[Closed] A Window On Earth

[Aurelie Steerpike]

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning | Sophronios' Office, Brunnhold

There was something uniquely embarrassing about someone who knew her really not at all trying to reassure her of her usefulness. She hadn't meant to sound as if she were fishing for the compliment. Whatever she was or was not good at in the realm of research was immaterial. Or anything else for that matter, outside of her work. That, at least, she was competent enough at to attract no trouble, which was all she could ask for.

Still, something in her felt just the slightest bit—irritated, she supposed. It wasn't cruelty, she wanted to insist. It was merely an objective assessment of her nature. No cause for pity or self-denial; she was what she was, and was not what she was not. The life she had led had certainly not given her the room to cultivate a broad range of skills either, even had she wished to. Nobody was done any good by pretending to be more than they were. Least of all someone like her.

"I'm glad you find it interesting," she said instead, giving no voice to any other feelings she might have. That would have been unfair, too—Yazad was only trying to be kind to her. She was glad, truly. She'd only mentioned it at all in so much detail because it seemed of interest, and was rather happy to be proven correct. Anything else was rather beside the point.

Yazad was a rather mild-tempered young man, Aurelie was coming to realize. And, she thought with a small degree of confusion, perhaps just as ill-used to company as she. Not just here, not just in Anaxas—his assurances sounded more general. That was presumptuous of her, of course. Aurelie just couldn't seem to shake the impression, or the sense of unfairness it left in her mouth either.

It was the word "excitement" that made her pause, green eyes blinking. Her life? Exciting? She could certainly think of—of moments, yes, that one might describe in such a way... But in the sort of way where one would be attempting to be kind, using "exciting" where "unfortunate" was perhaps more fitting. That wasn't what was meant here, as far as she could tell. Aurelie couldn't help it—her brows raised, stunned.

"Exciting? I don't think I've ever—" What did one say to that? She didn't want him to feel obligated to reassure her again, but it was truly... Not to mention the question of "friends". Aurelie didn't think, really, that the other kitchen girls counted. Which wasn't to say she held any particular feelings of ill-will towards any of them, it was just... different. Friends.

"Ah, if you... I suppose if you put it like that... It's all I know, really." And all she ever would. There was comfort in that, but excitement? Aurelie tucked her hair behind one of her ears, unsure of what else to say. Exciting. Yazad was certainly... rather odd.

[Yazad]

Sophronios’ Office

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning

Y azad smiled and nodded to Aurelie, saying no more about her life for now. A thought occurred to him, and it was an amusing one. For all the huffing and grumbling he did about Sophronios’ scholarly curiosity, he himself had some of those traits. The only difference was that he found people so very intriguing, and there was some entertainment for him in observing them while the galdor man obsessed over...peas, or whatever else was his subject of interest at the time. Was this something that runs in the family? Or was his prolonged exposure to the man the reason? Or perhaps he was simply always meant to be this way. Who can say, really?

The visible arching of Aurelie’s eyebrows did not go unnoticed by Yazad, who mirrored the motion in a milder display of his own confusion. Had he said something odd? Again?

"It does sound so to me." Yazad nodded again, his voice carrying a slight hint of his bewilderment. The way Aurelie phrased it, it sounded as if she did not consider her own life to be what he called it. It was her life and she naturally knew it best, and she naturally did not know that far less happens in his own life, which is most likely why he found hers to be a bit more lively. He was not complaining about the mundane routine. No, he would never. The passive was thankful for the life he led, but he still found such things to have the appeal of an endearing folktale--stories of people possessing secret knowledge and making jam with other people.

Ah, but perhaps he should explain. He should simply tell Aurelie that ‘all she knows’ is much more than what he will ever know, just so she would understand what he meant--but the mere thought made him shudder. It sounded too much like him being a self-pitying defeatist for his own liking. "Well, I can only hope to get to know all of these things at some point in the future." The man commented hopefully. Idly, his gloved right thumb traced the back of the other. "And speaking of knowing, I would like to know if you happen to have a favorite flower?" As if this was the natural progression of the topic, Yazad asked with a light clap of his hands.

[Aurelie Steerpike]

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning | Sophronios' Office, Brunnhold

Really, it was dreadful of her to dig her heels in so much on this point. She wasn't even quite sure why she was doing it. If Yazad thought her life was exciting, inexplicable as that was... What was the harm in it? None at all. Only poor manners (and, perhaps, something of her blood) made her argue so. Perhaps it was exciting. She knew very little of his life, after all, beyond that it was different than hers—different to what she thought of as expected, for the both of them.

She relented as much in her posture as in her mind. This was silly. Just because she was—restless. She didn't want to be exciting. Excitement was all well and good, for other people. Aurelie wanted no part of it. She had her work and her hobby, and now? She had at least a friend or two. And Ana, she thought loyally. She had Ana again. She ought to be more grateful.

"I'm sure you will," she agreed with a smile. There was a part of her that thought—you don't want to. The sorts of things that are exciting in my life—it's not the kind of excitement anyone wants. I hope you never know it, any of it. Better that you don't. That was to terribly dramatic to say out loud. Little risk of that, anyway. Good.

"My favorite flower?" Aurelie blinked; the change of topic was sudden, but also—it felt natural enough, from him. Or she was starting to think so. She had never truly considered it before in any great detail. Oh, she liked flowers well enough, but she was no gardener. It was difficult to say any was truly her favorite. Aurelie's brows knit very lightly under the fringe of red hair across her forehead.

"Johnny Jump Ups," she said after a moment's thought. "Although I like pansies of all sorts." The china she had picked did, in fact, have pansies painted on them. Deep violet ones, with white centers—not the wildflowers she thought of more often, but very lovely all the same. A smile hovered at the edge of her mouth. "And you?"

"Perhaps," she started, face lightening as she was seized with sudden thought, "Perhaps next time we're making—well next summer, really, if you'd like, you could... Ah. No, I don't think that would work after all. Er." He had seemed so interested, and this had all been so baffling, that for a moment Aurelie had forgotten. There were a thousand reasons she couldn't simply invite him to help with next year's batch, if he should wish. She was a little ashamed to have begun to ask. To begin and have to break off was worse than not bringing it up at all.

[Yazad]

Sophronios’ Office

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning

N ow this was important.

Yazad easily maintained his straight-backed posture, fingers neatly laced atop his knees. But if one looked a little closer, they might notice the way his form subtly leaned forward in anticipation.

Knowing Aurelie’s favorite flower was important indeed. Not only because he adored flowers, nor because he was simply curious--although he was almost always curious about one thing or the other. No, it was because he intended to put that information to use in the near future.

The chuckle that spontaneously escaped Yazad’s lips was promptly stifled by the back of his gloved hand. "What an amusing name, I shall have to look this up." It was quite possible that ‘Johnny Jump Ups’ were flowers that he knew under a different name. "Pansies, you say? Such radiantly colored flowers. I do see the resemblance." His eyes openly wandered to the brilliant coppery strands crowning Aurelie’s head. The other passive’s floral preferences were committed to memory.

"Ah, me?" The man was not expecting Aurelie to ask him about his own preferences, but he answered easily all the same. "I am rather fond of pink peonies and white roses. Lotus flowers are beautiful, too. But my utmost favorite is jasmines." Yazad’s face brightened as his palms pressed against one another. The names rolled off his tongue with the eagerness of a man who enjoyed what he was talking about. Perhaps the permanent fragrance of jasmines that clung to his hair and clothes spoke enough about his admiration for the flower.

"Yes?" Aurelie had begun to say something, looking like she had perked up for a second before her expression dimmed. Something about making something and next summer--ah. The passive could harbor a guess about what Aurelie was about to say, but her awkward shift away from the subject did not allow much room to be sure. "Next summer, it will be my turn to make you something." The man said, indicating the jar of jam Aurelie had gifted him. "It is the least that I could do to repay your generous gift and this delightful time that you have spared to be my guest." And if he could ever have his way, this would not be the last time that he will get to host her.

[Aurelie Steerpike]

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning | Sophronios' Office, Brunnhold

Speaking of flowers, Yazad was rather flowery with his praise. It was enough to make color rise to Aurelie's face again; she couldn't think of why he kept saying such things. Perhaps it was that he was Bastian. Although, reflecting on the Bastians she had known personally... She just couldn't be sure. Whatever the reason, be it his Bastian-ness or his Yazad-ness, Aurelie felt distinctly ruffled. Not, she reflected, unpleasantly so, but she certainly wasn't used to it.

"They're another kind of violet," Aurelie explained, ignoring for now his open glance to her hair. The comment on the flower left her a little flustered, too, although for an entirely different reason. There was a more proper name for them, of course. Something scientific that Aurelie could never recall. This was simply what Nurse called them. A thoroughly human name for the flower, Aurelie supposed, but it was the only one she knew well enough to remember. Discussions of wildflowers were unsurprisingly rare in her day-to-day.

