[PRP] I Wouldn't Mind

[DystopicRhythm]

Who: Dair and Nell (Subobo); Ethiriel and Henry(NeonMace)
Where: The Knight household in Gambino
When: Mid October, lunchtime
Weather: Overcast and chilly  

[DystopicRhythm]

"I hope you like Mexican food."

Some time had passed and it seemed like things had settled within the Knight household; Henry had mostly calmed, though his demeanor was still sullen and he didn't have the energy for much. His bosses and coworkers still suggested that he stay home and collect himself -- it wouldn't be good for him to be so downtrodden around sickly kids who needed cheering up, especially those who had come to know and love the nurse and his antics. It was taking a toll on him, but the older of the Knight brothers obliged and hung around the house when not out and about with Ethiriel.

The Sigel still worried endlessly over Henry, doing whatever she could to keep his comfort levels as high as possible while not smothering him too much. Ethiriel wanted to offer her guardian the same kindness that he had given her once upon a time, or rather, constantly. She had been experimenting with infusing her tea with various fruits and herbs, trying anything she could to lift Henry's mood -- her own aura only did so much, and part of her was kicking herself mentally for making things so awkward with Cesc in the end... she could really use his help.

While normally Ethiriel would have been listening to a book or music, her earbuds rang silent as she paid close attention to Henry moving around in the kitchen. The warm, almost spicy scent of enchiladas filled the air; she wasn't fond of them, herself, but she could admit that they smelled quite nice... or, at least, pleasant. As always, the nurse had prepared some chopped vegetables and fruits for the Raevan to accommodate her rather picky palate.

At a few steady knocks to the door, Henry was quick to rush out of the kitchen and to the front. He opened the door with a tired smile, not even remotely close to meeting his eyes. "Hey, Nell..." he said before glancing beside her -- Ethiriel had mentioned Dair's growth, but his appearance was definitely striking. "And Dair... it's nice to meet you." The man's voice was just as deflated as his expression.

"Come in, come in..." he said, stepping aside with the door wide open. "Sorry I didn't reach out sooner. It's good to see you two."  

[Subobo]

"Mexican sounds great smile "

The Wilson household, on the other hand, had settled down some, but was still in the late stanges of getting a solid routine down. Nell gradually had started working more hours during the week to get back up to her usual amount (and usual paycheck), and while she had worried about leaving Dair home by himself, coming home to find everything as it should be a few days in a row had lessened her worry significantly.

But even though both of them seemed to be pleased with the arrangement, there was an almost palpable relief in the apartment when they were invited to go over to meet with Henry and Ethiriel and get a chance for a bit of a change of scenery. So a quick side dish was thrown together (a bean and corn salad), nicer than usual clothes were put on (for Nell at least, Dair simply seemed to throw on whatever he could find), and they were soon on the way. The drive wasn't overly long and they were puling up to Henry's house sooner than expected, though it took a few moments to untangle the seatbelt from Dair's branches when he tried to get out of the car.

Nell's smile faltered slightly when Henry came to the door, though she didn't know him terribly well it was still obvious to her that something was off. Oh dear, she hoped they weren't intruding during a bad time. "Hey Henry," her voice was soft, her smile by now having turned into a concerned frown. "You doing ok?"

Dair, meanwhile, seemed as impassive as ever, giving the man a solemn nod of his head. "It is nice to meet you as well, thank you for inviting us into your home." After sharing a quick glance with Nell, he floated inside, clearly trying to best his curiosity and not gape around at the new environment.  

[DystopicRhythm]

The nurse couldn't help but gape in return at Dair as he floating into the house; the Frei reminded Henry so much of Ethiriel and yet they were so different. As Nell began to question, however, he met her inquiries with upturned brows and that same, tired smile. "Sorry, sorry... I've just had a lot on my mind lately. Part of the reason it took me so long to get in touch."

For now, he'd leave it at that.

Ethiriel, putting aside her walkman and pulling out her earbuds, could now smell Dair as he approached the living area and she smiled. Reaching out her arms, the Sigel smiled once she felt the rough bark on her friend's hands -- she had always been fond of distinct textures. Knowing her boundaries just a tad better than last time, she was quick to trail her fingers up to Dair's face and plant two gentle kisses just beside his lips in greeting. As she pulled away, her hands remained and she offered him a gentle smile. "So good to see you again," Ethiriel cooed.

Henry smiled a bit easier at the sight, glad to see his own ward being so peaceful around others as always -- from the looks of it, they had already hit it off relatively well and he couldn't help but feel a small swell of pride.

