Call Me Out!

[thancredible]

Prithee come and tag with me
my wondrous maidens fair.
We'll have such fun in the RP sun -
just don't mess up my hair.

Comments

[azeymarose]

Fabricating accounts of my gracelessness will likewise get you nowhere.

[So, good move, for him. Sparing just one roundabout glance to the rest of the room, Coeleste slumps fractionally more in her chair, hands folded atop the table.]

If you venture into poesy here, they'll ask for songs from us both next. Tread carefully.

[thancredible]

And miss the chance to hear your mellifluous voice?

[ Why would he tread carefully? Goodness. ]

[azeymarose]

You've heard enough. [A real blush, embarrassment, overtakes her sunburn. Coeleste looks at her clasped hands. It is as nothing to rouse her companions in battle with a stirring melody or two, but surrounded by the clientele of Ul'dah's second most popular bar?

If he thinks it is the sort of thing that would lift her spirits, she knows Thancred won't hesitate to prod her into it. Certainly, it wouldn't be the worst she's survived, even today. (This might be it. Feeling small and self-conscious in front of Thancred.) A sudden chill catches her and she shudders, shakes her head 'no'.]

I would rather not, tonight.

[thancredible]

[ Seeing her blush, Thancred's smirk widens just a touch, and he opens his mouth to do exactly the prodding she might expect but seeing her shiver, he thinks better of it. Perhaps today is not the sort of day to push her - at least not like that. ]

Then perchance a quiet drink - and dinner if you have not already had your evening repast?

[azeymarose]

[That brings something close to a smile back to her lips. Quiet, as much quiet as they might ever find here, sounds lovely. Dinner and a drink with a friend, serving as ample distraction from the heaviness of her care and thoughts.]

I have not, and that offer is entirely too appealing to pass. [In truth, she forgot her hunger until the mention of food.] If you can be persuaded to suffer my company for that long, how can I choose otherwise?

[It's unusual, for her, to think her own company suffering; that she would say so now reveals much about the rest of the day.]

[thancredible]

My dear, being in your company is never suffering - I assure you. [ And he means this most sincerely. Many moons has it been, now, since he first began to consider her a friend. A truer one than many he has made and lost in his life, at that.

But for her to speak as such... it is indeed concerning. Drawing another slow drink, Thancred studies her anew. ] But with such doubts in your mind, dare I ask how fared your day?

[azeymarose]

[I misspoke. Once Thancred finds a trail of inner turmoil, he pursues it to its end. She dislikes being studied so, most especially by any of the Scions. Their collective intuition always aims true.

Coeleste encircles her mug with her hands, but doesn't lift it, or her gaze, from the tabletop.]

What news have you heard of Southern Thanalan today?

[thancredible]

[ Thancred usually makes a point of being more subtle with his studying, but he can no more turn off his habit of appraising those around him than a fish cease to swim. Still, at her question, his gaze drifts away, absently skimming the other patrons as he thinks back.

Stalling with another sip, he simply shrugs. ]

Little worth telling. Little Ala Mhigo still wants for supplies. The Zanrak Amaljaa still prey upon unwary travelers.

[ He almost asks if something has happened, but her question suggests something has and that perhaps she will shortly tell him. So he waits patiently, even as he notes a few new guests straggling in to fill the seats at the bar. ]

[azeymarose]

[Then it hasn't reached Ul'dah proper, or at least not publicly. She leans forward, dropping her voice to nigh-conspiratory levels, but the set of her expression remains grim.]

A band of refugees crossed through a squadron of Flames recruits on a training exercise. Both groups...I'm given to understand they did not get along on sight. That would have been tension enough, but unbeknownst they were followed, and then attacked, by the very Amalj'aa you mention.

[What she was doing in arrow's range of this, now. Mentioning the Brotherhood of Ash here is unwise. She'll be glad of Thancred not asking; this sparse retelling of a tragedy is enough to leave her paler than she started.

She did not need this lesson, that one adventurer cannot be all things to all people. That even the Warrior of Light cannot save everyone.]

I can count the survivors on one hand.

