Juliette Morrison
Location: Ghal-Priyam; The Morrison's Bar.
Post In Collaboration With: @Mercenary Lord.
Interacting With: Collin Becker, Raymond Rahlei, and anyone else at the bar.
Collin Becker opened his eyes to the sound of a clanging bell. It was the morning work-bell, and he'd gotten used to waking up to it everyday. The Ghalari were hard workers, of course, but they were also hard partiers. Just last night, there had been a celebration of unparalleled size and mirth. A festival to the three Gods of the Faces, everyone in Ghalar had been given the day off to make merry, and pray for a better year.
He groaned as the sound brushed the cobwebs of a hangover from his head. Beside him, the woman he had found himself pressed against for the extent of the celebrations stirred in kind, her dark skin shifting against his, colored slightly lighter. The contrast brought thoughts unbidden to his head.
The Devil Divers. He shook his head with some exhaustion. The source of the lightness in his skin, even still, three generations later. His parents, and their parents before them... they had all made sure he knew of his original heritage. Progeny of Daniel Becker, his ancestor and the other Devils had come from another land: a floating land, if the stories were to be believed. And island which had been high in the sky, and protected by a storm of fury.
His great ancestor had leapt down without a care in the world, sailed off for months, and eventually stumbled upon the Ghalari. They had be well-received, if a bit confused by the language, and had settled in to a new life here, on a sprawling archipelago that none knew the end of.
"My friend, what troubles you?" The woman in his bed sat up, speaking the melodic language of Ghalar. He knew it fluently, as he'd grown up here, but his parents had also schooled him in the harsher language they called Isle Common. It was what they spoke back on the floating islands, apparently.
He rarely used it, but it was always good to be able to talk to the other Diver descendants, even if they'd all be speaking Ghalari for the thirty-five years he'd lived here. The next generation of Divers, like Juliette, were even less fluent with Isle Common, being raised among the Ghalari.
She pressed up against him, a teasing smile in her words. "Shall we pray again to the Faces? Your words of worship were... magnificent."
He lurched away, groaning again as his feet swung over the edge. "Apologies, my friend. The bell rings for me, and I must go."
"Bah." The woman clicked her tongue lightly. "Today is still a day of rest. But, but, I understand. Go on, go on... speak with your family and friends. I shall clean myself up for the festivities tonight." Collin thanked the woman, who smiled kindly in return. He stood, dressed, and left the building. The sun greeted him, as did the thriving bustle of the waking city.
Ghal-Priyam, the Capitol of Ghalar. The height of technology and human evolution, with huge shipyards of metal and steam, grand building stretching a staggering ten stories high, and motorcars zipping about every which way. It was a time of great prosperity and productivity.
"Collin!" A familiar voice caught his attention, and Collin glanced to see another one of the Diver descendants, Raymond, waving at him. Unlike Collin, Raymond had inherited lighter skin through the generations: some of the Divers looked no darker in skin color now as they had upon arrival.
Raymond was speaking Isle Common. "Come and get a drink with us to start the day! The Morrisons are holding an open bar for the day, and you know none of us would ever pass up a chance like that! Plus," Raymond said with a sly grin, "maybe that Juliette gal will be there. You still haven't introduced me to her, you know."
Shaking his head with admonishment, Collin allowed himself to be led down the street to where the Morrison's had set up shop for the day. They were a friendly sort, as were most of the Diver descendants. He smiled amicably at Mr. and Mrs. Morrison, then settled back while Raymond told jokes and laughed with the rest of them.
It happened again…
Curling her fingers, Juliette held the half-destroyed basket in her arms, pulling it closer to her chest as the ever familiar sting of tears hit her eyes, causing them to well slightly before they began to fall, rolling over her rosy colored cheeks before dropping completely to stain the front of her shirt. Why did it always have to happen..? The moment she fixed one mistake, another had to take its place; and with it came the yelling… the anger… sometimes verbal, sometimes physical… The very thought of it had her shoulders hunching over slightly as she pulled the basket even closer against her body, the bruises on her arms hidden by her sleeves.
