makinglies | Respite

Respite

The lake is dark and calm with a small breeze by the time they arrive at its shores. The stars above reflect perfectly in the still waters before them, and a small copse of trees lines one side, starting on their side of the river and jumping along the other side.

Chris takes a moment to re-prepare the spell he hadn't been able to cast in five years and gestures vaguely to the area around them as a suggestion for what the others can do. Gathering in the forest, sitting on a nearby over-turned log, it didn't matter to him. What he needed was an hour without interruption.

He settles down on the ground and presses his hands together as he closes his eyes to focus on the image in his mind. Within minutes, the white, shimmering outline of a large building forms in thin air. The gentle glow of its light barely spreads from the growing structure.

As promised, it takes the full hour before the slowly filling-in form is complete and finishes with a jaunty, echoing click.

Chris takes a breath, now sitting in front of the stoop that looks annoyingly like the one he'd passed earlier in the night, and gets back onto stiff legs as the glow fades away, leaving smooth, but otherwise unremarkable, white stone behind.

"Here we are. Home for the next however long we need. I'll start working on food and water next." Once they're inside, anyway, which is why he takes back his things from where he'd left them and leads them into the temple, marked only with the carving of ravens on the black wood of the double doors.

Inside is something just shy of opulence. The same polished white stone makes the walls, though black and gold veins course through the marble. The floor is the inverse, a black stone with white, shimmering speckles like a night sky if looked at for long enough. A single window faced East high up on the wall. The temple was alight with sconces at regular intervals along the walls, illuminating an open area that held all the offerings of comfort Chris could think of.

A large hot-springs-like bath, complete with a miniature waterfall, took up the left side of the room and ran into a smaller, similar bath at dog-height. Next to it, covered by a retractable screen, was a shower. Along the back wall, a raven's head emblazoned the white wall in black and watched out over a set of tables, chairs, and a couple of sofas. The majority of the center was clear for walking, but the right edge and right side of the room held a deeply inset pit of pillows, cushions, and blankets in various soft (black and purple) fabrics.

Finally, in the middle of the right-hand wall, there were two closed doors that, when inspected, revealed one room with a large, soft chair and rug, while the other room was made of nothing but stone with jars, pitchers, and plates on shelves along two walls and a cork wall perfect for catching daggers on the other side.

"I hope it works for everyone. I didn't...I didn't make separate bedrooms this time. I didn't figure we would need them tonight."

♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When Wolfe steps out of the room, the first thing he looks to is where Chris and Amelia are. They're about as far from each other as they can get without leaving the temple, which is sadly unsurprising, if not unexpected. It's in his heart to go to both of them, but he's only one person and Jon said he needs to speak to Amelia, so he blows her a kiss if she happens to look up and instead lets his feet take him towards the laundry area and the feeling of confused tension he imagines permeates the air.

They may be giving their relationship space right now, but that doesn't mean Wolfe can't be a quiet support as a friend. They were that first, and always.

Wolfe settles down against a nearby wall, making himself obvious but not obtrusive, and watches Chris' hands in the water. It's his first instinct to offer to help but the bunching of Chris' shoulders tells him it's not about the cleaning.

"Hello," Wolfe finally says, in Faerun's Common, perhaps a bit formally to make sure he gets the inflection right.

He can hear when his boys come back out, but he's just about finished doing as much as he can without wearing holes in the fabric of the shirt. By the time he rinses the thing, its discolored spots are noticeable, but not too damnably in the family of red anymore, and Wolfe seems to be the only one still with him. Hopefully, that doesn't end poorly, considering what Amelia had just told him of her last conversation alone with Jon.

His worries are shortened with that rather proper hello, but he still spares a smile for his mage while he's finishing his work. "Well, hello to you, too." He says it with his best 'noble' accent and cocks a brow. "Have fun with your practicing?"

"I did, actually. Jon is a good partner for study, if a little hauty about things. Normally it would bother me but I hope it made him feel useful." Wolfe keeps his voice low, in case Jon is in any position to overhear. The accent of nobility - so close to his own, thanks to Leandra Hawke's careful lessons - has Wolfe grinning just a bit. He's not sure if he's being made fun of or just the 'proper' manner of speaking, but its cute hearing Chris talk like that regardless. "We'll see how much of it sticks, but at least I'm limber for tomorrow."

