Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jessie had noticed Coline arrive, of course. These days his eyesight was just as good in the sunlight as at night, and he wasn't called Hawk for nothing. This hadn't always been the case, though he had always considered himself lucky for his relatively smooth adaptation. There were rumours of his ebony-skinned brethren simply sizzling up in the sun, as if some inherent evil within them just wasn't compatible with a world that prized virtue. He'd soon begun to think this was an exaggeration of the unknown concept of sunburn, however. The dark pigmentation of their skin was not at all similar to the melanin which provides humans with their vast colourations, and a Drow burned even more easily than an albino for some unknown reason. To his annoyance, he was still forced to remain inside his quarters on the hottest days of summer even after all these years, or risk looking like a snake shedding its skin for the next several weeks.

He was keeping an eye on all the young recruits, but kept a closer eye on Coline. The Captain's constantly growing interest in her wellbeing, stemming not only from his encounter with her sudden illness but also, as now, her need to disregard his cautions and continue to work as hard as she could, was something of a bother to himself. He felt flashes of annoyance when he saw that she still wasn't doing as she'd been told, and moments of guilt when he realised that by watching her he was forgetting his other trainees. And yet this human - this rivvil, so full of overwhelming potential and yet so helpless and alone (his mind conjured an image of a tiny mouse frozen under the gaze of a Beholder), continued to draw him back in.

He'd been glancing at her, frowning, just waiting for her to get up and try to exert herself, for a long time. Then, just when he was thinking about going and telling her to get to bed as an absolute order, he noticed that her head had lolled - she'd fallen asleep.

It made him stop in his tracks, for a moment. The sight of her, defenseless, quietly breathing against the wall, conjured many mixed feelings.

Well. She wasn't disobeying him. He hadn't specified where she had to stay to take it easy.

He excused himself from the group he'd been advising to collect a blanket from one of the chests and drape it over her while she napped. She didn't disturb from her dreams, and he watched her for a few moments before realising the group were probably still waiting for him and headed back to them. At least she wouldn't be cold again, as she'd obviously been that morning.