fandomhighdorms | The Deck, Saturday Morning

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The Deck, Saturday Morning

The weather had gotten drearier over the past few weeks, and that suited Aloy just fine. Too much sunshine wasn't good for the land - regardless of what the people of this time did to keep the food and drinks flowing freely.

No, a rainy morning was fine. She'd been tinkering on something that might be a step towards plugging herself into the portal system for a while now. She took the device, a mess of wires and two skillfully autopsied phones, and sat down with it on the porch.

Her Focus was on, showing her a multitude of facts about the device she was working on, and helping her block out the world.

Tinker, tinker...

[[ open! ]]

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And for a brief moment, Sidon felt a little foolish, a bit...disingenuous. Here he was, talking about one's ability to control their responses, when he knew he would have had no hope in controlling the small thrill of a response in his chest at five simple words.

Because he just so happened to like telling them.

"Around fifty years ago," he started, "a great and powerful evil called Calamity Ganon overtook Hyrule, seeking to overtake and destroy everything in sight. Under the guidance of the Hylians, the races of Hyrule banded together with the hopes to use Sheikah technology I mentioned earlier to drive the Calamity back and vanquish it. There were...reservations, especially among the Elders of the Zora, because one cannot expect victory against such a foe without great sacrifice. And the Zora did indeed sacrifice something that cut us deeper than we could have imagined, even in our darkest fears. Tragedy settled into the hearts of all the races; we had given so much, and yet the Calamity was still not defeated. Driven back, held at bay, but not defeated.

"The Elders turned to blame the Hylians for our loss, for it had been their idea, their proposal. They wanted to ban all Hylians...all other races, for that matter, from Zora's Domain. They were in pain, but they let that pain blind them to the fact that, without the aid of the other races, Zora's Domain would have lost far more than they already had. They let their fear and defensiveness want to drive away all others for not wanting to feel such pain again.

"If it weren't for the younger generation and my father's own wisdom, the Elders would have succeeded in isolating us when Hyrule needed us more than ever.

"It is not an...exact metaphor," he admitted, almost apologetically, after a moment. "But I always have that in the back of my mind when these things happen. Do I take the path of my Elders and close myself off to those who unwittingly cause me pain and frustration? Or do I open my heart to acknowledge their past transgressions and move forward, learn from mistakes, and be better off in the times ahead of us?

"And now," his serious, introspective tone slipped away into something a little lighter, with a small smile to reflect it, "I probably sound quite a bit like a...oh, what do they call it?....a broken record, repeating the same thing again and again, so I'll cease with my proverbs and parables before you change your mind about liking stories. Thank you for listening, Vette. I just want you to know I understand, and that I would like to help make it easier for you, if I can. If you ever feel the need to discuss it or even let some of your frustration out, know that I have a willing ear. Two of them, in fact! And they're always as ready to listen as my mouth is to speak!"

Vette considered, for a moment, sharing about the struggle of the Twi'leks of Ryloth, of the Twi'leks throughout the galaxy now. She could appreciate Sidon's idealism, even kind of enjoyed just how good-natured he was, how sweet he was trying to be, here. So she gave him a smile. She nodded her head a little.

"I appreciate that offer, Sidon," she said, nodding a small, genuinely grateful nod. "I'm afraid I've got plenty of frustration to go around, though."

She doubted she could make her own story come across with half as much charm.

"And they'll only keep building," Sidon chided gently, but he grinned "if you never let them out. Surely, though, it isn't all frustrations, is it? What are some of the things you've enjoyed in your time here so far?"

"Enjoyed?" Well, there was a question that was harder to answer than Vette wanted to admit. "There are some really nice people here. Weirdly nice. People who just... help, because they're there and it feels like something they might as well do anyway. The weather's pretty great. They have the weirdest names for fruit here, like banana and orange."

She uncoiled her lek from around her shoulder, letting it hang comfortably behind her again. Relaxing a little.

"It's not all bad. It's just not where I want to be right now."

Sidon's expression was mostly sympathetic before he allowed a faint chuckle. "I do believe the orange is called such because of its color, which, honestly, is not very creative, is it? But I don't think they're much better in Hyrule, where we have names such as voltfruit and wildberry.

