It was a warm, and unusually sunny Loshis morning, and Remilo was on his way over too Sarinah's place to paint. He was pushing a cart with 12 different paint colors that he could mix and combine to get the colors Sarinah wanted. He also had some tarps to keep the windows clean. It was such a beautiful morning, that he couldn't help but have a huge grin on his face as he pushed the cart down the Old Rose Harbor streets. Remilo knew that he stood out, he was unusually happy this morning, and was humming as he walked. Everyone around him was in the hustle and bustle of their jobs, not looking up at the bright sunny sky. Soon he saw the place Sarinah mentioned, and stopped his cart in front of it. He knocked several times on the door.

"Hang on, I'm comin'!"

Came a surprisingly masculine voice from somewhere in the large, impressive building. From the outside, it became obvious that the place was somewhere for entertaining, though it'd definitely seen better days. The paint on the outside wood was chipped and peeling, the salt air of the Harbor having faded the colors to dull imitations of their former glory. The windows had been cleaned recently, at least, some of the replaced glass visible by the shine of their newness. The awnings and window shades probably needed a few replacements, and definitely some repainting.

The door opened and a slightly dusty, scruffy man stood in the foyer, dark hair pulled back and half a grin on his face. His free hand was hooked in his belt, and for all extensive purposes, Remilo could've been staring at a slightly older, slightly muscular, small-framed wick ... although, a field might have been missing between them.

"I didn't know we were expectin' anyone this early in th'mornin'." Tristaan offered warmly, wiping his calloused hands on his dusty pants, "Can I help you?"

Sarinah looked down over the edge of the lighting rig she was sitting on, fixing up the phosphore lanterns and spotlight, making sure they were all working and pointed in the right direction. It was high enough she could touch the roof of the ground floor if she stood up, and positioned over the stage, right in the center. She'd heard the knock and watched Tristaan answer the door.



Frowning, she stood up on the rig, leaning against the rail, trying to see the person silouetted by the morning light. She had spread word of mouth, now that the Pole was in place and the stage was mostly fixed up, that they would start holding auditions this evening, but that was later. Much later. Who could this be?

"Hello." said Remilo in the vernacular, surprised to see this man instead of Sarinah. I wonder if he is the business partner Sarinah mentioned. "I'm Remilo Anan," Remilo said as he stuck out his hand. "I met Sarinah a few days ago and am here to do some painting." Remilo said as he gestured to the cart of paint. "She said that she wanted me to paint a sign, and that the front of the building needs some work too. Is she here?"

"Junta." The swordsman met Remilo's hand with his own calloused, dusty one, "Name's Tristaan. Oes, Sarinah's here." He highly doubted she'd slip out without telling him, at least.

"Paintin', huh? She must've been thinkin' of me when she found someone else t'do that sign and th'front." Tristaan grinned, stepping away from the door and gesturing for the wick to join him inside the building that was slowly coming together on the inside as a functional place of business, "Come on in an' we'll see what th'rosh's up to."

With that, he wandered from the foyer into the main room, "Macha, you got somethin' you wanted painted?"

Standing up straight, the dancer wiped her dusty hands on the back of her dirty grey jodphurs and tying the front of her once white shirt (once Tristaan's shirt) at the front, tucking it under her bust. It was muggy today, and the less clothes - in all honestly - the better. If they didn't run the risk of company, she would just work in her underwear. Waving, she smiled down at the men.

"Oes hama! I do! Remilo, hesta! I forgot about the painting, everything just sort of got to me. Hang on a minute!" Walking to the end of the lighting catwalk, she climbed over the rail, placing one hand on the roof and the other reaching out to grab the smooth metal pole they'd had installed from roof to floor. Gripping it firmly, she stepped out widely with one leg, wrapping it around the steel, along with her other hand and ankle. There was no fear of heights as she slid down the pole in one smooth movement. No frills, no spins, no splits, just a simple slid down to the the stage floor. Landing lightly, she hopped off the wooden platform and walked over to the two men, nodding to the new wick.

"Tristaan, this is Remilo. Remilo, this is Tristaan, my partner." She had thought about what to call Tristaan, settling on partner to emphasize the place was co-owned as well as her...other half. Turning to Tristaan, she smiled apologetically.

"Sorry kov, I forgot to tell you. I met Remilo the other day when it was pouring down. He offered me a dry kint to wait it out in. After we talked, he told me he's a painter. I thought the place could use a bit of paint, plus...I want to have a sign, a big mural, ye chen. Out the front." Her smile turned wickishly wide and her chocolate eyes danced between them.

"It has a name. I think."

As Remilo watched, amused at Sarinah sliding down the steel pole at the end of the catwalk, he couldn't help but wonder what purpose the pole was intended for, because it looked to expensive to install just for renovations. "Hesta." he said as she walked over to him and Tristaan.

Sarinah stood next to him and said "Tristaan, this is Remilo. Remilo, this is Tristaan, my partner." Lucky Tristaan, Remilo thought She's very attractive and seemed very mature even though she was only four years older than him.

Sarinah started to explain to Tristaan how she had met Remilo, and why he was here. It was clear to see that she had completely forgotten to mention Remilo to her partner. But it was also possible that she didn't mention it too Tristaan because she didn't want him to say no. She was clearly the boss here.

(( Remember, in wick life, 19 is very, very much an adult. Wicks mature early and have adult expectations much younger than we do in our modern culture. Think about tribal people and the responsibilities of the young. Early teens is already adulthood in most of wick society. ))

If Remilo had said out loud that Sarinah was wearing the pants, Tristaan probably wouldn't have cared. He'd come to the conclusion that what they did, they did together, and he wasn't concerned with what it ended up looking like to an outsider's point of view. He'd long since come to consider an egalitarian point of view the most functional one, given the various lifestyles he'd come to live already, whether or not by choice.

