[ She would have had to teach him some gardening regardless of if he had any prior knowledge, Era knows, since she's particular about the care of each individual plant rooted in her soil. Era also knows Hythlodaeus may see this as an unequal 'trade', despite the future benefits it would bring her that she cannot yet share with him.
Eyeing the man — her new new-old friend — holding the bow she crafted with him in mind, clearly beyond pleased with the gift but also feeling undeserving of it, Era takes a moment to consider how best to proceed. Eventually she comes to a realization she should have come to years ago: ]
I enjoy teaching others. [ It shouldn't surprise her as much as it does, given how delighted she was whenever her students understood what she taught them; that glint in their eyes when things finally clicked thanks to her guidance. ] I enjoy it almost as much as new adventures. An opportunity to teach you how to make new life flourish beneath your fingertips with tenderness and affection rather than aether...
[ Era considers it again, and decides it to be an unbalanced exchange. ]
For the bow you can assist me with my garden, and for my nameday gift you can let me teach you.
[He looks around for a moment and then places the bow down carefully, leaning it into a corner between a bookcase and a wall. His arms fold loosely as he looks down at her, giving exaggerated consideration to the offer that she made him, then he chuckles lightly.]
That sounds like a fair enough trade.
[And a fair enough gift if that is truly what she wants of him.]
Very well, my little dragonet. That is what we shall do. I shall look forward to being under your tutelage.
[ She hides a small giggle behind her hand as he exaggerates his body language. He seems so earnestly... content? At least that's how it seems to her. And after all the horrors she knows Hythlodaeus has gone through (or will go through), it makes her happy. This world may be more a gilded prison to her than anything else, but for people like Hythlodaeus, Emet-Selch, and even Elidibus it's an opportunity for healing they otherwise wouldn't have.
He calls her 'little dragonet', and today it gives her pause. Era tilts her head slightly to the side, staring at nothing for a moment as she ponders. It doesn't take long for her to shift her gaze upward, shyly peeking at him from under her lashes. ]
Era.
[ Her voice is firm; confident. Though the way she quickly shifts her gaze back to the side and her fingers begin to twitch (seeking something to busy themselves with — idle hands are the devil's playthings, after all), it's clear that this admittance isn't easy for her. ]
[Oh, the things he might say if she moved to query his demeanour. Hythlodaeus is happy, deliriously so as of late, and his usual content attitude being increased tenfold is easy to see for anyone who knows him.
She has never told him her name and although he has often found it strange it is something that he has bore with as a harmless boundary not to be pressed. When she speaks up in perplexes him for a moment, his mind not quite connecting what she says with what she means, but then she clarifies and his eyes immediately brighten.]
Era.
[A soft exhale pushes out through his nose as he places a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezes it.]
As fine a gift as this wonderful bow you brought me. I must say I feel rather spoiled.
[ Era doesn't look at him as he says her name for the first time — less out of any fear or anxiety and more because it lets the sound hit her horn more fully. Her memory of how her Hythlodaeus spoke her name has long since grown distant; faded, yet she still finds herself comparing the two sounds and finds that, somehow, she enjoys it from this Hythlodaeus slightly more. A Hythlodaeus who had only ever seen her as herself, not the fragment of his dear friend's sundered soul. Without that connection of nostalgia Era feels it to be slightly more meaningful.
She lets out a quick rush of breath as he touches her shoulder and squeezes it (gently, and not dissimilar to her family at home), startled by the unexpected action. It says a great deal of how comfortable she's grown in his presence that she let her guard drop so low.
After a moment she gives a small, wry chuckle. ]
Hello, my name is Era.
[ Era offers a polite bow of greeting, not wanting Hythlodaeus to take her delay in offering her name to be any sort of gift. ]
I am nine-fourteenths of Azem Hemera's sundered soul, plucked from the Aetherial Sea and given life by Hydaelyn eight years ago in an Eitherys parallel to yours.
[ She doesn't lift herself from her bow, but raises her head and gaze to look up at Hythlodaeus instead. ]
It's nice to meet you, former Chief of the Bureau of the Architect and hero of Eitherys.
[He isn't in any way expecting what she does next. It's true that not knowing her name has always brought with it a certain tone of awkwardness when it came to their interactions but Hythlodaeus has never held it against her, knowing that he couldn't possibly understand her situation. He has been lucky enough to be joined in this place by people who know him for himself and not only by the familiar shade of his soul and can't say how he would have felt had Emet-Selch arrived here and known him as a completely different person.
Hythlodaeus chuffs out a soft breath and his lips tilt in a wry half-smile when she addresses him by his job title (former, he supposes), only for him to blink and blurt out a soft, surprised laugh at the final words.]
Hero? Come now. I did nothing deserving of that kind of praise.
[He moves his hand from her shoulder to the top of her head, giving it a soft pat in a way he hopes comes across as the fondness it is and not condascending.]
There is one hero of Eitherys here, and she is standing right in front of me.
[ The pat on her head comes across just as he had hoped; a fond, reassuring weight that is anything but condescending. Era feels something warm unfurl in her chest and realizes she recognizes this feeling. Hythlodaeus's hand is larger and more slender than Thancred's, and the motion a bit more soft where his was firm; confident. But the way it fills her with that rare mixture of safe-warm-comfort-happy is near identical. Enough for her to let out a soft 'oh', as she instinctively leans up into the touch, seeking out more of it.
Family, she realizes. A brother.