Glancing at the water, Wolfe has to resist the urge to idly swirl it with his magic. It should be odd, falling into remembering not to cast, but it just feels familiar. A bit depressingly, though thankfully its for another reason besides hiding. "How did your talk with Amelia go? Unless you don't want to talk about it. I'll understand if its just between you, but I'm asking as your friend and not as her boyfriend."

He will allow Chris the room to not make that disconnect. Wolfe has always been one to blur the lines at least a little, even if he knows himself capable of keeping that separating if necessary, like right now. He can't deny that he wants to know, but mostly he thinks it would be best for Chris to talk to someone about what's in his head.

He hangs the shirt with a smirk. "He's a brat often, but it is cute when he gets all pompous about what he knows. I'm glad you two are working together on it." Maybe it's less endearing to someone not in love with Jonathan Sims, but that could be said about some of Wolfe's habits as well.

Speaking of less endearing...

Wolfe asks his question, and for a moment, Chris's expression is back to one of careful neutrality. At least until he turns his attention back to Wolfe and he remembers not to play the politician. He shrugs and sighs. "Fine. For the most part. She did explain that she talked to you about what happened before...which was why I was so irritated at the lake. For the rest, for me and her...I made myself clear, and she asked for time to think on it. I think that's the best we can expect right now. Nothing's fixed...can't even promise it's better, but we talked."

"I sort of figured, after she told me," it comes out as a sigh, but a commiserate one. "She's never been good with grief. I found it strange at first but considering she also never allowed herself to be close to anyone before Duplicity, it makes sense."

He resists the urge to lay some of the blame at his own feet, again reminding himself that his being taken away was not his fault, nor were the reactions of those who lost him for that time. "I think it's better to have it out in the open, at least. You can't move forward through closed doors."

Leaning back, Wolfe considers the spider markings around the top edges of the walls. Chris never likes being looked at when they're talking about emotional subjects. "Do you feel alright about how you left it for now?"

It takes more than a little bit of effort not to roll his eyes or scoff about Amelia's reactions making sense. Sometimes, yes, other times...he feels he'd have more in common with a stranger. She's trying. And Wolfe's right about their need for communication. They always needed to air out their issues; rarely had time and space alone been enough.

He turns and dries his hands and starts work on putting up the laundry things even if he doesn't actually need to by all rights. "Mostly, I suppose. I took the chance to apologize for my part in our...strife. I also told her that I'm open to having a more...intimate relationship. However, I also told her that should she ever do something as she did at the end there again that relationship would be rescinded. The number of times I can hear 'I'll do better, I swear,' and be faced with the same problem over again is limited."

He tries not to let bitterness seep into his tone, but isn't quite as successful as he'd like, especially when it comes to Wolfe's keen ears. He sighs and turns back to his mage, arms folding tight in front of him. His voice is quieter when he speaks next. "Just so you know what was said as well."

Listening quietly, Wolfe shifts so he can help with some of the pinning up. Sitting still while Chris did all the washing was the most he could not help.

Honestly, he's proud of Chris and Amelia. This is hard, but in his experience nothing worth having ever easy, not at first. And this is still 'at first' for them having a physical relationship with each other, especially Chris with a woman. It's not been terribly long and there have already been some exceptional ups and downs. It's about time they had a talk regarding boundaries, let alone how they want to be with each other.

"Can I tell you what I think?" He starts, but is cut off by Jon's voice sounding across the temple. Wolfe smiles the patient smile of the oft-interrupted and shrugs. "...Or we can see what it is Jon's been so cagey about today."

Chris nods. He did want to hear what Wolfe thought, even if it might or might not change how he thought or felt himself...but then Jon calls to them, and Chris gives a small smile.

"Maybe later, then...and I don't think he's been too cagey. He and Amelia had a tiff earlier; he probably just sounds like that."

Regardless, he heads out from the laundry area to meet back up with their other halves.

Respite

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject