Bharune
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- Posted: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 02:22:52 +0000
- Rook fell silent, listening to her answer that she was here for Sari Ydranna. He regarded the thermos in a moment of respectful melancholy, and realized slowly that the tea inside the container had been meant for him. His heart ached deeply, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about drinking it instead; part of him felt wrong, like taking something that wasn’t his, perhaps even undeserving of the gift. The other part felt honored.
But maybe he was just thinking too much again.
The pretty lady dismissed his apology, expressing that it was void because they were sharing the same loss, but Rook shook his head in disagreement.
“I never really knew him,” the brunette admitted. “Haven’t seen ‘em since he was a little tyke; our mommas were friends, so we played together when we were little.”
Rook chuckled softly at the memories he recalled, but he tried to keep his expression from becoming too sad. He didn’t really feel like he had any right to mourn – not like these people, at least. They were mourning a person, but he… he was mourning an idea…
“Well, when I say ‘played together’, I really mean I bullied the hell out of the little crybaby,” he confided with a small, apologetic smile. “I reckon he forgives me now, though; could never hold a grudge, even then. And he was pretty fearless for a kid who bawled if I squashed a cricket. ‘They got a right to live on this planet too!’ he’d screech.”
He flashed her a small grin, feeling a bit better again. Maybe it helped to talk to someone who really had known him.
“Anyway, I seen his momma a few times after she left Winston Ydranna, so I was wantin’ to see how she’s holdin’ up. Looks like she didn’t make it today, though…” he murmured, glancing over the bench towards the gravesite, which had emptied some time ago. Every now and then someone still passed by, leaving a flower or trinket or saying a prayer, but the mass had dispersed to their warm homes. There didn’t seem to be any officers lingering, either, so Rook felt some of his tension ease.
As the air became a bit nippier, Rook quickly decided to take the lady’s advice. He shifted enough to pull on the neat, formal jacket, though he let it hang open. Now that there were less and less people around who could possibly identify him, he ran a hand through his hair and tugged out the wind-tousled ponytail, letting his thick mane warm his neck and reddening ears. Then, he decided that a cigarette was necessary once again, so he rose and took a step from the bench as he tugged out his pack and lit one up.
“You wouldn’t happen to know anythin’ about her, wouldja?” he asked, shifting slightly to warm his legs as he exhaled the smoke. “Her name’s Lorraine Lazore, if she hasn’t remarried since I saw her last.”
His brow furrowed slightly in concern; wasn’t it odd that Sari’s own mother hadn’t been at his funeral? Had the police been able to contact her? He didn’t really expect this random lady to have any information, but since it came up in conversation anyway…well, it was worth a shot. Maybe Sari had mentioned her, or…maybe if she’d been close enough to him to help out with the funeral arrangements, she might’ve heard something along the grapevine.
Now that he thought about it, though, he hadn’t seen Elessa, either. It was hard to miss the blonde brute, and Rook had been watching the attendees pretty closely. He felt badly; he wanted to apologize for being harsh when Elessa had called him…
But first thing’s first.
“Oh, it’s Draith, by the way,” he added as an afterthought, sticking his cigarette in his mouth so he could hold out his hand for her to shake. It seemed odd not to introduce himself as ‘Rook’ – his primary name even before bootcamp – but the name was too well-associated with a criminal to be tossed around this place, where the police had been stamping around all day. ‘Draith’ was pretty safe, though; hell, even most of the Red Moon members he interacted with daily had no idea what his first name was, or that it wasn’t ‘Rook’. Most of them didn’t even question it. He chuckled a bit.
“Odd, I know. And you are…?”