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 Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:56 am
Who: Henry, Etheriel, and Nell
When: early in the afternoon, late August
Where: A park in Gambino
Weather: Pleasantly hot Her feet pounded a steady rhythm against the pavement as she ran, the the familiar feeling of her legs stretching and the wind blowing through her ears lulling her into a sort of trance as she ran. The last couple of weeks has been trying, to say the least, but now that that ordeal was over it was as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she was able to think a bit more rationally about what had happened. Time had given the horrific hallucinations she had been plagued by a fuzzy coating, as if she was recalling a particularly bad dream whose details were slowly beginning to fade. The only concrete things she had to hold on to now were a stack of the papers she didn't have to return to the lab and a persistent ache in one of her arms. That and a growing bubble of excitement in her stomach. A Raevan! Her! A couple of months ago she hadn't even known that such a thing existed, but now she was going to be taking care of one! Starting a family of her own! That thought alone did much to banish the doubts she had been having and erase the fear she had felt, and soon a rather dopey looking grin spread across her face as she ran, weaving her way around the slower moving pedestrians that were on the path.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:02 pm
Things in the Knight household were calm as of late. Ethiriel had been in much higher spirits, generally opting to spend time with the nurse and his girlfriend whenever possible. With her dog at their side as the Frei clung to Henry’s shoulders, she couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend an afternoon. Henry was glad of this – the Raevan had come a long way since first arriving into their house, and just seeing her so happy was enough to bring the nurse’s mood up as well.
Nedhudir, keeping pace with Henry as they ran, would often glance up at his owner with a happy, lolling tongue.
Henry would often ask if Ethiriel needed a break – even though she wasn’t the one exerting energy, he wanted to make sure she was comfortable at all times. Usually, the Frei would shake her head as a ‘no,’ to keep going, as she came to enjoy the wind in her hair. The first time they had ran, it was startling, but she was appreciative of the wind, the vibrations and the earth.
During their run, Henry had noticed Nell along the same road from a distance, but he couldn’t recognize the back of her head and thought nothing of it. He did, however, pass a small glance to her face as he passed and a spark of recognition struck and his pace slowed but did not halt.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:47 pm
She generally didn't pay too much attention to other people in the park aside from making sure she didn't run into anyone, but something about one of the people she saw in her peripheral vision grabbed her attention. A quick glance over her shoulder got her a clearer look at what, exactly, it was.
A much better sight than what she had been seeing lately, and a familiar one as well. Her smile only grew wider as she spotted the man she had briefly spoken to at the tea party, and holding on to him was a Raevan. She slowed down, eventually stopping as she waved to Henry, waiting until he got a bit closer to call out to him.
"Hi! I talked with you at the tea party at Lab 305, yeah?" Her gaze kept flickering between Henry and the Raevan behind him, trying not to stare too much at her and be overly rude, but it was hard not to look with how striking she was.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:52 pm
”Yeah…! Yeah! I remember you! Nell, right? Yeah, we spoke at the tea party for sure!”
Henry’s excitement never seemed to waver, especially when it came to people interested in the Lab. He offered his hand for a hearty shake. ”I’m Henry!” he offered as a reminder. Delicately, he offered a hand to Ethiriel gently touching her fingers as a signal to grab on. He adjusted so that she was no longer attached to his shoulders, but instead floating beside him with Nedhudir between. ”Cool to know that other people from the Lab come this way! Not that it’s a surprise!”
As the nurse spoke and Ethiriel was situated, she offered a small bow to Nell. ”A pleasure,” she said. Nell’s scent was familiar but Ethiriel couldn’t place her scent or voice – perhaps it was just Henry that met her at the party; she couldn’t recall at all. So many mingling scents and voices at the time, it was difficult.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:38 pm
"Yeah! Nice to see you again, Henry!"
Her enthusiasm seemed to be a match for Henry's, and she happily shook the proffered hand, grin still plastered on his face. "Yeah, I'm usually here a bit earlier in the morning, but I've been sleeping in a bit later than usual, so," a hand waved around in an absent gesture. "Here I am!" She seemed a bit startled when Etheriel spoke, but returned her bow with a quiet "The pleasure's all mine!"
