglasses were clear and without flaw, but not fine; the tablecloth and napkins were similarly of good make, but not that step above which could be considered special -- even though it was the King and Queen of Beautyfest being honored here tonight. Then again, fancy would have been quite out of place on a ship like this, one not designed to the purpose but meant to work the seas, and only co-opted as a mobile restaurant.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 73, 513 AV

When Jorin had set out that morning, Rinya had been surprisingly chipper. She didn't seem upset at all about the evening out with Dust he was supposed to be having; in fact she seemed rather excited for him. She had given him a goodbye kiss and told him to have fun, and admitted to him that she wouldn't have wanted to go on such a date anyway, being that she apparently got seasick. For some reason Jorin found that immensely amusing, that an osprey Kelvic would get seasick. Weren't they ocean birds?

And now Jorin was on a 'date'. Well, not really date. He rather refused to think of it like that. And besides, he kind of doubted that Dust even viewed him that way, or ever did. Not that he didn't enjoy the company of the raven Kelvic; she was a lot of fun to be around and was perpetually bubbly and smiling. But still, Jorin rather wished the date had been with Rinya. Honestly he rather wished the date never happened at all.

Laviku's Secret was... interesting. Once again Jorin was surprised he didn't encounter something similar in Zeltiva. Seriously, a city that prided itself on a maritime tradition, not having a floating restaurant? Travesty! Or at the very least, something to be addressed. In any case, pushing thoughts of a potential new culinary career out of his head, Jorin smiled when Dust mentioned that it was different from seeing it from the air. It was something Rinya had told him too; sometimes it was an advantage being mated to a bird Kelvic. You get new perspectives on everything.

"Yeah, I can only imagine how incredible things must look from the sky," Jorin hummed in agreement. It was something he often said to Rinya, that he wished he could fly with her and see the world from above. But all he had to go on was imagination and the bond. Ah well.

Jorin was not wearing the same outfit he'd worn to Beautyfest. Beyond the fact that it wasn't really date material, it was also 'borrowed' from the Amphitheater. The same Ampitheater he was in charge of inventory for, so he had to account for 'missing items' the next day. Therefore, he probably couldn't get away with any more such... loans, for some time.

Instead, he had on a rather simple affair comprising of a light brown shirt, similarly-colored breeches and an evening coat which he had already handed off to the attendant who seemed all-too-eager to make the 'date' as romantic as possible. Which was really quite amusing in a way; Jorin knew that despite loving Dust dearly as a friend, there would probably never be anything romantic between them, even if he didn't already have Rinya.

Still, he decided to at least observe the niceties, even though he was quite certain Dust did not care in the least about them. "That's a very pretty dress," he complimented, smiling at Dust and looking over the place setting. Fortunately Jorin did not get seasick; else this would have been a very unfortunate date indeed.

"I hope to be a worthy consort to you tonight, my Queen," he announced with his usual dramatic flair, accompanied by a melodramatic bow. Then he smiled, and sat down at the table. "Seriously though, I can't believe they elected me as King. I thought for sure Vanator would get it," he grinned. He didn't begrudge Dust getting the title of Queen though. As much as he would have loved his own bondmate to win, the white raven Kelvic definitely deserved every bit of it.

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