It's Always Tea Time (Cairenn)

[Requiem]

Freshly bathed after wing drills (where it seemed M'gnum had yet to learn of any misdeeds involving Roselle or her niece given he hadn't pummeled A'nd) the bluerider slid into the dining hall. He'd just thrown on a loose white shirt, not bothering to button the cuffs or lace up the neck properly, not really intending to actually spend that much time out in public. The temptation to come in the cotton sleeping pants and nothing else that he fully intended to change into the moment he got back to his weyr was discarded in favor of practicality. Amazingly enough.

Because he wasn't much of a one for giant meals after a good solid day of drilling, A'nd quickly browsed through the late afternoon spread laid out and selected raw veggies, fruit and a little cheese, just looking to take the edge off his hunger. Tea was the natural accompaniment to what was turning into a large snack. As he collected the herbs to steep he turned to glance around the dining room and paused. Cairenn.

The bluerider regarded her for a moment in indecision. He'd been reluctant to seek her out in her weyr. Everything that had happened a few nights ago rather confused him, and something told him she may not want to see him. Though she had allowed him to take her hand when he led her back to her weyr. There was that at least. He turned back to the tea, removing the herbs, then made a second cup on a whim before slipping over to where she was currently seated alone.

A'nd reached down to set the tea on the table in front of her. He didn't seat himself right away though. There was a touch of vulnerability in his voice when he quietly asked her, "Can I sit here?" Such a mundane, common question normally. Odd how much more significant it was in this situation.

[Aftershock]

After the utter disaster that was their "date", Cairenn had been doing her level best to avoid A'nd, not willing to face the bluerider after all that had happened that fateful evening. Having had the next evening to reflect on the events, she realized what a fool she had made of herself, and that it was stupid to throw herself at someone who didn't really show that much interest in her outside of friendship. In doing so, she had nearly ruined the one friendship she had in order to... what? Lose her virginity so that her first time was "under her control" instead of under the effects of Nildath's Flightlust?

It was in the cold light of hindsight that she realized that throwing herself at A'nd just because she didn't want to look like she wasn't sure what she was doing was just as out of her control as doing so under the effects of Flightlust, so she had nearly ruined her friendship, and at least possibly damaged it, for absolutely nothing.

Having no idea when Nildath's next Flight would be, and wishing some way to still avoid the uncontrolled lack of virginity loss while not forcing Nildath to avoid Xinatenth if she wanted to choose him again, she had hit the records room, searching for stories of dragonriders past to see if she could find some way of either suppressing her link to Nildath and avoiding Flightlust herself, or losing herself completely in Flightlust so as to have no memory of the act, and still maintain the ability to lose her virginity on her own terms mentally, if not physically, which was her biggest concern anyway.

It was trying to eat a light snack while poring over a pile of scrolls that A'nd had found her, distracted and unable to escape him before he was right there. Jumping a bit as a cup of tea appeared directly to her left and an unfortunately familiar voice reached her ears, she looked up to see the boy she had been successfully avoiding until this moment, her eyes betraying her latent embarrassment and worry as she replied, "O-O-Oh, h-hi, A'nd... I didn't expect t-to see you here..."

[Requiem]

He took in the scrolls curiously for a moment, electing to ignore the startled jump and embarrassed look in her eyes. There really were a lot of scrolls here. Apparently Cairenn was doing some sort of research? A'nd could only passably read and write so he didn't get nosy enough to actually discern the contents of her chosen reading material. Instead he turned a raised brow to her, silently asking for the answer behind the mystery of the scrolls.

It didn't seem that answer was any more immediately forthcoming than the answer to his spoken question. The bluerider shifted awkwardly. "I was just going to get something light after drills..." Some more awkward shifting. She hadn't said it was okay for him to sit with her. It took some effort on his part to not read into it too much. To keep up the mostly cheerful expression and tone.

"Then I saw you, so..." Here A'nd chose to take a seat, deciding that no negation was as good as a positive answer in this case. "You really have a lot of scrolls out."

[Aftershock]

She had purposefully not replied to his question, hoping he might accept her response, maybe let them have a short, awkward social check-up on each other, then he would move on and she could go on avoiding him for a bit longer. However, he apparently took her silence for acceptance, and sat himself across from her, effectively cutting off her escape without having to make herself even more awkward in his presence.

"Oh," was her simple response to him explaining why he came over, and then silence for a bit longer than one would normally expect after he continued his thoughts before she responded, "Y-Yeah, I'm doing some... um... research. On things." She didn't really want to admit what she was looking up, especially not to him, and would hope he would take her answer without delving any deeper and forcing her to answer.

