bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
"Me, harassing you? Why, when we were growing up, I'm fairly certain it was the other way around! Though if you insist that I make up for it now, I'll oblige," the mage replied with a grin, trying to keep this conversation as playful as possible, even though her heart weighed heavier than that. Death was still fresh in her mind, and he had to have known by now that she'd seen it happen; nevertheless, she didn't want to burden him with all of her guilt and her sorrow. She watched him carefully. There was something oddly...reserved about his behavior, like he was withholding more than just the object in his hand. Was she making him uncomfortable? He said he'd been looking for her, but there was something reticent about the way he carried himself that made her wonder if he really did want to talk now.
They hadn't seen each other much since the day of her fight with Thais, and the subsequent tense discussion -- at least, not alone or privately, though everything seemed fine when they were in common company. She wasn't certain if he had been intentionally avoiding her, or if he perceived it to be the other way around. To be fair, Beth had been keeping herself busy over the last week, but it wasn't consciously done to keep from speaking to Aurin. In the time before the Warden-Commander and his group's arrival, she had sequestered herself in the kitchen to prepare snacks for a certain nobleman's Mabari, and after Coan had shown up, she'd been preoccupied with his company and catching up on the stories he had to tell of his travels, as well as that of the other prospective Wardens. If Aurin had been ignored, it was only in the process of forging new bonds with the people who would become ingrained in her future, not to spite him. Of course, she realized, he might not have known that. He couldn't read her mind. Once again, she'd lapsed at maintaining communication with him.
Honestly, Beth hadn't actually forgotten what happened in her room, either...but she had put it out of her mind, for the most part. She didn't need another thing to worry about, on top of every other mounting issue at the forefront of her thoughts. It was a harsh way of dealing with the situation (or rather, not dealing with it), but she needed to be strong now, more than ever before. No distractions, no...inappropriate thoughts. Beth waited at the door for a second for him to go in first, but quickly decided that she would step around him and enter before he changed his mind about inviting her. Or before she changed her mind about going in.