"We have bananas, though, in the Faron region, very popular with a desert clan known as the Yiga...or so I've heard. I don't spend much time in Gerudo, for...obvious reason."

He chuckled lightly at his own little joke there before opening the floor to her. "What do they name fruits where you're from? What are your favorites? I'm afraid I'm not very fond of fruit myself, if I'm honest."

That reason probably would've been more obvious if Vette had known anything at all about the Gerudo. Maybe someday!

"I don't get fruit much," she admitted, after a pause. "I like it, but Nar Shaddaa isn't really a place that has much in the way of fresh food, unless you've got the resources to get your hands on it."

She shrugged.

"I've heard of snowgrapes, though. And kakadu fruit and dricklefruit. When I was little, I was fond of feen. It's a sweet fruit, from Ryloth."

She was quiet for another few moments before adding, "I haven't had feen since I was small, though."

Feen. Sidon, who already prided himself in his memory, made sure to make a note of that. He didn't know if it would ever be useful, but he knew that, in the event that it could be, he'd be glad he remembered.

A part of him also wanted to point out that most of those names, to him, sounded pretty weird, and probably to a good deal of other people, as well, but, no, there'd been enough of that already. He'd keep those comments to himself.

"Snowgrapes sounds interesting," he said instead. "Are those named for a snowy region in which they grow, or perhaps the cold nature of their taste?

"I'm not entirely sure," Vette admitted, smiling faintly. "I've never seen them before. I hear their blossoms have a spicy smell to them. That's about all I know."

She leaned her head back, swinging her feet under the chair for a moment. Just... thinking, mostly.

"Feen is actually a popular name for Twi'lek girls back on Ryloth, you know," she mused. "I knew a few Feens, when I was a kid. Nobody I was ever especially close to, anyway. There's your random Twi'lek fact of the week."

"Of the week?" Sidon asked, his laugh a small but delighted one. "Is this to mean that a random Twi'lek fact shall be a regular occurrence? Should I respond in kind with one about the Zora?"

"Sure," Vette laughed, looking back at Sidon with a grin. "If you like. I can teach you a little about my people, you can teach me a little about yours. We'll be the two most educated people about Zora and Twi'lek culture on the whole island."

"I'd like that," Sidon chuckled, "though I do wonder...would it be cheating if I were to go to Miss Syndulla for extra tidbits?

"But let's see," he stroked his chin a little thoughtfully, "what would be a good random Zora fact? Ah! I know! The White Scale, of course! All Zora females are born with a special white scale that the males do not possess, and there's a wonderful legend about a Zora king who had a great love for his people, but no love at all for war. Of course, war is inevitable, and when the ill-equipped king was faced with marching into battle, his worried queen plucked out her white scale and sewed it into a special set of armor, hoping her love would protect him. And needless to say, he emerged victorious after all, and ever since, it has been tradition for Zora princesses to make special armor with their white scales for those they wish to become their husbands."

Sidon was such a sucker for the Legend of the White Scale.

"I mean, you could go to Hera, but then you'd have me at a disadvantage," Vette replied, though her smile wasn't going anywhere. She settled in to listen to the white scale legend - she hadn't been lying about liking stories, after all - and then gave a pleased little sigh when he was through.

"Okay, that's probably the sweetest story I've ever heard," she admitted. "Now I'm going to have to spend the entire week coming up with something good."

And Sidon didn't think he could feel any more pleased that he had clearly chosen well with his fact.

"Well, with a whole week ahead of you, I shall expect it to be quite good indeed!" he informed her with playful haughtiness. "And I found yours to be quite sweet as well, by the very definition! I like that it is a common practice to name daughters after something as lovely as a sweet fruit. But what of your name? Is Vette very common, or is it rather unique for a Twi'lek?"

"It's... not traditional," Vette replied, after a pause. "There aren't many Vettes running around on Ryloth, I mean. I've got Twi'lek friends on Nar Shaddaa called Taunt, Plasmajack, and Flash... none of those are traditional, either."

She lifted up a shoulder in a shrug. Absolutely casual, that.

"Maybe if you're patient, next week I'll explain how our names work traditionally," she added, smiling crookedly.

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The Deck, Saturday Morning

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