[Log] Things Do Happen
Who: Aida, E'sere
When: Day 10, Month 8, Turn 2, 7th Pass
Where: E'sere and Morelenth's Weyr, High Reaches Weyr
What: Aida drops by for a nice long chat.
E'sere and Morelenth's Weyr
This narrow ledge is longer than it is wide, fanning out on either side of the entrance into the weyr. The stone has been deeply scored by the passage of countless dragons over the turns. Its location is optimal; natural outcroppings of the bowl wall keep the wind from raking the ledge's surface and the sun reaches the rock to heat it for most of the day.
Inside, E'sere's weyr is laid out like any other weyr, dragon couch at the fore and rider quarters at the back. However, the decor is not typical bachelor pad: E'sere has instead taken some care in choosing furnishings--a rich dark wood desk and chair, matching padded chairs in a small seating area, and his large bed at the back--and decorations, mainly expensive-looking tapestries hung from the walls.
The clear summer sky has been hidden behind a dense wall of clouds. They aren't dark enough yet to threaten a storm but the air has grown humid and heavy.
Contents:
Aida
Morelenth
Donavon
Obvious Exits:
Sky
As evening settles further across the Reaches, the bowl is a bustle of activity, people moving to and from the living cavern at the tail end of the dinner hour. Far above them, E'sere and Morelenth lounge on their ledge, the man propped up against the rock wall, the bronze sprawled out just inside the entrance on his couch. The two guards sit out on the ledge, too, in chairs stolen from E'sere's seating area.
It's a green and rider that brings Aida up; it's with quiet thanks that they're sent away to come back at a particular time. She's wearing a bright enough smile, and it's sent towards the two guards along with a nod of her head. Some words exchanged; just visiting, no trouble to be caused. The bag on her shoulder is offered out for inspection, even. It's mostly empty, so going through it doesn't take too long. All the while, blue eyes are settled over on the bronze and his rider, passive.
When the green starts that final approach to their ledge, Morelenth raises his head to watch, to croon a welcome; E'sere turns his gaze that way, too. At once, the wingleader gets up, standing, straightening his clothes, and then waiting expectantly by the wall while Aida dismounts and speaks with the guards. They might seem edgier than usual, but E'sere's smile is as friendly as ever as he steps forward when she's free. "Aida, this is unexpected. Please, come in and make yourself at home," he invites her, gesturing toward the interior of the weyr.
Once she's been given her bag back, she slips it up over her shoulder, gives a nod, and slides further on in. "I know we're not very well acquainted, but I assumed you are likely...willing to have visitors," she offers, letting her own smile warm. "How are you holding up, sir?" Though there's no nod or dip of her head for E'sere, she does bow her head towards Morelenth in respectful greeting. For the dragon.
Morelenth croons again toward Aida as she passes him; E'sere lingers on the ledge, letting the two jumpy guards trail the girl directly. They, at least, bring their chairs with them, setting them back in the seating area, if not the precise position E'sere had them in, to judge by the way he eyes them. But he shrugs it off and gestures to the other open seats, moving to take one himself as he invites Aida to do likewise. "Morelenth and I are well, considering. Restless, but that's to be expected. Rather like spring fever, I suppose, at this point," he tells her, shrugging. "I am always happy to take visitors, though... perhaps moreso, of late. How are you, Aida?"
"Well enough," Aida replies lightly, circling around to lean up against one of the empty chairs, though she doesn't settle into it just yet. The bag slides from her shoulder, is set down in the seat. "It's been a rough time for everyone, I suspect. I brought you some books. Nothing particularly outlandish; a collection of stories, some poetry. Something, at least, to help keep you occupied. I'll eventually want them back." Two fairly small books -- but they /are/ books -- are tugged from the bag, offered out in the bronzerider's direction.
E'sere's eyes widen in surprise as the bronzerider half-rises to accept the books. "That is a surprise," he tells her, brightening into a broader smile. "Thank you; I appreciate it very much indeed." Resettling, he thumbs through them idly before laying them in his lap and looking to Aida again. "Thank you," he repeats. "My wingsecond has been bringing me some things, but his tastes run to histories--I could use a little variety. I'll move them straight to the top of my reading list, so I'll have them ready to give back when you stop by again." Like it was just some casual visit.
