[open post!]

[ravkanwitch]

Nina misses Ketterdam.

Make no mistake, she is Ravkan through and through; her pride for her country is one of her largest defining features (and she has many delightful defining features). But when she allows herself a moment to think, it is the hustle and bustle of Ketterdam that she misses. The ships in the harbor, the vendors hawking in the Barrel, the shops, the friends, the noise, the friends--

There’s always a weariness to the initial dance of friendship. Of her new acquaintances, only two are aware of her abilities and only one of them - Shen Qingqiu - even has an inkling of their full extent. Fortunately, that also means there’s room to grow…

She’s found hot chocolate and now she’s seated somewhere, sipping at it and reminiscing about Ketterdam, wondering what Inej and Jesper and Kaz and everyone must be doing right now.

Comments

[timebethine]

The door of Nina's room flies open; a young man spills through, leading another by the hand. His companion's clothes are badly burnt, and one of his hands is mummified in a giant mitten of a bandage that oozes clear ointment. "My lady," calls Laertes. "Do you know where we might find a physician? My friend has suffered hurts on his hand."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina immediately leaps up from where she is seated, instinctively at the ready. She notes that she has not met either of these gentlemen yet.

“I’m not sure—“ She takes a closer look at the bandage on the arm and breathes in sharply, instinctively heading closer to take a look. “Saints, what happened?”

[onthewillowsthere]

His thin, pale face probably reminds her of Kaz's; his jawline is sharp as a knife. The similarities end there, though. "I burned myself." It sounds almost like it could have been an accident. He's very calm now.

[timebethine]

"I knew not how to tend his hurts," says Laertes, a little desperately. "Nor how grave they were. Please, if you know where we might find any help--"

[ravkanwitch]

They do remind her of the Crows, getting into this scrape or that scrape and coming to her for help afterwards, back when she had-- She swallows, redirecting her attention to the matter at hand.

"I don't think I know of any..." She trails off, narrowing her eyes a little. "A burn? What happened with that bandage? May I take a look, please?"

[onthewillowsthere]

He offers his bandaged hand without comment (it still hurts, very much, and he still thinks he might throw up again, but it's a good reminder. Fire hurts).

[timebethine]

"The bandage is my fault," Laertes says in an undertone, watching Nina work (hoping that she knows the physician's art better than he does). "I knew not what else to do."

[rememberettersberg]

Nightingale often finds himself haunting the empty areas of the mansion like an extraordinarily well-dressed ghost. There are so many new arrivals he has yet to meet and so much drama he hears about only in snatches of conversation as he passes through the kitchens or the gardens, but it all seems like too much effort to engage with. Lost in thought, he smells the hot chocolate before he sees the woman drinking it, and pauses awkwardly in the centre of the room. "Apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt."

[ravkanwitch]

"Oh, no-" Nina says, with a small friendly smile. She lowers her mug of hot chocolate. "No interruption at all! Just indulging my sweet tooth. I don't think we've met yet?"

[rememberettersberg]

"Ah, no. I'm not often inclined to be part of the welcoming committee." He smiles back, sheepish. "And I appear to be becoming rather out of touch. Have you been here long?"

[ravkanwitch]

"I've been here about a week. I'm Nina, by the way." She's started to feel more comfortable and skip the curtsying, so she extends a hand in greeting this time.

[rememberettersberg]

He shakes her hand, bowing a little in what would be considered an old-fashioned way in his time and place. "Nightingale. How are you settling in?"

[ravkanwitch]

“I’m… it’s been a little tough, if I’m going to be honest.” She laughs a little. “Not being here, necessarily, but the situations I’ve already gotten involved in here. You?”

[sagramore]

Sagramore leans in the doorframe, tall enough that it seems a little cramped for him. "Lady Nina."

[ravkanwitch]

"What a pleasant surprise!" Nina says, smiling. "Did you want some hot chocolate?"

[sagramore]

"I have no idea what that is, but it sounds infinitely more pleasant than anything I could craft for myself."

[ravkanwitch]

“Let me make you some,” she says, starting to boil some water. She’s figured out how to use the automated kettle and she’s really proud of herself. Some of the Etherealki would be fascinated by what she’s learned lately. “How have you been?”

[sagramore]

"I exist in a constant state of contentment; I'm always well," lightly. "Also, I've learned to make eggs on toast."

