a Meeting of Minds

[Keiran Donnelly]

This was a disaster. He was calling it now and beginning to think of how to get out of it, to pretend like he never had this damn idea. Figures, the one time he tried to take initiative and the room went completely silent. He guessed, if he actually looked any of them in the eye, he'd find a room full of people staring at him like he was a complete fool.

Would they really be wrong, though?

But then Leith was coming to his rescue. Oh, good ol' Leith. Keiran would have to thank him later. He guessed his friend was just speaking up to break the tension, but then he was actually suggesting something. Okay, okay...this was good! Right? Liam was asking around for any other suggestions or questions, and that was when she decided to speak up.

Before his brother could, Keiran's dark eyes alighted upon Teagan to answer. Her questions were valid, but because he now lived to try and irk her as much as possible, he needed to be sure that smirk was ever present. It actually helped him forget that he was standing in front of an entire room full of people. "First," he mimicked her softly. "The more help we can get, the better. Secondly, women are always welcome…" Keiran paused, actually daring to wink at her. In front of everyone. Because he couldn't help it. Then his expression got a little serious and he shrugged. "As far as deciding what to work on first, I suppose leave it to vote? I assume the most urgent tasks should go first, though?" His attention swept over the other faces briefly before falling to his brother.

[Liam Donnelly]

He was glad that people were starting to bite and ask questions. Keiran had decided to answer, so he remained quiet, standing with his arms folded over his chest. He scanned the room to watch the expressions of the others. Did they seem interested in this idea? Would they go for it?

As Keiran gave his answers, Liam nodded in agreement. Yes, the more help they could get, the better. Women are always welcome... He couldn't help roll his eyes and brought his hand up to cover his face, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and middle finger before pinching the bridge of his nose with them. Leave it to Liam to make a comment and then wink in front of everyone. Seriously, what was he going to do with him?

He dropped his hand when Keiran asked the question and he nodded in response, clearing his throat before he spoke. "Yeah.. definitely most urgent tasks should go first..." He stepped away for a moment to grab a journal book and he began to write things down. "For us... We need help rebuilding and reinforcing our enclosures because our bull keeps busting out and wandering over to the Hawthorne's property, spooking their poor horses." His eyes alighted upon Melena for a moment and he smirked only faintly.  He had been trying his best to keep the fence and enclosures sturdy enough, but without the money, they could only afford enough supplies to give temporary solutions.  "But aside from that... We have overgrown crops that need tending to or they go to waste... We don't have the manpower for cultivating or harvesting our crops fully, so either our plants are dying, or the animals are getting to the food before they are picked...and that's food that could be feeding the isle. Food that could be bringing in income and help the economy and get us flourishing again... But without the manpower, we can't get to these things..." He explained, concern deep in his voice.

"What else is out there? What do you need? List them off to me, and I'll write them here." He held up his book and prepared to begin writing. "We can list everything needed and at the end of the meeting, create a sign-up? Does that work for everyone?"

He glanced around, hoping for nods of understanding and willingness to get on board. He supposed those not interested would just start walking out. But he was hoping not.

[Orin Evans]

It was a lot worse than he imagined it was. The last year had been spent on restoring buildings and businesses within Aralore--to get the port and marketplace back in order because that was what was mostly seen by everyone and where people typically went for things that were needed. Why more attention wasn't given to help the farmers and agriculture of Aralore first, baffled him.

There was a look of annoyance on his face as he sat there quietly, arms folded over his chest as he leaned back in his seat a bit. Orin tried to think of a solution of how he'd personally be able to help, aside from bringing it to the attention of Alexandria and Aric--but at the same point, they had enough on their plates to deal with. He could perhaps reach out to some of the nobles and she if they'd be willing to offer some support and funding.

He remained silent and watched as the others discussed and began to list things off. Once the meeting was over, he hoped to be able to take a glance at the list Liam was making... To make his own list of priorities.