"There's no incredible rush," Aida tells him, lifting a shoulder in a languid sort of shrug. Her bag is moved to the floor, and then she's stepping around the chair so she can settle herself into it, one leg pulled to tuck up beneath her. Nestled in against the arm, resting one arm on it, the other on top of that. All so very casual. "I don't need them back right away. But if you're done with them next time I visit, I'll bring something else to trade it out for. I've managed to collect a few, as of late, and...well, I know what it's like to be confined with nothing to do." Her smile turns up just a bit further with apparent amusement.
"Not an incredible one, no, I suppose," E'sere agrees, nodding once. He moves the books to his table so he can lean forward slightly, watching Aida get comfortable with a quirked brow. He's relaxed, but not quite /that/ relaxed. "Would you, please, though? I really do appreciate this. Miniyal stopped by earlier today--it is my day for unusual visitors, I suppose--and said she'd see about getting me things, too, so I should have plenty to entertain me soon. Providing my eyes don't start going." Grinning, he reaches up to rake his hair back from said eyes, faltering halfway through the gesture at her latter words. He doesn't seem to know quite how to take them, amusement or offense or sympathy. He settles for a wry half-smile as he lowers his hand.
"Plenty of light is the key; with summer being as it is right now, you could sit out on the ledge and read to your heart's content with no risk to your eyes," Aida suggests lightly. That note of humor lingers through her tone, her lips curving into an impish smile at his falter. For all that she is putting on amusement, though -- if he'll let her meet his gaze, she does, and she holds it. There's no amusement in those blue eyes. None at all. "Getting enough sunshine is important, even without reading being involved. One's mood...can get very dismal, without. Or so I've been told. Is there anything in particular you'd like me to find for you, though?"
"Good advice," E'sere agrees, nodding once, watching Aida. Her intent look receives in return a rather bland one, the bronzerider's expression giving away only polite interest and good humor. "I'll try that, I think; I haven't spent much time out there of late, and considering it's my only little patch of earth now--? Though, they get a little edgy if I stay out there very long," he adds, nodding toward the stony-faced guards. In a stage whisper: "They think I'm going to jump." He grins again, and then notes aloud, "No, nothing specific--just whatever you think I might appreciate."
With a roll of her eyes the eye contact is broken, and Aida's grinning again, impish. All humor, now. "Jump, huh?" A sidelong glance that way, and she shakes her head, swinging her gaze back. The guards are ignored entirely; if she's even all that aware of their presence, she's giving no sign. This is all just a nice, friendly little visit. Entirely normal. Really. "I'll see what I can stir up for you that might be of interest. I'm starting a little collection, for all that I don't have much room in the dorms to *keep* it. Still, I'm managing. I'll never forgive you if you spill something on them, though -- just keep that in mind."
E'sere grins, ducking his head. "So they've hinted," he remarks lightly. Then, reassuringly, he tells her, "Don't worry; we'll keep all our drinks well away from them--in fact, I'll keep them in my desk for extra safe-keeping. Collecting books has never really been one of my vices--I always just used our records, or made a strategic call to one of my old Caucus buddies if I needed something more esoteric." Pause. "The dorms?" he pounces on those words.
"I enjoy reading pretty much anything I can get my hands on," Aida says first, bringing a hand up to brush back some of the hair that's escaped from the scarf on her head. "It's really only recently that I've been able to indulge myself in such a fashion, and so I do. It's come in handy a time or two, particularly when friends are hurt or confined or...well, whatever." She brings a hand up, giving a light gesture of dismissal, brushing the topic away. It's only then that she answers to the pounced upon question, her smile dimming just two shades, not fading entirely for all that the humor is out of her tone when she speaks. Still, conversational enough. "Mmmhmm. I moved back into them...well, a bit ago. I'm hoping to get my own quarters, but we'll see. It's been an adjustment -- I've gotten used to my privacy and things. I do not know how I managed for so long before. Ah well. I'll adapt, I'm certain."
E'sere nods slowly to answer the talk of books, expression thoughtful. "It's a nice habit," he agrees, "and one I've unfortunately neglected until recently--it's been one thing after another for turns now; I haven't had much free time." He hesitates again as she explains the latter words, brows knitting. "Ah. I... see. I see. I'm sorry to hear that," he tells her delicately.
"Well, now you've the time to make up for that, at least?" Aida suggests, her smile warming back up again just like that. "There is always a silver lining." One shoulder is shrugged as she lets out a quiet little chuckle, shifting a bit in the chair and letting herself get further comfortable. Another gesture with a hand is given at his delicate words, a shake of her head to go with it. "It's alright; I will survive, somehow. I'm certain of it."
