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Destiny is Awkward
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Topic Started: Jul 22 2010, 07:00 AM (592 Views)
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Hiros
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Jul 22 2010, 07:00 AM
Post #1
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The library wasn’t very large, but there were enough rows of books blocking the big table that Sidonie liked to draw star maps on to have some privacy. Her desk in her room wasn’t quite comfortable enough to stretch out all of her materials. She was in a better mood after staying out till late at night star gazing. To preserve that fragile improvement, she had avoided the social areas of the temple. She wasn’t ready to run into Caleb yet. And honestly, she did enjoy her studies. Doing the math and drawings was challenging and interesting. She bent over the sheet of paper that she was working on, carefully drawing points of interest and studying the patterns. She had figured out which one was Caleb’s star, mostly because she knew that Trent would be interested. But for the moment, she busied herself doing other calculations for people in the village. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t interested in Caleb… But she didn’t want to find out things about him that would damage her good mood. She’d worry about it later. Or make the other student do it instead.
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Vivica
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Jul 22 2010, 07:39 AM
Post #2
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Sleep had been more difficult to obtain than usual for Caleb. Sidonie’s reaction to his outburst replayed several times in his head along with scenarios that could have been if he had acted differently. The one that he thought of the most was a situation where he had hugged her when he had wanted to. Would she have pushed him away? Of course she would: she was a good girl with a boyfriend. Still, as immoral as being “the other man” was, his imagination liked to believe that she would hug him in return and that the intimacy would escalate from there. There was something wrong with him that he had to think of her that way after he had made her so angry with him, so he had prayed to Thantos for the strength to overcome his feelings. Unfortunately, they still existed. The gods were so mean to him.
After breakfast, he was given the readings he had asked for by Trent and pointed in the direction of the library. He liked to be surrounded by books as he studied. The walls of his office at the temple had books organized in shelves from the floor to the ceiling. As he stepped into the library, he observed that he was much smaller than the one back home. It would be difficult to have privacy if several people wanted to use it at once. Caleb stopped in his tracks and felt his stomach knot up when he laid eyes on Sidonie. It wasn’t fair—why did he even think if the gods were so intent on pushing him? He didn’t want a test of character so soon. But…he was curious as to what she was drawing on that big paper of hers. “Good morning…” he greeted her quietly and stayed where he was, loosely holding onto the book, and unsure if he could approach her just yet. She seemed busy and would most likely not appreciate his intrusion. But, how much harm could there be in sincerely putting forth an attempt to fix things? “Can I join you for a moment?”
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Hiros
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Jul 22 2010, 08:20 AM
Post #3
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The young ice elf jumped when Caleb spoke, knocking several pens off the table in the process. “Ah, you startled me,” she said, half laughing nervously. Sidonie calmed down and started collecting the pens, and her tone became more distant and composed. “Good morning.” She glanced with dismay at her charts. She didn’t want to have to go through all the trouble of putting them away and finding someplace new to work. She felt like if she stopped now, she’d get lazy and not finish until later. But, she really wasn’t supposed to let strangers know about her studies. She could just throw Caleb out of the room, but… Oh, maybe she wanted to give him a second chance. She had snapped at him when she hadn’t even been part of the conversation, and he had forgiven her. Although his yelling was frightening, maybe being far from home and tired made him cranky. Even if he was willing to learn, didn’t mean that he couldn’t get culture shock. “If you want…” She said quietly. Maybe he wouldn’t be nosy. She kind of hoped he’d go away though. He was distracting.
She went back to work, and then stopped and glanced up at him. Good gods, he was handsome. Since she decided to give him a second chance, her anger slowly slipped away from her. “Look… If this is about last night… I forgive you. It was a very stressful conversation…” She fidgeted with her pen, hoping that he wouldn’t blow up at her for assuming that he wanted to be forgiven.
