Speculation
Twenty-fourth day of
autumn, fortieth Turn of the Tenth Pass.
In the Main Hall and Ballroom, Apprentice Majori is looking at the portrait of the missing Lady Alebra, when...
Patter, patter, patter, sliiiiiiide. The behavior might be more suited for an errant apprentice than the elusive Crafthead's Second of Harper Hall, but Liesana's reached the rank where very few people can tell her off for sliding down the bannister, so by Faranth, she's going to do it. Seated sidesaddle and with an attache of hides under one arm, the thin woman reaches the bottom without incident, and dismounts with a whistle and a flourish, reasonably sure that all the apprentices are in class at the moment.
Majori is standing by one wall, with her back to the room. She's frowning at the small portrait that's fixed there as she reads the label beneath, but scans her surroundings with a glance from time to time before looking back at it. Hence, she spots Liesana's unorthodox arrival, though her reaction is the merest hesitation. Stare at a Master? Not her.
Liesana's whistling continues, the sort of merry, rollicking tune that's probably best sung half-drunk, and the words of which aren't fit for children. Which is why it's being whistled. The attache case is swung with a jaunty air as she heads for the door, intent on getting out and to the beach where she can spread out her paperwork and then ignore it. She spins a dance step, and then freezes mid-twirl, expression a trifle shocked as she realizes that she's not alone. Ahem. A throat-clearing, and then she straigtens with a crooked smile. "Good afternoon, apprentice."
Majori straightens, turns her back on the portrait so that she's standing in front of it, and responds with well-practiced deference and the faintest of smiles. "Good afternoon, Master Liesana."
"At ease, kiddo. It's too nice a day, and too far from Fort Hall to be formal," Liesana assures, smiling all the more crookedly as she attempts to put a name to an unfamiliar face and, unsurprisingly, fails horribly. Even the stereotypical Harper social ability needs -something- to work off. "Anyways," she elabourates after a pause. "The 'apprentice' is moreso because you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours." Deciding that the beach can wait, she ambles on over to the nearest of the stone benches, and helps herself to a seat.
Majori's eyebrow twitches in a flicker of amusement as the Master addresses her as 'kiddo,' but she glides a little closer to Liesana's bench, still maintaining a safe distance. "That's all right, ma'am. I've only been here a few months, and I don't take your subjects yet. My name is Majori."
Liesana has, in addition to reaching the rank where she can slide down bannisters, reached the age where anyone under 21 can be referred to as 'kiddo'. And once again, she's going to take full advantage of the fact. She smirks at the twitch of the eyebrow, and then pats at an empty space on the bench. "Well then, well met, Majori, and a belated welcome to the Hall. Have a seat, I always like to get to know the newer Harpers when I have a chance."
Majori smiles now. "Thank you, ma'am." She lowers herself gracefully onto the indicated spot and sits with legs neatly crossed at the ankles, smoothing her skirts to avoid creases. Then she waits expectantly, eyes respectfully dropped. She'll speak when spoken to, of course.
"Not much of a conversationalist, are you?" Liesana opines, glancing sidelong at Majori, and then glancing at the ridiculously complex knot worn on her shoulder as an afterthought. "Or is it this?" she wonders, giving the thing a brief pat before sliding it off and tucking it in her vest. "I didn't ask for it, you know. I just wanted to stay a journeyman, but they kept promoting me, either by public embarassment, or dirty tricks. So what made you decide on Harper?" she wonders, canting her head to one side.
Mimi neatly makes her way down the stairs, tying off her hair in a braid. A quiet snort can be heard escape her,"Oh, psh. You didn't need anyone to promote you, Liesa." The journeywoman, who is also content as a journeywoman, stops at the bottom of the stairs and sends a small wave to the other pair of Harpers,"Hallo there. How're you both?"
Majori immediately looks up at Mimi and nods, no trace of hesitation in the instinctive response. "Well, thank you, journeyman." Then she smiles and responds more casually to Liesana, a hint of Tillek scattered through her speech. "Oh, I can talk when it's appropriate. I had lessons with our harper at home, and always got on well with them. Singing, and so on. He made it all sound so interesting. I want to do instrument crafting, I think."
"Oh, hanging in there," Liesana replies to Mimi with a shrug and a lift of her attache case. "I'm off to the beach in a bit. I was planning to steal Dashvard away from his duties to come with, but he got in late last night, and apparently there was a bit of a do involving bandits, rustled herdbeasts, and a rogue Seacrafter willing to transport them away that had to be stopped... I swear," the Craftsecond notes. "One of these days I'm going to get a proper account of what goes on beyond 'Just my duty, love' and write a ballad. There's probably swinging from ropes and waving swords and all sorts of things that I don't get to hear about." The light tone covers just a touch of concern in the woman's eyes, knowing full well what sorts the Captain of the Guard goes chasing. She often ends up as legal counsel to them. But then it's back to Majori in time to catch an answer that meets with an approving nod. "Instrument crafting is a wonderful specialty. Artistry and accuracy all in one."
Mimi moves to lean against the wall with one foot propped up against it. "Oh, yes, it's lovely out. Starting to cool off by now." Mimi simply shakes her head,"Swinging from ropes, hm? Sounds exciting. Maybe I should've become a guard," she teases. And on a note to Majori, accompanied with a grin,"Oh, good choice. I can make a mean tambourine, myself."
