It was the kind of day that just begged for bards to sing about for decades to come -- the bright blue sky peppered with clouds, yes, but they were huge and fluffy and white and perfect for finding shapes in; the sun was shiniing in a just-the-right-temperature kind of way, and silently invited playful frolicking and sprawling by the lake; the birds singing their praisses and the frogs ribbeting and everything just seemed in it's place and really, really perfect for the first time in forever.
Ayr was not oblivious to the day outside. In fact, it was the reason he was in such a fantastic mood. After what was obviously an entire eternity crammed inside dank rooms and pouring over tomes looking for obscure information while the rain poured down outside endlessly -- drowning any hope of escape and socialization -- the fact that he would soon be finally free was enough to make him believe he had died and gone to heaven, even with the waiting still involved. Added to that was the furtive whispering that betrayed someone actually wanted to see him, and he was completely convinced he had.
So, all through the morning, he had skipped about and done his required chores, unsuccessfully trying to hide his ear-splitting grin, all the while doing his very best not to let on that he would rather be somewhere else -- and in the end he had just been shooed out with the reasoning that if he couldn't stop staring out the window longingly often enough to actually do his chores (which he had been under the impression he was, in fact, doing just fine), he might as well just leave early and leave them to someone who was going to do them right.
Managing to keep a straight face long enough to look sheepish, Ayr had leaped on the reprieve and was out the gates before the frustrated statement was even fully verbalized -- then he felt sort of bad for running away so quickly and hesitated just outside, glancing back in case there was going to be an infuriated yell demanding he return. Then he realized that might actually happen and bolted off again, taking it for what it was worth and escaping as fast as he possibly could.
He kept his focus all the way until he hit the pond -- and then it wavered a little, because a quick glance confirmed that the tadpoles were finally starting to grow legs. The bolder ones had even begun venturing near enough to the banks to be plucked up by nimble fingers -- which, obviously, required a lot of investigation to prove. And as long as 'investigate' was just another way to say 'spend forever hunting through the reeds for lost tadpole-frogs to return to the pond, fall in the mud and get covered head to toe in muck and then have to scrub clean in the water and get distracted by the froglets on the flat pads; then Ayr thought he could even pull the lie off with a straight face, and not a whole lot of guilt.
The sun suddenly seemed to have moved very quickly, the half-elf realized with a start, blinking as it appeared mid-way across the sky while he was still worming his way through the reeds. He paused for a second, cocking his head curiously up at the sky despite being knee deep in murky water, the frog he was hunting staring at him from just out of reach. He had been hunting it for quite a while, having noticed it when he first arrived, and though he then stared at it, it offered no explanation for where all the time had disappeared off to. Ayr gave a final lunge for the amphibian -- which of course simply hopped a few inches away and croacked reproachfully in his general direction -- before sighing, standing up and brushing flecks of grass for his clothes. He was tempted to just stand there and stare longingly at the pond for a pathetically long time, but then he remembered was he meant to be doing and squeaked, flailing slightly as he bolted and tried to keep himself upright in the face of pond water and reeds and noisy frogs.
Secretly, Ayr wished there had been a dust cloud kicked up in his wake -- it would have been very appropriate, he thought, to have just a fog of dust to show where he had been and has fast he was traveling to where he should be, completely panicked at the inevitability of his friends being mad that he was late -- and not for any good reason at all, really.
As it turned out, all his time being cooped up doing boring research had taken its toll, because by the time he reached the base of the hill that was their pre-arranged meeting place, the half-elf was panting and red faced from the exertion -- and not even in the cute, child-like way. He glanced up at the sun as he slowed, panicking all over again that it would be on the opposite side of the sky despite his mad rush, but it didn't seem to have moved at all. Ascending up the hill at a fast trot he focused instead of slowing his breathing, because even though arriving out of breath and sweaty would definitely garner him some sympathy, showing up like that seemed somehow ... gross.
Ayr gasped and collapsed to the ground, finally admitting defeat and acknowledging he needed a break, no matter how close the top of the hill was. In this new position the breeze had the chance to tease his hair, flicking the strands around his face and tickling his cheeks in a faintly irritating kind of way, but it was worth the discomfort just to feel his heart not trying to pound its way out of his chest. Somehow he managed to resist the instinctive desire to just roll onto his back and lay there for the rest of the day, but that was entirely because somewhere, far away, he heard voices.
"Of course that's not what I meant !"
A statement like that could only be accompanied by a pout and a stamping of feet -- and even though that would be completely out of character, especially when the statement hadn't been said petulently, let alone aggressively -- that's how Ayr imagined the scene going. His eyes eyes widened, even more so when he heard the response of
"Of course not, my dear."
It was all so very clear in his minds eye -- the first voice, the female, would slowly set her jaw and tilt her chin, silently defiant. The wind would whip her copper coloured hair into a frenzy as, very purposefully, she drew herself into a defensive stance, gripping her bow. The second voice, the male -- he would be slower to act, a few seconds necessary to realize what was happening. When it finally sunk in he would stand oh so very slowly, his eyes flashing at the challenge just once before they were narrowed, the sun glinting off the various metal scattered throughout his face as they made him look a thousand times more intimidating than he had any right to in his present
company.
That was Ayr needed to clamber to his feet, thinking of nothing more than how this scenario couldn't end in any way but bloodshed -- flailing his arms frantically for balance as he stumbled up the hill, eyes still almost comically wide at his own thoughts. The wind whipped any further conversation away from his ears but that was fine, he could work with that, and as soon as he crested the hill and cried --
"Don't kill him, Indy !"