"This way to the kitchen; most everything's finished now," Henry said, leading Nell into the next, well-lit room. It was a simple kitchen -- white tiled floors and walls, dark gray countertops and mahogany cabinets. On the stove rested a large casserole dish filled with enchilladas and a salad tossed with Catalina dressing to the side. "Glad to see you guys doing well. Were any of my suggestions helpful?"  

[Subobo]

Nell's mouth pressed together and her eyebrows drew in with concern at Henry's answer, but she let it pass for now. Clearly there was a bit more going on than that, but she wouldn't press him for answers if he didn't want to talk about it. After a quick glance at Dair, who seemed to be in good hands, she followed Henry into the kitchen, setting her bowl down next to the rest of the food.


"Oh, yeah! I didn't really have much to worry about in the end," she admitted with a laugh, peeling the plastic wrap from the top of the bowl. "He's surprising easy to take care of, I got a bit worked up over nothing it looks like. Oh! Oh oh!" With a grin that was big enough to make up for Henry’s lack of a smile, she reached out and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. ”Ethiriel looks wonderful, by the way! You must’ve been doing something right, huh?”


A slow smile spread across Dair’s face at Ethiriel’s greeting and he gave her hands a gentle squeeze as they passed over his. ”It’s good to see you as well. I hope you have been well…?” His head twitched minutely towards the kitchen when Henry and Nell left, though he was quick to look back to the other Raevan.  

[DystopicRhythm]

With a tired smile, Henry nodded. "Good, I'm glad. He seems like a good kid." With that, he passed a glance toward the other room where Ethiriel and Dair remained, barely catching the Frei's glance before he turned back to the older Raevan -- the nurse smiled a little easier. At the punch, he flinched back with a low chuckle and rubbed his arm. "Oh, I don't think that was me. She worked herself very hard. I'm very proud of her."

Ethiriel smiled and closed her eyes, waiting a moment before nodding. "I have been well. I have been trying to help Henry as much as possible lately, so I haven't really been out much. Tell me; how have you been?" Once content, her hands trailed from Dair's face down his shoulders to meet his rough hands.  

[Subobo]

"He is," she said fondly with a glance over her shoulder. "I had my doubts at first, but....well, if nothing else he'll only cause quiet trouble." She laughed, though it felt a bit strained around the edges."I'm glad she's doing well, though. I've heard that growing for them can be a bit more stressful than it is for us." Not the most comforting thought in the world, especially now that she was caring for a raevan herself.

"I've been fine," His head tilted to the side when she mentioned Henry, a small frown turning down the corners of his mouth. "There hasn't been much going on at home, which is...good?" He was a bit unsure, not having done anything that could reasonably be called exciting didn't give him much to compare the quiet time he'd been having with.  

[DystopicRhythm]

Now that the conversation had changed fully, Henry relaxed some. The nurse kept eye contact with Nell as she spoke, his own tired and distant. "I'm sure he'll be fine, though only time will tell. As for Ethiriel... She had gone through a pretty rough time prior to growing, but she's much better now." If his workout companion pressed further, the man could easily talk about the Sigel all day over himself despite his short answer.

With a smile, Ethiriel's eyes softened as they rested vaguely on Dair's face. "That is wonderful," she said, almost as if she were relieved. Her fingers lightly traced the bark over the Frei's hands and arms mindlessly as they spoke, every touch remarkably gentle but sure. "That sounds much more relaxing than here, honestly. Things have been... tense. I am very glad things have been fine for you."  

[Subobo]

"Glad to hear it," she still peered worryingly at Henry, noting his change of demeanor the further away the topic got from himself. "Growing up is tough anyways, can't imagine having to it all at once!" The thought of it sent a small pang of anxiety through her, and she glanced back at the two raevans almost reflexively. Would it be that stressful for Dair as well? (spoiler alert: yes)

In all honesty, until he glanced down he had barely noticed that Ethiriel was still holding on to his arms. He absently tracked the motion of her fingers, frowning slightly as he tried to differentiate the feelings in his arms. There and there, where er fingers passed over the smoother skin/bark along the inside of his arm he could feel, but anything along the rougher parts only registered as a slight pressure. Hmm.
"Tense? I don't mean to pry, but..." he was prying. Politely, at least.  

[DystopicRhythm]

Henry nodded with a grim smile, remembering full well how hard it was on Ethiriel. She had toughed through it and came out stronger; she was definitely more of her own person now... would she need him later? This must have been what it was like to have a child grow up under your nose... just... expedited...