[Teagan Bruce]

Teagan was satisfied by Keiran's answer at first--she was eager to actually do some good around here. Without the queen to spend time with and Claire to watch over, she'd been left feeling useless. And besides, she'd always been the hands-on type; she'd much rather be involved in the goings-on of the orchard than just leave it to others to care for. It wasn't as if her brother was paying it any attention, after all.

And then he winked at her, that idiot! She bristled and scowled at him, throwing up her hands in a "what the hell" gesture. Once again her face was bright red, but she attributed that to the fact that she knew her brother was going to give her hell for this later. She had started things earlier, she knew, but she was trying to take this meeting seriously. Wasn't he? Apparently she should have known better than to think he could make decisions entirely with his brain instead of his...you know.

He went back to business fairly quickly, though, and she sighed and let herself straighten back up into a more polite posture. Doing things in order of urgency was fine, although there could be some arguments about what was actually most urgent...Well, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. She listened to Liam, too, nodding and smiling over at Melena Hawthorne and her brother when they were mentioned. When Liam asked if there was anything else, she shot her father and brother a pointed look. Gavin groaned and rolled his eyes, but when she threw him a rude hand gesture, he scowled and stepped away from the wall he'd been leaning against.

"The orchard might need some attention this summer when the strawberries and raspberries come up. There isn't much time to get them taken care of, and we didn't get as many people hired in as we'd have liked last year. Lost a bunch of product." He shrugged. "I'll let you all know if it becomes an issue, I guess."

[Killian Gregor]

Ian listened in silence. Actually, it was going far more smoothly than he had thought. Perhaps Keiran wasn't as useless as he seemed, and Liam was always a kindred spirit, so they seemed to have things well in hand. It wasn't until Liam suggested a sign up that he actually had something worth contributing--which, frankly, was just his name on the list. He'd show up for whatever he could.

He was surprised, though, that even a noble family was admitting they needed more laborers. It meant things were worse than he'd thought, but it made sense. People were too busy working on their own crops and work to worry about taking on extra someplace else, and any normal field laborers had apparently been lost when things got messy. It would take a solid time of peace to build that backup, and frankly, Ian wasn't sure they'd get it. Things still weren't settled between Aralore and their enemies, and he wasn't convinced that they would be unless the empire was entirely wiped out.

[Keiran Donnelly]

There’s nothing you can do about it, Liam. Keiran was never going to change. It would take a bloody miracle.

Still, at least he was making some sense now, and he was breathing slightly easier realizing that, perhaps, his idea wasn’t completely stupid or impossible. It made sense, right? It had to, and they all had to do something before everyone lost even more. How were the people expected to rebuild a kingdom when they couldn’t even maintain their own land properly?

His brother continued to explain, specifically what their own needs were, and Keiran took that time to let his gaze idly wander again. He couldn’t help but notice how stoic Orin and Killian were and it was still a bit unnerving. Melena and Leith were fairly quiet now but he already knew that they didn’t necessarily need help with crops so much as their horses. His attention only lingered upon Teagan for a moment before her brother was speaking up. "You guess?” Had he said that out loud? Regardless, he chuckled lightly, keeping the sarcasm to himself.

Maybe he was wrong, because he was an “idiot” and all...but if you’re losing crop, and enough of it because of lack of manpower, Keiran was fairly certain that was a problem. But he waved it off and drifted a bit closer to Liam to have a look at the list he was compiling.

Damn, that really was a lot. Was it too late to take all of this back?

[Melena Hawthorne]

This was surprisingly a good idea. It was smart, even if Keiran was not totally helping his case with blatantly flirting with Miss Bruce right in front of everyone. It caused those soft green eyes to roll into white because the man was bloody relentless. It was as though he wouldn't stop until he slept his way through the entire kingdom. Then what did he plan to do?

Still, she managed a quick smile to Teagan when she looked her and Leith’s way, and her brother might have waved a little too long because she had to stop him. He was hanging around Keiran too much, but he was far too awkward to ever get as bad as the farmer. Thankfully. Otherwise, Melena would have shoved her Leith’s face straight down into the dirt.