-- he tripped over his own feet and stumbled, face first, into the grass. Which, as it turned out, was soft and cushion-y and incapable of causing pain but still managed to leave a few seconds of absolute silence before he regained enough coherency to raise his head and stare, bewildered, at the scene before him.
Indy seemed confused, holding a cup of water and blinking silently, while Sterling -- hovering above her, obviously just having handed it over -- was openly amused. After Ayr's eyes returned to their normal size he coughed, awkwardly, brushing his clothes off and watching the way his hands moved as he did so, just so he wouldn't have to stare at his friends just yet. There didn't seem to be anything to say to smooth over the moment.
"Hello," Indy said, finally, tilting her head to one side slightly and looking as if she had no idea what was going on at all and didn't think it was important enough to dwell on, anyway. Sterling shot her an amused look, then offered the decanter of water to Ayr when he finally got around to raising his gaze.
"Annis got tired of waiting," he stated, by way of greeting. The shorter male winced, which was a whole new source of amusement.
"I ... I ..." stammered the half elf, making enthusiastic gestures in the air as if that would explain everything and make it all better, staring at Indy in a guilty panic. She smiled patiently.
"Don't worry, Ayr. There's still time to practice."
"Right, don't worry," echoed the older male, putting on a serious face. "I'm sure Annis just left to hide how terribly concerned she was that you'd fallen and got lost in a ditch, or possibly been mugged on the way here. In fact, now that I think about it, I fear my own thoughts are consumed with such imagined horrors."
Ayr's eyes widened again, horrified at the thought of causing any of his friends concern, let alone Annis who would be sure to give him what-for next time they met -- but then Sterling ruined it all by bursting out laughing, letting him in on what was obviously a hilarious joke. Sulking slightly, the half-elf crossed his arms and frowned as he tried to decide how to respond to that. Not that it was really necessary because, as amused as he was, Sterling obviously decided he had better things to do and had wasted enough time lounging on top of a hill in the sun. Shaking his head without offering any further comments, the Templar just moved about and picked up his bag, slinging it over one shoulder. As he passed Ayr he shoved the decanter into the crook of his arm, patted his head and blew Indy a kiss, then skipped off down the hill.
Well, not really skipping, because not even he could make skipping look manly and appropriate. But he definitely walked with a spring in his step and joy in his hear. Ayr huffed, turned away from the sight, and clapped his hands when he saw Indy had risen and was waiting, patiently, with her bow.
"Shall we start ?" she asked, almost curiously, as if she wasn't really sure he was prepared to and didn't want to intrude. Then she blinked and took a half step back, because Ayr was bolting towards her and waving his arms in something close to frustration. It almost looked as if he was trying to scare her away.
"I bought you a gift !" The sentence all but exploded out of his mouth as he drew up short a few inches away and dug around under his robes -- not for the first time, cursing his lack of pockets. Eventually he withdrew a mangled, half crushed string of green and thrust it towads her proudly -- his face then falling as he saw the damage the daisy chain had sustained during his travels. Indy's face, on the other hand, simply lit up with delight as she took the gift and tugged one end, untangling the largest of the knots and making it look a whole lot more wearable. Then, very carefully, she ducked her head and placed it on top of her hair, smiling slightly when it didn't completely fall apart.
Ayr thought the only reason that it looked pretty was because of her smile -- it wasn't like there was really anything pretty about a pulpy green string with white dots scattered through it, even if it had been pretty and vibrant and perfect to start with.
"It's beautiful !" he said, enthusiastically if not a little late, and Indy laughed, just a little, just slightly.
"Thank you," she assured him, as if there was any reason to offer gratitude, and he smiled back a little bit, because the sun was shining and his friends were fine and the day was going remarkably well, all things considered. Then she offered the bow to him, and indicated a target on the other side of the clearing, not very far away at all. He took it, very solemnly.
The way Ayr figured, the least he could do to repay for her agreeing to teach him how to shoot a bow half decently was to not completely suck on his first attempt. Annis wasn't around, and Sterling had left, so there was no one to watch and silently criticize the way he stood or how he held his head, so secretly, he was fairly confident as he pulled the string back, took a deep breath, and let the arrow fly.
There was a beat of silence, then he opened his eyes. They both looked down at the arrow which had managed to fall straight down at his feet without actually flying forward at all, and just lay there in the grass as if nothing was wrong with this.
Another beat of silence.
"Oops," Ayr suggested, finally, not lifting his gaze. Indy smiled and patted his shoulder, silently consoling him through his shame.
"Don't worry, Ayr," she hummed, bending to pick the arrow, and showing him how to restring it. It took him a few tries, but she didn't seem bothered by his hesitation, or his clumsiness. "We have all day."
Secretly, he didn't think that was going to be long enough -- but, Indy looked so optimistic and so not completely not upset with his epic failure, that he didn't have the heart to say anything. Who was he to be so pessimistic and realistic and tell her it was a lost cause when she had gone to so much trouble to try and teach him ? He wasn't a quitter !
"I'm sure I'll get it !" he agreed instead, setting his jaw defiantly and pulling the string back.
Indy smiled, and watched the arrow fly a few inches. It was better than nothing, but from the way Ayr was acting, he wouldn't accept anything less than success. And really, that made it all worth it.
"Great, Ayr ! Now let's try again !"
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