"Now I do," E'sere agrees, nodding. Pause. He purses his lips a moment, watching Aida a moment longer before he glances downward. "We usually do," he confesses. "We just don't like having to do it. I realize that the wingleader and I are not... friends, really, but. Well, I /am/ sorry, for what it's worth. But I'm sure it's for the best, yes?" Long pause. He winces. "Though, I'm probably not the best person to give that kind of advice to you--to anyone, hmm?"
Tilting her head just so at the study, Aida lifts a brow -- when he glances down her expression settles again, a reassuring smile curving up her lips. "It's alright, sir," she points out softly, her tone matching that smile. Gentle, reassuring. "Your advice is sound, whether or not you're the best person to give it -- something which it is certainly not my place to pass judgment on." Another brush back of the errant curls, and she spends a moment with her eyes pointed as far up as they can to try and see as she stuffs one of said curls back beneath the scarf. It's a comical picture, really. "I thank you for your sympathy, I do. I'll be fine, and it certainly is for the best. It is better for he and I to part now, while there is still some potential for friendship down the road. He's a good man. These things...they happen." Curl tucked away, she drops her eyes back to him, offers a smile.
"They do happen," E'sere concedes, studying his hands a moment. Then, more cheerfully, he offers another smile. "How goes the Caucus, and your work? Well, I trust? I've not many good friends left in its programs; I've had no word for some time."
And just like that, the topic is dropped. Aida offers over another impish smile, bringing her hand up to wave it in a vague gesture. "It goes," she replies, tone back to light and conversational. "As it ever does. I am dreadfully busy -- just the way I like it -- and life generally carries on. If there are any problems, I am unaware of them, and...well, given the givens, I would be aware if there were. Or in fewer words -- it does go well."
"I'm glad to hear it," E'sere tells Aida, grinning still. "I can only imagine how the Headmaster must work you--he seems a hard master. But you enjoy it, and that's the important thing. I like staying busy myself--one reason I've insisted L'ret keep me up to date on my wing: I don't want to miss a beat when I'm able to resume drilling with them."
"Oh, he doesn't work me near as hard as I work myself," Aida replies cheerily, shaking her head. Her fingers settle back on her opposite forearm, one shoulder shrugged. "I am...so much a fan of keeping busy. I did my best to learn about three cee with Br'ce, everything that's involved, there. It's...a great deal of work." She chuckles softly after those words, shaking her head. "I didn't manage to learn much, but...enough to begin to understand, at least." Beat. "I'm sure you're looking forward to being able to resume those duties. Hopefully, it will be soon, no? It'd be..." She trails off there, glancing off to the side and down. Her eyes swing back after a moment, attempt to lock with his. "It'd be nice to put all of this behind us, no?" The question is followed by a quirk of an eyebrow.
E'sere cocks his head, arching a brow. "Always hardest on ourselves, I suppose," he agrees, nodding. He hesitates again at her latter words, pursing his lips a moment. Eyes flicker to the two guards, sitting there stiffly, and then back to Aida as he fixes her with a steady look. "It would be, yes," he agrees simply.
It's all innocence that E'sere finds in her face when he glances back to her from the guards, a sweet smile offered up. "I imagine you're looking forward to such more than most people. Soon enough, though," she replies agreeably. "And until then, I will bring you books and whatever else I might be able to gather up to occupy yourself. Is there anything else you'd like to hear about? While I admit I'm not the best at keeping my ear to the ground on gossip...well, I can babble on excessively about most things."
"I imagine I am," E'sere agrees, smile wry as he glances sideways again, then back shortly thereafter. "Thank you, though. And, no, no--don't let me pester you with questions. I do appreciate the visit, though--the news and the books. Thank you very much, Aida. I look forward to next time already."
"Please, there's no need to thank me," Aida says, smile taking on another impish touch, her humor reappearing. "Honestly -- this is as selfish as is is sweet of me. I've had more free hours as of late than I am used to. Visiting is, I /assure/ you, more interesting than the work that I would otherwise be poking at." Beat. "Is that a hint for me to leave you to your reading? I'm not so good with hints. Something about being incapable of being subtle." She rolls her eyes, flashes a grin. Teasing him now, for all that the initial question was at least half serious.
"If you'd rather stay," E'sere tells her, grinning again, "you're welcome to. I've had a little too much free time myself soon; I hardly know what to do with myself--even with company. Subtle, though--subtle is overrated. Things seem to work better when people aren't so worried about snowing everyone over."
