An Inauspicious Beginning: Part 5

To say it's early in the morning is a bit of an understatement, and as it's still mostly dark, there's not really a whole lot going on down at the harbor. The barest of stirrings can be heard from a boat a ways down the beach, but aside from that, it is quiet. A single figure sits at the end of one of the piers, almost invisible in the dim light of a false dawn.

At the opposite end of the pier the figure of a Lunite male walks at a slow pace down its breath towards the end. It appears to find its boots very interesting for most of the journey but eventually his eyes turn up towards the beginnings of light before shifting over towards the other figure. "Morning, Rish."

The woman looks up, tilting her head back to do so instead of turning around. "Oh... hey... you couldn't sleep either?" she inquires, her brow faintly furrowed. "I was just... well... getting drunk, actually." Rish shifts her eyes out over the water as she indicates a mostly-full bottle of tequila sitting between her knees. "Was hoping I could get some sleep then, but the sun's coming up. No use in it now, I spose..."

"Actually I slept like a baby thanks to those sleep aids. I just get an early start.", Larin remarks with a light smirk at the drink between her legs. He takes a seat on the pier next to her and places an arm around her. "That bad huh?"

Click, step. Click, step. Click, step, step, stumble, click, step. Karlan makes an unusually noisy approach towards Larin and Arizhel, standing above the sitting couple and letting a sigh float down towards the two of them. "I can leave," he says, leaning into a tall cane he's holding in his right hand.

"Keep havin dreams," Rish complains, leaning against the Lunite comfortably. "Can't sleep worth a damn. Finally gave up, just came on out here. Dunno what else to do..." At the sound of the Timonae's voice, she sits up straight and looks back over her shoulder. "Hey... no, no, it's nothing like that... I've been out here for awhile, but Larin just showed up. I... couldn't sleep..." The woman trails off, shaking her head as she picks up the bottle of liquor to display it to Karlan. "Keep havin dreams," she reiterates. "Was hopin this might help."

Larin turns about aswell to regard the Timonae with just a slightly guilty expression as his arm still rests around Rish. "Oh. Hey Karlan. Glad to see you up and about.", Larin greets, his arm slowly sliding of her back and finding a place back on his lap. "Yeah I uh ... just showed up." His voice trails off as he shifts his gaze back to the water.

Karlan rolls his eyes at Larin, a corner of his mouth rising into a slight grin. He takes the bottle suddenly from Rish's hand. "I think you've had enough," he says, downing the rest of the bottle into his mouth, coughing, and dropping the bottle carelessly, without breaking it, as he sits beside Arizhel on the pier.

"I have not... dammit," she protests, reaching belatedly after the bottle. "I cant -sleep-." The bartendress' hands drop heavily into her lap. "I keep seeing... stuff. I dun like it... just want it to go away..."

"I know its not much fun but I don't think the bottle will help that.", Larin remarks to Rish with a smirk and a shake of his head. "In my experience it just makes the 'stuff' a bit more frequent." Another shake of the head and he looks to find her own hand with his. "Not that I'm the best example when it comes to that sort of stuff."

Karlan sighs and nods, putting an arm around Arizhel's shoulders and pulls her into him for a moment in a sort of clumsy, one-armed hug. "I'm here now, Rish. I hope that helps. And, er, Larin, is it? As much as I hate to say it, you... did well that day."

"Mmm... you're warm," she murmurs, slumping awkwardly against the Timonae. "M'just... just a big coward is all. Can't deal with what happened, what's happening..." Rish gestures vaguely with one hand, waving it dismissively. "Should just run away again... start over somewhere else... always worked before..."

"Has it?", Larin asks Rish, in a lower tone, offering a light nod to Karlan in response to both questions. "I mean sure it works for awhile but ... it'll all catch up with you eventually. Always does. Part of the reason I wanted to tal...". He looks up to Karlan and falls silent. "Anyway. I don't think running is the answer."

Karlan sighs, nodding his head slightly. "If you run, it'll all catch up with you. I'll catch up with you. Your own guilt will catch up with you. Those things happen, Rish. We just need to... talk and find a way. Although it's better to do it when you're sober."

Arizhel straightens, shaking her head. "I am sober. Mostly. Too sober, cause you drank the rest of my booze, you dirty thief," she says, chuckling faintly. "S'never caught up with me before. This's the first time I've spent more than a few weeks in any one place, really. Maybe if I never stop running, I can stay ahead." She sighs and pulls her knees up, hugging them to her chest and looking out over the water.

Larin idly toys with Rish's hair as he shakes his head with a sigh. "The Verse is too small a place to run anymore. Eventually you'll run out of places ... again experience comes to mind.", Larin remarks. His hand retreats back to his jacket pocket. "I uhm ... I'm really sorry about this whole thing. You know if you wanted me to just blast off in the Haste and well... Ryan might not appreciate that."

Karlan shrugs, offering a concerned smile to Arizhel, patting her back. "Arizhel, look at me. You can't run away forever. Life itself catches on. Don't do this to yourself, please."

