Oakhearth, The Eternal Flame of Vale (private w/ Pericles, Ela & Kailyn)

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles was roused by the ping of his Scroll. Blinking his eyes to awaken himself fully, Pericles remembered the past few hours. He had sighed despondently at Kailyn's abrupt exit in response to his words. He had once again annoyed someone to the point that they refused to speak with him anymore, and he still didn't know what he'd done wrong. Having despondently made his way to the raised container of grass and earth, Pericles had crawled inside and fallen asleep with his arms crossed over his chest in his earthen sarcophagus as the lid slid over top.

Now awake in said receptacle, Pericles would slowly sit up straight as the lid came off and give out another disappointed sigh as he made his way out to where the watch position had been set up. Doing his best to not disturb Kailyn so that she could return to her tent and rest without his disruptions, Pericles would take over the watch.

It took him a few minutes to get out of his head and into the groove of things, but years of study and self-training had guided him on the details of these matters. As he patrolled with silent steps around the camp, a five foot palisade of earth would be erected in time with his feet until the whole camp was walled in with staircases leading to the raised platforms. The earth would sift and harden between the vines allowing the plants to still permeate but also providing them more solid support to grow on.

Palming his forehead as he went over the conversation in his head for the fifth time over, Pericles would give up on deciphering it for the night and send a text to Ela as his time for keeping vigil came to a close.

[Ela Motley]

Ela, ironically, was not a very heavy sleeper, when Pericles sent her a text she was immediately wide awake, yet careful not to disturb Kailyn.
In the dim light of her scroll, she could see her tentmate still asleep, but, a bit messily, Ela carefully fixed Kailyn's pillow and pulled the sleeping bag up fully again, it wouldn't be great if Kailyn got a stiff neck or a cold.

After tending to Kailyn, Ela went outside; the morning sun let her somewhat, and her own glowing runes let her see where she was stepping.

She could see the Palisade that Forest and Pericles made, sighing a little as she thought about how the entire watch system was kind of redundant with their semblances combined.
Next night, she'd be the only one to keep watch, but have Pericles and Forest set up a defensive perimeter before they went to bed.

Regardless, Ela did a sweep of the perimeter and had nothing to report.

She'd use the peace and quiet. As morning came about and her shift was ending, Ela had set up a kettle, a pan and a coffee pot; the latter Ela was already pouring herself a cup of coffee from, adding plenty of milk and sugar as the smell of coffee, hot chocolate, bacon, and eggs wafted around the clearing. A good and warm breakfast was a great idea to start their next leg of the journey.
She could call her teammates but...she'd just sit there and enjoy the quiet, sipping away at her coffee and letting her teammates rest for a bit longer, just waiting for them to get up on their own.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest awoke from the sunlight permeating the tent and the scent of breakfast spreading throughout the clearing. Forrest took a brief look at himself through the camera of his scroll, trying to tame his unruly bedhead. Having given up on trying to fix the stubborn cowlick at the crown of his head, he quietly made his way out of the tent, noting that he was the first one to wake up (besides Ela). Now outside, he heard the familiar, beautiful birdsong that sounded throughout the forests in the area.

"Morning, Ela. Thanks for breakfast." Forrest spoke, his voice sounding a bit deeper in the morning. Making his way to the percolator, he poured himself a cup of coffee for the extra boost he needed in the morning. He took a sip of black coffee before setting it down to assemble a plate. Forrest moderated the amount of bacon and eggs he took, wanting the others to get their fair share before coming back for seconds. Forrest checked his scroll, wondering how long the rest of the trip would take and to see the weather.

"Looks like clear skies today, and only a few more hours of travel before we make it to Oakhearth." Forrest relayed to Ela between sips of coffee. His thoughts returned to home, wondering if any changes took place over the course of several months. Forrest also hoped Silvanus would be happy to see him...

[Kailyn Keison]

Kailyn awoke to the smell of breakfast. Stretching languidly, she noticed that Ela had straightened up the haphazard way she'd crawled back into her sleeping bag while trying not to wake her. Mad big sis vibes, she thought with a smile before extricating herself from her bedding and quickly packing it up with her Semblance as she grabbed a hair tie and a towel.

"Ela, you are a saint," she announced as she trudged up to the firepit to grab her share of breakfast and a cup of hot chocolate. Grabbing an empty pot and filling it with water, she set it next to the fire to heat up before flopping down on the log across from Forrest and scarfing her breakfast.

"Y'realize yer gonna be playin' tour guide all day today, right?" she asked Forrest with a sly grin as she finished her plate. Gulping down the rest of her mug, she grabbed the now-hot water, and shot off over the wall and into the trees. About a minute later, she floated back into the edge of camp upside down, her wet hair pulled toward the ground. She shook her head violently for a few seconds, scattering water droplets every which way for a few feet, before righting herself and floating over to sit next to Ela, the towel slung casually around her shoulders.