Majori is instantly attentive to Liesana's tale, and she listens with interest to the mention of various villains before asking Liesana. "He's the Guard Captain, isn't he?" After a moment, she relaxes, posture becoming more slumped as she comments casually, "That must be a difficult job." To Mimi, she confesses, "Trouble is, I'm finding it's not as easy as it looks. I can just about get the skins on right now, though." She doesn't sound too concerned about it.
"Mhmm." Liesana agrees. "The Masterlegist and the Guard Captain... a match for a ballad, wouldn't you say?" the quip is offered, before with a sidelong glance at Mimi this time, she continues that "Of course, -some- people had a betting pool going about the whole thing. I should've taken up with one of the hold thieves just to muck with the lot of you... and that Remy fellow -was- a good kisser a good few turns ago, although don't tell him I said that." Catching the newcomer up on any gossip likely to be floating around with her name on it in one fell swoop, the woman can now turn to matters of Craft, one hand idly twiddling the end of a long braid of hair. "How long have you been soaking the skins prior to stretching them?"
Mimi does agree with a nod of her head. Yes, quite the match. But the journeywoman seems to find something /very/ interesting in that corner of the ceiling over there which she seems to study quite intently until the mention of a betting pool has passed. "Woulda' made an even better ballad," mumbles Mims. But back to the apprentice,"'Gets easier as you learn."
Majori regards Liesana curiously, grinning slightly at the mention of the 'good kisser,' but she answers the question. "Umm, two days, the last one had. And it /did/ go better than the one before. I think I'm starting to get the knack." After a moment, she adds, "The hold thieves? That sounds as if they're an institution."
"Mmm, no, that would be Bitra, or possibly Igen's Caverns." Liesana replies, the crooked smile making an appearance again, and leaving her thin face all angles and corners and little crinkles at the edges of her eyes. "Ista has exactly one thief who's never actually been -caught- thieving, although we all know he does it, but it's usually just petty stuff, and he's an amusing rogue, so we let him stay, and I amuse myself by forcibly keeping him on the straight and narrow when I can... His name's Remy, and you'll recognize him by the pack of gold firelizards that follow him. If he hits on you, just kick him in the shins," she advises. "It's always worked for me." And if the faint lingering hints of Keroon in Liesana's speech patterns weren't enough, that approach should no doubt confirm her origins. "So, about those skins, how long have they been soaking?"
Mimi waves a hand,"Aw, no kicking. He's a cute little thing." She pauses to muse over that statement,"Okay, well, he's not exactly /little/, in fact he's quite tall. /I'm/ little. Okay. Right. Anywho. Soaking skins." This one's not a rambler. Not at all. Eheh.
Majori raises her eyebrows slightly - perhaps it's the effort of trying to follow Mimi, though it's Liesana that she addresses. "They soaked for two days," she repeats, adding, "Ma'am," after the briefest of intervals. Eyes narrow slightly and she studies first the Master, then, more briefly, the journeyman, before asking, "That man you mentioned, he couldn't have been responsible for the things that went missing from here a few sevendays ago, could he?"
Liesana snorts and counters with a "Hey. I'm a... well, not a -married- woman, but a woman in a committed long term relationship, with benefits, et cetera. I'll kick him if he tries to kiss me again, or else he'll probably have the Hold Guard on his heels." A contented smirk, and the Harper master leans back against one of the stone pillars supporting the balcony, and framing the bench. "But no, I'm fairly sure that wasn't Remy. Not his MO at all, and while I'm not a Guard, and my criminal investigations tend to be on the scale of Holders breaching the Charter, I've learned enough over the turns to have some instincts. Too big a job, for one... and you can drop the ma'am in casual conversation, Majori," she interrupts herself to assure. "Your respect is evident from your tone and posture. And try leaving them an extra day or two, and try using warm water."
Mimi grins,"Well, fine then, kick him if you like." The journeywoman idly toys with her necklace, tugging at it a bit. "Has anything else gone missing lately, speaking of? Weren't there a couple things around the hall taken? I must say I'm glad that I've been passed over by these thieves."
Majori smiles, her expression showing a hint of amusement as Liesana discourses about Remy. Hands move from her lap to fall beside her, fingers curling around the edge of the stone bench as she watches Mimi toying with her necklace. "Warm water? I'll try that. Thank you." She frowns thoughtfully. "I haven't heard of anything else going from our dormitory, I'm glad to say. And the rumours have died down now, too."
"Oh, that reminds me," Liesana murmurs, opening her attache case and rifling through it to find a particular sheet of paper. "I'm going to have to take my leave of you two, because I've got to ride up to Smith Hall and collect a shipment of locks and keys for the apprentice's clothespresses." And as for why she can't delegate, well... take a look at the weather.
Mimi waves a hand to Liesana,"Bye now. Have a nice ride." Mimi flicks her braid over her shoulder and places her hands on her hips. "Well, that's good, then. Maybe these thieves are done." She edges off toward the door to the rehearsal hall. "And speaking of things to do, I've got some cleaning up before the next dance class comes in."
Majori nods. "Goodbye," she tells the departing Liesana, then adds to Mimi, "And I have a class now, if you'll excuse me." With that, she gets to her feet, nods to the journeyman, and without waiting for permission, walks towards the art room. For some reason, she's wearing a satisfied smile.
Logfile from Majori