Ninety-three… ninety-four… ninety-five… Breaking a single hand away from the basket as she heard the festive cheer of voices growing louder with every step, she lifted it up, using the end of her sleeve to wipe away the tears from her eyes, the sound of her mother’s voice calling out to her causing her to pause, turning her head in that direction as it floated over to her over the rowdy muffle that was the crowd of customers that had gathered for them.
“Juliette..! You're back..! And just in time; if you’re feeling up to it, we could use your help serving today. It’s quite busy with the festival.”
“Of course, mother. I’d be more than happy to help out.” Forcing a smile onto her lips, Juliette slowed her step as she drew closer to the voice, her grip easing as she felt the basket being taken from her hands, replaced instead by a couple of beers before the soft touch of her mother’s hands were on her hips, turning and pointing her in the right direction before a gentle pressure was applied to her lower back, urging her to begin walking as the instructions were called out to her from behind.
“Listen out for Collin; he and his friend are the ones who ordered the drinks.”
Of all the Diver descendants, the Morrisons had become the most ingrained with the new society of the Ghalar. It was somewhat ironic, considering that of all the Divers, they had kept their skin tone relatively intact from the original generation. It was fading, however: Mr. Morrison in front of him, the true descendant of Theodore himself, was noticeably darker than his father had been.
Collin vaguely remembered Mr. Morrison Senior. He remembered flashes of a grouchy, yet not unkind man, who was fluent in the main language of Ghalar, and offered all the young people around him plenty of wisdom, whether they wanted it or not. What a man, should he rest in comfort with the Faces.
A nudge from Raymond brought Collin's attention back to the present, making him aware of the
music being played in the background, and the hustle and bustle of preparations for the night's celebrations. Juliette had just emerged from the side of the quaint little house. She was carrying several drinks, and kept one ear turned to face the crowd. A pang of sympathy rose in Collin before he quashed it: she'd never asked for sympathy, and he was under the impression that if anyone ever offered her any, she would shut them out.
"Miss Morrison!" he called in Ghalari, "it is good to meet with you again." At another nudge from Raymond, Collin rolled his eyes. "Do you remember my friend, Raymond Rahlei? He hails from the Diver families, like us."
Raymond smiled briefly. "Bah, Collin, do we not all come from Ghalar now?" And Collin admitted that the man was correct. Technically, after three or four generations, they were far more Ghalari than they were Diver. The culture of the Divers had remained, pass down through the generations, but none of his peers could truly claim to be from that culture, as their grandparents had.
"Perhaps you are right, Raymond. But our names remain foreign, no? Some part of us remembers the broadness of our family trees." He smiled at Juliette, before realizing with a jolt that she would not see it. "I... ah, do you agree, Miss Morrison?" he asked, somewhat lamely.
“..perhaps it is in honor of our ancestors which keeps us straying from the names of other Ghalari, to instead follow in their path, and to keep the names brought to us by the Divers who risked all to seek out new adventure in that which was unknown to them.” Smiling softly (though more genuinely) as she slowed to a stop by their voices, Juliette shifted the tray slightly within her arms, doing everything that she could to keep it balanced upon the palm of her hand while her other made slow movements, the very tips of her fingers seeking out the neck of each bottle before she placed them down on the polished surface of the table.
Being sure to quickly give another sweep of the tray with her fingers to make sure she had put all the beers down, she let her attention and ear fall completely to the conversation, her fingers curling over the edge of the tray as she hugged it close against her chest with both of her arms, her sleeves falling slightly to reveal some of her forearm and some of the light bruising staining her flesh, “So… yes; I do believe I agree, Mr. Becker.”
Tilting her head lightly to the side, Juliette let one of her arms fall from the tray, lifting it up so that she could once more brush some stray strands of hair off her face with her fingers, her ever unseeing eyes flicking over to where she could hear the gentle and steady breath of another sat across from the familiar voice she was interacting with.
