Posted Nov. 10, 2021, 2:43 p.m. by Civilian Seamus McKenzie (Future Citizen) (James Sinclair)
Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Earth - Seek And Ye Shall Find… Whether You Want To Or Not
Posted by Civilian Seamus McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Earth - Seek And Ye Shall Find… Whether You Want To Or Not
Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Earth - Seek And Ye Shall Find… Whether You Want To Or Not
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻(snip)
“Come and sit, Oddvar Edman…” a voice said out of the darkness. Tara had apparently doubled back, and was now sitting on a large rock by the nearby stream. “Let the younger ones frolic and chase. We should save our breath for talking, wouldn’t you agree?” and she pointed to the rock next to hers.A slight smirk graced Oddvar’s mouth as he turned and looked at Tara. He didn’t bow, but the gesture he made was extremely old world and graceful. He walked over, bent and scooped up a handful of rocks from the bank of the stream. Then he half sat, half leaned against the rock next to her. Oddvar looked across the stream as several of the ‘younger ones’ raced across the open ground enjoying the ‘game,’ and he grinned at their antics. He sifted through the rocks in his hand, discarding several. “I would agree, Lady Tara. It is the changing of a new era,” then recalling that last display by his nieces, “Or maybe the returning of one, eh?” He looked over at Tara, “Are you pleased with the day’s outcomes, Tara?”
Tara was silent for a long moment, deep in thought as she contemplated the day’s events… and what they meant for the future. “Pleased… is a word, yes. I am happy for the boys. I am happy for your nieces. I am happy for my clan. But all of that is tempered with a strong amount of sorrow. I feel for Capall. I always… always… knew he was a good lad. I just never had a chance to help him. The same for Michael. They are cut of the same cloth… better than the sum of their parts; but made to pay for the sins of those who came before them. And while I know they each have the shoulders strong enough to carry such weight and not falter under it… I wonder how high they could have risen without it.” and she took a deep breath and shook her head while reaching into the folds of her dress and pulling out a surprisingly large flask. She unscrewed the top and took a truly impressive pull before wordlessly and without looking handing it to Oddvar. “But such thoughts are for ruminating later, I suppose. There is still much to be done…”
“And without all that they may not have risen how far they have come. The fire can be cruel but it always tempers the best in the metal. Your grandsons and my nieces will rule the world. Oddvar took the flask taking an equally impressive pull and sighed and shook himself out of distant memories. “Right now might be an equally good time to ruminate, Tara. There is much to be done, but it is there’s to do. We can only stand by and watch, and help should they ask. But what about for you, hmm? What will the formidable Lady Tara do now that you are relieved of the weight? What is the first thing you want to do?”
“I’m going on vacation, actually. I’ve never left Earth. So in two weeks… I am. I’m taking six months and touring the stars. I may even try to see this station my grandson now calls home. Maybe get lucky and see your niece’s ship, too.” and she smiled a half-smile. “I’ve spent the last thirty years living for everyone else… I think I earned a break.”
“Aye I think you’ve earned more than a break. Just don’t forget to come back and visit us little folks, we’ll miss you.” Oddvar grinned. He’d seen it, people going off just to say they had gone to the stars and never come back - not really. For himself he’d been curious but never enough to go. But he worried about both clans. Mike and Revna leaving to return to their life out there. He didn’t see how a chief could lead their clan from out there, but he was an old man now and a bit stuck in his ways. If anyone could find a way to do it it would be Revna and Mike. He passed back the flask he was still holding. “If that’s somewhere you want to visit, tell Revna. Apparently she’s kind of a big deal these days. Between her and Michael, I’m sure they can make anything happen you’d like to see or experience.”
Tara nodded thoughtfully and then took a drink. She stared out into the darkness for a long time in silence and then said “I don’t want to be romantic with anyone, Oddvar. But I would like you to come with me. Don’t ask me why… just say yes. Or say no, and that will be fine as well. I’ll still come back and we can have dinner. I’ll tell you all about my travels. But I think I’d rather share them with a friend. Someone who I can trust… because trust has been in such short supply around here, I don’t want to not have it.” and she turned and looked at him, her eyes looking to see how he reacted to the invitation.
Runa ran, half heartedly. She usually enjoyed dodging and evading and hiding out till morning, but not tonight. She ran into a group of trees and slipped behind one and leaned up against it quietly.
Capall walked into the stand of trees and listened for a moment. “Runa…” he said to the darkness, “…I know the importance of tradition… but I never really felt it. So I have a suggestion. What if we were to go somewhere… right now… and you can explain… show me what I have been missing?” and he listened for her.
There was a soft intake of breath, Runa loved the way he said her name. Her voice came quietly from beside and just behind him. “And where would we go, min kjærlighet (my love)? I would go anywhere with you.” Then she moved, changing her location. She was quiet but not really trying to hide from him, she was just teasing. Then from directly behind him, “And what do you want me to show you?”
Capall was silent for a long moment, and then he whispered “What love is.”
Oh this dear sweet man, the people who should have been his family had better pray they never met her, anywhere, ever. She closed the distance between them, one arm wrapping around his waist, the other taking his bandaged left hand in her bandaged hand, “This is love, Capall. The love a woman who cares for all those around her, no matter who they are, to heal them before they know they need it.” She pointed toward the stream where they could barely see Tara and Oddvar, “That’s love. Two people who could be very lonely in a moment like this, but instead they can find comfort and peace together. And there, that tent, full of the littles, all piled together, watched over by the teenagers. They volunteered to watch them, forgoing their own traditions.” There was laughter and shouting and Runa turned to look. Her mother was taunting her father, dodging out of the way behind a group of younger men and women who were split down the middle on who was helping Helka or Cuyler.
“Oh No Cuyler! Last time you tried to snatch me up you fell on your backside and dropped me!” Cuyler grinned and from their vantage point they could see him waving people around to different places. “Aye I did, and ya doused me with frozen fjord water for it. Lucky me, you haven’t got any fjord water this time.” Helka got nudged right into Cuyler, and several ladies got away but several more got caught as well. Runa laughed softly, “And that…that was all kinds of love. Some times it makes us do incredibly foolish things that brings joy to everyone around.” Runa pulled her micropadd out of her pocket and pulled up the video from the night before. The one of Seamus trying to extract Helka from Cuyler and Mike getting himself knocked out by the tannery sign. “You really should know about this,” and she laughed.
Capall watched and then smiled and shook his head. “Michael is certainly one for taking a beating, thats for certain.” he said softly as they walked along.
“Now, where are you taking me…Capall…so I can show you what you really want to know?”
Capall looked around. There were people all over, although some were fading off into the darkness for reasons of their own. After a moment, he looked down at Runa and said “Follow me.” and he took her hand and led her back to the main road into the estate, to the gate to the grounds, out, and back towards the town. “Like I said… I have an apartment. And I’m not Seamus. I prefer an actual mattress and running water when I relax.” and he chuckled.
Runa followed along, honestly not surprised as he led her out. There were a few cat calls as they passed. Runa paused long enough to kiss Capall’s cheek and then shouted something back in Norwegian that had some laughing and some disappearing again. She smiled and squeezed his arm where her hand was tucked. “A real mattress and running water, and books. We must have books Capall.”
He looked down at her and said “Well… that will on the list of things we need, then.” and he led her into the small town, down the street, and to the door. He opened it with the keypad and then led her upstairs to a small landing. Another door opened and they entered a single room apartment. “It’s not much, but it’s comfortable.” Capall said without any hint of embarrassment or shame.
Runa liked it. She’d worked on top of the line star ships, star bases, all around the quadrant, and her quarters were usually about the same size. But this wasn’t sterile, it was home, his home, well one of them. Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, she would take him to Bømlo and show him their home. She walked a little ways past him as he shut the door and then turned to face him. “A small amount of material things does not mean there is a lack of something. It allows you to live uncluttered and undistracted. To give focus to the things that matter.” Runa slowly stepped into him, taking his hands and setting them against her waist, and then she ran her hands up his arms to rest on his shoulders. She stared into his eyes for a long moment before she closed her own and kissed him. It was gentle and lingering and certain. It allowed them to experience and recognize the heat and electricity between them and to learn how they fit together.
After long moments Runa slowly stopped kissing him. He asked her to show him what love was. Pulling back just enough to whisper to him. “Now, you can tell me everything that you brought with you here, why you brought it, why it’s important. I want to know what is important to you and why it is. I want to know everything about you, Capall. Or…” she grinned and winked at him, “you can promise to tell me later, and kiss me again, instead.”
Capall smiled and bent low, scooping Runa slowly off the floor and carrying her to the bed, kissing her and turning off the lights as he laid her down…
Mike watched the Clan… his clan… celebrate and become one. He stood on the steps to the manor and smiled. Looking around, he saw Revna and waved, but didn’t run. He just smiled…
And then he winked.
And then he turned and walked towards the Manor, his kilt swaying with his step.
The McKenzie Clan
Revna was standing off to the side watching. Home, Family, Clan all the things that mattered to her. She looked around for Mike. He wasn’t going to run after her, she knew that, but he would chase her in his own way. The problem was there was no way of knowing what that way would be. She spotted him on the steps and the sight of him took her breath away. While she was contemplating how quickly they could be done with this tradition, he winked at her. Revna’s heart took off and she flushed. That wasn’t fair, he was cheating, and she loved it. But she dodged around the side of the manor anyway.
