Red Skies at Night. [Nako!]

[Satra]

Tegan sent a letter a week in advance to her old babysitter asking for permission to impose on the Squirrel for a week or two while Tegan got her head straightened out a little.

Six years. Six years of attempting to make an empire for herself in the bitter cold of Solandria. She had her moment of glory, feeding her arrogance at the time. Now? She didn't even have a mound of dirt to be King of. Six years. In that time she lost her harem, a true lover, a finger, her left eye and her growing empire. Back home, her real home, she'd lost her father and a man who may as well have counted as blood. The world lost the Selkie Lakes and the Jossigy lost a bit of its humanity is ridding the world of the Lowlands. Yes all of this and the most she'd gained in the end was hard-earned wisdom and a sense of humility.

She'd come back to the Court of Hearts, made up with her mother, visited graves and visited with family. Now it was time to visit some extended family while she relaxed a little and figured out where to go from here. After all that cold, a little warmth would be appreciated.

Her carriage arrived at its location and she stepped out. "C'mon, girl," she called softly to her bander. The critter snuffled, discontent at the warmth but obeyed her master.

[Nako]

It really was quite the occasion; Zuberi didn't get near enough company for her liking. When the letter had come to her from Tegan she'd immediately wrote back, expressing her enthusiasm to have the girl come stay a while. With all the craziness that had happened and the loss of many good friends of Selkie blood, seeing those she considered family would be a great change of pace.

And what a good time for a Solandrian mix to come to the Midori; the winter months were at least low 80s during the heat of the day.

The foreign sound of a carriage on the shore brought her out of a light nap she'd been taking, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with a webbed fist as she attempted to clamber out of her hammock.


"Maaaaaa, someone's here." Davy drawled from his seat by the window, looking down most intently at a small piece of wood in his hands that he was carving… a small fertility doll of a particularly buxom appearance, the species of card still unidentifiable.

"I know dat, and it be Tegan. Ya remember her, doncha?"

Davy gave a shrug in response, which made Zuberi roll her 'good' eye. Kids were real pains in the ass during these teenage years.

She hardly let Tegan get to her doorstep before she pulled the door open, beaming brightly as her strange wings fluttered behind her. "Tegan! MiGAD gul', you've grown up! Come in, come in!"

[Satra]

[Sorry for crappiness. I just needed to get a post out. >> ]

A smile spread across her face when the Midori woman greeted her warmly. Suits, she was gorgeous for her age. Tegan suspected some kind of magical item or potion may have been the source of it. Can't hold it against her, though. Considering her own now missing eye and and missing toe (as well as other various and far less obvious scars), she knew the surprises magical items contained.

"Zuberi, it's lovely to see you again. I guess it has been a while, huh?" 6 years she'd been gone away in the Glacier... before then, when was the last time she'd seen Zuberi? Well, that didn't matter. She was here now. She held back a laugh when she spotted the figure in Davy's hand.

"I see I'm not the only one whose grown."

[Nako]

Yes, grown up really was only the half of it. This girl had went through some kind of craziness if she now needed to wear a patch over an eye. She could relate on that… perhaps she would later delight (or horrify!) the young woman later with the fun trick she could do by switching the placement of her eyes in her head. It was always a great one at parties.

"Heh! Davy snorted, cutting his eyes up at the woman when he became aware of her scrutiny "No faster a rate than anyone else, I reckon. Well, aside from ma, she be defyin' da laws of physics I suppose.."

"-Someone- be tryin' to get back on me good side." Zuberi glared as Davy began to look very intent on cleaning some of the wood shavings off his fur. "He decided it'd be a good idea to crash a boat."

"In my defense, I didn't know those waters very well." Davy countered, getting up from his comfortable seat. "But enough about me -horrific- blunders. How ya doing? Are ya thirsty?"

"What a good idea! Go get us something."

Davy paused. That obviously hadn't been his plan, but he quietly walked to the kitchen area.

[Satra]

Tegan just smiled through the exchange of banter between mother and son. She made an sarcastic 'oh!' face at the mention of a crashed boat. She bit her lip as Zuberi turned the conversation around to get rid of the teen boy. That was fine with Tegan. She had a low tolerance for males, especially of the teenage variety. Davy was fine, but she suspected he would fall into the stereotypical habits that made Tegan want to issue a Club strength enhanced hit to the groin. Siku found some lizard to harass in the meantime.

Tegan didn't bring very much luggage with her. She wanted to keep it simple. The carriage driver waited patiently through the greetings as she'd finish unloading quickly. Tegan excused herself, paid the driver and brought her bag back up to the porch.

"Too bad you sent him in before he could be a gentleman and take this in for me, huh?" she joked. She gently leaned against Zuberi, "How have you been?"

[Nako]

Zuberi laughed delightedly and mussed Tegan's hair with her good hand as the woman leaned against her. "Ohoho, perhaps, but it be more hilarious to t'row him into da kitchen. Not a worry, dear. I'm a club, after all. Old, but still a club."

