Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls...

[demonicbeauty]

Who: Ariadne and various (hit me up if you want a starter!)
What: Ariadne keeping busy and being bad at processing her feelings
When: Throughout January
Where: Various, but mostly Serenity Garden

Content Warnings: Backstory trauma likely to come up, discussion of Jedi/Sith violence, will update as needed.

Comments

[unsheathedfromreality]

After he'd spent December hiding lurking in one forest, one would think that Illarion would be sick of trees and ready for a change. One would also be terribly wrong in that, for an elf--whether or not he was also a shrike--would never grow tired of the forest. Though his errand out to Serenity Garden hadn't been about the orchard in the first place, he is of course drawn inevitably that way when he notes (from without the door) that there's no one in the shop. If the proprietor's out in her garden, so much the better; if not, he'll spend a little time examining the orchard and the herbs himself, to see if she's growing what he's looking for so he can arrange a later trade.

But, ah--luck's with him for once and she is there, even if it does sound to his sharp ears like he's intruding on something he's not meant to eavesdrop on. He halts beside the fragrant cinnamon tree, pulling down the hood of his greatcoat to be a little more personable, and remarks, "More horrible if all are speaking that language as their mother tongue, I am thinking. There is always need for those who do not turn first to war."

[demonicbeauty]

She turned at the sound of the voice and was surprised when she saw an Elf that didn't smell like an Elf. Not like the Elves she knew back home, anyway. Still, she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen long, graceful ears. Or felt the familiar thrum of ozone that always seemed present around those native to Valeria.

So her face split into a big smile, her eyes gleaming like coins from a fountain.

Perhaps not one of her Elves. But still an Elf, somehow. It was comforting to think that Humans weren't the only creatures in every single corner of the multiverse.

"I agree," she said, pulling her hood down, off of her hair. "I wish everyone saw it that way."

apologies for bein a tatertot!! month's been disrupted by quals

[unsheathedfromreality]

Nephele's elves had lived for a long time in the shadow of their own extinction. Even dead and hollowed out as he was, Illarion couldn't help but feel a presentiment of that grim future in a world populated mostly by humans, and mostly by humans who'd come from worlds without any other kind of thinking being in them.

Finding someone else, anyone else who wasn't one felt like a spot of unexpected hope in the gloom. And this woman certainly was not human, Illarion noted, as she turned toward him and he could better perceive the differences in her. That, and her reply, brought a small involuntary smile to his lips.

"White gods and stars lead all to think so. There is need for more peace and beauty even in this world, for all we must fend off beasts and monsters.

"Though your orchard, this already does much to brighten minds and hearts. I am already an admirer."

No worries, tatertots are delightful

[demonicbeauty]

A slightly lavender flush hit her cheeks. Ariadne ducked her head, absently brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. The trees were her best friends, so when someone complimented her orchard, it was like they were complimenting her. And she wasn't the sort who generally got many compliments.

Not as herself, anyway.

"Thank you," she said, "although I think Sodder probably deserves more credit than I do. I'm just taking care of the gift she gave me."

She gave Sophia's trunk a final, affectionate pat, before she turned to the stranger, crossing the garden so they could speak. Politely, she dipped into a curtsy, even though she was wearing her leathers, rather than a gown.

"Forgive me for asking," she said, "I know it's not necessarily polite but...are you an Elf?"

[unsheathedfromreality]

"Without a wise steward, even the greatest gift will wither in time, and then none may enjoy it." He tipped his head upward as if he could study the cinnamon tree, though in truth he ((felt)) the orchard around them and how lovingly it was kept. A gift from Sodder, the first of those he's witnessed directly, after hearing so much about the girl whose dying had shaped the Waking World.

This was a holy place.

He turned his attention back toward her as she approached, eyes not focused on her form but somewhere beyond. Even so, he returned a courtly bow for the curtsy, one hand pressed to his chest.

"Your world is also having elves?" A note of pleasant surprise suffused the question. "For, yes, I am one, even if my people no longer much resemble our cousins."

A little wistfully, he continued, "So I do not suppose your elves are having feathers...?"

[demonicbeauty]

She sucked in some air between her teeth. "Feathers? No. At least, not that I've ever been told." And she probably would know. "They're the most prominent race in the kingdom of Valeria. The oldest of the new races, if you believe what they say." And she usually did, even if some of them were a bit self-aggrandizing.

Trying to decide which race was the 'best' felt like an argument long worth abandoning. Both because it was stupid and because there were more important battles to wage.

"But yes. I lived among the Elves half of my life. I never thought I would see one again!" She flashed him a bright smile. "It's truly an honor to meet you, my lord."