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Vivica
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Jul 23 2010, 07:29 AM
Post #4
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“I’m sorry,” Caleb apologized when he made her jump, worried that it was his presence, rather than his sudden appearance, that caused her reaction. As an elf, she really should have heard him, no matter how quietly he walked. Her work must have been a distraction to her. At least she wasn’t choosing to ignore him after his outburst, but her greeting seemed cold… Not that it came as a surprise to him; he deserved every bit of distance that she put between them. Though her tone was discouraging, he wanted to prove that he wasn’t a short-tempered jackass.
Caleb walked towards the table with her invitation, but kept a decent amount of space between Sidonie and himself. When he was close to her, there was too much temptation to resist; it was all too easy for him to reach out and touch her. He chased away the thought with a mental scowl and reprimanded himself—was pleasure honestly all he could think about? How pathetic. His dark eyes grazed over the paper as he stood in awkward silence before his gaze fell onto Sidonie. As she began, he resisted flinching at her words, fearful that she would tell him that she never wanted to see him again, and nodded. But she didn’t and she forgave him for his behavior. What a wonderful young woman. “Yes, I wanted to apologize again.” He averted his gaze out of shame and let out a sigh. “Tiredness is no excuse for lashing out. It was very uncharacteristic of me to raise my voice and to speak to someone so harshly.” He tuned his head to make eye contact with her and smiled slightly. “I hope that we can start over. I do want to talk to you, Sidonie.” What he really wanted to do was to secretly guide the conversation in the direction of her boyfriend, so he could compare himself to his “competitor.” “I’m open to any questions you might have…”
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Hiros
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Jul 23 2010, 08:16 AM
Post #5
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It relieved Sidonie to hear him apologize again, and explain that he wasn’t usually like that, even when tired and stressed. Even if he was lying, she felt like she could expect better behavior. “Me?” She blushed and looked up at him. Out of all of the other students, he wanted to talk to her? She smiled at him. It seemed strange, especially after their fight, but she was very pleased nonetheless. “I didn’t behave very well either last night… So… I hope we can start over too.” She looked up at him. He seemed a little awkward, standing there with his book. “You can sit down… I have to keep working on this, but we can talk too…” She gestured towards one of the empty chairs.
She smiled again when he said she could ask him questions. She wondered what she should ask him first. She didn’t really want to talk religion with him unless she had to. She didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, and his personal life and the other realms interested her more. “What kind of food do you like? What is light realm food like?” She asked, and then realized the question seemed rather juvenile. Might as well ask him his favorite color next. Maybe if they liked the same color, they would become best friends. Sheepishly, she added, “Those are silly questions, aren’t they? I’m sorry…” She hoped that he wouldn’t want to stop talking to her just because her questions were dumb and not about religion. Maybe he was expecting her to ask about religion, since that was most of what they had talked about. Maybe that’s why he had wanted to talk to her. She didn’t want him to go find another acolyte to talk to. She wanted him to talk to her.
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Vivica
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Jul 24 2010, 05:45 AM
Post #6
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“Is that so surprising?” Caleb smiled at her, pleased to see the flush on her face. They weren’t in a room with a fireplace anymore, so it must have had to do with him. Feeling bold, he decided to take a step further into flirtation. “You interest me.” Sometime during the conversation, he planned to segue into asking her about herself and keep a careful distance with his flirtation. He decided that it would be alright for him to flirt, as long as he didn’t make it explicitly obvious. She wanted to give their relationship a second chance and he didn’t want to risk ruining it because he has trouble resisting a taken woman. At her offer, he stepped a little closer and sat in a chair, then placed the book on its wooden arm.
Caleb let out a little chuckle at her embarrassment. “I don’t mind those questions.” Both of his home realms were very different places from the Ice Realm. Those who were not well-traveled often what life was like in a foreign land. “I find Light Realm cuisine quite bland. There’s not much heat to their food, but they like to baste their meats with fat and they like butter, herbs, lemon, gravy—light things. It’s not bad, but I prefer my food to be spicy. My father and a family friend made the best spicy meals. I especially like curry. Spicy curry on top of rice is probably my favorite meal.” The mention of the spiced dish gave him a craving. It had been a long time since he last had a dish of curry and rice and in the cold weather, it would be the perfect meal. “The only Ice Realm food I’m familiar with is sushi. What’s your favorite dish?”