"I? Would suggest relaxing as much as you can. Quiet time and time to just...be. Well, it's so very rare, especially these days," Aida says, shifting around in her chair again to lean a little more, curl up a little more. One elbow gets set on the chair's arm, her head tilting down until she can rest her cheek against her hand. Now? She's watching him, only attentiveness obvious in her gaze. Still, there's no move made to hide the fact that she is watching him, studying him. "Take the chances when you have them." The shoulder she's not leaning on, it's shrugged lightly. "As far as subtlety goes...well, I've been /told/ that there's a time for it. I'll believe that when I see it, though." That's followed by an impish wink. "It would all be so much easier if everything is up front, though? So much less hassle involved."
E'sere nods slowly, smile tilting crookedly. "Morelenth and I have talked more the last couple of weeks than I think we had the whole ten turns before that," he admits, wrinkling his nose. "I think even he's tired of me by now." He gives the bronze a fond smile, the dragon returning the look with a disdainful snort that turns smile into grin. Back to Aida. "Your headmaster could probably give you a few lessons in that," he tells her. "But I'm learning the wisdom of it myself of late. Used to think I liked these political games. Not so much now, though."
"Oh, I'm just hopeless," Aida assures him, casting her own glance over towards Morelenth when E'sere does, offering a little smile that way before she looks back. There is a distinct, very genuinely amused humor in her eyes now. Playful, even. "I'm sure he could, but...well. As I said, hopeless." Impish grin. "I don't know if anyone ever really likes them, from what I'm told and what I'm read. Sometimes there's no real choice but to play, though. Particularly when you get drawn in by others, you know? I found that out, with the kidnapping. No amount of staying uninvolved on my part would have kept me that way. Unfortunately." She shrugs, laughing a beat later to chase any seriousness that might lurk in her words away. "It all makes life more complex than it needs to be, if you ask me."
E'sere's answer is delayed by another look to the guards, to judge their tenseness; they're uneasy but they don't say anything, so after a moment he turns back to his guest and answers. "I understand what you mean," he sympathizes. "Though... I never really had a chance of avoiding them myself. The very fact of my birth makes me a politician--or a political tool, more recently."
They're just having idle conversation! Chatter. Aida doesn't glance guard-wards, since that would not fit in with the light banter. She just tilts her head at him at his delay, then ahs softly and gives a quick little nod when it comes. "Yes, I can imagine," she offers, her own smile touching sympathetic. "And only imagine. Those are shoes I will, blessedly, never have to walk in."
"It's not /all/ bad," E'sere protests wryly. "At least I had a mother who spoiled me, and, well. What's a little nepotism between family?" He wrinkles his nose slightly as he glances around the well-furnished weyr.
"True enough," Aida replies agreeably, letting out another soft laugh and flashing another grin over at him. "I certainly was anything but spoiled, growing up. It was all but a different world, there. I so often feel like a fish out of water here, you know? Or possibly just like I'm drowning, way in over my head." That last little bit is given with more seriousness than the rest of it, her own smile now touching wry.
"Truth is," E'sere notes, lowering his voice as though he were imparting some huge secret, "I think more people than would admit it really feel that way. /I/ never would have admitted it, until, well." Another glance guardwards, this time to indicate them, not to guage their reactions.
Allowed her own look over that way now, Aida takes the opportunity, studying each man in turn before she looks back. Now, it's sympathy that's touching that smile of hers. "I understand," she says softly. "None of us ever knowing, really understanding, what exactly that we've gotten ourselves into until it's far, far too late."
E'sere nods slowly, thoughtful, as he studies Aida. His lips purse briefly; then, he tells her, "No, we don't. But..." He adopts a cheerful tone again, and another of those easy smiles, though it perhaps rings a little hollow. "I'm confident it will all sort itself out--I've great faith in our justice system."
There is a moment of stillness on Aida's part; for a span of three heartbeats, she does not even breathe, watching him. Then she's chuckling again, quietly, giving a dip of her head. "I wish that I had your faith," she replies quietly, lifting her chin again and offering over another smile. "But it will most certainly work itself out...as my Da used to tell me. Nothing doesn't stay not worked out. It may work out for the better, or it may work out for the worse, but it will work out, and then we go on. Perhaps the same road we started on, perhaps a different one. Life goes on."
"It's the only thing I've left," confesses E'sere, ducking his head, smile wry. "I /have/ to cling to it. And... Well. Your father sounds like a wise man. Life will go on, one fashion or another, I suppose."
