Fade Rift: Inbox

[keenly]

you know what to do

Comments

[keenly]

[The servants have gone home, so it is Colin who answers. He immediately lets her in.]

Everything all right?

[sulahnan]

[ Athessa heaves an exaggeratedly heavy sigh as she steps through the doorway, tipping her head back for it and letting a groan creep in for its finale. UuuuuuuuUUUUUGh. Then, she smiles at him. ]

Yeah. Missed the ferry, though. I didn't wake you, did I?

[keenly]

Not at all. [He pecks her on the cheek in greeting.] I've been up trying to think of what to do for...um, Ben and I realized we both had birthdays recently and he wants to celebrate them together?

[sulahnan]

[ A soft gasp, excited. ]

You did? When? Wait, how old are you now?

[ Prepare to feel old, Athessa. ]

[keenly]

The second? [A little wince.] I'm twenty-seven.

[sulahnan]

PHEW! [ She mimes wiping sweat off her forehead. ] Sorry, I'm so bad at ages, I was worried you were gonna say twenty or something and make me feel ancient.

[ But then, genuinely, she smiles and kisses him on the cheek. ]

Happy late birthday, brother.

[ On to the kitchen, after that, to peruse in search of a snack. Or a meal, she didn't actually eat dinner. ]

[keenly]

[He smiles and blushes a bit, following her into the kitchen.]

I haven't celebrated a birthday since before the Circle, so I don't really know what to do for it.

[sulahnan]

I might not be the best person to ask, [ she says, finding some bread and slicing off a piece. ] I've never really done anything for birthdays.

[ What to put on this bread? She's kind of bored of meat and cheese, so maybe just some butter and honey. ]

Did you have any ideas? Like a dinner party or somethin'?

[keenly]

[Colin takes a basket of various preserves off of one shelf and offers it.]

Smaller. Maybe just the three of us, and anyone else Ben wants to invite.

[He peers at her as she hunts for food. Has she not eaten dinner?]

What've you been up to tonight?

[sulahnan]

Oh, you know. Trying to make up with Byerly, starting a bar brawl, arranging for a Guard to get promoted in exchange for him informing on his squadmates, fighting with Byerly, bypassing curfew. Normal stuff.

[ Oooh, black currant preserves. She plucks that one from the basket and plops down at the table, using a spoon to put the jelly on the bread. ]

Just hanging out with friends sounds like a good birthday option to me, if that's what you wanna do. [ Then, teasing: ] You haven't been trying to think of something since you got off work, have you?

[keenly]

[Colin looks faintly embarrassed before circling back.]

I don't know if Byerly makes up with anyone. He just. Gives up at the first bump in the road.

[sulahnan]

[ Oh nooo, Colin you're so CUTE. ]

He's got some self-worth issues, [ she explains, shrugging. ] Which is definitely his problem, not ours, but I'm too stubborn to let that fly. He tried to give up on me once already and I threw anything I could grab from his desk until he relented and told me what was wrong.

[keenly]

You can't have issues over something you don't have at all. [Colin shrugs, clearly at a low-simmering anger rather than a sharp hurt.] I can't do what you did. Not about this. It's up to him.

[And that's the end of that.]

Anything you need to make yourself comfortable tonight? I know you've got a clean nightshirt here.

[sulahnan]

[ She shakes her head that no, she doesn't need anything. But also, she did say she's stubborn, didn't she? ]

You're right, it is up to him. I told him as much tonight.

[keenly]

[A sympathetic sigh, and he moves in to wrap his arms around her.]

You're perfect. You know that?

[sulahnan]

Oof, I hope not. [ She holds the bread slice at arm's length so as not to smear him with jam. ] Seems like a lot of responsibility.

[ But she hooks her free arm around him and gives him a reassuring pat on the back. ]

You okay?

[keenly]

I'm fine. [It's not that dismissive excuse it often is, a way of brushing past her concern. He's actually fine.]

I talked to Bastien. He's got me painting the dining hall with Ben now. He...asks a lot of questions.

[sulahnan]

Yeaaah, he finds people really interesting. What kinda stuff did he ask?

[keenly]

Things about my life. Who my first patient was, how I got into healing, what my life at sea was like. Why I have a flat outside the Gallows. Things like that.

[sulahnan]

[ She nods and takes another bite of bread. ]

What was your life at sea like? [ A little cheeky, because she is being trained by Baz, after all. ] Mine was brief and spent either chumming the waters or drunk below.

[keenly]

[Really? Again?

Colin sighs.]

Spending four years doing ciphering in a floating barrel I can't get off of.

[sulahnan]

I'm kidding, Colin. [ She laughs, pleased with that reaction. ] He's training me, so I gotta turn his tricks around on him all the time.

[keenly]

Do you have to turn his tricks around on me, though?

[sulahnan]

[ Properly chastened, though not fully regretful: ] Sorry. You can tell me to fuck off, ya know.

Do you wanna hang out on the balcony tonight? You can say no. I wanna do what you wanna do. Even if that's just...sitting quietly or turning in.

[keenly]

It's all right.

[He thinks about it for a bit, before letting out a breath.]

Let's sit outside.