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Hiros
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Jul 24 2010, 06:25 AM
Post #7
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Sidonie blushed and ducked her head a little. “I’m not that interesting.” But she smiled anyway. The attention pleased her. She liked it when foreign guests took time to talk to her. After all, they had traveled so far to get here, and only had limited time. They could talk to more important people in the temple, but if they talked to her, it was special. That Caleb also made her heart flutter made it extra special.
“Oh, good.” She sighed in relief. She was glad that he seemed okay with answering her childish questions, so she listened carefully as she worked on her calculations. She wanted to devote all of her attention to their conversation, but she also didn’t want to get distracted away from her duties. “To me, the light realm food sounds really good… Is spicy like hot? I’ve never had spicy food.” It didn’t particularly sound appealing to her, but she probably would be curious enough to try it if offered. Her expression brightened when he mentioned sushi. “I love sushi! It’s so much fun to make. I also love ice cream with honey, or strawberries.” She grinned, enthusiastic because he had mentioned a food that she liked. “Most of the food here is really simple, because it depends on what people fish, hunt, and gather… There is trade with the other realms for other things to add to that, but a lot of times we just have to make do with what we have.” She loved it when people brought things like strawberries. It was like a special holiday, when people with trade goods passed through the village.
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Vivica
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Jul 25 2010, 06:22 PM
Post #8
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Caleb felt himself grow more confident seeing Sidonie’s reaction to his words. Cultural barriers existed, but flirtation still translated—and thank goodness it did. It allowed him to say part of what was on his mind without getting dangerously close to saying just how interested she had him. He was fairly sure that she wouldn’t take any confession of that sort well. At least a man still had his imagination to turn to..
“My mom likes Light Realm food, but she grew up with it. Like I said, it’s not bad. I just prefer my food to be spicier.” Caleb had been with her most of the years as she slowly eased into liking her food cooked with a little more than butter and fresh-tasting herbs, so family meals had more variety. “Ah, you know what else the Light Realm is good at? Sweets. Lights love confectionaries. I’m a bit of a sweets fan myself, but I don’t eat them that often.” His present culinary vice had been coffee for long enough that he got a headache from going too long without a cup. He shrugged casually at her remark. “It can be. I really like spicy hot dishes, but spicy can also just mean that the dish has been flavored with a lot of spices. It makes a lot of bland foods have flavor… Like sushi” He let out a small chuckle and waved his hand in dismissal. “I’m sorry. Unless it’s spicy, or tempura, I feel the same way about it that I do about Light Realm food. But I do like ice cream and strawberries… Just not ice cream with honey. Too sweet.” Caleb smiled as his thoughts rang out that he would like to share a bowl of strawberries and cream with her. His mind just couldn’t behave like he wanted it too, could it?
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Hiros
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Jul 25 2010, 11:28 PM
Post #9
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It sounded like his mother was a light realmer. Did that mean his father was a dark realmer? Because he really didn’t look like her idea of a light. Lights weren’t supposed to be tall, dark, and handsome. “What is your family like? You said you grew up in Amir, but it sounds like your mother is a light realmer…” The concept of moving out of a realm seemed a little amazing to her. Even visiting another realm seemed like a huge step, but living there… It could be very problematic. “I’m sorry if that sounds rude… I just don’t hear of many people moving to a different realm here…” She wondered what it would be like.
She grinned and nodded a little when he brought up sweets. “We don’t get things like that very often, but Father Pathos almost always brought candy for the little kids.” She traced a faint line across the paper and marked it where her calculations had placed it. When he explained the differences between spicy hot and spicy full of spice, she wasn’t sure if it sounded that appetizing either way. Hot foods didn’t sound appealing, and it seemed to her that over loading something with flavors would be unpleasant. “That sounds interesting…” Her tone was a little uncertain. “I don’t think sushi is bland. It’s not spicy, but it has good flavor. Maybe you should try sushi made by people who know how to make it.” She smiled a little at the end, to show that she wasn’t mad at him for thinking it was bland. She doubted that foreigners would know how to make authentic ice realm sushi. “You should have some while you’re here.” She wanted to make it for him. She wanted to feed it to him, and for him to kiss her fingers…
Well. That was hardly an appropriate line of thinking. “But, maybe we should talk about something other than food… You’re making me hungry.” She looked at him, meeting his eyes for a brief moment before blushing a little and glancing back down at her work.