"Mmm..." Ethiriel hummed in thought, her hands pausing on Dair's wrists. She glanced upward towards his head to attempt and make polite eye contact, but her gaze fell short. Lowering her voice, she softly said, "His girlfriend left him... He has been... rather upset by it. It is not my place to speak further on it, however..." With a soft smile and upturned brows, she silently asked for Dair's promise not to speak of it, himself.  

[Subobo]

"Well! I don't know about you, but those enchiladas are smelling a bit too good for me to ignore much longer," With a wink she gave him another small nudge with her elbow. If nothing else, food was a good way to provide at least a momentary distraction from whatever was bothering him.

"Ah," That was certainly among the long list of situations that he didn't have any personal experience with, but he could imagine how tough of a time it could be. "That's...unfortunate. I don't suppose there's...." His sentence cut off when he saw her expression and he floated a few inches lower, shoulders hunching up with a quiet "No, nevermind. Something a bit more cheerful, maybe." With a small smile he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's a nice day out, would you like to go for a walk?"  

[DystopicRhythm]

Having been in his own mind for just a moment, the nudge to his side was enough to pull Henry back out from his daze. He chuckled, letting out a small scoff before nodding. "They should be about ready by now. Hopefully they turned out as good as they smell, huh?" Placing his hand gently on Nell's shoulder, he pat her once and took a few steps toward the living room and leaned in.

"I know you don't have a stomach yet, Dair -- but we're about to eat lunch if you want anything, Ethiriel. Any fruit? Water?"

The Sigel's smile lifted at one corner as Dair wanted to comment yet held back, and her hand squeezed the Frei's large, solid ones in return. Ethiriel's eyes drifted towards Henry's voice as he spoke out to the two, though she didn't try to turn or make herself visible to the man. She wasn't sure how she was placed in relation to the kitchen, but she assumed she was facing their way with Dair between. "I do not believe I am in need, but thank you, Henry. Dair has offered to take me on a walk and I would like to accept, if that is alright with you?"

Glancing toward Nell, then back to the two Raevans, Henry sighed with a subtle smile. "I'm sure Nedhudir could use a walk, anyway."

"My thoughts exactly," Ethiriel said fondly, her arms finding their way to the crook of Dair's elbow before softly leading him towards her bedroom. In the long hallway before the front door, hers was the middle of three. As they entered, he would have noticed how bare and empty the room was, other than a couple of CD's, braille books and a walkman on her nightstand, it served its purpose.

Silver nails tapping lightly against the door's wooden frame, the Sigel let out a soft, melodic hum, and the collie immediately trotted toward the door, tail wagging. He was already prepped for a walk, harness on with a leash attached. Ethiriel took it daintily in her hand and turned back toward Dair. "We can go wherever you would like to explore. I can easily find our way back."  

[Subobo]

"I have absolute confidence in your cooking skills," she said, her tone mockingly serious. "Anything I can do to help?" Far be it from her to just sit around and let someone else do all of the work, especially when the host was clearly not feeling their best and when she had two perfectly good hands.

Dair craned his head around to look behind him, shaking his head slightly as Nell raised her eyebrows questioningly when Henry offered Ethiriel food. He gave her a small wave as he drifted off after Ethiriel, looking around with mild interest at the house. It was much different than the apartment that he and Nell shared, and a quick look in Eth's room showed it to be significantly less cluttered than his.

"I've never been to this part of town so I wouldn't even know where to begin." It makes for easy exploring, he found, when everything was new to you.  

[DystopicRhythm]

As the two guardians set forth on preparing their meals, Ethiriel led both Nedhudir and Dair out of the house, but as soon as they were on the porch she allowed the latter to take lead. She held loosely onto the Collie's leash -- now that there were another seeing pair of eyes present, she didn't have need for her companion to take charge on this walk.

"With this, do not fret about getting lost," Ethiriel said lightly, almost teasingly, as she lifted her phone and waved it between them. The Sigel knew that Dair would be able to get them around just fine, even with a phone needing to guide them home. "I hope you have been doing well and not just trying to comfort me," she then said softly, just for the two of them to hear. While the feeling was weak, the Sigel could feel that something was off with her friend, even if only a little.  

[Subobo]

Once they left the house, Dair took a moment to look around before randomly picking a direction to head in. He let out a huff of laughter when she presented her phone as a fail-safe in case he ended up leading them astray. Good to know that they didn't have to rely on his dubious navigating skills to get them back, at least. Her question seemed to throw him for a loop, though, as he floated along in silence for a few moments with a frown while he considered his answer.

"Well enough, all things considered," he finally said, his tone light and at least attempting to sound reassuring.However, he did tense slightly when he spoke and turned to the side somewhat, as if he was watching something that they were walking past.