“..apologies… I do believe we have met in passing, though not formally introduced to one another. My name is Juliette Morrison; it is a pleasure to officially meet you, Mr. Rahlei.”
Raymond puffed out his chest, apparently pleased to finally be noticed. Collin chuckled internally: the man was a decade younger than him, so he still had some time to settle down. "Ah, yes, Miss Morrison, it is--a pleasure." For such a puffed up facade, Raymond was finding it troublesome to make words.
Now Collin chuckled audibly, drawing a harsh look from Raymond. The younger man held out his hand in greeting. Then he glanced down at it, and back at her, and winced, pulling his hand back and instead saying: "What a lovely day, eh? I am glad we were finally able to meet. How is your family?"
Collin outright laughed then, quickly excusing it by saying "Sorry, sorry! I heard something most entertaining across the way. Pay me no mind in the slightest."
“Please… call me Juliette, or Julie; whichever you prefer.”
Bringing her hand back down, she once more let it drop down to hold onto the tray with both, the soft smile playing over her lips never once wavering as she let her brilliant blue orbs hover in the direction of the voice floating over the air to hit her ear- he seemed… nervous... It was cute; rather endearing of him... The very thought had her suppressing a soft giggle, doing her best to keep it to herself rather than air it to the rest of the world around her.
“My family is well; I thank you for asking.” Tilting her head lightly to the side, Juliette paused for a moment, seeming to hesitate with something before eventually, she came to a decision, choosing not to go forward with it but rather to instead continue with the conversation as is, “..and your own family..? I hope they are well; enjoying the festivities guided by the knowledge and teachings of the faces three.”
Raymond flushed deeper, and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Ah, yes... my family is, somewhat estranged, at the moment. I am not entirely sure how they are doing, truth be told."
Ah, Collin had forgotten: Raymond and his family were not exactly on speaking terms. He was slightly too much of a layabout for their tastes. They also did not live in Ghal-Priyam: only the Morrisons, the Beckers, and the Holloways had migrated to the big city. The rest had remained in the coastal town of Ikallge, where they had originally made landfall generations ago.
Raymond had been sent by his family to Ghal-Priyam to finally make something of himself, though Collin had not seen that happen as of yet. The Rahlei family had asked him to help the younger man through the trials of life, but Collin was no expert in motivating slackers to do their work.
The way he was looking at Juliette made Collin wonder... perhaps he had been going about all this the wrong way this whole time. "Raymond," he began. "Miss Morrison looks to be quite busy. Perhaps you would not be opposed to assisting her with all these people?"
"Ah, of course!" Raymond said, his back straightening. "It would be an honor! Miss Morrison--apologies, Juliette, how might I assist you?"
“I-… would you be so kind as to help serve..?“ A gentle shade of red crossing over her cheeks, Juliette paused for a moment, biting down softly upon her lower lip as she let the idea of him helping her through the rush settle within her mind- it wasn’t something she did often… allowing others to help her… This was the kind of thing she usually tried to avoid; being a burden on those that she loved.
“..due to my parents offer, business has seemed to grow quite substantially in the last couple of days, and with my brother’s absence…" Dropping her gaze down slightly, she hesitated, her cheeks keeping their blush and radiating a soft warmth before she lifted her head once more, her gaze gentle... reluctant as she glanced back over in the direction of his voice "..uhm, if you would like... I am sure if we were to see the rush through, perhaps we may then find the time to get to know one another better..?”
Collin chuckled at the young man's undisguised happiness. "Absolutely, Juliet--Julie." He glanced at Collin, who made smirked self-satisfiedly. Raymond scowled at him, before scurrying off with Juliette.
Time for another drink, Collin mused, heading back toward Mr. and Mrs. Morrison. They hid all the good stuff in the back. You just had to ask nicely for it.
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