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rainbowfic2025-11-26 08:46 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2025-11-26 08:46 pm
Azul #20; Warm Heart #22 [Starfall]
Name: Missteps
Story: Starfall
Colors: Warm Heart #22 (Sorry); Azul #20 (Zest)
Supplies and Styles: Giftwrap + Silhouette + Novelty Beads (Oct Spooky Challenge 2020 - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0g7cdJCp91r6aoq4o1_500.gif & September Secrets 11 Years of Rainbow fic - "It's in the palm of your hand now baby/It's a yes or no, no maybe" - Dark Horse, Katy Perry") + Pastels (allbingo square "Bouquet of Withered Flowers - Rejected Love").
Word Count: 2361
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1313, Portcallan. Leion Valerno/Viyony Eseray, Kettah Jadinor, Diyela Eseray, Aolla Gerro, Vin Lorras.
Summary: Leion and Viyony attend the first night of the Sea Festival. Nothing goes according to plan.
Gathering 14, Poll 5
Viyony stepped into Aliate Green, gazing upwards at broad-leafed trees draped with blue, green and silver ribbons of fabric and similarly coloured curled paper and metallic foil streamers. Whole strings of tiny lightstone lamps were hung up by silver cord ropes in various corners of the park, or between trees or pillars. Under their glow, a mass of people gathered in the large open space, all dressed in the same sea colours as the decorations; beads, sequins and jewellery catching the light as they moved. A warm breeze wound its way through the park, ruffling gauzy, insubstantial fabric and causing lamps and streamers to sway.
Viyony rotated a full circle on the spot, taking it in. Leion laughed and caught her hand, pulling her after him, taking care not to lose her in the crush. They were decked out in festival garb, too—Viyony wearing shell-shaped silver pins in her hair, long strings of tiny dirty-blue beads, and a light, full-length aquamarine dress edged with silver trim while Leion had chosen a pale, sandy-coloured shirt and dark green trousers—and a ridiculous amount of paper streamers heaped around his neck.
"What now?" Viyony asked, raising her voice over the music and loud hum of people talking and laughing.
Leion moved close enough to be able to say, at a more regular volume, "Dance. See?"
Viyony wasn't sure anyone nearby was dancing properly at all, or not to any pattern that she knew. They moved about freely to the music. One or two danced more formally with each other in steps that she vaguely recognised, but they were taking no more heed of what other people were doing than the rest. She frowned. "I couldn't! Not like that."
"Yes, you can," he said, navigating her nearer to the platform where the musicians were playing. It was surrounded by what looked to her like a wild Pollean cult of musical devotees, all jumping about. He met her gaze. "Remember the High Council opening, where we met? All formality and nothing else. This is its exact and equal opposite. Come on!"
"You can't just do that. That's not how dancing works!"
Leion held onto her. "Follow my lead. We'll do the Copperfort Canter and never mind everyone else. You can manage that, yes?"
"There's no space," she protested, but she was already laughing. She let him lead her into a skipping motion, his arm around her waist and his other hand clasping hers. They had to keep far more tightly together than was advisable for the dance he'd chosen and dodge around other people dancing to an entirely different beat, Leion constantly shedding coloured bits of paper as they went. It was absurd, but then—this was Portcallan.
Viyony relaxed into it, focusing on staying upright and not letting go of Leion, and before long, she was laughing so helplessly for no reason at all that Leion had to guide her to the side, away from the crowd. They took shelter under a tree; paper streamers making coloured waves over their heads.
"See?" Leion said, grinning. He kept his arm around her. "Nothing to it. You're a natural!"
Viyony leant against him, her laughter subsiding, leaving her weak and breathless.
"Shall I fetch you a drink?" he offered.
She gripped his wrist. "No, Leion—don't go. I need to tell you—I thought about everything, and I decided."
"And?" She could feel his body tense.
Viyony raised her head. "It is ridiculous of me to make such a fuss about nothing, isn't it? Us sleeping together doesn't mean anything at all—we both know that. Just a passing affair, the way we always said. So, I decided. It doesn't matter—why not?"
"No," said Leion, drawing back sharply. "No."