It is almost enough to distract her from the way he dismisses himself. ]
...Perhaps it was different in your Etheirys, but mine would have been destroyed long before my friends and I could save it if not for you.
[ Despite her frown she still continues leaning into his hand — and if he tries to pull it away, she'll reach out and make him keep it there. ]
...and when I was drowning in the Aetherial Sea, I remember your hands pushing me back toward my loved ones' voices. [ Well. Him and Hades both, but she knows if she mentioned the esteemed Emet-Selch that Hythlodaeus would downplay himself again. ] So, if nothing else, Hythlodaeus will always be a hero to me.
[Well, she's not going to be deterred, and far be it from him to argue with her about it. Instead he simply lets out a patient little huff and shakes his head with a smile, giving her hair one last gentle ruffle before he drops his hand away.]
I suppose I can accept that much.
[If he must. Besides, they're having such a nice time here, pushing against what she thinks of him just wouldn't do at all. She's hardly the only person who thinks far more of him than he would say of himself after all...]
I would very much like to test this bow somewhere with a little more space, but can I interest you in a drink before we go rushing off anywhere?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-05-18 03:19 pm (UTC)Eyeing the man — her new new-old friend — holding the bow she crafted with him in mind, clearly beyond pleased with the gift but also feeling undeserving of it, Era takes a moment to consider how best to proceed. Eventually she comes to a realization she should have come to years ago: ]
I enjoy teaching others. [ It shouldn't surprise her as much as it does, given how delighted she was whenever her students understood what she taught them; that glint in their eyes when things finally clicked thanks to her guidance. ] I enjoy it almost as much as new adventures. An opportunity to teach you how to make new life flourish beneath your fingertips with tenderness and affection rather than aether...
[ Era considers it again, and decides it to be an unbalanced exchange. ]
For the bow you can assist me with my garden, and for my nameday gift you can let me teach you.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-27 03:04 pm (UTC)[He looks around for a moment and then places the bow down carefully, leaning it into a corner between a bookcase and a wall. His arms fold loosely as he looks down at her, giving exaggerated consideration to the offer that she made him, then he chuckles lightly.]
That sounds like a fair enough trade.
[And a fair enough gift if that is truly what she wants of him.]
Very well, my little dragonet. That is what we shall do. I shall look forward to being under your tutelage.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-27 03:52 pm (UTC)He calls her 'little dragonet', and today it gives her pause. Era tilts her head slightly to the side, staring at nothing for a moment as she ponders. It doesn't take long for her to shift her gaze upward, shyly peeking at him from under her lashes. ]
Era.
[ Her voice is firm; confident. Though the way she quickly shifts her gaze back to the side and her fingers begin to twitch (seeking something to busy themselves with — idle hands are the devil's playthings, after all), it's clear that this admittance isn't easy for her. ]
It's my nameday, so you should know my name.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-31 03:07 am (UTC)She has never told him her name and although he has often found it strange it is something that he has bore with as a harmless boundary not to be pressed. When she speaks up in perplexes him for a moment, his mind not quite connecting what she says with what she means, but then she clarifies and his eyes immediately brighten.]
Era.
[A soft exhale pushes out through his nose as he places a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezes it.]
As fine a gift as this wonderful bow you brought me. I must say I feel rather spoiled.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-01 05:26 pm (UTC)She lets out a quick rush of breath as he touches her shoulder and squeezes it (gently, and not dissimilar to her family at home), startled by the unexpected action. It says a great deal of how comfortable she's grown in his presence that she let her guard drop so low.
After a moment she gives a small, wry chuckle. ]
Hello, my name is Era.
[ Era offers a polite bow of greeting, not wanting Hythlodaeus to take her delay in offering her name to be any sort of gift. ]
I am nine-fourteenths of Azem Hemera's sundered soul, plucked from the Aetherial Sea and given life by Hydaelyn eight years ago in an Eitherys parallel to yours.
[ She doesn't lift herself from her bow, but raises her head and gaze to look up at Hythlodaeus instead. ]
It's nice to meet you, former Chief of the Bureau of the Architect and hero of Eitherys.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-12 07:14 pm (UTC)Hythlodaeus chuffs out a soft breath and his lips tilt in a wry half-smile when she addresses him by his job title (former, he supposes), only for him to blink and blurt out a soft, surprised laugh at the final words.]
Hero? Come now. I did nothing deserving of that kind of praise.
[He moves his hand from her shoulder to the top of her head, giving it a soft pat in a way he hopes comes across as the fondness it is and not condascending.]
There is one hero of Eitherys here, and she is standing right in front of me.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-13 01:46 pm (UTC)Family, she realizes. A brother.
It is almost enough to distract her from the way he dismisses himself. ]
...Perhaps it was different in your Etheirys, but mine would have been destroyed long before my friends and I could save it if not for you.
[ Despite her frown she still continues leaning into his hand — and if he tries to pull it away, she'll reach out and make him keep it there. ]
...and when I was drowning in the Aetherial Sea, I remember your hands pushing me back toward my loved ones' voices. [ Well. Him and Hades both, but she knows if she mentioned the esteemed Emet-Selch that Hythlodaeus would downplay himself again. ] So, if nothing else, Hythlodaeus will always be a hero to me.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-22 07:46 pm (UTC)I suppose I can accept that much.
[If he must. Besides, they're having such a nice time here, pushing against what she thinks of him just wouldn't do at all. She's hardly the only person who thinks far more of him than he would say of himself after all...]
I would very much like to test this bow somewhere with a little more space, but can I interest you in a drink before we go rushing off anywhere?