presumptuous. [elijah, arionna]

Arionna de la Babin
It is hot.

It's the blandest and simplest thing anyone could say about a day like today. But it was true. It was hot. Too hot for someone like Ari, who by now, dressed in all black to avoid the embarrassment of mixing colors that made her look like a clown. She didn't know they were black; she simply trusted that the person who bought them for her followed her specifications.

It is hot. And it's the sort of hot that doesn't even have much wind with it to ease the heat. It's at least not very humid, but god... if only a breeze could come by.

Which brings us to the park. It's a place people go to walk, play, sing, romance, and all sorts of human activities that, someone like Ari, tends to avoid. So why exactly then was she sitting with her legs curled to her side under her skirt, her sandals off to the side, and a blanket beneath her? Why was she sitting with her head tilted forward, those dark shades blocking out the sun from her sightless eyes, and her hair flowing in soft waves around her face? Why exactly was she wearing her three raven necklace? And a bracelet of some sort of stone at her wrist...

Why exactly was she sitting with a lap containing several different crystals of various colors? Why was Arionna sitting there, in the open, with her stick closed up beside her, and barely moving save for the lifting of one crystal; rubbing ti between her palms, her lips whispering to it.

It was a mystery for many people, and perhaps she was written off as insane or one of those new agers.

ElijahYou ever notice the various uses for a skill you don't have when someone has made it abundantly clear how desperately you needed to learn it? Since his meeting with possibly the most important (and intimidating, and shiny, but important) people he's ever had the fortune (or misfortune) of meeting, he had a time line. Someone hadn't been specific that he had to learn Ars Virium- Forces- within a week, but frankly Elijah wanted to make a good impression. Or, at the very least, just get it out of the way because he'd been dragging his feet about it and it was like someone told him if he didn't take the damned history class he wouldn't get a degree so he needed to learn the freaking material and ugh he never wanted more than anything for someone to actually think well of him.

Not a need to belong, but something in a similar vein. Not quite the right word, not the appropriate definition, but words were failing right now and it was hot and he was pretty sure if he would hasve just learned the freaking sphere earlier on he would have been able to at least urge a breeze along and he didn't speak the language of the spirits and there wasn't a single epiphling or thought of wind on the air.

He saw Arionna, he bridged the gap. He'd just gotten off work, and business casual did not breathe well.

There is a blond, nearly-six-foot-tall flop to the ground, crumples down knees-hips-elbow shoulder-head-back,down.

"..."

Exhale.

Hi, Elijah.

Arionna de la Babin[alertness! look at my shiny new alertness pt!]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 4, 5, 10, 10) ( success x 2 )

Arionna de la Babin[awareness]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 6, 7, 7, 8) ( success x 4 )

Arionna de la BabinShe feels him before he even drops. And when he drops there is a faint, very light scent of his perspiration in the air. Of course the entire park smelled of it on some level, so it wasn't much information. But she knew he was there because something others couldn't feel was so strong (or perhaps her spider sense was exceptionally sharp) that she couldn't ignore it even if she had wanted to.

Ari lowered her hands into her lap slowly and canted her head just a little to the left, and indication that she had noticed he was there. "Elijah." She did not say it as if it were a question. Even if it was something she was unsure of, she didn't phrase it as such. No. It was with certainty. That was how a person showed confidence.

"Did you fall?" The sound of his dropping was not in question. The cause was. She had no idea his life was difficult right now, and that he felt pressured to appeal to someone's sensibilities. She only knows that he is on the ground for some reason that she is not aware.

Arionna reached for her stick and used it to poke where he was just a little. "I hope you haven't died. I'm not in a position to hide your body."

ElijahShe pokes, he rolls a little. She pokes again, and he moves but settles back into place where he was. Kind of like a much more charismatic dead body, or a much less charismatic one. Elijah didn't actually know how charismatic a dead body might be, he had never really questioned it. He smells like toner and incense and like notebook pages and there hs a hint of chalk- the barest hint of chalk, but that was neither here nor there.