The ground tilted. Viyony was suddenly standing under a different tree, in spring, not summer, petals trodden in the ground, so like the bits and pieces of paper underfoot here, now. The game's up, Guilleot had said to her, out of the blue. None of it was real, none of it was true. Her pulse thumped in her ears, sickening her and deafening her to everything else. Leion stared back at her, and she wasn't sure if he'd said anything else or not. He was too far away from the place in the past where she had gone.
She stepped back, holding up a hand to ward him off, and then swung around, and ran. Her long necklace of beads caught on a low, reaching branch, and snapped as she tore onwards. She pushed her way through the crush of party-goers trailing bright ocean-coloured seeds of nothing behind her as she went.
"Viyony!" said Leon. "Viyony, don't—come back!" He stepped forward, his path immediately blocked by a tight cluster of other people. He cursed them under his breath—them and Viyony. Of course he hadn't meant it like that—she had no call to go charging off in such an overblown way—and if she didn't want him to react badly, then why did she always have to be so insulting?
He pushed forward into the crowds, struggling to keep her sight, the flare of anger rapidly dying away into an urgent need to kick himself. But, still—she should have known he hadn't meant no, he'd meant not like that. She couldn't go round claiming she liked him too much to have an affair and how much them being friends made a difference one moment and then tell him he meant nothing to her the next.
Vague thoughts of Viyony confiding in him about Guilleot, or whatever his name was, intruded into his mind, pointedly and too late. He brushed his hair back from his face and swore.
"Leio!" Someone suddenly caught hold of his arm.
He turned sharply, in instant relief. "Viyony!" But it wasn't; it was his sister Kettah who had emerged from the mass of party-goers. He shook her off. "Ket. Sorry—I can't stop!"
"Well, that's nice," she complained. "I've hardly seen you for three or four weeks and that's all you can say? You promised me a dance tonight."
He gripped her shoulder briefly. "Yes, and I will, if I can, but I have to find Viyony first—I've lost her. You didn't see her, did you?"
Kettah shook her head. She drew in breath and then shut her mouth, before screwing up her face and saying, in a hasty breath, "Might be more sensible to let her go. I mean, she's got that weird marriage of hers coming up and this seems a bit -" She shrugged. "Your affair, I suppose."
"If only," said Leion. "Look, I brought her here—I need to keep an eye on her, but I was an idiot—an obnoxious idiot! I have to find her."
"Well, I didn't see her anywhere," said Kettah. She stared out at the field, crammed with people. "Good luck?"
Leion sagged against the gatepost at the main entrance to Aliate Green, and kicked at its stone base. "Burn it. Shit." He stared back in through the metal bars of the open gate, without much hope. Had Viyony stayed, lost in the crowd, or gone home?
"Running off when obviously I hadn't finished what I was saying," he muttered, but his irritation was half-hearted, flattened by increasing worry. He didn't even know why he'd taken her stupid, so Viyony-like proposition so badly. It was only—he failed to explain it to himself, and then a sudden, unwelcome memory went through his mind, of Atino sneering at him, telling him he'd never sleep with someone like him. Not that he still cared about Atino, or that this was in any way the same, but was a little enthusiasm too much to ask for in a prospective partner?
He laughed aloud, then. This was Viyony he was talking about; of course it was. A grudging maybe was worth more than a whole declaration of affection from anyone else. He grimaced, his insides twisting at the thought that he could have been with her now. "I'm an idiot!" he said loudly enough to cause the nearest passing reveller to edge away from him.
Leion sighed. He'd give anything to find out what she'd even be like in that department, and if he'd somehow sunk his chances with a careless word, he didn't know what he'd do. There was the other issue of where she'd gone—of course Viyony could take care of herself, but she had been upset, and there were people in this city who meant harm to both of them.
He rested his hand on the gatepost, taking one last look at the crowded, noisy green, and then turned his back on music and laughter and the enticing smell of the food sellers' wares—sweet and savoury scents mingling in the air. He walked away—time to check whether or not Viyony had returned home, to the Gerro house.
Aolla Gerro answered the door, and before Leion could speak, turned and called for Diyela. "Leion Valerno is here." Then she looked back at Leion. "Did Viyony not find you?"