Attempting to both move the conversation away from her research, and clear the air a bit, she added after another moment of silence, possibly cutting A'nd off if he took the silence as a reason to add more himself, "S-Sorry for avoi... not being around since... that night. I... I'm also sorry for that night. I made a f-fool of myself..." At this point, her cheeks were slightly tinged in embarrassment as she admitted her fault to the bluerider, her eyes averted from his direction as she took the cup of tea he had placed before her and sipped it... a little too quickly, nearly spitting the too-hot tea back out and choking a bit in her efforts to avoid doing so.

[Requiem]

The bluerider cocked his head inquisitively to one side at her admission that she was researching things. When this didn't illicit an explanation he opened his mouth to question, "What kind of -?" But that was when she started talking again, A'nd blinking and falling silent.

Though she didn't finish the word "avoiding," she got enough of it out that it would be next to impossible to misinterpret. The teen didn't say anything, though there was a subtle shift to his facial expression that somehow made A'nd seem less...open. He'd thought that might be the case. Still, thinking something was possible and knowing it to be so weren't really the same thing.

The bluerider reached out to rescue the cup from Cairenn before she could spill it on herself or the table. "I didn't behave very well myself." It was his olive branch, such as it was. Though really everything he'd done since she'd first screamed at him and stormed out of his weyr was something of an olive branch, wasn't it? The silence stretched out for a moment. "Should I get lost?" A'nd finally asked. The vulnerability of the first question was lacking in this last...his neutrality covering over any other feelings or thoughts that might have made things difficult.

[Aftershock]

Cairenn, avoiding looking at A'nd at all, didn't notice his expression shift, and she jumped a bit in surprise when he reached to rescue the teacup from her shaky grip, her averted gaze preventing her from seeing his hand coming towards her until it was already there. She did, however, release the cup to his custody, and after a moment of quiet coughs to clear her throat, she squeaked out, "Thank you."

His second question, though, especially the tone it was delivered in, caused Cairenn to actually look up at the young man sitting across from her, and she replied, "N-No, you don't have to leave. I... I didn't mean to make it seem like that." Clearing her throat quietly again to remove some lingering roughness from her small choking fit, she added, "I... I just was embarrassed, because I was such an idiot. I honestly thought you m-might not want to see me, either. Or at least, that's what I told myself..."

Looking away again, she lapsed into a short, embarrassed silence before adding, "I don't want to lose you as a friend, A'nd. I just don't want to force Nildath not to choose Xinatenth if that's who she wants, and I don't want to force you upon another unsuspecting Flightmoth because I'm not ready... but I also don't want to lose my virginity just because of this. I want to do it on my own terms... and I know that sounds silly to you, because you're a boy, but it's important to me." Sighing a bit, she then said, "I just... I don't know how to have everything I want, and I feel so pressured, because I don't know when Nildath will Fly next..."

[Requiem]

"I'm here." There really was hardly any need for a more detailed response than that. It had to be pretty obvious that he didn't mind seeing her again if he'd gone out of his way to come sit with her. The phrase also doubled as a small acknowledgement of her words, that he wouldn't in fact just get up and leave. Her words had made him feel a bit better, naturally, than a desire to continue avoiding him would have, but A'nd was still a bit tentative to let down the walls he'd built just seconds ago. She'd been kicking at them a lot lately, after all.

Listening to everything she said with a mild frown, he ate some of his fruit. "So...you're trying to fall in love before Nildath Rises again?" There was a definite incredulous note behind the question. He didn't give her a chance to answer it though, shaking his head. "Don't worry about me, Cai. A real flightmoth would be fine. It's only that no one knew Nildath was Flying...if you just make sure someone knows, you can lock yourself in your room without any ill effects as often as you want. And take your time with the finding a guy thing."

Was that really what that whole thing was about? It kind of made sense now, though, why she'd seemed so...reluctant...and pushy at the same time. She was forcing it cause she had created herself a timetable. "If you want the honest truth...if you hadn't seemed so terrified earlier when I took off my shirt I wouldn't have thought twice." A'nd's smile was a little wry. "Even though that was a mess probably it's best we didn't. You'd probably have been disappointed." He prodded her leg lightly with a toe beneath the table.

[Aftershock]

Her mouth twisted wryly when A'nd mentioned her desire to fall in love before Nildath flew again, showing that she realized just how silly an idea it was. Then he spoke about being all right with a Flightmoth, and she looked up with a bit of surprise as she asked, "You would? Really? I thought... well, I thought that after last time you wouldn't want anyone but me when you were in Flightlust." Her voice had a note of hope to it, as if that admission made her plans work a lot better all of a sudden.

She allowed herself a slight lopsided smile as things started to finally fall into place in her personal life, with the tight timetable she thought she was working under lifted. Then he spoke further, and she colored a bit once more as he brought up her outlandish behavior on that fateful night, and she looked up shyly at him as she responded, "R-Really? I'm glad it actually didn't happen, either, with how silly I was acting, but... you actually would w-want me? I thought you would prefer someone more... mature..." Her tone made it likely she was referring to age, emotions, and body type when she referred to "maturity".

