Random 46

With an amused smile, Sylvie nodded at Riya's other examples, and answered her question a bit distractedly, "Well, having something dull to do is less dull than having nothing to do." She wanted to ask Kai what the matter was, but instead gave Riya her full attention. "Say, you aren't sour about Mael being engaged, are you?"

"No chance of that," Riya said. "She's welcome to him, he's welcome to her... and he's going to be the one running Old Ivy in a few years. I don't see no problem. Why, are you?"

Kai looked between the two quietly and looked like he was expecting the situation to turn sour.

Carefully considering the question, Sylvie didn't notice she'd misheard something.

"Depends... If you would be more capable of taking over, and wanted to, there'd be a problem, or if you feel you're wasting your time stuck here rather than working for your own goals."

Riya was silent for a moment. No, she wasn't going to push the issue. "Oh, you know what I want to do already."

He really had nothing to say here -- it wasn't his turf, he wasn't... really feeling like being sociable either. Kai remained seated and sipped his tea. Outwardly he seemed to be in no hurry to go anywhere and appeared to even be enjoying the conversation to some degree.

"But I'm not sure if you think you're wasting your time or consider it an opportunity to make plans." It sounded like a statement, not neccessarily inviting an answer, if Riya didn't want to follow up on it.

"I'm still figuring out my choices and any possibilities," Riya said. "Or how would you go about doing this? Either of you?"

"Umm." Kai said nothing more.

"She'd like to study cartography, and is particularly interested in the coasts." She looked at Kai, on the off chance the pilgrim had come that way in the not too distant past and would contibute something.

Kai looked at them both blankly before focusing on Riya. "Start drawing if you already aren't. Don't give up. Then start studying a science that requires you to travel. Or just get rich and start traveling -- rich people seem to have it easy finding teachers."

Riya frowned. "A science like...?"

Kai shrugged. "You tell me. I'm the outlander," he finished and sipped her tea.

"Any ideas, Sylvie?" the girl asked.

Rather than answering directly, Sylvie asked Kai, "Isn't cartography a science?"

"It is, but I remember meeting more untrained than trained cartographers," he said with a shrug. "Obviously though, if you can find the money, why not study that."

Riya snorted. "You could've said that in the first place..."

Kai looked away momentarily and replied patiently and a little sheepishly. "I didn't know if they teach cartography as a science here. I guessed that navigators are usually trained in that, but..."

"Navigators." Riya smiled tightly, trying to keep herself from grinning.

"You have some lead there?" Sylvie guessed. "Through Fren?"

"I might," Riya said after peeking toward the corridor. "I might. The only problem would be in, er... you know. Leaving with him. A few problems with that."

Kai finished his tea and leaned back, stretching happily. He didn't seem to have any worries left in the world, but appeared sleepy. He tried to remember this Fren business, but somehow found himself pondering about the price of tea.

"Besides how, or when, to tell your parents?" She gave Riya a worried look. There was something she couldn't quite put in words yet.

"Well, mostly just those three," Riya replied, returning the look. Similarly to Sylvie, the Old Ivy daughter had trouble putting it into words. Nursing her cup seemed like the best idea at that moment.

Kai looked between the two, having adopted his "simple, not all that smart pilgrim" look again.

"What?" Lack of sleep got in the way of thinking fast, but Sylvie did catch up after a moment. "Oh."

It was none of her business, really. And she couldn't help, anyway. But still. "I hope there's a way how you can leave on better terms than Fren... unless you want to break with them completely, a sour parting will, well, I think would be, a burden."

Ouch, thought Kai. Riya shrugged and put on a smile. "I'll find a way, don't worry. It's not like I'll be anything but a liability here."

This is what family life is like? Kai wondered. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see any more of it. Not this kind -- sometimes it was difficult to remember how life could be for those that stayed still for long.

"More tea?" Riya asked.

"No thank you," Kai responded softly, rubbing his eyes. His tone was extremely polite. "If either of you are even half as tired as I am, I've overstayed my welcome."

Sylvie rested her elbow on the table, her chin in her hand, and smiled wryly. "Sorry we've been boring you to sleep." After a slow blink she hardly opened her eyes again. In essence he was not wrong, but she might have argued with the phrasing.

Riya snorted. "Not tired." She had caught Sylvie's blink, however, and wasn't blind otherwise either. "Sylvie's just made of sugar, isn't she?"

Kai froze up for a second. Oh. Right, but this wasn't that language. He shook his head and smiled in a manner befitting a 'clueless pilgrim'. "She didn't melt in the rain," he said confusedly. "I don't think she is."

"Er, right," Riya replied, taking Kai's dishes when they were offered to her. She stood, moving to put them away. "Hopefully you're not too tired to get lost on the way out."

Kai rubbed his palms before he began to pull the gloves on. "Um. I think I can manage," he said a little uncertainly, as if saying he wasn't sure what the joke was about.

He appeared completely sincere, too.

Not noticing there was a joke, Sylvie followed suit with her empty cup. She walked with Kai back through the corridor, but wished him a good night at the foot of the stairs rather than taking him to the door.

Riya stayed in the kitched. She could have been disappointed -- this didn't happen in the books --, but maybe he really was a pilgrim. A bit on the dense side at that, after all... oh well.

Kai only wished good night and sweet dreams. After that he was gone again, making his way to House Crow. He should have been happy, but he just couldn't bring himself to pretend that. Anything else, yes.

He thought that was very interesting.