"No, but I lost her afterwards," he said, and then hurriedly straightened in order to incline his head in a respectful nod as Imai Diyela approached from behind Aolla. "I take it she's not home, then?"
Aolla shook her head, but looked to Diyela. "She's not over the other side, is she, love?" she asked in a low tone, referring to the half of the divided house that was occupied by their daughter Ivina and her partner.
"No," said Diyela. "Leion, dear, I thought she was with you"
She beckoned Leion into the hallway. He obeyed, reluctantly. The last thing he wanted was Viyony's great-aunt asking him awkward questions.
"I lost her," he said again. "It was crowded. Look—when she comes back, please tell her—no, wait. Can I leave a note?"
"Vin!" called Aolla. "Bring us a piece of paper and a pencil, will you?"
The third partner in the Gerro marriage emerged from the study, wearing an elderly night robe and a wary expression. He duly held out a sheet of paper and a short pencil.
Leion took it, and stepped back, feeling uncomfortably surrounded. So SORRY, he scribbled. Of course, did not mean NO. Just objecting to your usual brand of flattery. I'll be at my office. Come round or send me a message as soon as you get back if you want to—doesn't matter how late. Leion.
He held it out, and the three them passed a look between them, as if each disclaiming responsibility, before Aolla rolled her eyes and took it. She folded it firmly in half without reading it, and smiled at Leion. "I'll make sure she gets it."
"We don't need to worry, do we?" Vin Lorras asked.
Leion hesitated. If Viyony had gone off with the Modelens or someone like that, the last thing she would appreciate would be him raising a great hue and cry over her disappearance, but something crawled round in his gut and reminded him of Kadia and Eollan and Vollo and maybe other enemies, unknown. Aliate Green had been packed, though, and she wouldn't go off with any of those people, nor could they easily carry her off from the middle of the festival.
"I don't think so," he said. "She must have found someone else she knew. I didn't see any of the Modelens or Nia Delant or that set when I was looking for her, so I'm guessing she's probably with them. If she doesn't come back in a few hours, though, let me know—or tell Tana Veldiner directly."
Diyela followed Leion to the doorway. "Leio," she said as they stepped out into the street. "I've been wanting to have a few words. You know I'm fond of you, dear, but is it right of you to tease Viyony like this? You understand her situation, after all."
"All I'm doing is trying to see that's she safe," said Leion. "And helping her have some fun. I don't mean any harm."
"I never said you did. It isn't meaning that's the trouble, is it? It's what comes of what you do."
Leion pulled down the corners of his mouth and shrugged.
"I'm only saying this because she has had such an odd life. She learned to run a business from far too young an age, and she's had to deal with this—this affliction of hers, but in other ways she has been rather sheltered. Such a remote spot, Eseray."
"Yes, I have noticed she's very odd," said Leion, carefully avoiding her gaze. "Imai Diyela, what Viyony does is up to her—and I must go. Just, please—give her my note the moment she gets back."
"It's a bit much," he said to Fern the cat, once he returned to his office. He flung himself into his chair. "All I was trying to do was give her a nice time at the Festival. If she prefers other people's company to mine, well." He pushed himself back in the chair and folded his arms. "There it is. And Imai Diyela going for me, same as Mother." They'd probably been talking to each other about him. He narrowed his gaze. "It's none of their business!"
Fern turned away from him to wash herself, sitting on a few documents he had forgotten to tidy away earlier, before he'd left. He sighed and poked at stray paper streamers he'd dropped beside them and then rested his cheek on his fist. He'd tied himself down to waiting here now, hadn't he?
"What if something has happened?" he asked Fern. "And not only am I sitting here, doing nothing, I told her family not to worry. Why, why did she have to run off?"
Fern raised her head briefly, before setting to work on cleaning her hind quarters; unmoved by his predicament.
"Yes, I know," said Leion. "All my fault. I put my foot well and truly in it. Burn it. As Imai Diyela says, it isn't always what you mean that's the problem."
