Marius blinks slightly when he sees Kaer, pausing in the act of settling down on the sand, "Hey there! What brings you down here?" Mar looks kinda funny in that pose, half sitting, half standing. Gravity evidently decides that he's not all that stable, so the tiny particles fly out a bit as he lands on the sand.

"Mar?" Kae half-whispers in response, the question evident in her voice. "Just taking a walk, actually," she answers as she moves a little closer to her dear friend.

Marius gets to his feet once more, brushing the sand off of his trouse. A slight smile tugs at his lips, "Well, y' truly picked a good time." He gesturs out to the sunset over the water, "Not a view like this e'ery day."

Kae moves even closer in Marius's direction and stops when she reaches his side, wrapping her arms around his neck in a gentle hug. "It isn't beautiful, isn't it?" she comments, despite the fact that her eyes are closed and she isn't even looking at the sunset.

Marius hrms to himself as he returns the soft hug. Kaer /not/ immediately jumping around into a bear hug... He pulls away slightly, a frown flickering across his face, "Kaeryn...is everything all right?"

Opting not to respond to that question just yet, Kae rests her head against Mars shoulder, pressing her cheek against the fabric of his shirt. After a long, quiet moment, her eyes flicker open to show the usual sparkle is missing.

Marius hrms again to himself. Looks like a talking night. He reaches down to take Kaer's hand, a soft smile floating on his lips, "Come on. Let's go find someplace that's not so..." He looks around and makes a face, "Public."

Kaeryn nods her head and lets herself be lead away from the beach, only glancing back at the sunset once before it's out of sight. "How are you?" she queries, looking up at Marius's eyes for the first time since encountering him only minutes before.

Marius shrugs slightly as they reach the brook. He settles down against the base of one of the trees that dot the gardens and looks up to you, "Things are...stressfull. I see less of Gaea now than when i was an apprentice." He laughs softly, with a ruefull grin, "And when we /do/ get a chance to see each other, we're more likely just to catch up on some sleep than anything else." He cocks his head, "What about you?"

"I've definitely been better," Kae replies with a sad smile as she slips down to the ground, tucking her feet beneath her and spreading her skirts out on the ground around her. "But it's nice to be..home..again."

Marius chuckles softly and arches an eyebrow, "You still think of all this as home? With the ammount of time that you've spent up at Tillek, I would've thought that you and Jer would think of /that/ as home."

"I've spent more time here, in Ista, than anywhere else on all of Pern," Kae answers with a shrug of her thing shoulders. "It'll always be my home, despite where I live at the time... and Jer, well.." another shrug, "He calls anywhere he lives, home."

Marius makes a face, "I don't know about you, but I /still/ can't get used to the heat." He sighs and leans back, closing his eyes slightly as twilight falls over them, "So how /is/ Jer? I haven't seen him in Turns...not since I came through on my...trip."

"I, well, I honestly don't know," Kae admits with a distraught sigh. "I haven't seen, spoken to, or heard from him since I left on the Lady Rose." Blue eyes are covered by long lashes, which she looks through in the direction of the ground. "I can only hope he's well."

Marius blinks, startled a bit. He looks up to you, and his eyes narrow slightly, "Kaer, I love you. You know that. Now, I can either sit here for hours on end trying to dance around the subject, or I can save us both lots of time by just asking you straight out. What happened?"

"I had to leave Tillek, Mars," Kae begins, her voice shaky, and sad. "I had to leave, to give him a chance to know if I'm what he really wants, and.. to learn and, everything. He thinks I just left to study with Master Thorn, because I didn't have the heart to tell him." Her voice cracks as she speaks, "He's never going to forgive me."

Marius's eyes soften and he rises to his feet once more, moving over to enfold you in his arms, "Hey now...if he loves you, then he will." He strokes her hair, "Is he the only one who needs to figure out what he wants?"