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Vivica
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Jul 27 2010, 04:20 AM
Post #10
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“Ah, I remember when he took that trip to the Ice Realm. You should try Florentiorian pastries someday; they’re the best. You would love strawberry shortcake.” Caleb smiled and eased back into the chair. It made him slightly uncomfortable to think that he may have been in his twenties when the young woman before him was nothing but a child. But, it wasn’t that much of an age difference. It was that they were at different stages of life that made things awkward. What made him a dirty older man was the want to pursue another man’s girlfriend.
“I can never eat sushi plain. I always need to add soy sauce or ginger, especially if the fish is salmon. But, I grew up with a lot of strong flavors, especially living in Lyrale.” He leaned towards her in his seat and rested his head in his hand. “I don’t mind talking about my family at all.” Even in his own realm, his mix of race and realm was unique. “My mother is originally from Florentior and my dad is from the Dark Realm.” Caleb paused and wondered if fallen were treated with the same superstition in the Ice Realm. As somebody who looked the way he did, he would sometimes catch worried glances from more biased Light Realmers. Would Sidonie judge him by a fourth of his race? Maybe fallen blood would make him a little too much of a dangerous foreigner. “He’s half fallen, so he’s sensitive to the light. I think she moved to Amir so they could live together. Moving to different realms isn’t that common, but now that you mention it, a couple of my siblings have also left Amir.” Ah, since they were on the subject… “Do you have any siblings, or is it just you?”
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Hiros
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Jul 27 2010, 05:46 AM
Post #11
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Strawberry shortcake sounded lovely. With fresh strawberries, not frozen, done up by some of the best pastry makers in all of the realms… in a realm full of beautiful people like Caleb… It sounded heavenly. “I’ll have to visit someday, then.” She smiled at him. As much as she wanted to, something like that didn’t seem likely. She’d have to finish her studies, and then she would have to travel with her family. They needed her skill, she wasn’t going to be allowed to gallivant wherever she wanted. It was awfully nice to think about though.
His family sounded nice. It wasn’t too often that she heard of people who were from opposing realms being in a relationship, but supposedly Pathos’s parents were like that too. “It’s sweet, them both moving so they could be with someone they love…” Even if several of his siblings moved away, it sounded closer knit than her family. Maybe it was just because she couldn’t imagine her parents doing the same. She thought that if she were studying in a village that wasn’t on her parents’ hunting route, she probably would never see them. “I have an older brother… We’re not close though…” She realized that she was starting to sound a little wistful, and forced a smile and a slight laugh, “I don’t really remember ever living with my family. I was left here to study at a very young age.” She shrugged a little, “Sometimes they are in town, but the people at the temple are more like my family now.” She wondered if she sounded terribly callous. She liked living in town, and she actually dreaded having to start traveling around the realm all the time. She liked living where there actually was some chance of contact with other realms.
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Vivica
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Jul 27 2010, 08:05 PM
Post #12
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Caleb couldn’t help but smile a little at the thought of Sidonie visiting his temple. If it was ever possible, he would show her the city, take her out to dinner or cake on a beautiful evening, and flirt as much as he could without crossing her boundaries. A little flattery rarely hurt the taken individual, as he’d learned from his younger years. With her staying in his temple, they would be allowed so much time together… He wondered if her statement was sincere, or if she was simply moving the conversation along. One rarely saw Ice Realmers around Florentior.