[thancredible]

[ Thancred's eyes are on Coeleste again, grim and sad, but soon they drop to the table as well. The amber liquid in his mug, rippling as he toys with it. ]

I see. [ Sombre now, he breathes out a long, weary sigh - though likely not half so weary as she feels tonight.

He knows better than to question why she is in one place or another - at least not in so open a stage as this. She goes where she sees fit and there is much to attract adventurers in far flung places, such as the vast shifting sands of the Sago'ii or the treacherous lands surrounding Little Ala Mhigo and the many ruins nigh. ]

At least there were survivors at all, small comfort though that may be.

[azeymarose]

[Thancred barely ends his sentence before her right hand leaves her drink, rising to rub the center of her forehead.]

It is not enough. [Even as she speaks, platitudes and consolation fill her thoughts, stealing the voices of the Scions to do so. Coeleste closes her eyes.] To survive the Empire, the Calamity, to weather the life of nowhere to call a permanent home, only to find death on the road leading to something like safety?

[By the end she's gritting her teeth and comes too close to slamming her fist on the tabletop, pulling back as soon as she realizes what she's doing. At least, at a distance, she can claim she was frustrated by Thancred's usual antics. It won't do for so many happy bar patrons to see her anger. What's more, she knows she remains an object of study for her dinner companion, and forcefully releases the sudden tension in her arms and shoulders.]

It is not enough. [A thin sigh.] It is over already.

[thancredible]

[ Thancred isn't studying her now, though. He's staring off into the distance, eyes unfocused in thought or memory. ]

'Tis never enough. [ His voice is unusually flat, as he shakes his head. There is no consolation here - only solemn empathy. He knows as well as she the pain of watching others die and not being able to do anything about it. Of the suffering so many endure and the futility of trying to do everything and save everyone.

It... simply cannot be done though one may run oneself ragged trying. ] And never will be.

[azeymarose]

[Surely this was not the dinner and drink he envisioned, never mind that dinner has yet to occur. Eyes firmly shut, she releases her mug entirely, cradling her head in her hands.]

I'm sorry, Thancred. I'll forgive you if you choose better companionship for your evening after all.

[Though now he's here...she'd rather bid him stay.]

[thancredible]

[ He blinks and shakes his head slightly, focusing on her once more. ]

No.

[ And then reaches a hand out to gently clasp her arm. ]

Never apologize for your company, Coel. Whatever your mood, I can think of few companions I value as much as you. [ The other scions come to mind, of course, but beyond them there are few he lets so close.

After a moment, he releases her arm and sits back, putting on a tired smile. ]

[azeymarose]

[The arm in his grasp drops a bit, since she's picked up her head again in mild surprise. Her mouth opens, halfway to a word, and closes again. What if the best she has, today, is to turn her wrist and clasp his arm in return? For just a moment?

And the moment passes, and Coeleste sits back as well. No smile finds her, but some of the weight of the day is shared.]

What of Thancred the silver-tongued? Do we meet by coincidence, or have you waited all day for my possible arrival?

[thancredible]

[ The best she can do is enough. More than enough. A moment shared and a burden lightened is all that may be asked.

Thancred's own smile is... not so genuine as the one with which he had greeted her. But such is the way of things with him. Smiles make for the best hiding places - as do mugs of ale. He takes a drink from his ere he answers. ]

Which would you be more likely to believe?

[azeymarose]

The truth.

[Oh, come now, did he expect a different answer? She waits just long enough, for effect.]

The likelihood that I will guess correctly which is true, that's the problem. Though you couldn't have known I would be here, and not in Mor Dhona.

[Were the day but an hour longer, or her legs capable of taking her a few malms further, she should have gone to Vesper Bay instead. Availed herself of Urianger's tea and lack of company. He wouldn't ask questions.

Maybe she needs the questions.]

[thancredible]

[ Thancred continues to smirk over his glass. ]

Are you so sure?

[ He is playing a little here - a calculated gamble to distract her, even if the distraction comes in the form of being annoyed with his antics in truth. ]

News oft travels fast... [ He lets that hang for a few moments, taking another sip before shaking his head. ] But not this time. It is mere happy coincidence that sees us here together today, I think. [ "happy" being subject to interpretation. ]

[azeymarose]

[She hasn't taken a drink since he asked about her day; even now, her hands wrap and unwrap from the sturdy mug without lifting it.