It wasn't the heat, or the lack of humidity. He was accustomed to heat, he missed heat. he would have welcomed this a week ago if the air was something that he could have chewed on but the reality of having People (capital P) in town and Parents (capital P again) was something that left a completely awkward taste in his mouth. He exhaled and rolled over into a position that he could actually look at Arionna... or, more accurately, avoid being poked more.

"I'm having one of those months where everything decides to happen," why, yes, Elijah, things do happen it's the nature of things, "you seemed like a safe place to faceplant."

A beat.

"Attuning yourself to your stuff?"

Arionna de la Babin"Hm. I couldn't possibly understand your situation. Consider it fortunate that it happens within the span of a lunar cycle and not, shall we say, half of one, or less. So difficult to cram so much misfortune in so little time." Her lips curled at one corner and she let out a small chuckle. "I have never heard someone use the word 'safe' and my person within the same sentence. I suppose I'm flattered. It is safe for you here though. You are a rare person for it."

"Attuning?" Question, curiosity. "No. Attempting to discover other means of using my magic, and understand it. Some cultures use rocks, specific rocks, as a means of amplification. That and I have a difficult time obtaining....darker... sorts of ingredients, among other things."

She let out a breath of frustration. "But while I know the rocks have parts of the gods within them, I'm not certain how to use them. I've always been far better at things that breath than those that don't."

Ari put her stick back down beside her. "So what misfortune is following you this month?"

Elijah"I have not gained the ire and enmity of you, dear lady of shadows, and for that? I am grateful. Because I don't want to faceplant somewhere else. As with all things, this misfortune is entirely my own doing," he gestures at something. There's a hint of a breeze when he does, but dies down when he stops flailing.

Elijah sits up, and Arionna can hear the rustle of fabric. Decency be damned, he's ditching some of the things that are strictly unnecessary in terms of clothing. Dress shirts can go be somewhere else right now. "Wouldn't the intent be big there? I mean, quartz has always been something associated with the amplification of intent if I'm understanding correctly, amethyst was for healing and moonstone for dreaming and- eh..." he is trying to wrestle his way out of his shirt, still working, still working, "what would you work with ideally?"

He shrugs again, "I don't get things without pulses, though, so I don't think I could be much help there yet." Yet. There is a yet there.

"People from Kalen's tradition showed up and interviewed me, right? Felt things out, tried to figure out if I'm worthwhile apprentice enough to go from minorly a prospect to a legitimate prospect and I got past that part but there's stuff with the guts of the whole freaking tradition that I missed because- y'know, a forest for the trees thing. You ever study something and then realize you forgot the most incredibly basic part of the process?"

"And then, I was supposed to visit my parents, but they have this thing where they're like Oh, we'll come visit you if we don't hear from you like it's some big, looming threat of invasion-" like his parents were storming the beaches of Normandy "-and I thought I was going to have time to come down but I get a call yesterday and they're like Our plane lands in five days, we booked a hotel, come pick us up at- and all I want to do at this point is scream because I'm supposed to hear back from the big Tradition guys in a week and the thought of my magical life and my non magical life overlapping is going to make me vomit."

A beat.

"And Jenn is going out of town to go visit her family, and then going upstate to Fort Collins because of a job thing. So my interference is tapping out."

Arionna de la Babin"That is part of the equation yes. Intent matters as each thing has the predominant traits of one god or the other. But I can't push with intent if I don't understand the simple  act of doing it." Her brows lift a little behind her glasses. "Organic things. Living things. I prefer the remains of things long dead. Hair, bones, blood, organs... you know. It's easiest to connect life with life, no matter how distant, than it is to connect nonlife with life. We are not the same as the rocks. We do have similar energies, but we have what stones and crystal can never have, and that makes it far more difficult to channel, I feel, through them than through the paw of a coyote, or the hair of a horse. Blood is the easiest of all."

"But. You're simplifying stones, in the same manner as so many new agers do. They have multiple purposes, just as each god is not the god of one thing, but many. The Morrigan was not just a goddess of war, but of sovereignty, among others. People only forget the main part of what a god or thing symbolizes, never the others. Amethyst is not just suggested to be healing, but also of protection. It's powers were meant more of the mind, less of the physical. But again, simplicity."