When she turned the question around, she was unsurprised to find he had an answer ready-to-hand. The smile that had hovered at the outskirts of her expression found its way to her freckled face properly now, watching her companion's face light up. They were none of them a surprise, but the jasmine least of all. There was the faintest scent of it, sitting near to Yazad as she was. Aurelie was certain it was him, now.

Peonies, roses, lotus and, most of all, jasmine. Aurelie tucked this away in the back of her mind, to keep with the small file of facts she was beginning to gather about the very singular man before her. She couldn't invite him to help next summer, as she wanted to rather badly, but she could do something else, perhaps. Should the chance arise. She gently reminded herself that there was simply no reason to think they would ever see each other again.

"Oh! Ah, you don't have to— That is to say, it's not really much of a g-gift, just some... My company isn't really... Hmm." Gracious Lady! She really was going to have to do something about her rambling. Enough to simply accept the words as they were offered, and not make a poor show of every little thing.

Although speaking of time... Aurelie glanced up at the clock once more. She hadn't looked when they had first come in, and she had no idea how long she'd been gone. While she was reasonably sure she wouldn't be in trouble in particular, she did feel guilt tug at a corner of her heart. Here she was, chatting away, when she should be working. This was all very lovely, of course, and she didn't precisely wish to leave, but... Still, she couldn't help fretting.

Despite all of this, it wasn't her habit to dismiss herself first. Aurelie's eyes left the clock and return to Yazad's smiling face. "I-I look forward to next summer, then." She could offer that much, at least. It was nice to have something—even so tenuous a something—to look forward to. Something different from every other day and season before it.

[Yazad]

Sophronios’ Office

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning

T he woman’s comment was met with an amused smile from Yazad. "Ah, I assumed as much." Yazad remarked, nodding a little. Another kind of violets, most likely a close variation of the common sort. In conclusion, violets all around for Aurelie.

Could their tastes be any more different? Aurelie with her pick of vividly-colored flowers with delicate petals, and him with his love for blooms sporting lighter colors and layered petals. Was there a meaning to one’s preferences when it comes to flowers and colors? There could possibly be, but if that was the case, Yazad would not know. He was not a man of science, nor much life knowledge in general. All that he knows is that he functioned on what is pleasing to wear, smell, taste, touch, and look at. There might be a name for people such as him, too--he still would not know that.

Yazad was going to lift up an index finger and wave it disapprovingly. He was going to tut softly and shake his head and tell the other passive to by Hurte reconsider her tendency to say rather demeaning things about herself, but Aurelie seemed to pause and stop on her own before he could do or say anything. There was being polite, there was being humble, and then there was--this, whatever it is. Something odd; a foreign concept, came to mind as a possible explanation. Could it be that she had been made to believe that she was indeed unwanted and poor company? Surely not, Yazad told himself with a dismissive chuckle. Surely there are no people so rotten that they would do that to another person.

Yazad’s pale green eyes followed the line of Aurelie’s gaze to the clock; ever-ticking as time continued to march on. Realization bloomed in his mind, and he sat straight once again, softly clearing his throat. "Ah, do pardon me for delaying you." He had not even registered that so much time had passed ever since they sat down with budding merriment and steaming teacups in hand. It had been rather selfish of him to take her away from the kitchen in the first place. "I shall not keep you any longer, though one finds it difficult to halt such entertaining conversations." Politely, the man inclined his head but made no move to stand up before Aurelie. He neither wanted to come across as eager to have her leave if she wanted to linger nor did he want her to stay out of any guilty obligation if she wanted to leave.

[Aurelie Steerpike]

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning | Sophronios' Office, Brunnhold

She really was rather fixated on the violets, wasn't she? With anyone else, she supposed she might have felt—oh, she didn't know. Embarrassed, perhaps. Uncomfortable at the very least; she didn't often share her opinions on much of anything, let alone flowers. Not with most people.

Then again, she thought with just the slightest twitch of her mouth, most people didn't ask, either. One might as well ask the drapes about their favorite opera. Nor did most people invite her to tea, even under the guise of tea for someone else. Yazad was very clearly not "most people", a fact she should long ago have picked up on, really. A fact she had picked up on! Mostly. It just surprised her anyway.

She could see that shift in his face, or thought she could, when she started to speak. He was going to say something strangely complimentary again, she knew he was. Scoldingly so. She caught herself, more wanting to avoid that strange embarrassment than anything else. He followed her eyes to the clock; guilt of a different sort pinched her.

"No, no delay—er, that is, I have nowhere specific to be, really, just... Ah..." Aurelie trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. Yazad hadn't, strictly speaking, asked her to leave. In point of fact, he had done just the opposite—he had instead expressed a desire for her to stay. She couldn't—shouldn't—indulge herself any longer. But she was still hesitant to just walk away, with only something as tenuous as the summer to go by. She was, she thought with a familiar twinge, tired of dim and ill-formed "somedays".