Somehow, it is both better and worse to hear their meeting is a chance one. It's almost impossible for her to arrive unannounced, and the way she did it, solemn and walking at her fastest clip to report to Swift, sure to spread talk like a carpet ahead and behind.

Her knuckles turn white in her hold on the mug at the thought of his next task: finding the families of those recruits. Terrible news and meaningless condolences. May she never have to deliver such, to tell some hopeful family that their days are forever sundered.

Happy coincidence. Coeleste forces herself closer to a smile, however strained.]

Then let us speak of happier things. What news from Mor Dhona? I have been away for too many days. [Mayhap Thancred hasn't either. It is worth a shot.]

[thancredible]

[ He recognizes the strain in that smile, the tightness in her grip on the mug. The processing of guilt and sorrow and -- so many other emotions. Coeleste has weathered much in the short time he has known her; he does not doubt she will weather this too, but while she does... The least he can do is continue to offer a distraction.

So he returns the smile over his drink (more than half gone, now). ]

I, too, have been away, but I'm certain if anything important had occurred, Lady Minfillia would have called us to ask us to return. [ Another sip as he ponders if there is aught of note ] I hear Alphinaud is having much success in recruiting more for his Crystal Braves.

[azeymarose]

[Oh, gods, Alphinaud. She finally takes another drink.]

He's changed, hasn't he? When last we spoke he asked after my health without a motive besides concern. [Which is a terrible way to speak of his lean toward...something like compassion.] I can hardly reconcile him with the Alphinaud who told me to stay alive because I would be difficult to replace on short notice.

[thancredible]

[ Thancred chokes slightly on his next sip as she speaks of Alphinaud's concern - he's trying not to laugh too hard. ]

Hm, well... [ He clears his throat, shaking his head. ] He does take after his eminently practical father...

[ Saying that much lets on a little more about his own past than Thancred necessarily means to, but he can so well imagine such a phrase having fallen from Fourchenault's lips years ago even as it apparently fell from Alphinaud's. Even the warming up and showing a bit of concern.... ]

[azeymarose]

We may yet face consequences from Alphinaud's particular brand of getting things done. [The kind where he gives orders seemingly from the aether and expects them followed, unquestioned. The sort of thing that gets her shaking her head and trying to interject before he walks all over his agenda with bravado.

The boy can and does drive her to drink. Another swallow right now, at least.]

What manner of person is his father? Besides practical. [The more expected 'you know each other?' is equally more likely to shut the doors of Thancred's reminiscence.]

[thancredible]

[ Thancred makes a noise of agreement to her prediction. He can only hope they are the sort of consequences that can be learned from rather than ones that will wind up damning the boy's (and their) plans ere they can unfold. But the boy is not wont to listen to the advice of others unless it suits him, so Thancred can think of naught to do but wait and watch, keeping his finger on the pulse of Ul'dah and elsewhere as best he may.

The question of Alphinaud's father catches him a little off guard, but he finds himself answering it all the same, still pondering how Alphinaud and Alisae, for that matter, are now compared to Fourchenault as he knew him. He wonders, too, how much Fourchenault has changed.

He mulls his answer over another swallow. ] Very Sharlayan in all respects. Devoted to the principles of observation and non-interference, or at least he was when last we spoke, and most stubborn about it, too.

[azeymarose]

Principles I am glad the rest of you have not upheld on granite pillars. [How long has it been since Thancred, since any of them, spoke with those they parted from when the Scions took up their mission anew?] Else I would be long lost.

[It helps, to have someone with an idea of what's going on, to stand and guard you while you suffer from Definitely Not Aethersickness. Even if that someone must also keep his dear Hyruan friend from trying to play with vicious flowers.]

I worry, about Alphinaud. [Which is obvious to almost anyone who sees them on an assignment together, Coeleste just doesn't know it.] Whether he sees...how had you put it? The forest for the trees.