In the Rain

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Outside it was raining. Pouring would be a better word for it as to say otherwise would be an understatement. Even though it was early afternoon the rain and the clouds had darkened the sky, hidden the sun and bringing about more of a solemn feel to the landscape – others may not see it that way but this was the opinion of De’Ryanna who, despite the rain, was sitting on the railing that connected to the wall. Her back was against it and her arms were around her right leg that was bent and foot settled securely, her other leg was left to dangle down as the tip of her slipper foot swept back and forth on the wooden boards. This position made her long skirt rise higher than normal but as the hem was still below her knee she paid it no mind.

Logically, anyone who sat in the rain like she was doing would have been soaked after any substantial amount of time. De'Ryanna had been sitting out there for nearly two hours now and she was just as dry as before stepping out of the door. A very thing Weave of Air was laced over her entire form to fit like a second skin. The rain hit the Weave and slid in the natural way gravity would pull it but she would remain dry. Though this may seem like a simple 'trick' it wasn't. The complexities of the intricate Weave to make it bend and conform to her like it did had taken her years of training in the Tower to do and still there were areas - such as her hair - that was one smooth Weave instead of covering various, or even every strand. This particular Element wasn't one of her strengths, so she believed she had done a pleasing enough job.

She heard the beat of the rain against the Weave and could imagine the feel of it hitting and rolling down her skin. It was soothing to sit out in the quiet of the rain, her eyes were even closed and her head pressed back against the wood. All of it was helping to distract her from paying attention to the throbbing in her head. A headache had developed somehow as well as an ache in her stomach and she was trying to ignore them both.

The weather was changing and since that other side of her had been awaked she often found herself hungrier in the colder months. She had eaten before coming outside, but that was two hours ago. Perhaps she should go in now and eat again. That thought was dismissed as quickly as it came for she moved her head and felt it pound so she rested it back with a small sigh.

Maybe she will sit out here a little bit longer.

[Connor]

In the realm of strange coincidences, Connor just happened to be out and about, walking in the rain. He was used to the elements, having grown up as he had, and the rain soothed him. True, he was soaked to the skin, but he didn't mind. He needed time to think, and a soothing walk had allowed for just such an event.

Rounding the corner, he saw Ryan sitting alone, getting soaked. She looked....dry, though, and it was then that Connor saw that the rain was not touching her. That was odd, he thought, until he remembered the Aes Sedai skill of warding themselves against rain. A small smile, almost imperceptible, played on his lips as he approached. "Hey, Ryan. You alright?"

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

De'Ryanna did not see the hidden smile on his face as her eyes were still closed and her head back, but she didn't need sight to know that he was approaching. The Weave of Air about her did not hinder her sense of smell thought at times like this - when someone was soaked to the bone - she wished that it had.

"I knew I smelled something," languid words from her that she had changed at the last minute in the name of civility. Perhaps she didn't feel the need to bite at the moment or perhaps he was saved by the pounding in her own head. Either way.

Half tempted to open her eyes now she breathed deeply to suppress that feeling. "Should I assume that something is wrong with you?" As he was out walking in the rain surely he must be terribly weighted. That's what he was assuming about her, wasn't it? The sweeping motion of her foot slowed and she pulled it up on the railing to meet with the other, now that there was someone else here she was more conscious about any exposure so she would balance herself and position her skirt so it hid her feet under it.

There were places to sit out on the porch if a person wanted to sit out in the rain. However, if a person was already wet, what difference did more rain make.

[Connor]

He smiled, seating himself on a rain-covered step. "I don't mind the rain.....I think of it as nature's way of washing itself clean. As for my scent, I'll have you know I smell fine. I've bathed recently, matter of fact." True, the rain would have already washed the scent of soap from him, but he was fresh as a daisy otherwise!

"I er.....I have something for you. For your head." He pulled out a sodden pouch, the inside protected by plastic, and showed it to her. "If you don't mind, that is. I'll have to apply it myself, as you won't be able to reach the points it is meant for." If her nose was working, she would detect a pleasant odor of peppermint wafting from the package. "It is a salve, of sorts. It will soothe that sore head quickly. And before you ask, yes, I have been trained in herb lore. I prefer to have a few talents other than my most prominent one. The other form is good for hunting, but it does nothing to heal or aid anyone. So, may I? I promise to be a gentleman...well, this once." He smiled, hoping she would sense his sincerity.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

"Just because I said I smelled something does not mean that it was bad." Nor did it mean that it was pleasent, she was merely making a statment and smiling interally about the ambiguity of her statement.

