earthen_hope

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--84

Hey, everyone! I'm out of the elevator now. How long was I in there? (Was it less than a month?)

Is everyone okay?

And what's going on now? It doesn't look like I got back in the middle of a monster invasion, at least. Just a colorful sheep invasion... Are the [twirly line] fake copies of people still around? I sure hope not. They were (or are) really creepy.

Oh, I found out my full name. It's Krile Maia Baldesion. Everything else in the books there was gibberish, though.

- Cara

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Is that your given name, or the name of your family?

Tonight is fine, if you've no one to say to hello to more urgently.

Baldesion is my family name. Krile is my given... I guess someone decided to throw in "Maia" just in case I needed a spare.

Okay! I'll drop by then.

[ooc: ql/handwave/bananas?]

You never know when that comes in handy. I'll be home around [pause] six or so in the evening.

[Quicklog is good?]

[And around that time, Krile is knocking on the Ancient Chinese Bachelor Door. She's got her spear, which is just a normal precaution when she's going to an island past the Bazaar.

She's curious about what Hawk has for her, but she's more glad at the excuse to go visit him. It was lonely in that castle, and while spending time with Lix went a long way towards dispelling her heebie-jeebies from it, she still would like more than journals to be assured that her friends still exist.]

[At the knock, Hawk lifts the water kettle from the fire and goes to open the door. The tea is in expectation of the guest, although it's a staple of the still-cool evenings whether or not they have visitors.]

Krile. [She looks none the worse for wear, but still he wants to shoo her in from the cold and seat her in the warmest place by the hearth. He settles for smiling, rather more gently than is his wont.] It's good to see you. Tea? Afraid we don't keep that coffee stuff in the house, though I gather it's popular.

[For Krile's part, she finds herself inclined to give Hawk a brief hug when he greets her, which she does. It's reassuring to see that he's alive and safe--as much as anyone can be safe in Edensphere--and also, in a good mood.]

Tea sounds nice! I don't really like coffee anyway.

Oh--[There's a nudge at the small of her back as one of the rainbow sheep peers around, baa-ing amiably at Hawk.] Should I keep these fellows outside? They're sweet, but it might be a bit crowded.

[He gives a soft chuckle that might mask an awkward moment, but wraps one arm around her shoulders and hugs her back. She is dear to him in her uncomplicated, kind-hearted way, and reminds him persistently of someone he can't quite place in the scant knowledge he has of his life before Edensphere.]

Ah, them. There's already a few of them grazing behind the house. Just tell them to go keep their fellows company, and they can pick you up when you leave, eh?

[He closes the door quite securely. The sheep are harmless, but he'd still rather keep them out of doors. He points Krile to a sitting cushion laid on the rushes that cover the floor around the hearth, and goes to see to the tea.]

So, where did you wander to this time? I hear it's familiar places, but this place gives nothing to you it doesn't snatch half back of with the other hand.

You heard him--shoo.

[She watches the sheep trot off until Hawk closes the door. Pulling off her slip-on shoes--she left her boots in Castle Bal--she heads over to the cushion that Hawk indicates and takes a seat.]

It was a castle--Castle Bal, I think, from the one book I was able to read. My home. [She watches him as he gets the tea ready, then looks at the fire.] It was good to see it again, except--it was empty. Not a soul there.

[She isn't going to come out and say that it creeped her out--even scared her--but her tone is clear enough.]

[Hawk pauses, holding the steaming teacup, and watches her for a second. Her youth is showing again. He sets the cup in her hands, and then steps off to a shelf at the back of the sitting room.]

You lived in a castle? Is it amiss to wonder just who you were, then? Fifteen winters and such skills at arms as yours mean you were trained from an early age, I'm guessing.

[Finding what he's looking for, he comes back to the hearth and puts a carved wooden figurine (http://tide-mammoth.com/wood/WN378L.JPG), small enough to fit in his palm, down beside her.]

I got it on good authority you ought to get your friends gifts when it's their cocoonday. So... I don't know how it is where you're from, but it seems to me the dragon stands for good things. Prosperity and long life. Apt for a birthday, perhaps.

[At first, Krile thinks to tell Hawk what she's told others: that everyone lived in the castle. She doesn't know what royalty is in his world. What if--?

--And then the overwhelming thought is: to hell with it. It isn't as though she's ashamed of being a princess, and lying to her friends because she's afraid isn't acceptable.]

Well--I was a princess. So it's my job to make sure that people are safe.

