Axe 02 - Video- Open to Both

[gloinul]

[He really doesn't like using this thing for anything more than responding to others but. Well.

Gimli starts the feed up and he has three of his five axes out in front of him, sharpening a fourth.]

Thought I might as well let the world at large know that if you are at all interesting in helping to rebuild the gates of the Cothromach, I'm the Dwarf you should speak to. I'm fairly certain anyone interested is already here, but. [And he shrugs] I hope you have people to vouch for you if you're interested. I do not tolerate slackers or liars on my jobs, nor do I tolerate saboteurs.

[Well, that explains the show of axes.

And he is done with this very painful task. The feed just cuts out]

Comments

[steeledskin]

I would ask you up to my solar, but my papers have made such a clutter. A mess, truly. [ more of a question than a demand. ] There is a fine statue garden a mere stroll away from that spot. You and I can walk and talk, if you find it amenable.

You will find me there.

[gloinul]

[He simply nods and cuts the feed. Soon enough, Gimli is being shown to Sansa by a servant, who leaves them with a bow. Gimli bows himself]

Lady Stark.

[steeledskin]

[ she armours herself in pale purple silk. matte and layered, it wraps around her in gentle folding drapes. the sleeves are long; the bodice belted. and his assumptions are proven correct -- the lady keeper is a young woman. some might barely yet call her a girl, but by westerosi standards she is a woman. and yet still the title sits heavily upon her well-dressed shoulders.

servants dot the garden. servants, or else guards. mild precautions against would-be strangers, but when sansa greets him she curtseys in a respectful bob and drums up a wan smile. ]

Master Gimli. [ a pregnant pause. ] This is the correct title, yes? It's the one the Elvenking used.

[gloinul]

[Well, that tells him who gave Sansa his name.

Gimli is in his best non-formal attire, which for a Dwarf tends to mean clean, dark leathers and other sturdy clothing. He's no Dwarf-lord here, and anyway he hates dressing formally. He nods]

That will work. It's not my title really, but you don't want that mouthful.

[steeledskin]

And yet I would know it -- in all its length -- if you cared to share it.

[ this is the smalltalk. the courtesy. the part where she aims to introduce an easy friendship to a conversation that had no right to be easy or friendly. not because of any animosity, but because he is (for the most part) unknown to her. a shorter man -- and even after fortnights in the dwarven city she's found it hard to divorce dwarves met here from her husband. ]

I promise not to call you by it. But I would hear it.

[gloinul]

[Gimli bites back a sigh because he really does hate that stupid thing but, well]

Technically, it would be Gimli son of Glóin, Lord of the Glittering Caves, plus other epithets that no Dwarf would ever claim as a proper title, even if certain Elves disagree with him.

[steeledskin]

You ought to take such pride in your titles! [ if she dares chide him, it's only in the manner a young lady is permitted to chide: shallowly and with fluttering eyes. ] I am certain they were gallantly won, were they not?

[gloinul]

[That gets him to chuckle]

Lass, when you are as old as I am you quickly get tired of tossing titles around like they mean something unless you are proving a point.

[steeledskin]

And yet you don't deny it! I am convinced: each and every word must have been very valiantly earned indeed.

[ her hands are clasped loosely against her stomach. and sansa -- lady keeper in this place despite the dwarf's long list of titles -- begins their gentle stroll into the winding paths of a statue garden. ]

[gloinul]

Tch, it was no great effort to become Lady Galadriel's Lockbearer or to be called Elf-friend.

[Ignoring the racism, anyway]

Truly, they're nothing special.

[OH IF HE ONLY KNEW]

[steeledskin]

As you say, Master Gimli. [ ah. yes. the noble lady's easy means of addressing a conflict in opinion while appearing deferential. if she speaks it brazenly now, it's only because she stands within her own small court. and because king thranduil has vouchsafed for this dwarf.

but that does not mean she doesn't fear. ] And out of due deference I promise not to add to your titles when your work is finished, though I like to imagine being named a Shield of Cothromach is a handsome honour for any Shardbearer.

[gloinul]

[...Gimli just gives her a Look, one that is usually reserved for Legolas]

It would be rude for anyone to reject such a title.

["I know your games."]

[steeledskin]

[ the look does spook her. and for a moment it seems that she plays in realms too lofty and ambitious for her to truly maintain. she avoids his eyes -- looking up; looking ahead. and she needs to steel herself. ]

Rude indeed. And perhaps ruder still to offer where it isn't wanted. But those are far-off matters. I trust you find the city to your liking as you work?

[gloinul]

Tch, only a true bastard would openly reject a title offered to them. Thankfully those people are few and far between.

[Excuse him, Sansa, he's a grump sometimes]

Aye, it's suitable. Almost wish it were closer to that Dwarven city, but I imagine there would be a bit of a culture clash between my family and the natives.

[steeledskin]

I have been to Troichean Beinn. [ she rushes to speak of that city -- perhaps because she is minutely scandalized by gimli's tone and language. ] A lovely place. It inspires awe. Awe, and I am ashamed to confess, a great many lumps upon the heads of some visitors.

[ sansa is tall in stature even for a young woman. ]

[gloinul]

[...what? He's being polite!]

Hmm, and already the differences show. The Dwarven halls of my homeland, they are airy, spacious things for all we prefer the underground. Not even the tallest Man could hit his head on a door or the ceiling in Erebor or Ered Luin, not unless they went looking for the smallest room.

[steeledskin]

-- Are these names from your home, Master Gimli? Erebor? Ered Luin?

[ she repeats them with startling precision. repetition and a shallow talent for syllables are common to her tongue. ]

[gloinul]

Aye, two homes of the Dwarves. Not the greatest ones, that would belong to Khazad-dûm, but that is still under repairs from centuries of Goblin and Orc infestations.

[steeledskin]

Infestations! [ her brows raise. ] What happened?

[gloinul]

What usually happens with them! They saw a city abandoned for who knew how long, what with Durin's Bane, and they took it.

[steeledskin]

-- Scavengers.

[ sansa stark is a gentle creature. polite! but hardened, as well. especially against the concept of squatters in the vaulted halls of others. and so her indictment of these goblins and orcs is severe. ]

[gloinul]

At their best, aye. But soon it will no longer be an issue.

[steeledskin]

Will the old halls take long to reclaim?

[gloinul]

Erebor has been reclaimed for nearly a hundred years now, though it had a problem with a dragon rather than something simple like Orcs, and Khazad-dûm should be cleared within the year.

[steeledskin]

-- A dragon, Master Gimli?