"I suppose I may. Lavinia attempts to teach me the fundamentals that I never picked  up myself, so I suspect missing the basic principles is possible. I suppose you'll need to dive into the principles of your teachings. I will try to help you, where I can, limited as I am."

Arionna went quiet, listening to the trouble with his parents. The trouble with Jenn wandering off. The trouble with Elijah being on his own with his parents.

"I'll take her place."

She says it like it's decided already. "I can keep them occupied while you tend to your magical affairs when you need to. While I may be capable of navigating on my own, I'm not without the ability to play the invalid when necessary. And your father likes books does he not? I recall a mention of it. I can show him the hole in the wall places I've come across. If he's anything like you, he might see it as an adventure."



ElijahHe opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it because, for some reason, Elijah thinks himself better for it, or perhaps does not have the energy to discuss his quiet, but slightly noin-quiet displeasure at being generalized. Or a point not being left alone, or... something. Whatever the case, he doesn't pick at it.

"There's a thing, though, like, this entire art of working with things that are non-living and it's really freaking impressive. Again, totally something I don't know how to do, but maybe something I should pick up, there's stuff that I haven't ventured into and, realistically, if I'm going to try and understand the fundamental truth of the universe there isn't really a reason not to study something.

"But I get it, no need to overly simplify a definition in order to make it fit your purposes when, in reality, the concept you're working with is multifaceted so why only polish one? Jealousy and jealousy," he says the word, but it's clear that when he does say it  he is pushing on multiple meanings. Ones that may not always come to mind.

"I'd honestly just like someone to study with. Even if we're not studying the same thing, I need someone to keep me accountable, I don't know how Kalen stands it, I'm a fucking ping pong ball."

"And I'd like that, the company. And he does like books, and I'm definitely going to need someone who can find excuses to make my mother not hover around my apartment because she ahs a bad habit of exploring."

Arionna de la Babin[perf +cha difficulty +1 for not having performance]

Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (2, 6, 7) ( success x 1 )

Arionna de la Babin"When I say work hard..." She retracted her hand quickly, using her other to try to locate her bag. "I do mean it. We will need a place to study your ..whatever it is exactly...somewhere quiet and without distraction. I prefer the library, but our studies may be too sensitive for that. Regardless, I won't make it easy." If there was one virtue she had when it came to learning, it was studying. At least Lavinia had an apt student willing to put in the hours to understand.

"Knowing that, do you still wish to study with me?"

She placed the hair in her coin purse once she found it and snapped it shut tightly. She took in a breath and curled her hand sin her lap, tucking in her shoulders a bit shyly. "Well..with my momma in the asylum.. I mean, I've always wondered..you know..what it'd be like...to have a mother around. To go shopping with. And now, now that I can't see.." She tucked herself in just a little. "Who will help me shop for something a bit brighter?"

Arionna de la Babin"Someone is bound to be skilled in nonliving. I've never had a talent for it myself. They're all so... boring. There's no thought, no feeling...there is no behaving. They almost..lack duality. I suppose that's why I dislike them. There is nothing ugly or beautiful to them in the same way that there is with something that breathes, in a manner of speaking."

"If you study with me, you will work hard, Elijah. You won't be ping-ponging anywhere. You'll focus, and you do what must be done, no matter the length of time. And if you don't..." Arionna leaned in slowly, reaching her hand out to slide through the air until she found his face. There she moved her fingers into his hair, touching the golden strands until she found a strand or two, not too much, but just enough, and she plucked it. "I'll make life difficult for you. You know I will."

"When I say work hard..." She retracted her hand quickly, using her other to try to locate her bag. "I do mean it. We will need a place to study your ..whatever it is exactly...somewhere quiet and without distraction. I prefer the library, but our studies may be too sensitive for that. Regardless, I won't make it easy." If there was one virtue she had when it came to learning, it was studying. At least Lavinia had an apt student willing to put in the hours to understand.

"Knowing that, do you still wish to study with me?"