"Only thing I hate about camping is that my hair's always a mess," she confided in the group as her hair seemingly divided itself into three parts and began to braid itself. "Thanks for breakfast, sister," she added with a smile as she tied off her braid.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

The earthen sarcophagus slid open as Pericles was roused by the smell of food and sat up like a vampire with his hands crossed over his chest, Khopeshes in hand.

Noticing everyone else already awake, Pericles quickly got out of the earthen container as it settled back down into the dirt beneath his feet, leaving no trace of its prior existence.

Stepping over hesitantly, Pericles formed himself a chair as he sat down and watched the others eat breakfast for a few moments, "Uh, may I?"

Pericles would turn to Kailyn then and speak softly, "Miss Kailyn, I don't know exactly how I caused you aggravation and disruption yesterday, but you have my sincerest apologies. I have been told that my.... conversation skills, could you some work."

[Ela Motley]

Ela, not being a morning person, took a sip from her coffee as Forest talked to her, giving a low hum as a response "Mhm...", she yet showed him thumbs up, letting him know she appreciated his input, she just needed a bit longer to get going, give her another few minutes, and she'd be fully awake, maybe.

Kailyn's arrival made her smile a little, she turned to show her a small smile, in general the company of Forest and Kailyn, especially the ensuing banter made waking up a little easier, she yet stuck to her seat, needing what time to herself she could get.

When Pericles arrived she invited him to join breakfast with a simple nod towards the food in question, there was plenty for all four of them plus, if anyone would go hungry there was always the stifado.

As, Pericles tried to start a conversation with Kailyn, that Ela knew would go poorly, she did force herself to wake up a little more.
"Speaking of conversations, weren't we going to talk about the downfall of the Eastern trading posts of Mistral?"
Ela asked Pericles, hopefully drawing his attention to her and away from Kailyn, at least for a bit, she figured having Pericles rant at her for a few minutes would be a decent option to keep the peace of their little camping trip, rants were one of the things she was very used to from Lin, usually about her newest invention which Ela knew basic things about her own weapon, but the things Lin talked about were always a bit too difficult for her to understand, with Pericles, she at least knew something of the topic of their conversation so even while tired she could converse with him.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Noting that Ela wasn't much for conversation in the morning, he turned to his eggs and bacon. Forrest enjoyed the breakfast as the others began to rouse from their slumber. Kailyn made her way over from her tent to sit across from him. After a casual greeting, she noted how he'd end up being a tour guide for the rest of the group between mouthfuls of bacon and eggs.

"I figured as much." Forrest replied nonchalantly before sipping his coffee again. It made him think of how much Oakhearth could change within the span of several months, though. Probably not much at all considering it was a sleepy, backwoods town in the middle of a Grimm-infested forest. It seemed that Pericles had woken up as Kailyn catapulted herself over the makeshift palisade with the hot water.

"Morning, feel free to grab some breakfast. Ela made enough for everyone." Forrest called out to Pericles.

Kailyn had returned back to the edge of camp upside down, shaking her head to get the water off. Commenting on how her hair was always a mess, Forrest piped up.

"You're preaching to the choir, Kailyn." he said, pointing at the one strand of hair at his crown that refused to conform with the rest of his hair. It stuck up like an antenna, demanding attention from any nearby onlookers.

[Kailyn Keison]

"Miss Kailyn, I don't know exactly how I caused you aggravation and disruption yesterday, but you have my sincerest apologies. I have been told that my.... conversation skills, could you some work."

Kailyn shook her head, a wry smile appearing on her face. "You didn't do anything wrong," she explained. "You made me laugh while I had food in my mouth, which made me choke. On top of that, I was a little too tired to be able to parse the rest of your words through the NT-ND translator. It's not your fault." Poor kid. She hoped he hadn't been dwelling on it all night.

"Nice cowlick, Forrest," she chuckled when he pointed it out.

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles took the offer and grabbed a portion of food and drink for himself as he sat back in his earthen chair and turned to Ela, "Thank you, Miss Motley, for breaking the nightly fast for us. I would be ever so delighted to converse with you about the trading activities of Eastern Mistral, would you perhaps have a cause that you subscribe to as being the exigence for the declining trust in the financial institutions that backed the local merchants in the region which led to a decline in demand for imports from the ports?"

"Good morrow to you as well Forrest." Pericles acknowledged with a nod.

Pericles then turned to Kailyn and hesitantly spoke, "Oh, you have my sincerest apologies Miss Keison that I unintentionally caused you to asphyxiate on your meal. If you do not mind my inquirence I'd be curious to learn of this NT-ND translator device you speak of."