Liam began to explain the problems on the Donnelly farm and she was glancing over in time to catch his eye; her own small grin falling on her mouth. Oh yes, that livestock had been proving to be a very big problem for her horses, but since the last time, whatever minor repairs the brothers did to the fence seemed to still be working.

Why was there a brief feeling of disappointment in her chest at the thought?

Melena blinked before she was standing up after Gavin. ”The Hawthorne estate is holding up alright, although I can only do so much with the raising and training.” She might have asked for help with that, but she wasn’t sure if anyone was capable. It also didn’t help that she was fairly...particular. ”Still, we might be able to provide a couple of horses for labor purposes if necessary.”

[Liam Donnelly]

Liam quietly listened as the others spoke up about their needs. He glanced up from his notebook every so often to make eye contact with whoever was speaking, at least to make it obvious enough that he was listening and understood their concerns and needs. The silence quickly became replaced by the sounds of the voices in the room and Liam felt happy, or maybe more relieved that he and Keiran were not the only ones struggling.

His brother made his way back beside him and was trying to get a glimpse of the list he had been taken down. Yes, it was all adding up. Yes, it was too late to take all of this back. He forced a small smile at Keiran just before he heard Melina's voice through the crowd.

Blue eyes flickered over towards her as she spoke. He, too, felt a slight twinge of disappointment when she admitted the Hawthorne estate was holding up. It meant that he wouldn't be there helping her out at some point, and he found himself wondering if she would have the time to help out with any of the labor involved in some of these requests- or if she would have the time to. Liam wasn't sure why that sudden thought crossed his mind. He smiled softly as she offered up the possibility of lending some of her horses for the labor. "Thank you. I'm sure that would be a big help."

There were a few others who spoke up, and once the silence lingered in the barn again, Liam cleared his throat and glanced down the list he had taken down. "So... We've got a lot of work at hand." He ran his free hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck as he counted down the list. It was overwhelming and he felt that with everything, it might still be impossible. But he'd not let onto that. They needed more manpower, more money, and resources. They'd have to make do, though. "I think with a lot of hard work, we will be able to get ourselves back on track," he smiled, trying his best to give that hope to everyone in the room.

"If you are able and willing, come see me and we will get a list of help and a schedule put together for everything." He nodded and glanced at Keiran for a moment, nearly giving him a stern look that he needed to follow through with this. To set the example he started. It was his idea, and now he needed to put his best foot forward.

[Killian Gregor]

Finally. Killian had been waiting for a list to come up and he immediately strode forward to stand next to Liam Donnelly after his instructions. He raised an eyebrow at him and waited to be acknowledged, and as soon as he was, he gave a simple explanation: "I'll help with everything whenever I'm not on shift. If you know you'll need me, tell me, and I'll get the time off."

That was probably the most words he'd said in a row all week, but it still met his requirements for being the exact number of words needed to get his point across. No more, no less.

[Teagan Bruce]

Teagan snickered quietly as Keiran echoed her brother's dumb remark. If even he heard how ridiculous Gavin sounded, then she really was right about her brother running things into the ground. Thankfully she'd gotten them in on this from the beginning, or when the time came and they needed the hands, they'd be out of luck. No one was going to willingly step up to help the one noble family who refused to help them. Maybe it would even garner some extra respect for the Bruces that their daughter was willing to do whatever it took to help the island prosper.

She may be a noblewoman, but that didn't mean she was a total stranger to hard work. And besides, what she didn't know how to do, she would learn. Teagan was nothing if not persistent.

She joined the group approaching Liam to sign up, but put the seat she'd already chosen put on the side of the blob (it wasn't organized enough to be called a line) near Keiran Donnelly, and she couldn't help looking over at him while she waited. She mentally berated herself for being impressed with this whole thing, but she had some kind of idea that if she praised good behavior, maybe he'd do intelligent things more often. That was how it worked on dogs, right?

"Looks like things are going well for your little venture, so far. Feeling a little less sick to your stomach now?"

[Keiran Donnelly]

Was he imagining things, or was his brother smiling a smile that was too...smiley? Those dark eyes flickered between Liam and Melena before he looked, for the briefest of seconds, annoyed and disgusted. He wasn't going to try deciphering that, because it wasn't anything. His brother wasn't an idiot.

