Practice! With Wellard

[findsthesun]

A young Elf*, dressed in sturdy green and brown cloth and soft leather shoes, walks into the bar.

It can, perhaps, be forgive if his first reaction is wariness and his hand flicks towards the white handled knife at his belt.

Then he laughs.

"A tavern of Men, in the middle of the forest? I have not heard tell of this."

*see (here) for description of Elves, and Legolas in particular.

Comments

[findsthesun]

"Elven memory is better than that of Men," he replies, with a quick smile.

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi just regards him for a moment intently, and then smiles, silently raising his cup a little salute before taking a sip.

[findsthesun]

His smile widens into a grin.

"Do not worry," he tells him, after a moment. "I shall not tell anyone you are visiting a tavern."

[student_of_impossibility]

"There are those," Tavi says with extreme dryness, "who might say it was an improvement on my occasionally serious nature."

But then, who ever trusted Max's opinion when it didn't involve tactics, anyway?

[findsthesun]

"I have no such excuse," Legolas murmurs, before taking another sip of Dorwinion.

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi gives him a sympathetic look. "If it is any comfort," he offers, "you won't lose any time while here. So long as you are sober when you leave, no one will know any differently."

His instincts are talking to him. He's trying to ignore them in favor of logic.

[findsthesun]

"That is a relief," Legolas replies, with a quick smile. "It means I have no need to feel guilty, resting here."

...and perhaps eating here. Hmm.

"Would you mind, if I order food? It has been cram only, now, for a week."

There is not good hunting, in the south forests.

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi nods and grins. "I do it all the time. My wife approves strongly."

Waving a hand, he reassures the elf, "Not at all. I could use a snack myself. My usual, Bar, if you wouldn't mind?"

Bar helpfully provides him with some bread and olive oil with some spices and herbs mixed in.

"So," Tavi continues as he dips the bread in the oil, "what is cram?"

Icon because Wellard has no Bar icon

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

There's no poof of smoke, no shifting of reality-

Just that whatever Legolas asked for simply appears.

And if it were possible for a Bar to look smugly pleased-

Well, it can be possible, at times.

[findsthesun]

Legolas thanks her, and leaves the Bar humming a cheerful tune, a bowl of steaming venison-and-vegetable soup in one of his long hands with a hunk of crusty bread and butter patty on a plate in the other.

He breaks off humming as he sits, setting down his food and refilling his Dorwinion slightly, grinning at Wellard. "She is a wonder, your Bar. The Dwarves would be most jealous."

[findsthesun]

Legolas is amused as the new order of oil and bread appears, and the old eaten one disappears. But perhaps it is the staple of Tavi's lands?

He orders a meal from the Bar quietly, not wishing to stress her hospitality by being too specific in his request. A medium venison steak with crusty buttered bread and steamed asparagus appears in front of him.

"Cram is a waybread that we and the Men of Dale make," Legolas informs Tavi, cheerfully, as he swiftly cuts the steak into smaller pieces with the fork and knife provided. "The Men of Dale more than us, these days, though we harvest the honey and much of the cereal that they use. 'Tis no harm to it, it merely becomes tiresome after, oh, two meals."

With a quick smile, he eats a piece of venison, and he glances back down at his plate, eyes widening in nearly childlike delight.

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"She is quite extraordinary." Wellard smiles, glancing over at the Bar.

"And she is a person, as well. Not just something built, or just something magical- though she is those as well. She is caring and considerate, and is treated with the respect due all of that."

He does have more than a soft spot for the Bar, himself- she was both tough and caring when Wellard asked her for laundanum, long ago.

[findsthesun]

Legolas has taken a bite of his meal, but the look he gives Wellard is gentle. In contrast to that, he smiles brightly.

"I do hope I shall keep on her good side; my father would be most displeased if he found I had managed to displease a lady. Especially," he tells his bowl, "one who makes such wondrous soup."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"Most people here learn to treat her with respect, if they don't from the start." He grins, a bit wryly.

Considering Bar is about the only source of non-food supplies here at Milliways, people treat her with a grudging respect at the least, even if they weren't inclined otherwise.

[findsthesun]

"It would be more than merely rude to treat your hostess at a place you cannot leave with anything less than respect," Legolas laughs. "It would be terribly unwise."

There is a pause, and then: "Forgive me for asking, but what is it that you did outside of this tavern? Before you made your home here, that is. Have you ever been a shipwright?"

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

Wellard blinks, then shakes his head. "Oh, no. I was an officer in the British Navy. We were at war with France and Spain- Well, France declared war on us after they revolted and killed their king, and the Spanish Dons sided with them, so..." He shrugs.

It's not particularly an issue with him, just... there's quite a lot of detail to go into, to explain it all.

[findsthesun]

"I am sorry to hear it," he says, and while the tone is not heavy it is still sincere. "Though I do confess I am not very familiar with navies. Forests are not exactly their natural habitat."

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"They wouldn't, would they." Wellard grins. "Unless you had a large river going through, and even then-"

He shakes his head.

"England is an island, so a good navy is its first line of defence. My great uncle had been a post captain, so he made sure I had a good tutor to teach me math and navigation, until I was old enough to join."

[findsthesun]

"There are rivers, but only one used for boats," Legolas says, with a quick grin, "and even the Celduin is not large enough to support such a thing."

He nods, to Wellard. "That was good of him. When did you turn to building ships, instead?"

[politestpirate.livejournal.com]

"A while after I arrived here." He smiles faintly.

"I- I had to take some time to recover, once I was here. To pass the time, I started mapping out the stars, out there-" Wellard motions to the Windows.

"They... repeat, about every fortyfive minutes, abouts? And I figured that no one else had ever mapped that sky before, and set about doing so." His lips quirk.

"I only got the brightest and most obvious constellations. But as I was doing so, I talked to other people here, and they mentioned ships that fly among the stars, or even lesser ones that flew in normal skies. I started figuring that building something that might be possible, and so I got quite a few books on how to do it."

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi smiles a little sardonically, sensing Legolas' amusement. But he has a dinner later, and is trying to keep from filling up too much. Silly politics.

Tavi nibbles idly on his bread. "I can see how that would be," the young man admits. "Although I also grant that I spent enough time serving with the Legion that I got used to incredibly banal meals."

He makes a face. Serving as a Subtribune Logistica made eating cram look like fun.

[findsthesun]

Many things make eating cram look like fun!

"Yes," Legolas agrees, mournfully. "I have heard tales lamenting this."

[student_of_impossibility]

"I have the experience," he says wryly. "Trust me, tea made when the Legion low is low on water makes those cakes of yours sound absolutely divine."

[findsthesun]

Legolas smiles slightly. "'Tis my luck to have been born an Elf in Mirkwood, then, where even soldiers are rarely deprived."