"Um. Would your offer of answering questions still be open? I suddenly find myself with a, uh, lot of them." She wrung her hands together anxiously, her expression turning a bit apologetic.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 2:03 pm
With a grin, Henry nodded. ”Early morning is the best time to get out – fresh blood just waiting to pump!” It was obvious that the man cared about his body with his physique and all. While he wasn’t one to show off or gloat, he took pride in his appearance.
At Nell’s change in demeanor, the nurse’s expression softened and, waiting for permission, gently set his hand on the woman’s shoulder. ”Not a problem at all! I’m not master or anything but I’ll do my best! What’s on your mind?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 2:53 pm
And, to be fair, that was her usual outlook on things, but her sleep pattern had been so messed up as of late that her usual routine was messed up quite a bit. Her expression lightened somewhat at the kind gesture before taking a deep breath and speaking.
"Oh! Um. Well, so I put an application in at the Lab after the tea party, right? And apparently I got accepted? I actually sent the essence and soul back a couple of days ago and was wondering if you had any advice about what to expect?" Her words came out in a rush, her voice a bit higher than usual. She glanced quickly over to Etheriel, chewing on her lip for a moment. l"If either of you had any advice, that'd be great." A Raevan, she figured, would probably know a good deal about what would make their homecoming more pleasant.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:02 pm
Henry listened eagerly, obviously hanging on every word as Nell spoke. This was a normal question for him to get, and each time he had to repeat his answer, he felt rather bad about it. His shoulders slumped slightly and he gave a gentle sigh – not out of defeat or frustration, but nearly apologetic.
”Well, you see… Eth was already born by the time she came into my care—“
”As I was when I came into my previous guardian’s care, as well.”
With Ethiriel saying it out loud for a second time, the truth felt a little easier for the nurse. He didn’t want to mention anything to upset her, especially with how well she’d been doing, but at least she seemed at ease with it. And with that, he continued.
”I’m not really sure how it all works, but I’m sure things will be fine. What’re their digs? Ethiriel here is “unoxidized silver” and a tea plant. Green tea, but that’s pretty obvious!” he chuckled. ”Honestly, you’re better off waiting to prepare when you know a little bit more about them, like when they come to be. There’s no telling what they’ll want or what makes them comfortable, so there’s no point in stockpiling stuff and then it turns out they don’t like any of it, right?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 4:03 pm
"Oh," she said quietly, cheeks flushing slightly. Well, hopefully she didn't stick her foot too far in her mouth. "Yeah, I guess that'd probably be best, it's just," a sigh punctuated her words, a hand reaching up to push some of her braids that escaped their ponytail behind her ear. "All kind of sudden, you know? It feels like it's not really real at some times," she said with a quiet laugh.
She sighed again, visibly making an effort to push away her nervousness. "It's a cursed hag stone? It's a stone with a hole in it, they're supposed to let you see through illusions and into the faerie world, but this one, um. Didn't really do that." To say the least. "And an oak tree! That got struck by lightning a bit." She rubbed at her arm with a small wince.
"And who is this cutie? I don't think we've been introduced!" She crouched down a bit, starting to offer her hand out to Nedhudir before looking up at Henry and Etheriel. "Is it ok to pet him?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 5:28 pm
”Yeah, I definitely get the ‘sudden’ part,” Henry said with a wince of his own. Ethiriel didn’t budge, her expression remaining neutral with a slight upward curve of her delicate lips – she was decidedly better now, but sometimes it was hard not to walk on eggshells around her like they used to.
However, Henry and – admittedly – Ethiriel listened in awe as Nell explained the new to-be Raevan. It was definitely something that caught the Frei’s attention at the very least; it sounded beyond interesting, but she wasn’t sure how to keep the conversation going – while she was better, she didn’t have much in the way of conversation skills. It didn’t bother her, but sometimes she wished she was better at it.
”That sounds amazing! They sound like they’ll be quite an interesting mix! Maybe once they grow, you can give me a call and we can introduce them and Ethiriel, huh? Aah—Nedhudir! He’s Ethiriel’s seeing-eye dog!”