The swordsman grinned at the dancer's approach and offered a dismissive shrug at her apologies, "Nothin' needs apologizin' for, Sarinah. Ent a bad thing t'have found someone willin' t'do some paintin'. Alioe knows th'outside needs some work." He chuckled and looked to the younger wick, "As long as he's painted some buildin's or somethin' before."

Almost as an afterthought, Tristaan glanced back at the lovely witch next to him, adding, "You mean you ent gotta name yet? Or you finally do?"

Grinning, the witch nodded, giving Tristaan a playful poke on the arm.

"He's painted things before hama. I ent that moony." Putting her hands on her hips, one cocked to the side, she seemed unable to wipe the grin from her face.

"I mean, I think I have a name for the place. It came to me the other day, in a bar. Its benny, well..." Laughing, she held out her hands like she was following a line of text.

"The Blushing Hingle."

Remilo burst out laughing "Oh-Oh that's great." Remilo said, hoping he didn't hurt her feelings he added "It's cute." Remilo got out a loose sheet of paper, and started to do some thumbnails. "These are just some basic ideas. Tell me what you think, I can change it as you like. We could also do something more traditional if you prefer." Remilo said, handing the paper to Sarinah. "Did you have any particular colors in mind?"

"Like th'drink, eh?" Chuckled Tristaan, "I'm sure 'round here, a name like that ought t'attract a crowd."

The passive grinned cheekily, teasing a little. If his job was to be a body guard of sorts for the whole place, he was definitely hoping the patrons wouldn't be too much trouble, "Not a rowdy tavern crowd, though."

He said nothing while Remilo drew, waiting to hear what Sarinah had to say instead.

Sarinah winked at Tristaan with a grin.

"Oes, just like the drink. Came t' me a few nights back." Moving so she could get a better look at the sketches, she nodded a little.

"I like the writing. I thought maybe we could have The Blushing Hingle written in nice red decorative writing, ye chen? And in front of it or on top of the T or something, could have a fancy glass with a hingle sort of layin' back in it, being....seductive or something? And a cherry on one of them sticks. Colors...mmm..reds, pinks, whites and blacks. With a brownish colored hingle." She turned her chocolate eyes on Remilo and laughed.

"I must admit, my idea's came to me drinking the actual beverage, so they might be a little mung."

(( Sorry no camera, I can't upload the latest thumbnail until Wednesday. ))

Remilo smiled, "A seductive hingle eh? I'll see what I can do." and started to draw again. "What if the 'T' were a martini glass with the hingle inside, and it was tilted so the glass was leaning on the H? Maybe leave a little bit of pink liquid in the glass, and have the hingle sitting in it," he said, while erasing the hingle's tail. These tails are hard to draw. Third time's the charm. he thought, and the third time was the charm, and he then went on to the whiskers, making sure that he kept them on the sign. It would be hard to put whiskers coming out of the sign, and he didn't want to have to explain to Sarinah why he couldn't, and destroy false hopes.

"Would you prefer the shape of the sign to be geometrical, or more organic, following the shape of the letters?" Remilo said while putting an outline around the words, and drawing two sticks out the side to show how It would be connected to the wall. "Oh," he said "I just realized that this sign could only be read from one side." and then realizing that he had never asked he said "Did you want the sign to be flat against the building or stick out?"

Sarinah nodded as he spoke, watching with interest as he resketched, her grin broadening. It looked fantastic!



Faultering, she looked up at him, suddenly looking sheepish. Glancing at Tristaan, she only hoped this wouldn't cost them too much.

"Uh actually...I wasn't thinking of a sign kov. I...here...come outside." Turning, she jogged to the door, stepping outside and gesturing for the men to follow her. Walking out into the middle of the street, she turned and made a sweeping gesture, indicating the vast space of blank wood on the front of the building on the top floor.

"I was thinkin' of a mural actually, ye chen!?"

Tristaan didn't object to the name, despite not necessarily understanding the appeal of a hingle in any real situation. The sound of it seemed suiting enough to what Sarinah had planned, and since it seemed as though it may have enough soft edges to keep a difficult kind of crowd away, he wasn't about to argue.

The passive watched Remilo sketch before following the both of them outside, squinting at the peeling walls as the dancer gestured to the other wick,

"Th'whole wall, eh? I think I can set up riggin' t'paint that, but I ent sure how much help I'd be otherwise."

"Ahh." Remilo said looking up and imagining what she was saying. A mural on that wall is a big job. "Yea, I could do that, but I think you might want to choose a color other than brown for the hingle then, otherwise it will blend in to the wood. I could make it gray, or a kind of purple-brown blend. "

Remilo turned right to look at the cart he had pushed over to The Blushing Hingle, hoping he had brought enough paint. He knew that if she asked him to paint a background he would have to go and purchase more paint, but though that he should have about enough if she would rather leave it the brown wood.



"Oes Tristaan, that would be helpful."

This might take longer than I thought, I hope I can finish it before I have to leave with Aye. Remilo turned to face Sarinah saying "I hope you don't mind me workin' long hours, I am leaving for Dorhaven in a couple of days."

Sarinah nodded, crossing her arms and looking at the wall.

"Grey is good kov, I can do grey." Turning to face him, following as he moved, she shugged.

"As for the hours, ye can work as long as ye like kov. I ent gonna stop that." Grinning, she took in the pots of paint.

"I don't know if ye have enough paint though. Can ye buy that paint in the Rose?"