Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Lunching with Lai

Posted by Civilian Lai Kitrian (Independent Operator) in Lunching with Lai

Posted by Civilian Ragna Idun McKenzie (Future Citizen) in Lunching with Lai
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Her smile dimmed. “Well, we’re just trying to get to know the colony.” And this entire universe “And we might have some options for work, but…” Lai set down her fork and sighed as she looked over at Ragna. “We’re refugees, Ragna. We didn’t choose to come here, but this is where we ended up. And our situation is unusual even compared to other refugees, so we’re waiting for the bureaucratic wheels to turn enough to tell us whether they will let us stay as residents. We have temporary status, and that’s how we have this apartment and credits to buy food and stuff, but right now there are no guarantees.” For all she knew they would be whisked away somewhere else and there wasn’t a waking hour every single day that she didn’t worry what would become of them. “I want to believe everything will work out, but where I come from that is a naive way to live. It gets you killed.”

~Lai Kitrian

Ragna’s mind was turning over things. She knew a lot about the ins and outs of legalities. Not quite enough though. She knew how to prepare the documents and ensure records, but she wasn’t a legal expert. She knew how the House worked. “If things seem to stall or you are feeling forced into a choice. Please call me. I will help as much as I can. We, my clan that is, have a tradition of helping people. We have resources and know who to contact.” She turned her glass before picking it up to drink. “You have to be careful, but the person I told you about earlier will help you find a safe place, I will too.”

Ragna

Lai twirled her fork and nodded slowly before she glanced around at the apartment. “Safe. Such a strange word to fear.” She looked back at Ragna. “Perhaps we need a different word until ‘safe’ doesn’t make me want to laugh or run.” Lai wasn’t even joking, either.

~Lai Kitrian

Ragna nodded and gave the request a serious thought. “How about secret shelter?”

Ragna

Lai delved back into her lunch as she gave the phase due consideration before she nodded. “I like that, actually. Yeah,” she said.

“What about you? What have you been doing since we met at the shop?”

~Lai Kitrian

Mostly Ragna had been dealing with the fallout from her argument with Seamus. She wouldn’t say that. It wasn’ta matter of trust with Lai, but she would never voice their orivate problems to anyone. Not Revna or even Uncle Oddvar. “Mostly delving into official paperwork for permits and building approval. Arranging temporary housing for the building crews. My husband and I went to the farmer’s market and I found some native honey I want to try and make mead out of, but I haven’t had time.”

Ragna

Their brief conversation before had mentioned the clans and everyone setting up home here, but Lai really had no idea of the scale of it all. “How long do you think all the building take? And to be honest, I’m not quite sure what you’re building. I’m assuming homes?”

~Lai Kitrian

“Homes, meeting buildings, barns, sheds, pasture fences, silos, basically a whole town. 10,000 people. It’s a lot. Right now I’m trying to get a power and water grid put in place so we can build.”

Ragna

Her eyes went wide. “That many? Wow! That’s bigger than the village I was born in.” Even though the colony itself had far more people, it sounded like they were really craving out their own space here. “Why come all the way here with that many people?” She really had no context for the migration, so it didn’t make any sense in her head. Maybe they had been forced out? That seemed as likely as anything.

~Lai Kitrian