She moved toward the bags and hefted them easily enough, piling them onto her arm. "Oh, well enough! If it weren't for that damned heron constantly pestering' me about dem issues in the Court of Clubs. I canne' solve dey issues!" She outright fumed as she carried the bags into the house, putting them down on the floor.. with a snap.

"Ah, Fuckery, dat!" Zuberi cursed, pulling up her crippled left hand where her split middle finger now hung backward rather uselessly.

Davy, who was squeezing some random fruit, quickly abandoned the chore and rushed to his mother's side. "Mah! Ye alright? Migad… ya finger.."

"Ah-ne… t'was fucked already…" Zuberi murmured, clutching the wounded hand to her as she shook.

[Satra]

"Heron?" Tegan knew there was some bird in office at the court. For the longest time she thought it was an Egret... Oops, heh. "Why is he bothering you about them? He's not honestly expecting you to solve them, is he? And he's not... blurting out any court secrets...?" While Tegan liked secrets, especially ones she could use to protect herself or use them against others if needed... someone in the court, HER SUIT'S Court, just letting loose secrets to get outside help? Well, that thought didn't exactly leave her comfortable. She hoped it was just her imagination running wild with the implication. She was flung out of her mildly paranoid musings at the sound of the snap and Zuberi's cursing.

"Zuberi!" she cried and raced to her side. Wow, this... really sucked. She mentally reached into what little medical knowledge she had. Was ice appropriate in this moment? If so, where would they get some. Tegan was pretty sure the local flora, fauna and residents would not appreciate Tegan's method of obtaining something cold. Still, if it was better for Zuberi, then fuck them.

"Davy, go get a doctor," she commanded in a calm voice. He would know where one was. "I'll stay with her."

[Nako]

Davy stalled only for a moment, pure unadulterated worry for his mother plain on his face. It pained him to leave her side… but finally the vermin tore himself away and bolted out the door, nearly slamming into the doorway in his haste.

Zuberi shakily sat down on a mat, cradling the ruined fingers with the other as she avoided looking at them.

"Should have had em removed.. so long ago. Always hoped I'd save it." She said it more to herself than to Tegan, closing her eyes to block out the pain. It was one of the only times she wished she could be a heart.. just for that damned pain blocking ability.

"I love ya family Tegan.. but if dere anyt'ing dey take advantage of it be pain. Us clubs we take it.. we work through it." A grimace, and a sigh. "It… not be like dat. I got pulled into da Courts shit far more dan I be wanting to. Offered to help em where I could but… dey too fucked at da core to be helped by me… goddamn dis hand!" The explicative was shouted out with a stamp of her bare foot.

"Broke ass hand and goin' on about da damned courts. A right bit o' fuckery, dat is. Mah priorities are a might on da screwed side."

[Satra]

Tegan readied herself to snap at the boy before he left. She understood his concern, but the longer he waited, the longer Zuberi was in pain and not getting her finger treated. She felt relief when he finally left and nestled up to Zuberi, nudging her gently with her nose. Several displeased grunts emitting from the pacing bander in the meantime. Tegan laughed lightly at the mention of Hearts, but let Zuberi finish before speaking.

"Pff, the Courts. Well, clearly you are subjecting yourself to a new pain to forget about the pain you're already in." Tegan nudged her, trying to keep the energy positive. Sure, it wouldn't take away the pain, but Tegan knew pain. Not dwelling on the misery was a good way to lessen the pain. "I feel useless. Here I am, a snow and ice element controller and I can't just make a handful of ice for numb the pain..."

Her mind wandered. The Courts. Even with her horrid political failure in the Glacier, she couldn't help but think about joining the Court of Clubs. Hell, if she could obtain actual land in the Glacier in only 6 years, what could she do in a less harsh environment? She kept these thoughts to herself, though. No need for them right now. Maybe over a bit of rum when Zuberi was feeling better.

[Nako]

Zuberi let out a rather coarse laugh. "Don' feel bad; leanings toward magic that do good to people instead a hurtin' em be a common trend. Very well guilty of it myself."

"Guilty of not coming to me for that finger years ago." A wretched voice piped up as a severely overweight avian huffed through the door. She was pure Midori, but the amalgamation of avian characteristics made her look like a rather sad looking pigeon, or perhaps a quail. If the quail had been crossed with a very ugly sort of stork, anyways. Wow. "I be thinking it's about time to cut off dat gnarled finger o' yours."

Zuberi visibly cringed away from the impossibly old bird, but her hand was snatched up by the gnarled hand of the biped and turned it over. "Ah'ne… No saving dis one." The bird's scrutinous pink eye rolled toward the Solandrian mix for a moment. "Funny, seein' Solandrians in da Midori. Are ye not a little hot, girl?"