milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Belar's real proud of those mountains, now that the snow's finally settled in and everything's in shape for maximum winter-time use. Time to go see if he can't rustle up some interest in 'em, as long as they're out there waiting for people, hey? At least, once he's done with his obligations.

The sign on his table tonight reads:

ANSWERING PRAYERS - BACK IN 15 MINUTES

WILL TAKE QUESTIONS ABOUT SNOWBOARDING, SKIING, BOBSLED, LUGE, OR OTHER SNOW-BASED SPORT LESSONS AFTER THAT

NO, SERIOUSLY, THERE'S MOUNTAINS OUTSIDE, GO LOOK

That, he figures, should do the trick.

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River, at a nearby table, is... not staring at his sign, actually. Or at him.

She's scribbling instead, in three colors of very stylish pens, on a legal pad. (Real Earth paper, not digital.) STOCK PORTFOLIO OPTIONS reads the top.

Her skirt and sweater and boots are a slightly different style than usual, if you happen to notice these things. Still heavy on the pink and white, but a lot less tatterdemalion hippie than usual.

More... yuppie.

Signs like that tend to get a person's attention. Especially when somebody hasn't yet spotted the newest addition to the landscape outside.

So she takes the sign's advice and steps ouside.

She steps back inside pretty damn quickly and pulls up a chair. Her curiosity is peaked.

That's okay. He's good with that. People ignore him all the time, when he's looking human.

Kind of weird for her to still be doing the same thing when he opens his eyes, though.

"Doesn't fifteen minutes of that kind of thing get boring?" he asks curiously, craning his neck a little. "Or are you one of my brother's children?"

He holds up one finger; the sign is still decrementing downwards-

15 SECONDS

10 SECONDS

5 SECONDS-

And then the upper part of the sign winks out in a spark of brilliant blue light. That's when he opens his eyes. "Okay! So!" He grins. "What can I help you with?"

She grins.

"Am I safe in assuming you're responsible for our new mountain range?"

"It's a very important subject," River informs her paper without looking up.

"Diversification is vital." Half a beat, and then she glances at him with a quick and conspiratorial smile. "Got to be competitive. It's 2520 -- marketplace is a jungle."

"Traditional metaphor," she adds to the air over his left shoulder. "There's a dearth of tigers."

"Bingo!" He sticks out a hand. "My name's Belar. I don't know if you know the bartender named Garion, but I'm from his world. I kinda thought we needed a little extra territory for winter sports around here, so I got permission from Bernard to do this, and he suggested offering lessons as long as I was at it."

Belar nods. "I never did get on all that well with the big cats," he says, twisting briefly for a look over his shoulder before turning back in her direction. "Oh, the stock market. Okay. Yeah, see, I ask because my brother Nedra? He trades commodities on the Street. Told me I'm not ever allowed to show my face anywhere within a hundred miles of the place. It's, uh, it's amazing how soon the bears show up after that, you know? Metaphorically speaking."

Or not, but, you know, he's trying to get a feel for the conversation here.

She shakes his hand.

"Mary Anne Bell, pleased to meet you. Can't say I've had the pleasure of meeting Garion, but I'll keep my eyes open."

The grin creeps a little wider. "Very good idea, as much snow as we get. And I've got a Bound friend or two who probably wouldn't mind the idea of more room to run around."

River brightens.

"Family connections are often vital," she agrees. "Within an avoidance of apparent nepotism. We'll have to call it standard networking practice."

And then she rolls her eyes, an amiable duh. "Real bears," she informs him, "would piddle in the carpets. Very bad for business."

"Oh, you'd totally know him if you saw him. Seven feet tall, blue eyes, usually dresses in a doublet and hose, sometimes a tunic- you'd know, believe me. He's a great guy, and I'm not just saying that because he's one of my people."

He nods. "I kinda figured as much. I designed the mountains with a couple of extra features- mostly just to make it easier for people to walk up there, you know? I don't do mechanical real well, so there's no chair-lifts or anything, but if you find the right place it shouldn't be a problem to get up to the ski zones and the snowboarding territory."

"Well, see, that's kind of the point. Nedra says they use bears as a metaphor for the market going into the toilet, you know? Bears widdling on the carpet makes total sense now. I wouldn't ever have gotten it on my own- I'm not what you'd call a big financial mind." He grins. "Thanks, miss... I'm sorry, I don't think I got your name?"

River is always happy to explain other people's metaphors!

Or call them stupid and nonsensical. One of the two.

"Tam," she says, and offers a hand with a smile that seems faintly polished, for all that it's genuine. "River. Ordinarily in the English formulation."

He nods, and leans over to shake the hand. "Belar," he says. "I don't normally use a family name, but for people who need one, I use Ulsson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tam, a real..."

The swift, light swiping of a finger of awareness over the surface of the other person's mind, and only the surface, is almost reflexive by now.

"... pleasure. Oh, for the love of Dad..."

"Sounds great," she says.

"And if people really need a chair lift, there's enough mechanically inclined people around here for us to end up with one. What is it you do that you got so good at landscaping?"

"Godding," says Belar with a smile. "My brothers and I made our world from scratch, without Dad's help- a couple of mountains aren't all that difficult if you know what you're doing, after something like that."

Mary is waiting, politely, for time to be up.

Her hands are folded primly behind her back, and her eyes are fixed on the sign. It would not do, after all, to interrupt someone else's prayer.

No, indeed, and Belar is glad to see manners in the young. When the fifteen minutes are up, the top half of the sign disappears in a wink of blue light.

"Hi, Mary," he says cheerfully. "What's up?"

River's face tightens slightly.

"Patronymic," she agrees politely. "In the traditional usage."

"The solo format is a distinctive tool for remembrance. Risks impress the clients -- it's a constellation of potential factors." The polished smile is back.

"Actually, it's more that it's never been necessary to give a last name," says Belar. "Except for the past couple of decades. Years. Whatever- I've been on vacation a while, you know how that kind of thing just makes time slip right on by..."

Passive mode, now. He felt that soybean grease, all right. He's not going to actively touch on her mind any more; he doesn't need to. He just needs to work his way through the influences he picked up on and see if there's any chance at all of picking it apart. Technically, that kind of thing counts as a miracle, and he really isn't sure if he can do one of those for somebody who isn't one of his Alorns.

But hey, what is life for if it hasn't got challenges, huh?

She grins a little sheepishly.

"Guess the prayer answering should've been a clue, huh? Are you the god over anything in particular?"

"Well, hey, it could've been a weird metaphor," Belar concedes. "But, yeah. Me and my brothers are each god over one particular race of people in our world. Mine are called the Alorns. I'm also god of..." he pauses, thinks, and finally says, "Bears, naval warfare, the northern climate zones on my planet, beer, and sort of kind of blacksmithing. Chaldan tries to claim that one sometimes, so I don't always put up a fuss. He's kind of an ass if he doesn't get his way, but it's not like anybody outside the Arends acknowledges his claim."

"I wanted to tell you," Mary says, solemnly, "that the kitten has a name now. I thought you might like to know."

"Really?" Belar sounds delighted. "Oh, that's great! What did you name her?"

"Oh yes," River agrees.

"Getaways are healthy to combat stress -- quantities of data correlate. Active version of meditation."

Then, seriously, "Overdoing it can minimize your readiness to leverage opportunities. Better watch out. There are booby traps in the break room."

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