[She's distracted from the actual reason she's good at fighting--which is still something she's reluctant to say--by the dragon figurine. Krile picks it up and looks at it from all angles, a smile spreading over her face.]

Oh, it's so lovely! Thank you--did you carve it yourself? [She turns it over in her hands.] And if a dragon wants to stand for prosperity and long life, I'm not going to argue with him about it.

[Hawk laughs.] You're welcome. For my own part, I'd better not make any such claim. I'm sure Fuu would, though. He's certainly full enough of himself.

[It rings strange to his ears to joke about what has recently been such a thorny subject; his own dual nature that he still doesn't quite grasp entirely. It does seem to make the question more manageable, though, and Krile is at least easy company to jest in.

He sits down, his expression turning more thoughtful.]

A princess. Defending your people does sound like a task for one, whether you do it with weapons or words.

[He means that, more than the words themselves say. Something about that is acutely familiar.] Did I ever mention you remind me of someone? A whole lot, in fact.

Dragons are like that no matter the size, huh? Present company excepted.

[She adds that a little awkwardly, but still with a smile. It's a little difficult to remember that Hawk can transform into a dragon while he's sitting in his house drinking tea.]

That's what I think a princess should do, too. Someone has to keep the monsters from getting into the castle. [Though after being here, she wonders how well she'll be able to keep her people safe from human monsters.] Though some people seem to have strange ideas about them.

[She looks up at him curiously.] I do? How do you mean?

[He leans forward, taking a moment to choose his words.]

Wish I knew who it is. But I've got to think I used to know someone a lot like you--someone brave and bright who thought it was her job to keep everyone safe.

[He chuckles, a little self-conscious. The description sounds clumsier now that he's voiced it.]

Strange ideas about monsters? Sounds like your world had its fair share of them. Monsters, I mean, not ideas as such.

[Krile listens quietly, turning the dragon over in her hands. She's met people who've reminded her of others, and Hawk's personality has often seemed comfortingly familiar. But it's never quite been a direct comparison. So it feels a little odd that she reminds Hawk of someone that way.]

Really? I hope she did a good job. Do you remember anything clear about her or... just that?

[It surprises--and pleases--her a little that someone brave would remind Hawk of her. She hasn't felt too courageous lately, particularly in Castle Bal. And she's a little puzzled by the second thing he says until she gets it.]

Oh! No, I meant people have strange ideas about princesses. But I don't think every world has monsters like mine either.

No, I don't. Haven't found too many memories. But being an emperor's daughter and protecting people seem to go hand in hand. It's just... that thing that happens when something's very familiar for a moment. I get that around you a lot.

[He shakes his head, but his sigh has an edge of fondness to it. Krile is dear to him as her own person, of course, but maybe it doesn't hurt that she echoes of someone familiar.]

Those ideas being?

Mm... I know that feeling too. It's nice to find someone familiar, isn't it? She sounds like someone I'd like to meet.

[She leans back on her hands. She's experienced that plenty herself, and while she loves her friends for themselves, it's also comforting to be around someone who seems... homelike.]

Oh... that we're frail delicate flowers who are worried more about fancy dresses than their people.

[Hawk distracts himself by sipping the tea before it cools down too much. It's difficult to imagine Krile in long skirts, or with her hair done up in an elaborate array of combs and pins, when he's so used to her with a spear in her hand, ready to face a threat at any minute.]

Well, there's a certain thought about fancy dresses mixed in there, I'll admit. It's the standing up for your people what's important. Why, you never spared a thought to your attire, then? Never would have guessed.

[And now he is teasing, and it's plain in his lop-sided smile that he is.]

[She giggles and reaches out to give him a light poke in the arm.]

Now you're making me wonder! Maybe I ought to find some of those fancy hair nets and a huge, ruffly skirt. I'm sure Bastet and Flame would think it was much more practical than this.

[She takes a sip of tea herself, wearing a mock-thoughtful look.]

And when hungry monsters are attacking the castle, I wouldn't want them to be insulted by not being stylish enough.

[Somehow the thought of man-eating monsters isn't as easy to make light of as it should be, but Hawk chortles at her words anyway.]

I understand it's the part of dragons to snatch away princesses from their castles in some lands, but I couldn't really offer an opinion there. Don't think it was ever in my job description.

[She's infectious, that's all he can surmise: something as grave as the nature of dragons, of what he is, can bend to be a source of mirth.]

And may the Heavens kindly look past my saying so. Sometimes I just think we need the laughter more.

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