Story: Starfall
Colors: Warm Heart #22 (Sorry); Azul #20 (Zest)
Supplies and Styles: Giftwrap + Silhouette + Novelty Beads (Oct Spooky Challenge 2020 - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0g7cdJCp91r6aoq4o1_500.gif & September Secrets 11 Years of Rainbow fic - "It's in the palm of your hand now baby/It's a yes or no, no maybe" - Dark Horse, Katy Perry") + Pastels (
allbingo square "Bouquet of Withered Flowers - Rejected Love").Word Count: 2361
Rating: Teen
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1313, Portcallan. Leion Valerno/Viyony Eseray, Kettah Jadinor, Diyela Eseray, Aolla Gerro, Vin Lorras.
Summary: Leion and Viyony attend the first night of the Sea Festival. Nothing goes according to plan.
Gathering 14, Poll 5
Viyony stepped into Aliate Green, gazing upwards at broad-leafed trees draped with blue, green and silver ribbons of fabric and similarly coloured curled paper and metallic foil streamers. Whole strings of tiny lightstone lamps were hung up by silver cord ropes in various corners of the park, or between trees or pillars. Under their glow, a mass of people gathered in the large open space, all dressed in the same sea colours as the decorations; beads, sequins and jewellery catching the light as they moved. A warm breeze wound its way through the park, ruffling gauzy, insubstantial fabric and causing lamps and streamers to sway.
Viyony rotated a full circle on the spot, taking it in. Leion laughed and caught her hand, pulling her after him, taking care not to lose her in the crush. They were decked out in festival garb, too—Viyony wearing shell-shaped silver pins in her hair, long strings of tiny dirty-blue beads, and a light, full-length aquamarine dress edged with silver trim while Leion had chosen a pale, sandy-coloured shirt and dark green trousers—and a ridiculous amount of paper streamers heaped around his neck.
"What now?" Viyony asked, raising her voice over the music and loud hum of people talking and laughing.
Leion moved close enough to be able to say, at a more regular volume, "Dance. See?"
Viyony wasn't sure anyone nearby was dancing properly at all, or not to any pattern that she knew. They moved about freely to the music. One or two danced more formally with each other in steps that she vaguely recognised, but they were taking no more heed of what other people were doing than the rest. She frowned. "I couldn't! Not like that."
"Yes, you can," he said, navigating her nearer to the platform where the musicians were playing. It was surrounded by what looked to her like a wild Pollean cult of musical devotees, all jumping about. He met her gaze. "Remember the High Council opening, where we met? All formality and nothing else. This is its exact and equal opposite. Come on!"
"You can't just do that. That's not how dancing works!"
Leion held onto her. "Follow my lead. We'll do the Copperfort Canter and never mind everyone else. You can manage that, yes?"
"There's no space," she protested, but she was already laughing. She let him lead her into a skipping motion, his arm around her waist and his other hand clasping hers. They had to keep far more tightly together than was advisable for the dance he'd chosen and dodge around other people dancing to an entirely different beat, Leion constantly shedding coloured bits of paper as they went. It was absurd, but then—this was Portcallan.
Viyony relaxed into it, focusing on staying upright and not letting go of Leion, and before long, she was laughing so helplessly for no reason at all that Leion had to guide her to the side, away from the crowd. They took shelter under a tree; paper streamers making coloured waves over their heads.
"See?" Leion said, grinning. He kept his arm around her. "Nothing to it. You're a natural!"
Viyony leant against him, her laughter subsiding, leaving her weak and breathless.
"Shall I fetch you a drink?" he offered.
She gripped his wrist. "No, Leion—don't go. I need to tell you—I thought about everything, and I decided."
"And?" She could feel his body tense.
Viyony raised her head. "It is ridiculous of me to make such a fuss about nothing, isn't it? Us sleeping together doesn't mean anything at all—we both know that. Just a passing affair, the way we always said. So, I decided. It doesn't matter—why not?"
"No," said Leion, drawing back sharply. "No."
The ground tilted. Viyony was suddenly standing under a different tree, in spring, not summer, petals trodden in the ground, so like the bits and pieces of paper underfoot here, now. The game's up, Guilleot had said to her, out of the blue. None of it was real, none of it was true. Her pulse thumped in her ears, sickening her and deafening her to everything else. Leion stared back at her, and she wasn't sure if he'd said anything else or not. He was too far away from the place in the past where she had gone.