[ravkanwitch]

“No,” Nina says in what could either be mock or true disbelief. “I’ll believe it when I see it! Here… be careful though, it’s hot.”

She hands a mug of hot chocolate to Sagramore.

[protagonisthalo]

Claudius has put Luo Binghe in a foul mood he cannot shake. The man underestimated him—he thought Luo Binghe's power was something to be played with, to tease him about. Luo Binghe put him in his place. Even now, Claudius must regret not acquiescing to Luo Binghe's superior strength. And yet, why does satisfaction still elude him? Why doesn't he feel as though he's won?

It has only been three years since Luo Binghe escaped the Endless Abyss, that ever-shifting pit of terrors where his only imperative was survival. The place still lives inside him. There is a hollow wasteland deep in his core that feels no less hostile, and no less inescapable. Luo Binghe has always been able to beat it back by surrounding himself with riches, loyal subjects and adoring wives. Here he is stripped of all three, and cannot seem to win them again.

Claudius' refusal to cower puts him in mind of Shen Qingqiu, and not the one here. The one suffering in the dungeon even now, because Luo Binghe cannot think of anything to do to him that he hasn't already done, and yet the debt Shen Qingqiu incurred still feels unpaid. Even Liu Mingyan has advised him to let Shen Qingqiu die. But if he does, he might never learn how to make the man answer for what Luo Binghe became under his care. There is little that frightens him more. He grits his teeth and sends another pulse of pain in Claudius' direction, for causing these thoughts that haunt him like stormclouds.

It is with great relief that he passes by a doorway and catches sight of Nina within, the one person here who seems to understand him. He has been waiting to cross paths with her again, and just now it is sorely needed.

"Cherished Nina," he greets her. "I have thought of you often since we last met."

[ravkanwitch]

A lot has happened to Nina since her last encounter with Luo Binghe. The strange meeting with Laertes and the burnt young man without a name. The discussion with Shen Qingqiu in the kitchen. Two different meetings highlighting two very different versions of Nina. She’s… been thinking. Thinking a lot about choices, revenge, and diverging paths.

What if they had been successful at the Ice Court? What if she had been better, had been more cold, and not so helpless and naive with Jarl Brum. What if she had killed him right then and there? A successful jailbreak, no jurda parem, no loss of her abilities, and then maybe Matthias—

She looks up as Binghe enters the room, giving him a small smile. “Luo Binghe,” she replies. “No wonder I feel so tired.”

Her heart isn’t quite in the joke, though - and as she looks at him, she can see that his heart isn’t quite right either. He seemed tired when they met in the kitchen - but now he seems… tense. In turmoil. “How are you?”

[protagonisthalo]

Luo Binghe wonders what has happened to make her so tired; if anyone has troubled her, Claudius will not be the last to feel his wrath. He's grateful for the question, and the opportunity to discuss his thoughts. But first—

"Do you like sweet things?" He fumbles for his storage ring, and takes out some honey osmanthus cakes wrapped in a square of cloth, prepared with her in mind.

[ravkanwitch]

“My one weakness,” she beams. In truth, she has many weakness - but sweets is a good one to leverage. She takes the gift and unwraps the cloth, pausing, touched by the gesture.

Quieter, “Thank you.”

[protagonisthalo]

"A simple gesture in return for kindness when it was much needed." Luo Binghe has no shortage of wives who will extol his looks and prowess in battle or in the bedchamber, but those who will listen to the dark screed inside his head are vanishingly few. "To answer your question... How could I be but well? I have neutralized a threat, and I don't believe he'll challenge me again. And yet..."

His talk with Crowley; the question of Shen Qingqiu; the creeping sense that his position here is precarious, no matter how he tries to secure it. "Perhaps it's my nature. Contentment has never been more than a passing acquaintance."

[ravkanwitch]

And yet. Isn’t that just it? Before she was swept away from it all, Nina was serving the Ravkan First Army the way she had always dreamt of as a young Grisha, doing what Matthias had asked of her, and righting injustices - and yet…

“It’s feels like there’s always something, doesn’t it? For me, especially lately, there’s some sense… that it’s all wrong. That… maybe the path I’ve chosen to take doesn’t bring me the happiness I want it to or thought it would.” She bites her lip a little, turning pensive, then laughs. “Maybe there’s something in my nature as well.”