Solo #72
642
It wasn't long before Adi was back, entering with her usual "Rio~?" (well, sometimes it was Nashwa, or Shy or Ishkha). It wasn't too out of the ordinary to see her more than once in a day, with Glyph gone, but he was surprised that it was so soon. He'd expected she might be back for dinner, but it had been only an hour since she and Elik had left. Surely she wasn't hungry again already!
"Oh, back again?" Not that he minded! Rio would have been perfectly happy if she could stay with him and be Glyph's aoide, but it didn't work that way. He quickly noticed that his daughter looked tellingly distracted - something was bothering her. "What is it?"
Adi glanced around, as though to make sure no one else was about. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, dear." He held out his hand for her, and they walked together to the sitting room. "Now, what is it?"
"Do you think Elik likes me?" she asked, choosing not to sit - she set to pacing instead.
Oh. Oh. He should have seen this conversation coming on, really, as much as she clearly liked the night elf. "Well." He cleared his throat, buying a moment to think about how to answer. "I think he likes you, but I don't think he's had enough time to like like you."
She paused. This wasn't outright distressing, but it was puzzling. "But...we've had the same amount of time, and I like him."
"Honey, you liked him before you met him," Love teased gently. "And he has a lot of other things on his mind. He's a long way from home, and he's just learned that his mother's a host. I don't think he's thinking about girls." And certainly not as much as Adi thought about boys, but she was that age.
Adi frowned, finally sinking onto a cushion with a wilted look. "So he hasn't noticed me?"
Rio mussed her hair fondly. "You are impossible not to notice, Adi. You're beautiful, and I'm sure he's seen." Not 100% sure, maybe, but he was biased. "But like I said, he has other things to think about. Wouldn't you, if you were in his position?"
"...I guess so," she admitted, ears flicking distractedly. She probably would be thinking about other things, if she hadn't seen her family in a long long time.
"Now, the first thing you need to do is be patient. Once Illisia comes back, he probably won't be so worried, and then he might notice more." If she came back as Illisia, and if she remained so for any length of time...if not, well, that was another story entirely. "Otherwise, just be yourself. He'll come around." Or maybe he wouldn't, but Rio was trying to be positive. He didn't want to discourage her.
"But what if he thinks I'm little? I mean, he doesn't know I'm little, but what if he finds out I'm not very old? Illisia said he's been grown-up for centuries, and I'm only four."
Ah. That could be a problem, couldn't it? Even without telling someone how old she was, Adi made it obvious she was young in other ways. On the other hand, though, a lot of it was as much personality as age. She might grow to be less naive, but he had a hard time imagining her ever being anything other than her happy, energetic self. "Well, just don't tell him, then. If he asks, just tell him it's not polite to ask a lady her age, hmm?"
The werewolf considered this a moment, troubled. "Isn't that like lying?"
Rio laughed aloud. "No, not telling isn't lying. It'll be fine, I promise."
"If you say so," she decided, leaning in to hug him. "Thank you~"
"Anytime." Hopefully he wouldn't regret that particular lesson.
