Almalexia. (arithmeticks) wrote in emillion, @ 2013-11-03 10:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, almalexia lliryn, violet black |
I'm so tired, I wish I was the moon tonight...
Who: Almalexia Lliryn & Violet Black
What: An accidental run-in.
Where: Outside the monastery.
When: Evening.
Rating: PG.
Status: Complete!
It was two days after the Fete of the Holy Saints and Violet was beginning to feel like herself again. Her temper was once again under her control and the sudden need to waste away in bed was subsiding. It was well into the evening when she began to feel restless. Two days of sleeping in and barely eating left her with an empty stomach and jittery limbs. And so she decided that she’d stop by the kitchens to fix the first problem and walk to the Necrohol to cure the second. The kitchens were closed after a certain hour, but Violet had privileges as Feldwebel. No one would question her sneaking out of her room, no matter the time, and no one would stop her from opening up a cupboard and taking a few slices of bread and a fruit. She ate standing, leaning her back against the yellowing wall, her stomach still rumbling as she ate quickly. When she was done, she dipped her hands under a running faucet and scrubbed them clean before splashing her face with cold water. For the first time in days, Violet felt wide awake. The walk from the kitchens to the exit was a brief one. Padding quietly out in booted feet, Violet passed a number of bedrooms not unlike a shadow. Wearing a dark dress and a thin dark sweater, she blended easily into the night. Once outside, she inhaled the cold night air deeply and started her walk. Lex expected very few people residing in the monastery to be out and about at this late hour. As for herself, while she may not have been able to volunteer for evening shifts during the most recent holidays, the request to her superiors at the Cathedral had not gone unheard. She was only now dragging herself from the Necrohol after a quiet evening of patrols along the grounds. Church mages had their roles to play as well, even if their duties were not always prestigious in nature. But Lex had been training at such solemn tasks for long enough now, and she was not quite so hapless as when she had begun. Fortunately, those embarrassing first memories had started to distance themselves from her recollection. At this late hour, her restlessness had finally worn itself down at last. Cold and exhaustion seeped into her bones, but she was not yet tired enough to miss the older woman's presence completely. Lex pulled her cloak tighter around her form and stopped at the gates, just as she caught a glimpse of the Feldwebel. While the women of the monastery were all somewhat acquainted, the mage knew little about her--such as why she was sneaking out so late. "Pardon me," she said, standing near the monastery gates. Her voice was lit with a restrained curiosity. "Has something happened, by chance?" Violet, brimming with energy after having gone so long without any activity, had noticed the approaching figure of a young woman, but had hoped the girl would leave her undisturbed. When it became obvious that the girl was coming to speak with her, Violet stopped in her tracks and smiled a polite sort of smile. The girl's face was familiar, but Violet didn't know her well. Part of her wanted to chastise the girl for asking questions she had no real business asking, but decided against such behavior. The girl seemed harmless enough, so there was no need to be rude. "No, nothing's happened," Violet said. "I'm just out for a walk." A pause. "I couldn't sleep." She hoped that was enough of an explanation to satiate the girl's curiosity. “Oh?” Lex was nothing if not cautious and careful (under normal parameters, at least), and she felt no need to make an exception here. The mage gracefully stepped aside, allowing the older woman her exit. Her curiosity, while piqued by the explanation, was nothing so bold as to pry it seemed. “Very well.” She briefly tried to recall anything about the woman that Rictor might’ve mentioned before. Aside from his apparent frustrations, however, Lex hadn’t found a suitable reason to inquire about any details in particular. Whether that would change now, however, she hadn’t a clue. “Do you require accompaniment, perhaps?” It was said as a matter of politeness, as a mage of the Church. Lex was still exhausted, and even now her mind drifted to the pleasant picture of a warm bed waiting for her inside, but according to her own training it seemed appropriate to offer such. Violet's first instinct was to say no outright, but, again, that seemed rude. It wasn't the girl's fault that she was intruding on a private moment. "I wouldn't mind it, though it's not entirely necessary. I am familiar with my path," she said after a moment's pause. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to let it slip that she was so familiar with such a place, but Violet couldn't bring herself to care. The worst that could come of this, she supposed, was that people would talk. And that wasn't exactly unusual. A childless widow was something for the masses to sympathize over and Violet had overheard more than one conversation about herself while walking through the Cathedral gardens. More gossip aimed in her direction wasn't much of a bother to her. "What is your name?" Because it was dark, Violet didn't catch the shadows under the young girl's eyes. But from the way she stood and the late hour, Violet had the feeling that the girl was tired. "You're one of the mages, aren't you?" "As you say," Lex conceded with a shrug of her shoulders. Content to let the Feldwebel do as she liked without causing unnecessary argument, she left the matter entirely in the other woman's hands. Whatever her business, she suspected, it was something entirely of a personal nature and nothing that required the aid of a mage. A fortunate circumstance, as this one would likely be of less use in her tired state. When she took interest in Lex's name, it came as something of a surprise. Had she overstepped, perhaps? It was a curious consideration. "Almalexia," she offered, still polite and reserved, her hands kept inside her cloak for the sake of warmth. The mage folded her arms across her chest. "Indeed," she added, "I myself am an arithmetician." "Well met, Almalexia," Violet said, giving the young girl a nod. The name was familiar. She was almost certain that she'd heard the name from Amos before and would have to ask after her in the future. But the chilly night air wasn't conducive for standing around and chatting. Wrapping her arms around herself, Violet looked past Almalexia and the gate. "Are you off to bed, then?" Violet said, trying to be polite in her pushing the girl away. "Indeed," Lex said. She nodded her head and looked beyond the woman to the monastery, and to the warm bed that she knew awaited her. "I won't keep you further from your business, of course." The mage took a step forward, pausing briefly to wish the Feldwebel a good evening, before going about her business as planned. She quickened up her pace, anxious to get out of the cold at last--and only spared the briefest of looks over her shoulder. |