triangularity | For Colin (post thebastion)

She certainly knows him, doesn't she?

"I'm behind schedule then," Colin muses, a mischievous twinkle gleaming in his eye. "Did I ever tell you that the Psilons engineered a plant that can grow in hard vacuum?"

Sorry Rosethorn, you issued him a challenge that he had to rise to. The expression on his face is completely innocent. The kind of expression you can only achieve through years of practice at delivering startling statements with a straight face.

He finally smiles though, and he shakes his head. "Nah, you got enough poking and prodding from the docs. You're a big girl, you don't need me telling you what to do. Except when I take you flying, then you're going to be getting some lessons on proper procedures."

Gods dammit, Colin.

"I'm sure that would be more impressive if I knew what a vacuum was," Rosethorn returns dryly.

She knows that look. Colin's only a little better at it than Briar, even with all his extra years of practice. She just looks back at him, completely nonplussed.

Fortunately, there are distractions near to hand. Rosethorn reaches for the pot of tea first thing, inhaling deeply to see whether it's made from familiar plants or something entirely new to her. She cheats and uses a tiny tendril of magic to make sure it's steeped enough before pouring two cups and passing one to Colin. "Tell that to my family. They kept trying to sneak up on me with food or medicine or jackets, as if I wouldn't notice what they were doing if they were just careful enough."

Her mouth tightens slightly, because there aren't words for how much she misses her children and Lark. Instead, she summons up at least a half-hearted glare for Colin and demands, "Besides, do I look like an Air Temple Dedicate to you? Bad enough I'm on a ship floating between the stars. I'll stay firmly on what little ground I have, thank you."

The arboretum isn't so little, to be fair.

"You are making a complete mess of my attempts to dazzle you, you realize this," Colin says with a playful pout.

The tea should be very familiar to her. When Rosethorn disappeared from the Bastion, Colin was quick to ransack her living space when it was clear she wasn't coming back. Learn more about her, learn more about her beliefs, learn everything he could possibly need to find her. That also meant that he learned her preference in tea. Or at least what kinds of tea she liked to keep on hand.

He takes the tea and smiles at her, taking a sip of it before he answers her. "Ah, but you seemed intrigued when I promised to show you the surface of another world," he tells her with a smile. "And using the portal drive to get there takes away half the fun. I keep my promises..."

A pause. He noticed that tightening of her expression, and he shakes his head. "I keep all of my promises," he adds. "I haven't forgotten that I said I'd find Lark for you. Right now, it's a little beyond me. I haven't been cleared to return to duty, and I've got a lot of knowledge to catch up on. Once that happens, once I have full access to my resources? I'm KEEPING my promise."

He snags a piece of melon from the platter and he points the tip of it at her playfully. "Until then," he says pointedly. "I intend to make sure you're able to do whatever YOU want to do, as you want to do it, WITHOUT dragging you along while I do everything for you. Oh, I'll drag you to see things, to do things... but they're gonna be your call."

Rosethorn just snorts, because she doesn't need dazzling, thank you very much. She's getting quite enough of the strange and impressive without Colin going out of his way to spring more of it on her.

Then she gets to the tea. Eyes narrowed, she looks back to Colin. "This is one of my blends." How did he know? But oh, it's good to have something familiar. She takes a sip, eyes closed.

Rosethorn doesn't like being vulnerable. She hates it when people see right through her; her family took far too much advantage when she was younger, and she's been protecting herself for too long. She exhales quickly, all the air expelled from her lungs in what could have been the beginning of a sob if she were willing to cry.

"Colin, don't." Don't remind her. She's still terrified to get her hopes up. She knew all along that Colin was promising her the impossible, and he's stubborn enough that she almost believes he can deliver. But if she ever really believes, wholeheartedly, and their attempts fail, it would be like losing Lark all over again. Once was already too much.

She takes a deep, steadying breath, Inhale for seven, hold for seven, exhale for seven, before trying to speak again. Even the rest of it is overwhelming. Colin is exhausting, with so many things at his fingertips. And he knows her too well, because he's promising what she needs all over again.

"I need something useful to do," she tells him. "All the plants are so happy here already, I'm not sure what help I could offer them."

Colin pauses, and he shakes his head. He hadn't meant to hurt her, merely reassure her. It's something that's going to need to be covered, but that'll come later. He recognizes her calming exercise, and he lets her do it as he nibbles at the melon in his hand. He's even counting to twenty one as she counts, and when she speaks again, he smiles a little wider.

"What makes you think I wouldn't have that in mind?" he offers with a friendly tone. "The plants here? I'm sure they're happy. This greenery is all from Neverwinter. Everything in this area is old growth, and has been here for years. This is dad's happy place, and he goes to great pains to keep it in the best condition possible."

He takes out a pad and sets it on the table near her. There's a detailed topographical map being displayed on it, showing a great expanse of land, and an arrow indicating the small area they're currently in.