[Ela Motley]

Ela sighed, taking another biiiiiig sip from her mug, emptying it as she then began to pour herself another mug, she did need to wake up a little more to properly entertain Pericles.
"I personally believe the most detrimental factor that deteriorated the trust between the financial institutions and its costumers was the simple fact that the institute simply did not keep its promise to smaller merchants, often choosing profit with big traveling caravans over their loyal and local clients, the Red Sting syndicate further exposing the greed of the head of the bank personally really did not help their case."
Ela had finished pouring herself another mug, as she took another sip, this time taking it a bit more slowly, this last mug would have to carry her through the rest of this no doubt lengthy conversation.

Ela, could not help herself but lean forward a little and give the stubborn piece of Forest's hair a little flick, giggling as she watched it bob.
"Sorry, I could not help myself."
Ela apologized, as she then yet took a look at her own hair...she had a pretty bad bed head, while her hair was not nearly as long as Kailyn's it was much thicker.
This would be a pain to tidy up without a mirror, but she supposed she could try?
No way, she'd just make it look so much worse.
Ela pulled a comb, a very sturdy looking comb, from her nearby cosmetic pouch
"Kailyn, could you help me out a bit?"
She asked, holding the comb toward Kailyn.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest chuckled a bit at Kailyn's reaction. Although a bit self-conscious at mentioning his cowlick, it seemed that nobody maliciously made fun of him for it. A bit relieved at the general reaction, Forrest continued sipping his coffee. It seemed that Pericles and Ela were conversing over trading activities of Eastern Mistral, and some Red Sting Syndicate. Although he heard the name in passing before, Forrest didn't have enough knowledge of the topic to add anything substantial to the conversation. Just then, Ela leaned forward to flick the cowlick before apologizing.

"It's okay." Forrest replied with a chuckle before recalling what he had to say to the others.

"Ela already knows, but were only a couple hours from Oakhearth, and the weather is gonna be good, too." Forrest announced to Pericles and Kailyn.

[Kailyn Keison]

"Kailyn, could you help me out a bit?"

"I gotchu, girlie," Kailyn said with a slight giggle as she floated the comb up. Separating Ela's hair into manageable parts with her hands, she used her Semblance to draw the comb through Ela's dark hair. Having two hands to help get the rats out made combing her own hair super easy, and while Ela's hair was thicker, it wasn't much different.

"It's not, like, a physical device," she explained to Pericles while she worked. "You generally use antiquated diction, and you seem to struggle with idiomatic language. It's common with neurodivergent people, so while the average neurotypical brain needs a moment to grasp your meaning, it's not an issue when it comes to communicating." She finished Ela's hair, giving her freshly-combed locks a gentle toss to make sure she didn't miss any big rats.

"The combination of your out-of-fashion phraseology and the way you take things literally that a neurotypical would grok as an idiom just means that I need an extra second or two to lex your words before I parse them, and last night I just didn't have enough spoons." She shrugged. "Don't worry about it, is what I'm getting at."

[Pericles Herodotus Ozymandias]

Pericles nods along with Ela's determination, "You're far more knowledgeable in the matter than most. If you don't mind me asking, did you at one point study Mistral in particular or are you purely just well-versed in anthropological matters in general?"

As he listens in to Kailyn's explanation, Pericles seems a bit confused at first, but near the end a small light-bulb turns on in his head, "Ah, my apologies, I wasn't aware that you were neurodivergent, if you hadn't said anything I doubt I would have ever noticed. I'll do my best to clarify me meanings in the future so that I hopefully do not make communicating with you a chore on your end."

With his piece said, Pericles goes about packing up the few items he took out from his pack and dismantling the fortification and modifications to the terrain that they made in the day prior so as to not leave lasting damage on the ecosystem, "Forrest, would you be wiling to assist me with these botanical implements of yours?"

[Ela Motley]

Ela shakes her head a little as she looks to Pericles.
"You flatter me, but I just know a bit about most things, reading random trivia on the net and just reading a lot during my free time, so. I'm by far nor expert on the matter as you certainly are, but I know enough to partake in a conversation."
Ela explained, as she found herself reclining a little closer to Kailyn, mainly to make it easier for Kailyn to work on her hair, which she did a great job on, Ela felt relief as she shook her head a little, feeling her hair flowing freely again as all the knots were undone.
"Thank you Kailyn, you and your semblance are as skillful as ever."

Ela then put her mug in the snow, letting the rest heat melt the snow into water so she could wipe of the coffee stains with a tissue, before stowing it, as she then finally stood to her full height again.
"Alas, as Forest said, as long as the weather is good we should be able to reach Oakhearth soon, so as long as that is the case, let us travel."
She said, taking the time to pour the remainder of the hot chocolate and coffee into two thermos, just in case anyone needed a warm drink on the road.
Then, following Pericles and Forest example Ela started taking down the tents, adding them to the supplies and shouldering the massive backpack again as she was soon ready to hit the road, she sat the at the dying embers of the campfire for a little as she'd wait for the others to be ready to depart.