She placed the hair in her coin purse once she found it and snapped it shut tightly. She took in a breath and curled her hand sin her lap, tucking in her shoulders a bit shyly. "Well..with my momma in the asylum.. I mean, I've always wondered..you know..what it'd be like...to have a mother around. To go shopping with. And now, now that I can't see.." She tucked herself in just a little. "Who will help me find something

Elijah"Do you promise?" he purrs, should be intimidated but she can practically hear the grin on his face and remember what it looks like and there is. She pulls out a few strands of hair, but it's deliberate. He knows. He knows something will come of it later and perhaps he's more invested in the chase in finding out what will happen there.

"All my experience in things that are nonliving comes from things that are once living, and matter is... like... it hasn't been alive since whatever it once was degraded itself into carbon atoms. I knew sme people who used to understand it, but Patience is gone now, and Alicia-" he stops there, brushes it off, "-she had things to do."

He doesn't talk about Alicia. Not often. Brushes it off and pretends that this isn't a thing because you don't talk about previous lovers and people who wreck your world. It hadn't been long enough.

"I think, though," changes subjects quickly, "that my mother would probably be better with a girl. YOu're not likely to shoot up or need to be picked up somewhere weird so she might actually like you."

Arionna de la BabinShe leaned back just a little, pressing her palms in the ground as she did. "You sound excited by the prospect, but I promise I won't make it enjoyable. It'll be something you feel, right in the back of your head, behind your eyes. A dull ache, perhaps. Something..annoying but not too terrible. It will vanish sometimes, when I've forgotten, but when it returns it will bring something else with it. Maybe..maybe I'll make the light hurt, or the sounds deafen. Maybe I'll take your eyes momentarily. But I won't make it nice Elijah. If you wish to study, it won't be a game you'll want to play..because I'll win. "

She can hear the pause in his voice; the way he stops, refuses to continue on. She doesn't need to ask to know that something is there, something that hurts. They both have their pains, and Ari won't put salt in his just for her own curiosity, not now anyway. "Some 'matter' was never alive once. I mean certainly oil and coal were, but the rocks of the mountains and canyons? They were never alive. They were always part of the land, given parts of the gods, but not the part that mattered. The trees are closer to them than we will ever be and even then, it isn't very close at all."

Ari sighs softly. "I don't get on particularly well with people, especially mothers, but I can pretend long enough to give you leeway. " Ari leaned forward again, sliding her legs to the opposite side. "No, I don't engage in drugs, if that's what you're saying. And weird is a rather relativistic term, don't you think? Weird to me is not weird to you, perhaps. Either way, I wouldn't count on her liking me, so much as perhaps liking the me I can give her, and vomit over later."

Elijah"I fear, dear lady, that you under-estimate me.  You think I would take such pains, such miseries, such slights... as though, at the end, whatever horrors you hath wrought are not something that I did not willingly invite, and that should purpose find itself greater that one's will would be truly subjugated," he says it like he's flirting, because he is, but there's something there, a delight, a joy, something that wasn't quite any of these things like a challenge has been laid before him and he would meet it if only because he wanted it to be so. "So when I say... do you promise, I wouldn't dream of you being nice. But don't readily assume that I would so easily give a victory. What good is the taste of something that isn't earned?"

Oh, but he's delighted. Oh, but he speaks and he is almost obviously delighted. He rolled over on his side, looked at her from the new angle and he can't stop smiling. He might just sit up, might speak, might do a number of things but there is a joy in that little bit of antiquated something, and somewhere there was a joy. True joy, yes, at the threat of legitimate challenge. Even if it was something he genuinely wanted to happen, he couldn't leave himself alone. Sometimes fighting for the sake of the movement.

Always unrest, this one.

"And it's good that you don't expect my mom will like you, because generally? As a rule? She doesn't like anything. If the question is Will your mom like-, it doesn't matter what the rest of the question is. The answer is no."

Arionna de la BabinHer brows knit and her lips purse. "Fine. Then perhaps I'll just ignore you until you finish your studies appropriately. Or maybe I'll be sickeningly sweet and follow you around like a lost puppy. I'm capable you know, no matter how disgusting it is. No matter how I do it, I will win. There is no doubt in that. You will lose. Everyone has a weakness, a true weakness. If I must use yours..." Ari is serious because she never takes studying lightly. She prides herself on her intellect. Still, she enjoys the sound of his enjoyment, the pleasure that just glides from him.