By the time Mike made it through the front door of the manor, Revna had already entered from a side door and was standing in the main room waiting for him. She smiled at him and started walking towards him, using the split in the skirt to full advantage. “Michael McKenzie, we have a problem. You’ve been winking at me all day and you haven’t done anything about it. I even put this dress on for you because it’s your favorite.” She stopped just an inch away from him. “Now if you don’t hurry up and kiss me, I might loose my mind.”
Revna
Mike smiled and leaned down and barely brushed his lips against hers. “Then I guess you will have to lose your mind, then, wife. And you are only half-right about the dress. It’s my favorite of your clothes… but we both know you in clothes is not my favorite.” and he kissed her quickly and then dashed for the stairs, bounding up them two and three at a time; his kilt bouncing and giving her the briefest glimpses of what it meant to wear a kilt ‘properly’.
The McKenzies
Revna huffed, that man needed to come back and kiss her properly. She leaned against a chair and watched him race up the stairs. She didn’t run, she was tired, and she couldn’t out pace him anyway. A slow steady breath and she climbed the stairs and laughed. “Mike…” her voice trailed after him. “Wrong way. I already found a room.” She turned in the opposite direction he had gone. “I may need help with our preferred dress code. Oh and leave the kilt on for me, my love.” Revna had found this room when she’d changed earlier and had checked, no one used it. She left the door cracked and then the sound of a piano came drifting down the hallway. The only song Revna knew how to play and then, softly her voice joined the piano.
The Edmans
Mike listened and walked slowly to the room where Revna was. He leaned in the doorway and listened as she played and sang.
The McKenzies
The room was massive, the ceiling at least 2 stories high if not more. The room was filled with instruments - strings, brass, woodwind, bag pipes, percussion, even some off-world ones. Revna was sitting a full size grand piano made of maple and spruce, stained to showcase the natural grain and beauty of the wood. Revna felt a bit like a child caught touching a priceless painting with sticky fingers playing such an instrument. The lid was open and if the sound was beautiful from the hall, inside the room it was pure, rich, complex and soaring. The ceiling built to create amazing and complex acoustics in the room. The room had two balconies, one facing south and the front of the manor and the other the west side. There was a holographic fireplace that replaced a real one, to protect the instruments from smoke. Beside it a very comfortable pallet had been arranged and a bottle of spiced Paannaaq Edman Mead was warming beside it.
Revna’s voice faded slowly as she played the last of the melody. She looked over at him, smiled and slid of the bench and walked over towards him, taking his hand and pulling him into the room and then into her arms. She rested one hand along his cheek and looked up at him. “So now you are Chief Michael. How are you feeling, my love?” Revna knew he didn’t want this, or he hadn’t. They’d made a mad dash home, to help Tara, to right the wrong Argyle had committed, to protect Ragna and Seamus. To protect his, their clan from total destruction. He hated having been backed into this, and this was the first chance Revna had to be just them.
The Edman-McKenzies
“Like I just played opener for the Clash, the Damned, Dropkick, Rancid, The Adolescents, Anti-Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Queen all at the same time.” and he rubbed his head. “And then a bunch of Jarkadian boy-band fans rushed the stage.” and he chuckled. He looked at the pallet and said “So is that open for guests? Or does housekeeping still need to make up the room?”
The McKenzies
Revna shook her head and walked past him, closed and locked the door. “If anyone comes in here I will skewer them on my sword. Right now, it is only us.” In truth Revna wasn’t sure she would get used to having ‘house keeping’ it made her feel uncomfortable. She stepped back over to him, barely brushed her lips on his and then taking his hand pulled him over to the pallet, “Come on, shoes and cloaks off, get comfortable.”
Edman-McKenzies
Mike dropped the cloak, the belt, the sword, and kicked off his shoes. “Comfortable… yes… that sounds perfect.” and he laid down and exhaled as his head hit the pillow. “Ok… we either drink right now or I fall asleep where we are.” he said with a chuckle and barely stifled yawn.
McKenzies
Revna toed off her shoes, removed her belt, broaches, the circlet, but the braids would have to wait. She sat down next to him, leaned down and kissed him, and then sat up letting him rest against her lap, “Drinks can wait,” she yawned, not even bothering to hide it. There must have been a mattress under all those blankets because it was really comfortable. The day had seemed more like a week. “Just so you know, I may not be here when you wake up. Something about you can see the bride before the wedding ceremony....but we’re already married. But I can’t promise some evil twin of mine won’t come and try to steal me away.” She traced his face with her fingertips. “I won’t be far though, promise.” She was as ready as Mike to sleep, but she had a deep need to not let go of the moment yet. Her hands worked gently at the muscles in his neck, shoulders, and arms, until eventually coming to a stop, to rest over his heart.
Edmans
“Ok, wife. I know. And I’m just a yell away if things go to shite and we… we… hafta… do… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” and Mike was out like a light.
The McKenzies
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