She stepped back, holding up a hand to ward him off, and then swung around, and ran. Her long necklace of beads caught on a low, reaching branch, and snapped as she tore onwards. She pushed her way through the crush of party-goers trailing bright ocean-coloured seeds of nothing behind her as she went.
"Viyony!" said Leon. "Viyony, don't—come back!" He stepped forward, his path immediately blocked by a tight cluster of other people. He cursed them under his breath—them and Viyony. Of course he hadn't meant it like that—she had no call to go charging off in such an overblown way—and if she didn't want him to react badly, then why did she always have to be so insulting?
He pushed forward into the crowds, struggling to keep her sight, the flare of anger rapidly dying away into an urgent need to kick himself. But, still—she should have known he hadn't meant no, he'd meant not like that. She couldn't go round claiming she liked him too much to have an affair and how much them being friends made a difference one moment and then tell him he meant nothing to her the next.
Vague thoughts of Viyony confiding in him about Guilleot, or whatever his name was, intruded into his mind, pointedly and too late. He brushed his hair back from his face and swore.
"Leio!" Someone suddenly caught hold of his arm.
He turned sharply, in instant relief. "Viyony!" But it wasn't; it was his sister Kettah who had emerged from the mass of party-goers. He shook her off. "Ket. Sorry—I can't stop!"
"Well, that's nice," she complained. "I've hardly seen you for three or four weeks and that's all you can say? You promised me a dance tonight."
He gripped her shoulder briefly. "Yes, and I will, if I can, but I have to find Viyony first—I've lost her. You didn't see her, did you?"
Kettah shook her head. She drew in breath and then shut her mouth, before screwing up her face and saying, in a hasty breath, "Might be more sensible to let her go. I mean, she's got that weird marriage of hers coming up and this seems a bit -" She shrugged. "Your affair, I suppose."
"If only," said Leion. "Look, I brought her here—I need to keep an eye on her, but I was an idiot—an obnoxious idiot! I have to find her."
"Well, I didn't see her anywhere," said Kettah. She stared out at the field, crammed with people. "Good luck?"
Leion sagged against the gatepost at the main entrance to Aliate Green, and kicked at its stone base. "Burn it. Shit." He stared back in through the metal bars of the open gate, without much hope. Had Viyony stayed, lost in the crowd, or gone home?
"Running off when obviously I hadn't finished what I was saying," he muttered, but his irritation was half-hearted, flattened by increasing worry. He didn't even know why he'd taken her stupid, so Viyony-like proposition so badly. It was only—he failed to explain it to himself, and then a sudden, unwelcome memory went through his mind, of Atino sneering at him, telling him he'd never sleep with someone like him. Not that he still cared about Atino, or that this was in any way the same, but was a little enthusiasm too much to ask for in a prospective partner?
He laughed aloud, then. This was Viyony he was talking about; of course it was. A grudging maybe was worth more than a whole declaration of affection from anyone else. He grimaced, his insides twisting at the thought that he could have been with her now. "I'm an idiot!" he said loudly enough to cause the nearest passing reveller to edge away from him.
Leion sighed. He'd give anything to find out what she'd even be like in that department, and if he'd somehow sunk his chances with a careless word, he didn't know what he'd do. There was the other issue of where she'd gone—of course Viyony could take care of herself, but she had been upset, and there were people in this city who meant harm to both of them.
He rested his hand on the gatepost, taking one last look at the crowded, noisy green, and then turned his back on music and laughter and the enticing smell of the food sellers' wares—sweet and savoury scents mingling in the air. He walked away—time to check whether or not Viyony had returned home, to the Gerro house.
Aolla Gerro answered the door, and before Leion could speak, turned and called for Diyela. "Leion Valerno is here." Then she looked back at Leion. "Did Viyony not find you?"
"No, but I lost her afterwards," he said, and then hurriedly straightened in order to incline his head in a respectful nod as Imai Diyela approached from behind Aolla. "I take it she's not home, then?"