"How is it then that you became as you are? You are the opposite of that. You like almost everything and everyone.Besides, she likes you, and that's good enough."

"And it was Stephen King that your father very much enjoyed yes? Are there any bits of information I'll need concerning them. Places to prod, topics to steer clear of, food allergies..."

Elijah"Ugh!" he laughs, covers his face and is back on his back again, "both of those things are simultaneously the worst things you could ever, ever do to me. If you could be attached at the hip and overly affectionate and completely ignoring me I think I would die. I think you would have literally found the thing that would break me."

He does laugh, though, takes a second to take it all in and just reset because the idea of Arionna coming over to his house and sitting on his table and playing with his hair while he's trying to study and whatcha doooooin'? was just disturbing enough that he couldn't wipe the thought from his mind. It wasn't welcome, either, because he after a point he really probably couldn't stand that much attention because he can't multitask that well. He can devote himself to fiftteen different things, but they are fifteen different things in quick succession.

"She does like me, and for that I am thankful because I'm pretty sure my mom could be really mob-enforcer if she wanted to be," he said, "and it was Stephen King. He's not allergic to anything, he eats Cajun food so really food allergies aren't a problem. Most topics are good ones, if he doesn't want to talk about something he'll tell you, he's got a pretty long fuse- he raised me so he kinda has to."

Arionna de la BabinAri grinned slowly. "Then that is what I'll do. I'll be exceptionally annoying, and then, when you decide to reciprocate, I'll ignore all your advances. I'll never leave your side Elijah. Ever. I'll be with you, always. Until you study harder. I wonder, did Kalen ever punish you in such a way? I'm sure if he had you'd be a much better student."

"Patience... is a trait one does need to handle you. I admit it. I still haven't decided if I find that to be a good trait, or a bad one. I think one needs to also be able to think differently...like a squirrel, or a chipmunk. A pet chipmunk." Ari put her hands in her lap and leaned forward just a little, adjusting her place on the ground simply for a change of pace. "You'll likely need to come get me you know. I suppose I could take a cab, but I have a feeling that I won't be given much advance notice of where to meet you. "

"Oh." The thought dawned on her. "What about the waffle place we were at some time ago? It wasn't particularly flashy, but the food was good."

Elijah"Oh no, Kalen gave me enough rope to hang myself with and then was like you understand why what you did was a bad idea, right? After I'd done something painfully awkward and then focused on, you know, good behaviors and rewards and stuff," he said, then nudged Arionna from his laying-down position, "and I will have you know I am as fantastic student when I want to be. And... y'know... he was pretty much, and is pretty much, a zero judgment teacher. He's kind of fucking awesome."

A sigh, a smile, there's fondness there. THere is definite fondness there, even though he gives the man trouble. Even though he has made him look bad for the last year. Even though he has made Kalen probably want to pull his hair out more than half a dozen times in a week.

"Are you insinuating that I stuff my face with whatever chipmunks eat?" he teased, "because it's true. And I can come get you, I might even rent a car because Jenn's gonna be gone and I kind of have to tell my parents that I spent the car money on a bed."

Arionna de la Babin"Why is it that I find that hard to believe? You? A good student?" She moved her head a little towards his nudge, having a clearer image or idea of where he was at that moment. "You've never struck me as studious. I suppose if I dangled a half naked individual at the end of a string, I could see you as studious."

She knows, hears in his voice how he feels. It's not unusual to hear something that Ari would consider to be unpleasant. It's her own jealousy. She'll use that some day to fuel her magic, but not today.

"Seeds. Nuts. Berries. You do stuff your face. With what... well I'm not certain it's food matter. Unfortunately you don't have their little tails. I find those to be adorable in their own right. I might...have more affection if you had a chipmunk tail. Maybe one day I'll give you one." Ari smiles softly to him. "You can drive mine. I can't drive it now, and it's been sitting at the house for some time. It's economical. It'll save you money in the end."

Elijah"I am a multilayered parfait of interpersonal traits, thank you very much. My definition may encompass being hedonistic and distractable and a multitude of other things but that does not rule out the fact that I am, in fact, actually good at learning things. I just don't study the way you and Jenn do," he said, shrugged a little and it made the grass under him rustle.

