bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
Bethen was not usually one to be delighted by the element of surprise. Not every random event in her life had led to unpleasant results, but the worst surprises were much more vivid in her memory than the best. Her own nature was predictable, and while that made her reliable, it also meant she was stodgy. It meant that she was drawn to people like Aurin, or Constans, and now even Dee, who could instigate and provoke her into doing something uncharacteristically unexpected. While she appreciated their adventurous qualities, they also made it incredibly difficult to reciprocate in a satisfactory manner. Deidre's insight was invaluable, and had the mage a notebook on her, this conversation, too, would be transcribed for future reference. The mage padded along silently, absorbing every word with great attention.
The suggestion of finding Aurin something that encompassed all of those listed elements brought some strange images to mind; one of the odder ones was a holy chess-playing wardog dressed like a pirate, but that obviously wasn't what the sister meant, at all. This felt like a riddle or a word puzzle that they were trying to solve, but one that didn't have any consistent clues leading to a concrete answer (well, that was Aurin, for you). People were just so...complicated. A brow lifted at the comment about Aurin's devotion, but she let it pass without further remark -- the fact itself wasn't too curious to her, since she'd always known that he didn't take the Chant of Light nearly as seriously as some of his brothers (if he had, she certainly wouldn't be agonizing over their current situation). However, she wondered just how much the sister knew about his less-than-zealous behavior, especially when they were out on the road together. It had become apparent that the Aurin Demarc they both knew was the same man, but a different person to each of them. Even if he had worked hard to keep the other identity from her, Bethen was quite determined to reconcile the two eventually.
She nodded at the suggestion of finding something for him to keep on him. Quite frankly, she hadn't even been aiming for a particular type of present, so much as blindly stumbling about, trying to feel her way around. Gift giving was, as far as she was concerned, a custom for normal people who had the freedom to exchange items and claim ownership over them. Magi weren't normal people. But the focus that Dee came up with was something she liked. Beth had noticed his "habit", firsthand -- every time he came back to the Tower, his load was a little lighter, and he would never exactly explain why or how he just happened to lose an entire set of armor during his expeditions. She had a feeling that whatever she gave to him would probably be guarded with a little more care than that. Nevertheless, this had to be a worthy investment.
"I should..." Beth replied quietly, looking forlorn as they rounded the next corner and passed through the doorway to the stairwell. She wanted very badly for this to be a present from herself rather than something chosen by someone else and paid for with her money (which, in the end wasn't even really her own coin, that she had earned herself). As reluctant as she was to rely so heavily on Dee's advice, since it seemed somehow disingenuous to simply borrow an idea, she didn't know what else to do. Her voice echoed and bounced in the narrow chamber while they made their descent and she finally forced herself to confess that she was still stuck, "Something tells me you've got something specific in mind? Because I have to confess, I haven't the faintest idea. I don't...do this, really. There was never anything I could offer to Aurin that he couldn't get for himself. Aside from maybe companionship...but that sounds incredibly sappy." She sighed, then came to what seemed like a very profound conclusion, "I...am a crap friend."