Aolla shook her head, but looked to Diyela. "She's not over the other side, is she, love?" she asked in a low tone, referring to the half of the divided house that was occupied by their daughter Ivina and her partner.
"No," said Diyela. "Leion, dear, I thought she was with you"
She beckoned Leion into the hallway. He obeyed, reluctantly. The last thing he wanted was Viyony's great-aunt asking him awkward questions.
"I lost her," he said again. "It was crowded. Look—when she comes back, please tell her—no, wait. Can I leave a note?"
"Vin!" called Aolla. "Bring us a piece of paper and a pencil, will you?"
The third partner in the Gerro marriage emerged from the study, wearing an elderly night robe and a wary expression. He duly held out a sheet of paper and a short pencil.
Leion took it, and stepped back, feeling uncomfortably surrounded. So SORRY, he scribbled. Of course, did not mean NO. Just objecting to your usual brand of flattery. I'll be at my office. Come round or send me a message as soon as you get back if you want to—doesn't matter how late. Leion.
He held it out, and the three them passed a look between them, as if each disclaiming responsibility, before Aolla rolled her eyes and took it. She folded it firmly in half without reading it, and smiled at Leion. "I'll make sure she gets it."
"We don't need to worry, do we?" Vin Lorras asked.
Leion hesitated. If Viyony had gone off with the Modelens or someone like that, the last thing she would appreciate would be him raising a great hue and cry over her disappearance, but something crawled round in his gut and reminded him of Kadia and Eollan and Vollo and maybe other enemies, unknown. Aliate Green had been packed, though, and she wouldn't go off with any of those people, nor could they easily carry her off from the middle of the festival.
"I don't think so," he said. "She must have found someone else she knew. I didn't see any of the Modelens or Nia Delant or that set when I was looking for her, so I'm guessing she's probably with them. If she doesn't come back in a few hours, though, let me know—or tell Tana Veldiner directly."
Diyela followed Leion to the doorway. "Leio," she said as they stepped out into the street. "I've been wanting to have a few words. You know I'm fond of you, dear, but is it right of you to tease Viyony like this? You understand her situation, after all."
"All I'm doing is trying to see that's she safe," said Leion. "And helping her have some fun. I don't mean any harm."
"I never said you did. It isn't meaning that's the trouble, is it? It's what comes of what you do."
Leion pulled down the corners of his mouth and shrugged.
"I'm only saying this because she has had such an odd life. She learned to run a business from far too young an age, and she's had to deal with this—this affliction of hers, but in other ways she has been rather sheltered. Such a remote spot, Eseray."
"Yes, I have noticed she's very odd," said Leion, carefully avoiding her gaze. "Imai Diyela, what Viyony does is up to her—and I must go. Just, please—give her my note the moment she gets back."
"It's a bit much," he said to Fern the cat, once he returned to his office. He flung himself into his chair. "All I was trying to do was give her a nice time at the Festival. If she prefers other people's company to mine, well." He pushed himself back in the chair and folded his arms. "There it is. And Imai Diyela going for me, same as Mother." They'd probably been talking to each other about him. He narrowed his gaze. "It's none of their business!"
Fern turned away from him to wash herself, sitting on a few documents he had forgotten to tidy away earlier, before he'd left. He sighed and poked at stray paper streamers he'd dropped beside them and then rested his cheek on his fist. He'd tied himself down to waiting here now, hadn't he?
"What if something has happened?" he asked Fern. "And not only am I sitting here, doing nothing, I told her family not to worry. Why, why did she have to run off?"
Fern raised her head briefly, before setting to work on cleaning her hind quarters; unmoved by his predicament.
"Yes, I know," said Leion. "All my fault. I put my foot well and truly in it. Burn it. As Imai Diyela says, it isn't always what you mean that's the problem."
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"No," said Leion, drawing back sharply. "No."
Yeah, that was pretty point-blank.
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XD You can see why I did a double take!
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I think they were both equally to blame for this miscommunication. But I guess maybe it was what she thought he wanted to hear?
I think it's meant to be that she's comparing his "No" to this, but "None of it was real, none of it was true" sounds a lot more like what she said in the actual event.
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*blows nose on hanky*
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