"And I'll drive the car if you promise to take a rain check on giving me a tail. I figured I was more golden retriever than chipmunk, anyway."

Arionna de la Babin"You're a type of dessert? I hope you at least had the decency to bring chocolate with you then, else I think you're a very sad parfait." She reached her hand along the grass to lightly find his face, then pressed a finger on his nose. "Being good at learning is not the same as being studious. Being studious requires a great deal of discipline and fortitude. It requires diligence and motivation. It's far more like a marathon that never truly ends."

"That does not mean that an individual can't be 'good' at 'learning.' The potential, the capacity can be present and never tapped. Like an artist. You might see someone who is good at drawing, but what good is it if they never truly apply themselves and improve? To be a better artist they need to have discipline and fortitude, to keep going in their work when others give in. That way their work grows and strengthens, and such potential becomes reality."

"I have no doubt you are 'good at learning.' Somehow I doubt you'd be where you are if you weren't. But if you can be better, Elijah. Why not? If you learn how to study in two ways, instead of one, then you are more versatile, strong, more capable than those who stop at one. "

She laughed a little. "Well I can't do it now. But someday I might, for my own enjoyment. I'm not overly fond of dogs. Wolves I like, but while they are canines, they are not that similar to the domestic dog. They're not as...obedient. "

Elijah[Manip+sub: 3-2-1, flippant!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]

Arionna de la Babin[perc +emp]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )

ElijahHe's normally good enough to actually look and gauge tone. He's usually good at looking for what people are saying and what they actually mean, saying what he actually wanted to say with the things he intended on using to reiterate his point. He can be very good with words when he needs to be, or when he wants to be... but like so many things about Elijah Poirot, it is inconsistent.

"Yeah, I can't really argue on definitions when it comes to the word studious, it kind of insists on a lot of deliberation and diligence," he tells her, then grins, covers pride and bruises in  amanner he's always done- and done well "-but I will have you know, parfait does not require chocolate. It more-often-than-not involves fruit, though. I like to think, personally, that my most defining trait as a human being is kiwi-flavored."

"I'll be honest, I don't know anything about wolves. I'm very, very city in that regard."

Deflection and redirection. And interest, still, more interested in hearing her talk than, well, having to defend his academic successes or failures.

Arionna de la BabinThere's almost a moment where she wonders if he's deliberately going off topic, but then... it slips away. There's nothing particularly telling about Eli. He's always a little weird when it comes to personal talk, so whatever she hears i likely something to do with that. Arionna scrunches her face slowly. "Kiwi?" It's a clear look of disgust. "That is nearly the worst fruit to eat, next to lychee." She has her favorites, and Kiwi is not on that list.

"Shouldn't every bit of ice cream have some kind of chocolate on it? What's the point if there's no chocolate?" She smiles at that because it's more of a joke, even if she means part of it.

"Well, maybe sometime I'll teach you about them. They're very remarkable creatures. Very...social."

Elijah"You don't like lychee? Seriously? Ugh, Ari, that's a deal breaker," he says, feigns seriousness too because of all the things that could be a deal breaker for Elijah- well, did he even have any? Really? He very rarely seems to have any hard lines, "is it the furry thing, or is it the seedy thing? Because I can see both being a turn off for kiwis, but seriously- how can you not like kiwis?"

But there is the opportunity to learn about wolves, and he pauses.

"... please tell me that teaching me about wolves isn't code for I may or may not leave you in Yosemite to fend for yourself and live on raw meat for a month."

Kiara[Do we sense people tonight?]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Arionna de la BabinThey sat on the lawn. Ari in black, with her sunglasses to protect her eyes from well..anything. The various crystals and rocks she had in her lap have been moved and jostled so that they aren't in one exact location. Her head is tilted just a little towards him as they talk, though never at him of course. "Well, aren't you overly picky. If it's such a breaker, perhaps you ought to have asked if I liked lychee to begin with. Now we've established a relationship, loose at it may be. All that effort, for nothing." She pressed her palms into the ground slightly.