"Once you go beyond the forest here, though, it starts getting a little more interesting," he says. "There's wilds from a half dozen worlds or more here, stretched out over thousands of kilometers. I'm sure the plants out there would have quite a different opinion of things. I wasn't kidding when I said we've got botanists, environmentalists, and geologists whose sole purpose is to make sure that this place doesn't turn on itself."

He snags another piece of fruit from the platter then. "And besides. You're still finding your feet. I figured that today, we could tour anywhere you wanted, let you get the lay of the place. I imagine it's going to be at least a few more weeks before you're acclimated to the place and can really start to find your groove."

He ducks his head and flashes a grin then. "As for the tea... I ransacked your place when you'd vanished," he explains. "I was looking for any sign of where you may have gone, and I decided I'd keep your stuff safe."

Rosethorn takes a piece of melon to herself once she's calmed down, biting into it half in hunger and half because an excuse to avoid talking for another moment seems like an excellent idea. It's one of the two most sensitive subjects Colin could bring up, and she wants Lark and her children back so badly it hurts.

The change of subject is welcome, and all the tension slides away from her shoulders and her face. Colin does know her too well. As she leans forward to study the map, she remarks dryly"You're telling me about wilds from half a dozen worlds and then asking me what I want to see? You didn't need to ransack my house to learn that much."

She inhales the steam rising from her teacup It smells like home, and that's such a welcome thing. Speaking of home, she hesitates to ask for anything. Colin already offers so much that she's reluctant to accept it all. It's overwhelming. Adding requests on that is excessive. But she really does want one thing in particular. "I'd also like it if I could get new robes, or at least fabric to sew them myself. I had trouble finding enough green cloth, or white that I could dye, in the Bastion. I don't have any that are much better than rags at this point."

She doesn't have anything by way of currency, and very little to barter, but her mage kit still isn't entirely empty. She's sure she can come up with something.

"I thought you might say something like that," Colin says, smiling even wider. "I could tell you that clothes are completely free for citizens of the empire, but I suspect you'd just give me a tired expression. Fortunately, clothes being free does not mean you can't buy nice things."

He shakes his head then. "But for jobs, you're going to need to wait a little while," he adds. "If you're willing, of course, you're going to need some introductory courses on Corsican culture and advancements. To get you past the culture shock and get you the knowledge you might need to live here comfortably."

He knows she isn't going to be very happy to hear that, but he also knows she'll understand the logic behind it. With protest.

"That said, Jade and Pearl have both expressed willingness to take you under their wings and get you started. I told Jade about your medical practice, she expressed interest in seeing your studies. Medical history and new techniques are always of interest to her. If you're willing, of course."

"I don't need nice things, unless you're planning to stick me in the middle of formal events. I wish you wouldn't, on that count. I just want new temple robes." She isn't completely required to wear them, but her vows are important to her, and she's never objected to the uniform. Dark green robes to mark her as an Earth Temple dedicate, and black at all the hems declaring her a mage.

She makes a face. He's correctly predicted just how thrilled she is at the notion of mandatory coursework. "Classes, Colin? I left the university after I graduated with no desire ever to go back." She did research for awhile before taking temple vows, but it wasn't anywhere near Lightsbridge and all its stone walls. Rosethorn needs a garden to stay sane.

"Of course I'm willing to talk about medicine with your sister. Jade's easier to get along with than certain of my research partners ever were." There will be a lot less bickering in this partnership.

"They try to keep me away from the formal events," Colin says, laughing quietly. "Something about 'diplomatic incidents' and 'offending people'. I mean, would I do something like that?"

The shit-eating grin he gives her is all the more confirmation that yes, it is is a valid worry. "What I meant is... Corsican Society is set up so that everything people need it provided for them. Clothes included. The taxes are high to cover it, but what's left in peoples pockets is solely disposable income, for investment, luxury items, whatever people want," he explains, and he gives a smile he hopes isn't too patronizing. "That's what the classes would be for, to get you acclimated to the differences between what you're used to, and how this society operates. To get you through the culture shock, in other words."

He frowns, and folds his hands on the table in front of him with a shake of his head. "I'm probably not the best person to explain it," he confesses. "I'm comfortable just about anywhere you throw me, and I adapt extremely quickly. Add in a marked disregard for social norms, and that makes for an arrogant-seeming outward appearance..."

"Diplomacy is not either of our strong suits," Rosethorn agrees, amused. Colin is even worse at it than she is. Rosethorn can manage, if she has to, but she doesn't like it. "I do think you're more likely to cause incidents than I am. Most of the time."

She snorts. "It's been nothing but culture shock for the past two or three years. I said I wanted to travel, and I've gotten far more than my fill of it. What's left to be shocked about? As long as your father is as far as possible from the Yanjingyi emperor, I'll be fine." She had her fill of emperors and then some in Yanjing. She cringes away from the word these days, as a reminder of death and pain and fear.

Somehow, she doesn't think 'I'll be fine' is going to get her out of any of these classes. Quietly she admits, "I'm adaptable enough, but the differences make me homesick. Similarities might be worse."

For Colin (post thebastion)

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