Ari ♫ ♪ ♬ (gracenotes) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-05-24 00:54:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, !log, arielle chiaro, drake liu |
Who: Ari & Drake
Where: Ari’s flat
When: Friday afternoon, before word of the attack.
What: Drake visits. It doesn’t end as planned.
Rating: PG-ish
Status: Complete
Romulus and Juliana had somehow managed to open at last -- to a full theatre and rave reviews, even. It should have been surprising how quickly they’d managed to put this show on, considering circumstances just one short month ago, but Ari had spent long enough around bards in general and theatre folk in particular to know that the show always went on, one way or another. And her own peculiar state did appear to be oddly helpful in this unique situation -- certainly she was crying her eyes out after every single performance, but the results onstage were probably improved by this, meaning that even if the director knew, she had no doubt she would be praised for singing always on the verge of emotional breakdown. Well, as long as she didn’t start crying onstage, it would be all right. Her mornings were largely her own again, however, and aside from run-throughs of problem scenes, she was mostly left alone to recover her energy between weekends of performances. This afternoon, knowing she would be up late with tonight’s show, she had rolled out of bed just shy one on o’clock, and, choosing a robe instead of actual clothing, had brewed herself a cup of coffee and settled on the couch with yet another book on bardic theory -- her research into her own unexpected ability to raise the dead still having borne no fruit -- and focused in. That was, until the knock on her door came. A bit confused (who could it be?) she padded over to the door on bare feet and peered out the peephole. What she saw had her smiling and hurrying to unlock the door and pull it open. The bakery around the corner of his apartment had been having a re-opening sale, and so he’d bought a few pastries and decided that now was as good a time as any to go and see how Ari was holding up. He hadn’t seen her since opening night, when he’d given her the bracelet; it wasn’t that he’d meant to be absent, but while his own mental state was undoubtedly better than either of the two women’s in his life, as things settled and less work came in, he was running out of distractions to keep his mind busy. Not that that would count as an effective excuse for Ari should she ask - and he wasn’t talking to anyone about his own death, or Zacheus’, or anything that had happened in any way that was more than casual or informative - but he was still busy. And if she did ask? Well, he was still swamped with work. It wasn’t a lie, even if it wasn’t the complete truth. Still, despite the slight apprehension of questions he didn’t want to answer (something he hadn’t had to deal with until just recently), he grinned when she opened the door and slid by her, holding up the baked goods like an offering. “I come bearing croissants and danishes,” he informed her. She laughed as she let him pass and closed the door behind him. “It’s like you know that two in the afternoon is breakfast time in my world,” she said, looking him over as surreptitiously as possible (he seemed fine, as fine as he’d seemed last time she’d checked, but he had been absent for a couple of weeks, and she couldn’t help checking, just in case). “But baked goods don’t pay the toll, I’m afraid.” She rose on her toes to give him a kiss, lingering a bit longer than she might have done otherwise (she had missed him, she could admit, rather dreadfully, though she was not prepared to tell him so). “There,” she said, smiling softly as she pulled back. “Now you are officially welcome, and I will even make you tea to go with your offerings, if you’re planning to stay awhile. Playing hooky, councilor?” He leaned into the kiss, his free hand wrapping around her waist and holding her in place when she tried to pull back. “Never. I’m a responsible adult or something like that.” He flashed her a charming grin before releasing her. “Took an early day since things are starting to settle down. I have paperwork to go through at home, so it’s not like it’s a complete day off, and I’ll more than make up the time.” The pastries went onto the coffee table, which held a cup; there was a book laying face down on the couch. The title wasn’t one he’d read, but it was also one that he didn’t have much interest in. Not being a bard had that effect on him with some books. “Interesting reading?” “Dry as desert sand,” she said with a grimace, heading into the kitchen once he had let her go, trusting he’d follow as she hunted up a kettle (and that he’d appreciate the view as she bent over to get it from the cabinet, for that matter). “Work, not play. And you know what they say about all work and no play.” She filled the kettle with water, setting it on the stove and rising on her toes to fetch the tea canister from a top shelf. It was dusty, having gotten little use recently. But he’s here now. Appreciate the view he did as he leaned against the counter and watched her set about making tea. “All work and no play makes Ari a bored bard?” he joked. “But in all seriousness, trying to figure out another scroll before you set this couch on fire?” He still remembered that one. He’d mourned her old couch. And mostly was glad it was the only casualty of that experiment. “No,” she said, her hands stilling for a moment, her tone dropping out playful and into something far heavier. “Trying to… work out something about an existing scroll.” It had been the one to set her couch aflame, she recalled, so strangely, he wasn’t too far off. And then the moment passed; with a carefree smile, she said, “I am quite fond of my current couch, so I’d rather not,” just as the kettle whistled. “It’s a nice couch,” he agreed, watching as she removed the kettle and settled into making him a cup of tea. Once the tea was steeping, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, noticing the bracelet with some surprise. He didn’t mention it, instead brushing her hair from her neck and placing a kiss there, his lips ghosting over a chain with a ring hanging on it. Funny. Now that he thought about it, he could recall her wearing that necklace a lot. Idly, he wondered if she’d gotten it for herself or if it had been a gift; it wasn’t uncommon for people to gift her with jewelry, or for her to buy something for herself that caught her eye. He was going to say something about how this was nice when his communicator went off. Frowning, he pulled away, fishing the device from his pocket and bringing up the message. Council lock. Seriously? Ari’s communicator chimed an instant later; her eyes widened at the single word on the screen and she was already dashing off a reply, feeling her heart constrict in her chest as she suspected there would be no answer. She looked up at him, noted the worry on his face, and assumed his own warning had come with a few more details. “I am assuming,” she said, “that danishes are now for dinner.” There was never any question of staying behind. She had a show tonight, but… no, she didn’t care. Maybe it was her understudy’s lucky day. If something happened to either of them and she wasn’t there… Her hands were shaking; she clasped them together until her knuckles turned white to stop the tremors. He tossed off his own message, letting Aspel know he was on his way, and pocketed his comm device. “Stay here,” he told her, already heading towards the door. But she grabbed his wrist with both hands, and although she wasn’t nearly as strong as him, it was not a weak grip. “No,” she said, the word at once forceful and pleading. “I’ll get dressed fast. Don’t go without me.” It didn’t even matter where they were going. “If something happened to you I couldn’t --” there was a lump in her throat past which she couldn’t possibly speak, even if she knew what to say. “I… just… couldn’t,” she finally managed, trying to calm the panic. “Please.” Everything in him was telling him to insist that she stay put, but every minute they spent fighting about this was a minute he wasn’t out there. Was a minute Aspel was out there on her own. And, he knew that the second he left without her, Ari would just head out on her own as soon as she had clothes on. Better to have her with him than worry about her while he was trying to keep the city from being attacked. Again. “Get dressed quick.” She didn’t even respond, darting towards the closet, the robe falling to the floor behind her. Although she could barely breathe through the anxiety, it was probably the quickest she had ever donned armor in her life. |