"I've never liked the taste. I'm not fond of watermelon either. Kiwis are just..acidic. It's far too much in something so small. The fuzzy texture isn't exactly a trait I enjoy either. I feel the same about peaches really. I don't mind them in cans but I don't enjoy them with the skin. I've never understood why people find pleasure in that."

Ari lifted her hand to her face. "Oh no, you've discovered my devious plan. Though, if you do become lost, I highly encourage you to cook your meat, at least a little. It will help with your caloric intake and help eliminate some of the pathogens you're likely to encounter."

Elijah"Yep. It's official. We're friends, and you're trying to kill me, as all friends are want to do."

KiaraThere's mention of wolves.

One is coming toward them now; picking a path across the grass with easy, unconcerned deliberation. If the likeness between her namesake and the creatures were taken further it could be suggested Kiara was stalking toward the pair where they sat; her fingers curled around a water bottle; a pair of oversized sunglasses perched on top of her head and dark waves of hair spilling around her shoulders. Her mouth ever-presently (it seemed) pressed into the stirrings of some slight, suggestive smile.

The quicksilver grin of the earth witch.

"Hey, kids. How goes date night?"

There's a cock out of a hip as the brunette sets herself presently against a nearby tree with a swirl of vivacious energy and the subtle pulse that underpins her presence. She tilts her head at them; sweeping Elijah and Arionna in a brief, encapsulating survey. Arionna's sightless eyes masked behind her glasses; crystals and stones around her; the Hermatic settled beside her.

Arionna de la Babin"It's inevitable. Though you did make friends with someone not accustom to such things. It was bound not to end well for you." There is a smile to him, though she doesn't know if he sees it. It doesn't matter. The smile fades quickly and her chin tilts up as Kiara's approach is felt before it is heard; she's working on that.

"Kids generally refers to those under the age of 18. Or those much younger than oneself. I suspect that neither of those are true, in your case. " Though she says very little on the latter. "Despite that, don't you think that a little presumptuous?"

Elijah[Manip+sub: wince quietly Elijah, don't let Ari know you just winced at the Kiara thing]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )

ElijahThere was a person coming. he isn't taking in everything, doesn't seem to notice until Kiara is right there, Arionna had a smile and, as if by proximity, he can tell when she gets close because Arionna wears her displeasure bright and lovely, like some cloak of stars or a headdress. Arionna can't see it, but there is a desperate attempt to keep that ouch expression off his face.

He mouthes something, and it was either so sorry or No Joffrey, so either he was feeling bad about something or he was an avid Game of Thrones fan. He does look at her from that strange angle, and it takes a second before he puts two and two together and he realizes that he's laying down in the company of two lovely women who are prone to wearing skirts.

"We were just talking about personal definitions? And mine encompassing hedonism and distractability and a little bit of lechery because why the Hell not?" a grin on his face, but at this point he has a hand over his eyes and he's sitting up. His dress shirt and vest have been discarded. Undershirt and slacks only- today was a work day, it seems. "And I swear, if I'm only staring if invited, so ladies, please, if I'm invited to stare let me know so I can get comfortable again."

KiaraKiara's mouth curves upward. Her eyebrow notches a degree in tandem.

"I'm actually nearly eighty. A little glamor tweak here and there does wonders for a girl's vitality and summer glow."

Doesn't she think that's a little presumptuous, anyway. "Absolutely. But - I don't know. A nice, warm summer night, two young people sitting in Washington park alone, it does offer a pretty picture." She uncaps her water bottle and takes a sip; smiling around the rim at Elijah and winking at him before resuming in a slightly less playful tone. "I didn't mean to break up the party, though. I was just stopping by to see how you were."

A beat; there's a thread of concern in her voice, it does, to a degree, soften her considerably. Moderates the often teasing persona she carries with her; the chink in the armor. Arionna misses the way the Verbana's eyes scan over her in turn with Elijah. The fact she is, to Kiara, quite entirely included in her concern about what she'd been informed of took place.

"This one," she gently nudges the shifting Elijah with the edge of a sneaker, "called me after the crash. I'm glad you both made it out in one piece." Kiara's eyes tick back to Elijah, she lets her humor surface, again. "More or less. How're those scars looking?"

