Who

A'hali, Sorvani

What

A'hali and Sorvani deal with the fall out of Drex, and his absence from the couch.

When

It is sunset of the nineteenth day of the twelfth month of the ninth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Ohanaveth's Common Room, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 18 Jan 2017 11:00

 

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"I'm still here."


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Ohanaveth's Common Room

This weyr is clean. Incredibly so. Not a speck of dust on the floor, not a chair out of line, not a single item out of place. The cages on the far wall are lined up on their shelves per type of occupant they contain. Bottom shelves for the tunnel snake and the top for the fire lizard and little birds. Each cage contains a stick, regardless of it's occupant, all sticks are parallel with the ground, at the same height in the cage and even looking inside each cage, whatever mess the animal has made must be new as everything is immaculately tidy. Unused cages sit next to the shelving system in a little tower of their own.
A large broom wood tree table sits in the exact center of the arching room, chairs tucked in neatly and a small square marked in the middle of the table where salt and pepper shakers can be seen. The alcove housing the kitchen is marked with a line, as if detonating where living cavern ended and kitchen began. In fact, at a further inspection, it might be noted that every doorway has a line just in front of the entrance, marking a segregation of space. Shelves around the room had a tendency to be organized from largest item to smallest and are lined up along the walls, giving the center of the cavern a significant amount of open space.
Finally, tucked away into a corner is a couch, blankets folded neatly crossed the back and a single pillow sits proudly in the middle. There is a rectangle marked on the ground around this couch, a two feet from the couch on all edges; a suggestion that this item is no longer apart of the rest of the room. A few arm chairs sit in another corner, a little coffee table and side desk still sit open to rest of the cavern.


This room remains obsessively clean from how Drex left it. In fact, it looks like time has completely frozen here and nothing changes at all. Even the cages sit empty and clear of patients. In the middle of the room A'hali stands like a bit of a lost person.

Sorvani was warned about Southern's humidity, but after two turns at Ista she thought she was a pro. She was wrong. SO WRONG. This evening sees her trying to find some way of relieving the unrelenting stickiness, she is wearing a light cotton dress and has pinned up her braids so only loose tendrils escape to curl about her face and neck. These practical measures combine to make her look somewhat appealing in a not-trying way. Emerging from their shared bedroom she finds A'hali standing in the middle of the room looking lost. "Hey." She interrupts his thoughts, moving quickly to take one of his large hands if he lets her.

The weather doesn't stop A'hali as a typical course. He just trudges through and when necessary sweats through multiple sets of clothing. Having recently changed though, he's more or less dry. Sorvani shocks him out of his solitary thoughts with a very physical jerk, his hand wrapping into hers instinctively. "Sorry." He smiles apologetically down at her, and catches sight of that dress. "Pretty."

Sorvani smiles up at him, one of her brows quirking. "I thought you might like it." The dress was going to make an appearance sooner or later in her vaguely innocent seduction plans, prior to the Stables (The plan was - Step 1: Put on dress. Step 2: Find A'hali. Step 3: ???? Step 4: PROFIT!) But that didn't happen~ and now she's just trying to find some relief from the heat that is not at all dry. "What’s got you thinking so hard?" She asks, the smile fading into an expression of concern as she squeezes his hand reassuringly.

"I do." Turning he holds her out at arm’s length so that he can give her a complete look over from head to toe. His slightly apologetic look stays firmly in place as his eyes wander. "Just, here." a vague gesture with the elbow to the room. "Feels empty now. Abandoned."

Sorvani does a slow pirouette so that A'hali can appreciate the entirety of the dress she is wearing, keeping her hand in his so she is forced to duck under his arm. "I'm still here." Admittedly she's not really one to make her mark on a place. She looks about the room, noting the empty cages. "And there will always be those that will need your help."

A'hali's clumsy turning her - there's a GOOD CHANCE A'hali doesn't know how to dance if it were a matter of life or death. "IT is good that they don't just," he glances towards the sofa and a frown replaces that attempt at a smile. He hasn't sat on it since Drex stopped sleeping there, the blankets and pillows remaining right where the other man left him. "I made a mistake."