“Yeah, it is. They’re a good couple.” He had been fortunate to grow up in his household: from his perspective as a child, his parents never fought. Not all parents, he’d learned through counseling members of the temple, were considerate enough not to fight in front of their children. Ah, and she thought that moving to a new realm for a lover was sweet…He could be sweet. He had originally moved to the Light Realm to be with Moshe. But bringing that up would mean talking about a previous lover with someone that he was interested in, which was against the rules of courtship, even if he couldn’t actually woo her. Damn boyfriend. “So, you don’t see your family often? That would be hard for me. My work keeps me busy a lot, but my parents visit and my sister also lives in the city.” He wondered why her family decided to leave their child with the temple. Maybe it was a tradition… “Is it common to leave children to the temple, or are you a unique case?” Caleb guessed that it was the latter; he hadn’t seen many children around the temple and not all could be left to study. Who would learn to hunt? “I can understand that. Several of the staff members at the temple are like family to me. Pathos is like a second father.”
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Hiros
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Jul 27 2010, 08:34 PM
Post #13
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“No, not often.” She decided not to mention that they were in town now. She wondered if he would think she was being disrespectful for not spending her time with them while they were in town. She had spent some time, but just because they were here didn’t make her other chores and responsibilities go away.
She shook her head. “It’s not very common. It’s actually an honor to be selected…” She smiled slightly at the boast. Not very many people were trusted with the kind of training that she had. Not that she was really proving to be terribly trustworthy about it at the moment. “It also depends if there’s someone in the tribe to teach successors, or if the tribe is big enough to need a scholar.” She chose her words carefully. It was bad enough that she was working right in front of him, but she really shouldn’t give more away. “There’s only one other person who has been here since he was little.” She really hoped he didn’t find out, because he was quite likely to tattle to Trent, and then she’d be in trouble. She smiled and nodded in agreement with his thoughts on temple life. It was very much like a family.
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Vivica
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Jul 28 2010, 09:16 PM
Post #14
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“Really? You must be a very special lady, then.” Caleb smiled charmingly and watched her, waiting for eye contact. He couldn’t help but use flattery. Evidentially, she wasn’t offended by his flirtations, so there was no reason for him to stop. “I was offered the chance to train for priesthood after I began spending a lot of time at the temple.” Pathos had been somewhat of a lifesaver to him; his life needed something more than moping around at home or in the temple.
So, she was training to be a scholar… He did love intelligent people. “What are you training to be a scholar of?” he asked, glancing at the parchment that she had been working on. It looked mostly unfamiliar, but he had the idea that it related to astronomy. “Are you an astronomer?” He figured that one who could navigate by the stars was important to the nomadic tribes of the Ice Realm, which brought slight disappointment. If that was her goal in life, then his lifestyle would not be suited to her… And there was the boyfriend that his mind was content to forget about, which bothered him. Never in his life had he ever wanted to lure somebody who was in a relationship. There honestly had to be something wrong with him.
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Hiros
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Jul 29 2010, 01:53 AM
Post #15
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“Oh, no… Not really,” she protested, although she was pleased anyway. He thought she was special! Quill never told her that… ever. Her training was an honor, to be sure, but there weren’t really any special requirements to be chosen. Parents who didn’t need another child hanging around, mostly. “You must be really good for Pathos to choose you as his successor.” Well, if he didn’t have any more outbursts like he had at her. But other than that, he seemed like a very good priest.
She froze briefly when he looked over her papers. She was tempted to gather it all up and run. She was going to be in so much trouble… And he guessed astronomy, which was close enough to it that she was worried that he might understand more about it than what she had hoped. But… he had said she was special. The praise made her feel reluctant to run off. Maybe she could trust him. Nervously, she nodded, “Yes… Something like an astronomer.” She hesitated. “But… Also like... a servant of Celest.” She sighed. “I’m not really supposed to tell outsiders about it… But… You came here to learn, right? Secrets don’t help build understanding…” She glanced up at him and smiled weakly. She was trying to convince herself that disobeying wasn’t as wrong as what she had been told. She half hoped he would say it was okay, and not ask her to divulge more, and half hoped that he would.
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