Arionna de la Babin"Would be a rather vain use of magic, don't you think? Besides, if you're going to alter your own appearance with it, you might as well engage in something more permanent and less...illusory." But ti doesn't matter overly much, as her cell, in her bag, begins to vibrate, spouting off 'Wesley' repeatedly until she bothers to turn it off.

"I'm alive, I consider that sufficient. Or are you inquiring as to some more permanent change? In which case, I am adjusting. " She began to gather up what stones she could, merely by feeling around near her to pick up each and drop them into her bag. "Elijah was the one worse off. I was quite alright." She wasn't. They had both been injured, Elijah had just taken the most severe of the both of them. Likely by luck. And he survived, perhaps, because Ari really did care about some people, and wasn't willing to leave them to bleed out, despite the difficulty in getting him help.

Ari leaned to the side, feeling for the stick she now carried everywhere, and clasped it together. "My uncle is picking me up." She said, dropping her chin towards Elijah as she rose to her feet, hoisting her bag across her chest. "Let me know when your parents arrive. And when I should expect you."

There was a slow breath on her end and her chin shifted, her attention closer to Kiara's 'direction' though not exactly perfectly matched. "Really. Your concern should be focused on Elijah, not me. I'm sure we can catch up some other time. "

Ari turned and slowly began to shift herself away from them, the tip of her cane weaving back and forth. She paused though, to turn just enough back towards them, "I'll expect you at the university library tomorrow at noon with the materials you'll need. Unless you work, of course. Then send me a time that's appropriate." He knew the punishment for failure too, and Ari wasn't very keep on giving it out.

[It's not you I promise! I have work [finally] in the morning..so I need sleeeeeep very soon]

Elijah"I don't have any!" he laments, but it's not lamenting because he sounds, at the very corners of his voice, relieved that he is still largely unmarred. Perhaps he could just-

No. No. Ars Essentiae. Virium. Period. You can learn other things later, Elijah.  Remember? (But-) Next week. You can learn literally anything else next week. Ugh, Maybe Arionna was right and he wasn't necessarily studious. But his attention was set on one thing, and one thing in particular. He is pulling through his memory to try and remember precisely what it was that he had been doing  when he called Kiara.

He has no idea he sang to her. Has no idea that he sang to her well at that, that he actually wasn't a terrible performer and, instead, let her voicemail get graced with something meaningful before he started lamenting that Kalen or Grace or someone hid the vodka or the tequila or whatever it was that he'd been wanting to drink at the time. He does, however, remember that he fell asleep on top of his phone.

"Ian saved me from my vain lamentings, I was pretty sure I was going to just, y'know, suck it up and live with it because it's kind of a cool story to say hey, I had a giant chunk of freaking plastic sticking out of my stomach- but, you know, Ari kinda kept me from doing anything stupid like trying to pull it out or anything... I kinda wish they'd let me keep it at the ER."

He muses, but Arionna's getting up and she's leaving and it is a moment before he processes precisely what's happening and, "tomorrow. Noon. Notes in hand, and then later somewhere that I can conceivably set something on fire. But I think that actually happens later."

He's being completely serious, too.

KiaraKiara's eyes follow Arionna for a long moment after she ensures she was fine. Elijah mentions he had a chunk of plastic sticking out of his stomach and the pagan's eyes shift between them; her expression momentarily sober. Not quite unhappy but - the way her dark eyes study them both in turn is intent; a probing assessment that without the woman's often accompanied humor feels invasive and stifling.

Nature was a capricious thing, after all. Entirely capable of shifting, mutinous moods.

"Really. I'm actually not surprised to hear that." That Arionna had kept him from doing anything stupid. She's leaving, Arionna and Kiara doesn't raise her voice to reach her deliberately, but she does offer: "Sounds like she had everything in control out there." Then: "See you later, Arionna." That, she does call out with deliberation and then, eyes ticking back to Elijah, sticks her hand out to offer him a hand to his feet.

"Walk you home?"

Elijah"That sounds lovely," he says, takes her hand and pulls himself to his feet. He's picking up his clothing. He's heading along the way and he does take the offer for someone to walk home with him. Enjoys the company, takes in conversation for what it was and could just bask in the enjoyment of another human being's presence.