Sorvani stops her gently playful movement dropping his hand so that she can hug the large brownrider tightly. "People make mistakes. Hopefully you learn from them." Comes her gentle practical assurance from somewhere around his chest. "I probably could have been nicer." She admits her own faults. She did try to give Drex a chance after all; she just wasn't pleasant about it.

A'hali takes the hug but then pulls himself away from her, putting a bit of distance there before he settles into stillness again. "I won't stop trusting people." Even Drex. No matter what people do A'hali refuses to close his heart to others. No matter how much it hurts to be wrong, he won't. WON'T. There's an underlying layer of undying stubbornness there.

Sorvani takes a few deep breathes as A'hali puts the distance between them, her eyes constantly scanning his face, her expression at the moment a little hurt and very thoughtful. "Okay." She responds eventually. With one last sigh she pulls out one of the kitchen chairs and takes a seat. No-one has really sat on the couch recently. Propping her head in her hands, shading her eyes she will be still and quiet as well. "I am sorry."

Maybe it would be healthy if A'hali paced and moved more when he was thinking or upset. But nah. IT doesn't occur to him how hard it can make it for others to understand how he's feeling. Hands get shoved deeply into his pockets, A'hali almost statuesque. "I am sorry for all the heartache I caused. I was only trying to do good."

"I know." Sorvani's answer is whisper-quiet. It probably would help if he paced, or at least let her get close in some way. But he's being all statue-like, and she doesn't particularly want to run into that wall of stubborness again. "I'm still here." She reminds him again. "Love comes with heartache." At least it has in her experiences. With another sigh, she folds her arms and rests her head upon them; she'll just keep watching him just in case.

A deep breath gets pulled in and then pushed back out, moving all of A'hali's torso in the movement. He turns back towards her. "I would have understood. You were scared." And it was A'hali's fault for causing her fear. What if he does it again? How could he continue to live with himself? "I am sorry I did not do better."

Sorvani has been crying her quiet little tears since she laid her head down. "I told you I wasn't perfect." She reminds him with a wan little smile through those tears. "I don't expect you to be perfect either." Her voice is gentle even as she roughly brushes away her tears. "I am sorry I didn't do better as well." With a suddenness driven by a need not to be alone she'll stand again, and come close not quite reaching out for him in case he pushes her aside again. "Do you still love me?"

With his back to Sorvani A'hali hadn't noticed her crying and now his guilt is compounded by seeing it. No pushing her away, he'll step forward and hug her. "Yes." But he's seriously doubting himself right now. The undercurrent of his upbringing that hints that he's just not good/smart/talented enough biting at his outward confidence.

"And I love you. Can that be all that matters?" Sorvani asks, looking up at him from his embrace, just love now please kthnx. "I underestimated how big your heart really was." She admits, laying her cheek against his chest, taking the comfort from the hugs he gives so well. "Perhaps you should give me lessons." Her own childhood insecurities having caused the mess in the first place.

A'hali doesn't have much of an answer for that, other than another quiet, "yes," said down into her hair as he cuddles her closely. The couch is probably going to remain untouched until someone else takes care of it, the emotion too raw for A'hali to want to deal with. "I wouldn't change you. Don't want you to change." He sounds serious about that, "Not how love works."

Sorvani takes a moment or two to think about what she wants to say next, content enough for now to stay snuggled close. "You make me want to be a better person A'hali." Which is why she's trying to improve her reading, and even why she ventured to Igen that one time. "I'm sorry I wasn't so good at it this time. The ceiling hasn't come down yet, I'm still here." She moves her head to look up at him again, to give him a small little smile.

"I'd fix it if it came down. Or try." Because if anything this has shown A'hali that there is a great deal of stuff he CAN'T fix. AND THAT SUCKS. Bending down he'll kiss her on those upturned lips. It's not a kiss that will lead to anything more physical. Instead, "Want to watch the sunset from the ledge?"

Sorvani's lips curve into a bigger smile, the tension around her dark eyes easing for the first time in a long while. "I would like that." She accepts his invitation, that couch is going to haunt the shipweyr for a long while yet, escaping it's influence sounds like a really good idea right now. "I love you." She says again, perhaps more for herself than for him.

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