"Dammit..." she puts her head down on her knees, her hair falling forward to completely hide her face. "I don't want anyone to go anywhere, especially not if it's going to get you in trouble, Larin. I just... I guess I need to figure out what I'm about, figure out if I'm -ready- to stop wandering the damn 'verse and settle down somewhere. I dunno..." Rish sighs, shaking her head. "Maybe I'm just getting old already. I have to wonder how much of my life I've wasted already. It's depressing."

The hand boldly ventures out to rest on her back as she puts her head down on her knees. "You've got all the time you need to figure that out.", Larin consoles and then looks to Karlan. "Isn't that right? I don't think we're going anywhere any time soon." He reaches down to take her hands in his own so that she may look at his imploring green eyes. "It may hurt to get turned down but I think the thing that would hurt the most would be something happening to you because you felt compelled to go to pieces. Do whatever will make /you/ happy. Don't worry about anyone else. Eventually I'd get over it. Wouldn't be the first disappointment, right?"

Karlan sighs and nods, putting his arm around her shoulders and leaning lightly against her. "Take your time, Arizhel. I'm not going to push you into anything, and I'm perfectly willing to wait for you to make a decision, as long as it takes."

"That's just it," she whines, sighing heavily. "I don't know why you're both sitting here waiting for -me- to make a decision. I'm not worth it." Arizhel somehow manages to disengage herself from both the Lunite and the Timonae, getting unsteadily to her feet. "I should just go try to sleep again, otherwise I won't be any good tonight at all. M'sposed to play at the party. Lydia's giving me that, at least." The woman sighs and looks up the path to the landing pad. "Useless..." she murmurs, shaking her head.

"I've already told you my reasons and you seemed to think they were particularly good at the time... unless that's changed.", Larin responds, standing up as well and shoving his hands into his jacket pockets once more. He exhales slightly, watching her with a light frown. "There's something I still need to tell you... it might help make things easier for you... before or after the party... it doesn't matter."

Karlan stumbles clumsily to his feet, holding, or rather leaning into, hsi cane. "Rish, you know what I think. I think you're more than worth my time. I think we need to talk, alone. But later. You should go lie down for a while."

"I know... we all need to talk at some point. Hell, maybe you two should talk with each other, too, so you don't feel left out," Rish observes as she shakes her head, dragging her feet as she walks back to the beginning of the pier, her eyes on the ground. Despite watching where she's walking, however, she stumbles over something and falls to her knees in the sand. The woman growls wordlessly in frustration and slams a fist down, sending sand flying.

Larin hesitates for a moment but the natural inclination to aid takes him as he moves to assist her upwards. "He's right. You need to rest. You'll make it back to the ship alright?", Larin murmurs, helping her to her feet if she should accept his aid.

Karlan walks at a brisk pace, as brisk as the numb leg allows, and helps pull Rish up, putting one of her arms around his neck. "You really should go back to the ship, Rish."

"M'fine," Arizhel protests, getting to her feet. "Jus' need some sleep. M'gonna go lie down." She sighs and looks at the ground, her expression slack with weariness. "I'm really sorry about this. Both of you. I... I shouldn't have made this situation the way it is, but I'll fix it somehow. I'll figure it out..."

"Nothing to be sorry about.", Larin replies with a reassuring rub at the back of her neck. "I'm the one who came along and threw a spanner in the works." Again another guilty look to Karlan. "But I ... I can't say I wouldn't do it again. Just try and get some rest now. Everything will turn out fine."

Karlan raises an eyebrow at Larin, sighing and standing with the cane in front of his legs. "Yes, Rish. You need rest. Just take your mind off this for a while. I can't say it's not my fault as well."

"S'not your fault." Rish sighs and takes a couple of steps through the sand, rubbing at her eyes sleepily as she slips free of Karlan's grasp. "S'mine. Nobody else's gonna take the blame for this'un. And for once, m'gonna hang 'round to deal with the cons'quences of m'actions." She shrugs vaguely, eyes still on the ground as she continues up the path to the landing pad.

Larin sighs as he watches Rish leave, again another look directed towards Karlan. "I'm sorry about this, Karlan. I really am ... it isn't fair for a guy to just drop out of the blue on someone ...", Larin murmurs in an apologetic tone, as Rish drops out of range. " ... but I think I might /love/ her. The real sort of thing. Wondering what kids might look like if ... Anyway I'm sorry. I'm sure it all sounds like the stupidest thing you've ever heard."

Karlan flashes his cane through the air towards Larin, patting him lightly on the shoulder and grinning, speaking on a low voice and nodding. "Just don't assume I don't know what you're going through. And don't assume I just want her for a pet." He sighs, looking up and bringing his cane to lean on it once again. "Just don't let this make enemies out of us. I have enough people after me."

Larin nods towards Karlan, his face still far from a grin. Even so he offers a hand over to the Timonae. "No. No. Of course not. I'd uhm ... maybe even this whole thing is resolved we might even call each other friends. I don't think either of us will ever stop caring about Rish.", Larin offers.