Hearing him move about curiousity got the better of her and she opened her eyes just a crack so she could look at him. Still, with the tipped back position of her head and the dimming light it wasnt' easy to tell that her eyes were open. She looked at the pouch he pulled at and was doubly curious when he mentioned that it was for her. "You simply happened to know that I would be out here in the rain and in need of headache relief?" Though how he knew she had a headache was in question as well even if her position on the railing and motion of her head were all the hint anyone would need for a good guess.

"You must have mental strain of your own to have it with you." The item in the bag. De'Ryanna was partially stalling on answering his request, it was obvious by how she was speaking on other things and how now she let a bit of silence stretch before she spoke again. "I would get wet if I allowed you to touch my head....."

[Connor]

"I have headaches sometimes, Ryan. It comes with being around humans and using my gift. I should have someone Delve me, I think, to make sure there's nothing wrong, as the change strains the small human part of me sometimes. I don't look forward to being a vegetable any more than I do an aneurysm. It might spoil my boyish charm and striking handsomeness. Wouldn't want that....and besides, what harm would a little rain do you? As I said, I feel that the rain is nature cleansing herself, and are we not a part of nature? Come on....I promise on my honor that it will help."

He was not used to having to talk anyone into anything, but he would do so in her case. Why? She was important to him. She was, after all, one of the few who understood him, not to mention one of the very few whom he chose to call friend. "I'll make you a deal. Do one of those gateway deals to somewhere out of the rain, and I'll apply the salve there. Do we have an accord, Ryan?" He smiled slightly as he spoke, something she would be able to see even in the dimness of the late evening and rain.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Despite herself she chuckled at his comment about 'humans' and him being a vegatable. Opening her eyes fully her head was tilted up to the sky and she put in the extra hard effort to not blink as the raindrops hit but a breath away from her eyes before sliding off due to the Weave that was around her. That was a test of being able to hold your ground - for her at least - because the body's natural reaction was to blink.

"There are many things that can spoil charm...." was all she would say as she trailed off on that topic. Her fingers patted at her side even as she kept her head tilted up. "If your human side of you is so small then perhaps I should simply start referring to you as an animal? Ironic since you don't act like a beast." That last letter being stretched for emphasis, she even looked at him when she said it.

Turning her head away from him De'Ryanna let her legs come down form the perch on the railing and had her feet it the ground of the patio. The new position brought her hands to push against that rail as she leaned her back against it, the skirt having dropped to cover her legs and feet as it normally did. "I don't know what type of Sedia you're use to being around, Connor, but there's no reason at all to make a Gateway to travel somewhere out of the rain when the front door of the Inn is right there." She said that rather obviously and her left hand even lifted to point towards the door. It wasn't far off at all from where she was.

"And if you are so plagued with headaches tantmount to where they can cause you an aneurysm and make you have to carry a remedy with you much of the time it would be wrong of me to rob you of a very base pleasure of relief." She was only trying to be reasonable and, at the same time, keep concealed the ghost of a smile she had over her argument. She thought it was pretty logical and reasonable.

[Connor]

He chuckled a little, lowering his brow a bit. "Gray. Huh, and here I had you figured to be Green, or possibly Red." Ajah, of course. The Gray sisters often tried so hard to be completely logical that a good deal of what was said passed over them. Things like 'oh man, my head hurts, someone kill me' were not a good idea to say around them, for example.

"I have plenty of the stuff, Ryan. I carry it just in case, and since I haven't found anyone lately that I've tried to contact using mindspeak that had enough resistance to cause a headache, I've had no use for it. And yes, I know the door is right there. I didn't want to drip on your floors." See, he can be logical too!

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

"If you drip upon my floor then you would clean it up," she said with an easy smile upon her lips. She too would 'drip' if she were to go in but no mention of that would be made.. He was the one obviously concerned about wet floors. "Just another task to add to your growing list of duties."

As much as she was being serious she may have been equally playful with teasing, though she would not let go which side she leaned more towards at the moment. Her head tipped down and her fingers tapped against the railing before coming back up to look at his face. "You know, for a man who is neither an Asha'man, nor a Warder, or Sedai, you know what is not common knowledge." Information about the Sedia color Ajahs was not something that sat upon the shelves of libraries, to know enough to place a color on someone he had to at least know a few.

Of course, she would make no remark as to whether or not he was right about her because, in truth, she didn't have a color yet.

"I suppose it does me no good to continue in denial. Very well then," she held out her hand to him, "Why don't you hand it over to me and I will administer it to myself." She gave the slightest shift from one foot to the other and inclined her head to the door. "We can even go inside if it will make you feel better."

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