driftfleet | Red Fishies

[he pauses in his work when he notices her, and he lifts his chin a little in his usual greeting... but his expression quickly changes. Syeira smiling isn't a strange fact in itself, sure. but there is just something about her approaching him with that small smile in particular that strikes him as vaguely suspicious.

so, his eyes almost immediately narrow a little bit. what does she want?]

Oh don't look at me like that.

[She kneels down, still chipper, on the other side of the dummy.]

It's nothing bad.

[And then the other hand comes around holding a rectangular wooden box. It's not wrapped or anything. Just held out to him as is.]

Happy birthday.

Edited (so I had the tag written on my phone but the picture on my pc) 2016-10-03 20:22 (UTC)

[her reassurance unsurprisingly does nothing to ease his mind, especially when followed up by mention of his birthday. he almost sneers as she goes to offer something out to him, beginning to lean back away from it... but that all stops when he actually gets a glimpse of the thing.

slowly, his expression eases out, and then his eyebrows raise. give him a minute to look at the box without reaching for it, and he'll eventually turn his gaze up toward her, questioningly.]

Zhas said you liked puzzle things, so I got you a puzzle thing.

[She keeps holding it out, giving a little bounce of it to urge him to take it from her.]

I got some other little things and had the shop keeper put them inside. For when you figure it out. There should always be treasure after solving puzzles.

[after looking at her for a few more seconds--as if he needs the time to understand the words she's saying--he finally takes the box from her.

he jostles it gently and listens for what might be inside, before running scarred fingers over all the carvings and details. because not only is it something that that simply holds a secret to puzzle out, it's beautiful on top of it. as someone who considers himself a craftsman, priding himself on working impossible intricacies into simple matter, he can't help but appreciate the skill that went into making something like this.

when he looks up at her again, his expression hasn't really changed. he still looking nothing but questioning, like he still doesn't get what's going on here.]

[Whatever is inside it doesn't sound fragile. Different sizes, shapes, with some weight to them.

As for Syeira, she's just quietly excited and pleased to see him accept it. And she's doing her best not to be too giddy about it.]

I hope you like it.

[his mind is on two separate puzzles, and it's distracting. one part of his brain is already itching to try and figure out the path through the challenge resting in his hands. he idly fidgets with the parts of the box that seem able to move, while the rest of his mind busies on the other mystery.

this second question is harder to define. he obviously understands the concept of there being a tradition centered around getting someone something on their birthday, but he's apparently having a hard time wrapping his brain around aspects of it in this case.

ultimately, all he can do is aimlessly form the sign for, 'why?']

[Aw, Coil. Her features go soft after that simple question. Why had she gotten him something for his birthday? Well...]

A birthday is a celebration of someone, isn't it? A celebration of a single life, when it began, and that it's crossed into others. In a positive way.

[She looks at the gift she's given him, held in his hands. She thinks of the day that was given to her as a birthday. He'd come that day, and that had been more than enough of a gift. He'd come to the celebration of her life.

She thinks of the day she died. She'd thought of him. That she would never see him again. Never get a chance to apologize for leaving, because too many people had left him.

She thinks of the day she returned to the ship, and he and Zhas had found her, sick and half-delirious in the halls of the Red Fish. How they had hugged and clung tightly to one another. How she was so grateful to get to see them again.]

This is for you, to celebrate you, my friend. I'm glad- I'm grateful, to have you in my life.

[he doesn't get it. it's clear that he's missing something here, and the fact that he doesn't understand hurts him. he can tell, it seems, that this shouldn't be so difficult for him to grasp.

it goes against everything that he'd been raised to understand in his bones as Truth--the same things that have been steadily picked at in little (and sometimes not-so-little) ways over the course of recent years.

it makes him think about many things that he spends a lot of time and energy to decidedly not think about, and he can't quite bring himself to lift his eyes from the box in his hands.

eventually--while still looking down and with only a small motion of his hands--he halfheartedly signs, 'thank you.']

[He's suffering, she can see it. And that pains her. His loneliness has always pained her, and she's been trying to help ease it since the day Zhas disappeared. And she knows that what she does next will likely be ill received, it's something that needs to happen. In her opinion, anyway.

Taking complete advantage of him looking down, she reaches out, across the dummy, stretching herself a little, a bit awkwardly balanced, and puts her arms around his shoulders in a hug. She doesn't expect he'll hug her back. In fact, she knows she's probably got only a few moments, before he tries to push her away. But she takes those moments to make it real. A solid, warm hug.

Then she draws back, hopefully before he hits her. But if he does, well, it's worth it.]

[he does freeze up and he does push her away, just as expected. but when he signs at her, 'don't do that,' it's not because he's angry. it's not because he hates feeling appreciated and valued.

there's just too much conflict crowding up in his head, and he's sick of it overflowing and getting away from him. so, he tells her to stop while there's still just a knot forming pathetically in his throat.]

[She nods and signs 'Okay', sitting back on to her knees. She still smiles, small, no teeth, eyes damp with affection. She has the urge to touch him again, reassure, comfort, but he doesn't want that right now. So she won't push it.

This time.]

I hope you'll let me know when you solve it.

[he nods, and his lowered gaze refocuses on the puzzle box, glad to shift the topic over to something else as he resettles himself. he resumes his exploratory fidgeting with the thing as he thinks, using the time to take a breath and mentally shake off the past few minutes.

'Haven't had a puzzle in a long time,' he signs. his version of smalltalk.]

Good.

[She's very pleased suddenly.]

I'm glad I got you something you'll get use out of. I hope it's enough of a challenge to keep your interest, even for a little bit.

[he glances up again without actually raising his head and he huffs, his expression lightening around his eyes a little. his version of a smirk, maybe.

if there's one topic that might put him in a better mood and coax him into conversation, it's the subject of his own mind.

'Zhas used to get me puzzles. He stopped trying.']

Really?

[Why would he stop trying?]

Well, we'll have to change that, won't we? We've got a universe full of puzzles. Some of them have to be up to par.

[maybe he's just really eager for a distraction from the previous gushy embrace, because he seems pretty pleased with that thought. and it even leads to another idea.

'Do you play games?']

[She nods.]

I do. Card games, chess, those seem to be pretty common. But I like trying new ones, if I can find them.

[he perks up a little at that.

'you know chess?' he has to spell out the word. 'are you any good?']

I'm decent.

[She's won some, she's lost some. It's really more of a wizard's game, but that's who she learned it from.]

Would you like to play sometime?

[he nods, though he maybe looks a little disappointed at the fact that she's not secretly some sort of chess wizard.

'We used to play a lot,' he explains, obviously meaning him and Zhas.]

[Sorry. She's only...not really human... Nevermind.]

We'll have to start the tradition up again. Do you have a set?

[it's such a trial to be the smartest one around, you know. and he shakes his head with a little shrug.

'Had no one to play with,' he signs. 'Want to learn games from somewhere else too.']

I'll get one.

[One way or another.]

And if you want, I could teach you some card games.

['gambling?' he asks with a trace of preemptive grimace. that's what he understands card games to be about--all luck with no real use of the brain.]

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child_of_bhaal - 2016-10-27 03:51 (UTC) - Expand