Ari ♫ ♪ ♬ (gracenotes) wrote in emillion, |
So Ari had come as emotionally driven as the rest of them. The admission almost made him frown, although he did pout when she retrieved her hand from him. Then sighed, accepting her action, and pulled the next blade from its place. It was nice to have something to do with his hands while they talked. So he began to sharpen it as he did the one before. “Maybe they’ll think you wish to write a song of the heroic efforts of those here?” he said offhand. It wasn't an unheard of thing for a bard to also double as a historian. “Who is sick?” “It would not be the first time. My song about the chocolate mousse will live on in infamy -- or urban legend, perhaps.” She gave him a sideways glance, wondering at his question. Was he really that cold? Even if he’d come motivated by self-interest -- and who could blame him -- he had to care at least a little, didn’t he? Aspel was not an answer to give to him; as so many others, he was bound to misunderstand. But she could tell him this much: “Audrey.” Everyone knew they had been inseparable for over a dozen years. No one would be surprised even were Aud her sole motivation for risking her neck. “Didn’t you know?” Rhys didn't smile, so much as nod about the chocolate mousse. It was a cute retort that he took in as he continued to sharpen his knife. Her silence afterward, did not go unnoticed. He could count the strokes of steel sliding against stone, accompanied by the crackling of the flames filled the void. The name she said wasn’t one he’d expected, but it was enough to make him stop at the end of his next stroke and blink. He lifted his head to look at Ari, to check if she was joking. “That isn’t funny,” he said without thinking. His voice was incredibly harsh. Then he lifted a hand as his features softened. “Sorry. I... No. I didn’t know.” “No,” Ari agreed. “It isn’t.” She pulled her knees to her chest now, rested her chin on them. “She must not have told many people. I probably know only because I asked. Her sister is beside herself and she…” She thought of Audrey, looking small and white and weak, her covers tangled around her. “She isn’t doing well. I saw her just the other day.” Had she gotten worse? It was possible. In the span of two days, Aspel’s state had worsened so dramatically... “I refuse any life that doesn’t include Aud, so I suppose this was the natural choice for me to make,” she said. “If that makes me sentimental, so be it.” It was clear on his face, that he was thinking. It was never hard to tell when Rhys was recalculating things when he wasn’t juggling it with an act. The knife got shoved back in its place. They were already sharpened. He was honing them now, simply to pass the time. “Audrey’s sick,” he said under his breath. The words sounded more like a curse than a statement. “Well,” he said pulling out another knife and flipping it before catching it between his fingers, “I can’t lose my best lovely assistant.” Audrey was clearly much more than his assistant. While he hadn’t pursued the girl romantically, he clearly had a history with her. “I’m going to bed.” While he was sure he wasn’t going to be able to sleep, he might as well get started on trying. “No, we can’t have that,” Ari agreed. “Go ahead -- I should probably do the same.” With a hint of her usual teasing smile, she added, “I’ll find you if I get too cold, hmm? But don’t wait up for me.” With that, she went to find her own bedroll, to be alone with her thoughts. |