There was only room in the family for one of those, but hey...seemed Keiran was less of one for today. So far.

"It'll be fiiiine," he assured his brother after Liam gave him that look, like he was going to bail. Personally, he kind of wanted to, but what the man didn't realize was that Keiran had too much respect for him to completely walk out on him after this. He just couldn't help but become a bit distracted every now and then by something shiny...or curvaceous.

Speaking of...

Keiran threw that dark gaze over his shoulder after he was glancing at the list to find none other than Miss Bruce. Again. It was clear she just couldn't get enough of him, and he wasn't surprised. His smirk was currently hidden behind his shoulder, dissipating just slightly once he turned around to face her. Liam could handle the sign ups, because the younger Donnelly was occupied now. "I don't know...depends..." He idly wandered his way a little closer. "Are you impressed?"

[Liam Donnelly]

His expression didn't change as he regarded his brother and he assured him it would be fine. Although Liam knew Keiran would try (at least for a while), he knew his brother well enough to know it would be fleeting rather than constant. It was just how Keiran was and no matter how blue in the face Liam got with trying to talk to him about it, it did not seem his brother wanted to change. He was already walking away to speak with Lady Bruce.

He chuckled softly under his breath and shook his head. It wasn't long until Killian quickly approached him. He offered the man an appreciative smile as he offered himself as help. "Thank you." Liam glanced over the list and showed it to Killian so he could get a glimpse at the farms that needed work. "I'll take down your name, and once I put together a sort of schedule, I will send it to you."

Liam wanted to take his time in putting together a strategy. But first, he needed a list of those who were willing to put in the extra work.  As others came up to him to volunteer, Liam continued to take down names and which farm they belonged to.  

[Melena Hawthorne]

The horses took up much of her time, mainly because she had very little help. Leith could only do so much. Perhaps she should request some help from others, but there was just that part of her that couldn't seem to let go of that control. How many of these people knew how to properly handle horses? They weren't just beasts to haul wagons or take you from point A to point B.

"So, are you going to offer to help?" It was her brother beside her, leaning in to whisper this. "Or are you going to just stare?"
Was that a hint of insinuation in his tone? Those seafoam green eyes narrowed before she turned to regard him. "I'm sorry, what?"
Leith just shrugged his shoulder with a smirk before Melena was shoving him from his seat to head towards the gathering crowd of farmers. "I don't know if I'll have time to help, Mel!" he exclaimed quietly, with his new position at the castle and all.
"We're better off than many others, so we should at least try and help where we can. You can spare a couple of hours."
"Uh, I'm sorry...which one of us is the older sibling?"
She couldn't help it. He was easy to boss around.

When the Hawthorne siblings made it to Liam, her smile was small and perhaps a bit embarrassed. "Not sure where our skills can be useful, but...we'll help wherever we can."

[Killian Gregor]

Killian nodded once to Liam Donnelly. "Good. Looking forward to it." That was all the answer he had besides glancing over the list, nodding one more time, and then heading for the door. He'd been planning to simply leave, seeing as he'd done what he came here to do, but he caught sight of Orin Evans lingering near the front and drifted that way instead.

"I won't let it interfere with my work," he headed off that possible concern first. He wouldn't let his employer think he was going to slack off in favor of farm work. "But what do you think?"

[Teagan Bruce]

Teagan rolled her eyes, although a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Of course, he'd latched onto her vague approval right away with that signature smirk already curling into place. She didn't mind, though, that had been the point. Encourage the behavior you want to see. She put one hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mmmmm....Almost. I'll be really impressed if you can keep it up. Talk is all well and good, but it doesn't mean anything unless you can carry it out." Mischief sparked in her dark eyes. She could already see the way she was setting him up to take that in a flirty direction, but if he did, that would only be proving her right. And...maybe she didn't totally mind if he did. She was starting to think she was a glutton for punishment, seeing as she kept putting herself in a position where this farm boy could dance all over her last nerve with that grin of his.

"Think you can handle it?"