Aurelie chewed her lip, and then straightened again, posture as neat as it had ever been. "I-If you should be, ah, available and... Er, that is, if I haven't made things too terribly awkward..." She thought a moment more, and smiled. "The damson jam—ask for it, and I'll know that it is to be the two of us. Er, if you'd—like, that is. I would. Like. Ah."

My, but that was awfully forward of her! Clearly, all this—this sneaking about lately had gone straight to her head. Aurelie stood, trying to cover up her embarrassment at her boldness in the straightening of her skirts. But she hovered, waiting for an answer.

[Yazad]

Sophronios’ Office

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning

Y azad made a point to busy himself with mundane and entirely unnecessary motions just so Aurelie can choose whether to stay or go without pressure. He righted the already correct teapot cosy, pulled his gloves down in place, and adjusted the black necktie going around the collar of his dress shirt. The other passive had been generous to stay for as long as she did, and he could not expect any more out of her no matter how enjoyable this was. Her polite stumbling words were met with an equally polite smile.

Yet again, Yazad found himself suppressing a giggle of amusement that threatened to exit his lips. It did manage to escape his attempt, but only lightly. "I do hope that I do not appear to be left in awkwardness because this is certainly not what I am feeling." Not that the young woman herself did not appear to be deeply awkward at most times, but that had no effect on his own perception of things. His availability, while not absolute, was inarguably more flexible than hers. If he wished to, and he could work out the time and circumstances, then he could make himself available for anything.

First, there was a moment of silence in which Yazad stared at Aurelie, and then, that morphed into a smile of amused delight. If she was willing to make such an offer, then it means that Aurelie had, to a degree, enjoyed herself as well. So he hoped, and so he chose to believe. Slowly, the man rose up to his feet to offer his guest a bow. With the future arrangement now agreed upon, it felt easier to accept that their little tea party had come to an end. "I most certainly will. Thank you so much for taking the time to indulge my selfishness, Aurelie." Yazad straightened up, folding his hands over his abdomen and nodding smilingly. "Do take care of yourself now. Here is hoping that we can later work out something so that I may join you in the making of the jam." He added in courteous playfulness. It was meant as a mere jest to close the sitting, but then, the passive found himself wondering about how hard -or easy- it would be to acquire a Brunnhold passive lady’s uniform.

[Aurelie Steerpike]

Dentis 13, 2719 - Morning

Sophronios' Office, Brunnhold

As relieved as Aurelie was to hear that she hadn't made things too uncomfortable for Yazad, it didn't lessen her own feelings one whit. If anything, they intensified—had she said nothing, neither one of them would be thinking of it. Well, not quite so much. Aurelie knew she'd be thinking of it anyway, as it was clearly all on her.

No, she wanted to protest—to reassure. No, it isn't you, it's only me who feels strange about all of this. Only me and my nature that makes this odd. Yes, that would certainly help and not at all make it rather worse. She could not and would not blame him for finding her terribly bold offer not worth his time, once the both of them left this room. Her company often seemed less preferable when she was out of direct line of sight.

She had said it anyway, hoping against hope that she would prove to be wrong. She held her breath and her smile both as Yazad rose to his feet, offering a bow and a smile of his own. Some knot untied in her, or loosened enough for her to breathe.

"Not selfishness, I—er, well, that is, I enjoyed myself as well, so..." This time the stumble made her smile; she let it go with a small shake of her head. "One may hope," she added, as unlikely as such a thing was. That was too much to try to imagine, even with all the strange, unimaginable things that kept happening to her lately.

"Shall I leave this here, to finish...? Someone else will be around to collect it." Aurelie gestured to what remained of the tea service; the tea was cold, but the snacks had been hardly touched. And she was rather pleased with the spread all the same. Of course, she was perfectly happy to take it back now—no sense in putting off work for someone else to finish if she could take care of it herself.

Either way, she found her departure more—hopeful than she might have expected. This time, she hoped, this time it wasn't words spoken in idleness. She had never until this year realized just how lonely she was; it was easier, when all the people she might have missed were too far beyond her reach to do much more than dream of.

"Goodbye. And, ah, thank you," Aurelie bowed at the doorway, hovering a moment there. "For... Er, well... Ah, hmm. Until next time, then." One more bow and she left the room, away from that strange space and back to her regular world. Exciting, she thought, an amused smile hovering on her mouth for a moment before she replaced it with the more polite one that was her custom. Maybe now, at least.