[Requiem]

"The drudge was just...a girl." He didn't say anything more, though that probably wasn't very illuminating. A'nd was pretty sure he'd talked about this with Cairenn before. "It's probably easier if you just did it normally like everyone else but flightmoths are there for a reason. As long as they know..." He wouldn't rape another little girl. The bluerider's mouth twitched slightly. Not his favorite line of thinking.

Oh, awkward question. He wrinkled his nose a little at her. "Uh...well, I'm a guy?" Which...kind of said it all. If the girl was reasonably pretty and shucking her shirt there usually weren't many protests. "I mean...the friends thing works for us. I don't know about anything more. My brain, though, likes to turn off when pretty girls start doing things...like you did." Now he was flushing slightly, not used to having to explain himself quite like this. (He'd usually go for not telling the complete truth, but, eh...)

[Aftershock]

Cairenn nodded, not pressing any further on the matter, knowing he wouldn't want to pursue anything that caused him to think further on the events of that day. He had spoken of it before with just enough detail to make it clear that it was something he never wanted to repeat, and that was enough for Cairenn.

As he spoke of his reactions to her, Cairenn couldn't help but move to a full grin, glad to finally not be the one blushing for once. "So... you d-do think I'm pretty?" she asked shyly, obviously having not heard his admission through her closed door the night of the incident.

[Requiem]

And there was the grin. He would have felt better about it if not for the awkward flush in his face. "Mhm." Not the most communicative, even for a grunt, but the flush probably told more than the sounds did anyway. He settled for hiding behind a sip of tea (which didn't do anything for the heat in his face) then hesitated between taking a bite of food and saying something else.

"Not that it matters." How could it, really? She wasn't ready for anything and he...well, he wasn't in any real hurry either, with her or anyone else. Especially after the look she gave him and that colossal fit afterwards. A'nd just was not good with girls, plain and simple. "Relief to know you don't have to bother with me just because Nildath likes Xina?"

[Aftershock]

She didn't say anything to his admission, but her smile widened and she picked her own tea up, taking a more careful sip this time to hide her expression a little.

Putting her cup down, she replied quickly to his statement, "No, no, it's not like that. I want to be your friend, I really do. I'm glad Nildath chose Xinatenth, even after everything. I'm just... more glad that her choosing him doesn't have to force anything... well, anything neither of us is really ready for." Her smile shifting to a bit more subdued expression, she added, "I'm... I'm glad you came to talk to me. I was worried that I was going to lose my only friend over what happened..."

[Requiem]

The girl was quick to reassure him. A'nd had been (mostly) joking, and even then referring more to the relationship/sexual aspect she'd been trying to force as opposed to their association in general. He fixed her with a mildly amused look until she continued on. Then his nose wrinkled. "So you thought you'd avoid me? That's not the best way to tell someone that you're afraid of losing a friend. That's more like a good way to tell someone to get lost."

Again, he was (mostly) teasing, poking fun at her just a little bit. It didn't change that what he was saying was predominately true, though. Had A'nd not caught sight of her and come over, had she gone out of her way to avoid him indefinitely, he would have just taken the "hint" and stopped trying. Didn't she realize how actions like that looked? Apparently not. "I'm glad you're not very good at the avoidance thing," he added a little more seriously. "If I'd realized you were doing that I would have just left you alone."

[Aftershock]

As A'nd spoke, despite his (mostly) joking tone, Cairenn's slight smile twisted into an expression of embarrassment, and after he'd had his say, she responded, "Um... yeah. I guess it is a good thing. I know it was kind of stupid to worry about losing you as a friend while avoiding you, but at the time, I thought you were upset by what had happened and that talking to you too soon would remind you of what happened and you'd be upset again, so I wanted to give you some time without me around to remind you... and some time to figure out how to talk without things being awkward..."

She trailed off, at that point, and began to fiddle with the handle of her teacup, her face coloring a bit as she was forced to admit her poorly thought-out plan. "No wonder I don't have any friends," she mumbled quietly to herself as she continued to look at anything other than A'nd's face.

[Requiem]

A'nd munched on his food thoughtfully. He didn't actually hear her mumbled comment, instead savoring her other words much as he was savoring the fruit. "I suppose that kind of makes sense...in a roundabout way..." He certainly could see how she likely thought that was logical enough, anyway. On the surface it was. But she'd thrown such a colossal fit that avoiding him afterwards would have made it seem very much like she was determined to hate him forever. Not the best plan in that light.

"I was mostly upset that you were...so upset. If that makes any sense? Since I was trying to be nice and didn't mean anything bad by it...well, it was hard to understand why you were screaming at me? You're fun when you're not trying to date me. I'd miss that." He wrinkled his nose playfully at her.