"You've plenty left, E'sere," Aida states, and now her voice is gentle again, though it's backed by firmness and certainty. "There is always a silver lining, sometimes you just have to look harder for it. You'll find them, no matter where it is that your road ends up leading you. That, I can promise you." Sincere, now. Very, very sincere. There's an intentness to her voice for those last few words that has not been present in her tone up until that point.
When Aida's tone changes, E'sere's expression does likewise, the wingleader's mouth setting, eyes fixing on her steadily. "And where," he asks quietly in return, "do you see my road leading, Aida?"
"I don't know," Aida tells him softly, giving a light shake of her head as her smile touches apologetic. "It's your path, E'sere. Yours to walk. Even if I knew where it might go...I would only be guessing." And yes, this time it is his name, and not 'sir'. "None of us can guess at the future. I only can say with certainty that there will be good there, so long as it is looked for."
"Good advice," E'sere repeats, nodding slowly, tilting a half-smile for her in answer. "Did your father tell you that, too?"
"No," Aida replies, giving another little shake of her head as her smile turns back up at the corners, back to impish. "I came up with that one all on my own. It's not advice, though; it's just an observation on the way that the world works."
E'sere's smile broadens slowly. "I guess it is," he agrees, nodding once. "Still--wise, though. You're... not as hopeless as you like to say," he references their earlier topic.
Aida laughs softly, shaking her head and offering up a grin. "Of course not," she chirps, tone back to cheerful. There's a beat's pause, and then she's teasing him, "Don't tell me you just figured that one out."
"A little slow on the uptake," E'sere notes dryly, pressing a hand to his chest. "Forgive me if I still want to take people at their word."
There's a moment's consideration given to his words, a glance down towards the floor, off to the side. Aida weighs them, and then she's giving a little shake of her head and swinging her eyes back up, once more attempting to catch his with her own. "Forgiveness is hard," she notes, voice light. Teasing, still. "But...perhaps just this once." Beat. "It is an honest mistake, after all." Slight emphasis upon 'honest'. "Really -- you should know better, though. When a girl says something unflattering about herself, she's generally just looking for flattery, perhaps reassurances. To hear that she's more than she's said she is, or thinks she is."
"Just this once," echoes E'sere, biting back another grin by nodding. Then: "Ah, right. I did forget that lesson," he concedes. "I'll keep it in mind next time I've a girl I need to charm, and I'll try to do a better job of it then, all right?"
"You do that," Aida tells him, all seriousness again in the blink of an eye. "It will certainly do you more good than believing a girl when she says she's hopeless. That way...that way leads to dangerous ground."
"Does it?" queries E'sere, brows arching. "I suppose it does. Women don't seem to care very much for hearing that, no? Thanks for telling me; I'll be sure to keep it in the fore of my mind."
Aida laughs again, shaking her head and once more offering another grin. "No, they don't," she says. "Not that /I/ am the best one to give advice in this arena, given the givens." Another roll of her eyes, and then she's sitting up, stretching. "I should probably excuse myself fairly soon. I'll come back sometime in the next few days, though."
"It seems sound to me," E'sere tells Aida. But he nods once at her latter words, smiling still. "I look forward to it. Thank you for coming to see me today, and for the books, too. I really do appreciate it, Aida."
"I know that you do," Aida replies, setting her feet back on the ground and rising carefully to her feet. "Believe me, sir -- if anyone understands, I do." The smile that follows those words is all warmth. "Try to keep yourself occupied, and don't go too very stir crazy. Please?"
E'sere stands as well when Aida does, preparing to walk her out. "Of course," he agrees. "I'll have Morelenth carry you down--unless you'd rather he call another dragon for you?"
"Have him call another, if you would," Aida replies lightly, picking her back up and sliding it back over her shoulder. "The duty dragon will be fine. Thank you, though." She sends another smile towards the bronze when he's mentioned, and then she's turning to slip out towards the ledge again.
"Of course," says E'sere, glancing to the bronze. Morelenth looks at both of them a moment, and shortly, the same green as earlier is soaring down to the ledge again to pick up her passenger. E'sere stops at the weyr's entrance. "Anytime, of course. Good night, Aida," he tells her in parting.
"Good night, sir," Aida replies softly, giving another little dip of her head, and then turning to beam at the green and her rider, to climb on up. No further words, no further glances; soon enough they're gone.