He watched both Nedhudir and Ethiriel for their reactions – the collie didn’t seem to back away, staring upward at their new friend with a grill and a lolling tongue; Ethiriel, the same as she had been save for a light bow of her head – yes, Nell could pet Nedhudir.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:53 pm
"If they're anything like the essence," she said with a nervous laugh, "They'll certainly be interesting, that's for sure." Whether it was a good interesting was up for debate. "Of course! You're on the phone list the Lab sent out, right? I'm not sure how long it'll take, but I would love them to meet you both." She hoped they would become friends, but it was hard to make any guesses without them actually being alive yet.
Her rather child-like smile of delight was hard to disguise at the prospect of petting Neduhir. She stretched her hand out, allowing him to sniff it first before giving him a hearty ear scratch. "He seems like a wonderful companion, Etheriel, aren't you boy?" She gave the collie one final pat before sitting back on her heels for a few moments.
"Is there anyone you think I should meet? I. Well, honestly aside from you and Zeke I haven't really met anyone in the Lab and I'd feel weird just calling people up out of the blue that I don't know."
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:27 pm
”I’m sure you’ll make a great home for your new companion!” Henry said, leaning back on his own heels. ”I should be! I’ve been around long enough for it to be registered, at least!”
Ethiriel smiled and glanced down at the silver tag on Nedhudir’s collar. ”I adore him.” she said, her light curve meeting he eyes and voice.
At Nell’s next question, Henry brought a hand up to his chin and rubbed it methodically – humorously, he hoped. ”Well… there are a lot of neat people within lab, it’s hard to just pick one or two – everyone’s special and awesome in their own ways! I’d say meet as many people as you can, honestly!”
”Rhedefre, Sir Cruz and Miss Aina are some of my closest friends, if that is of any help. Their guardians are Lady Vivette LaCelle, Miss Anita Bishop and Sir Duncan Clarke, respectively.”
Henry passed a smile to Ethiriel as she spoke, honestly a bit surprised that she would even list anyone off. It always amused him how Cesc was the only person, save for himself at times, that the Frei didn’t give a title.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:47 pm
"Awesome! I'll definitely drop you a line when they get here, I think it'd be great for them to have some friends when they get here," For both of their sakes, it'd be nice if she had a more experienced guardian to bug ask questions about so she didn't mess anything up too badly.
She nodded along as she listened to Henry, frowning slightly as she tried to figure out how to meet all of these people. It was a pretty formidable list that she had been sent, after all. "I don't suppose there's many big events like the tea party very often, right? She all but beamed at Etheriel, even though she knew she couldn't see it, hopefully it would be clear in her tone as she spoke.
"He seems to love you very much, you're in good hands." She paused for a beat before adding, "Or paws, I guess. And thanks for the recommendations, um, is there any good way to meet them aside from calling out of the blue? That seems like it could be a bit...awkward"
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:52 pm
Henry beamed as well, giving a genial nod. ”Agreed! I’m sure Ethiriel would love some new friends, as well!”
The Frei merely nodded.
”Well, usually for holidays or special get togethers – it really depends! I’ve been to at least two!” In all honesty, Henry felt a little bad; he couldn’t exactly remember how many Lab events he’d been to in his short time with Ethiriel. However, there would definitely be more to come without a doubt. For Nell’s sake, he hoped soon – it was the easiest way to meet other people involved in the Lab.
Ethiriel hummed at Nell’s comment. She was, indeed, in good paws. Nedhudir had been nothing but a blessing since coming into the Frei’s life and she wouldn’t give him up for the world.
Henry spoke again, this time toning down his excitement a smidge. ”Calling them would probably be the best… or maybe emailing? Are emails listed on the page?” The nurse hadn’t really thought to check before as he was a vocal kind of guy.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 10:38 pm
"Well I would consider them lucky to have such a lovely young lady as a friend!" If nothing else, Nell wouldn't mind getting to know the Raevan a bit more, though she seemed to be a bit more on the quiet and withdrawn side. Oh well, she was sure she would run into them again at some point.
She made a thoughtful noise at that, making a quick mental checklist of the possible upcoming holidays. Halloween wasn't too far away, though her life had been a bit too spooky as of late for her tastes. "I'm not sure, actually, I'll have to take a look when I get back. But if not," she spread her hands in a helpless gesture. "Gotta go with the phone then, huh? Is there, um. Anything else you think I should know going into this?" The basics, she figured, were pretty self explanatory, but she figured there was no harm in asking for pointers from those with more experience.
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