"He didn't say he needed to," Kae admits with a frown and a shake of her head, with her golden curls bouncing around her face. "I just, well..." she falters and closes her eyes. "He didn't want me to go, actually."

Marius holds you out at arm's length, eyes intent on your face. His voice softens, as he tries to help, "So why /did/ you leave then?"

"Because /I/ had to know," Kae looks up in Marius's eyes again. "I had to know what I needed, and what I wanted and, well, I had to get out on my own." She fingers the blue book in her arms for a moment before continuing, "I know now, but...it's probably too late. He's not going to forgive me for this."

Marius cocks his head to the side a bit and smiles slightly, "Hey, this is Jerran we're talking about here, nae? He'll forgive you. If you want him to, that is."

Kae nods her head a little, and takes a deep breath, finally explaining what's getting at her. "All the time we've been gone, I've been thinking about him, and missing him," she pauses for another breath. "I was hoping to see him when we arrived here, in Ista, but I guess he's busy, or didn't know I was going to be in, or something," she rambles along, talking as quickly as she can in order to get it all out. "I went to the weyr, to visit with everyone there, but I really shouldn't have gone."

Marius's smile falters a bit. A purely internal "Uh oh..." starts that weird feeling in his stomach that he might not exactly like what's to come next.

"I was looking for Vivian, because I promised her a visit the next time I was in the area," Kae contines, her eyes beginning to tear up a little as she speaks. "I walked up, and saw Sejith, and T'rell, who's a dear friend, and who I haven't seen in so long..." *deep breath* "So, we went for a walk, watched the sunset, talked," she shakes her head and pauses.

Marius looks up at the darkening sky and sighs softly, "Kaer, Kaer, Kaer...I think I can pretty well guess how the story ends, since e'en the watchdragon back /here/ felt that green rise the other day. Is /that/ what you're worried about Jer not forgiving you for?"

A tear rolls down Kae's cheek, immediately followed by more. Kae nods her head, not even bothering to wipe them away. "I had a few mugs of wine, and were just talking and...I didn't mean for it to happen. I wouldn't, *sniff* I mean I didn't *sniff* I /love/ him."

Marius gently reaches up and brushes the tears away, "I know, I know." He smiles slightly and brings you in close again, "I'm sure that Jer'll understand, if he lets you explain." His voice gets a bit fierce, "Send word if he doesn't. Every man needs his friends to pound some sense into him from time to time..."

Kae buries her tear-stained face into Mar's shoulder, and sobs quietly. "So, you don't think I'm a horrible person, then?" she whispers, not daring to look up into her dear friend's eyes to see his response.

A soft chuckle is more felt than heard as Mar gently strokes your hair, "Nae, Kaer. I don't think that you're a horrible person. I couldn't ever." He pushes away slightly, and cups your face in his hands, "Everyone makes mistakes, even me..." A wry smile flickers on his lips as he gently brushes away more of the tear tracks, "Me more than most. The important part is to learn from them..."

"I won't ever do it again, Mars," Kae promises, even as the tears continue to streak down her cheeks. "If I have to swim from Ista to Tillek to get away, I will next time," her promise to herself, and to Marius, and to Jerran, though he isn't present, is a forceful one, and it drains her of her remaining energy, she leans against Marius again, wrapping her arms aorund his neck and hugging him tight.

Marius hugs her back, indecison flickering over his face. That wasn't exactly what he'd meant, but should he truly say more now? He finally decides and pushes away a bit so that he can look into her eyes, "Don't make promises that you canna keep, Kaer. I meant..." he hesitates, then plunges forward, "Maybe you should think about you feelings for Jer. If this happened, maybe it wasn't only the green, or the wine. Maybe..." he runs out of words and just shrugs, "Just think about it."

"That's what I've been doing ever since I left him at Tillek," Kae whispers softly, studying Marius's eyes carefully as she reaches for the blue book she'd been holding it and pushes it towards him. "This is every day since I left," she explains, flipping through the pages that are supposed to be filled with what she's learned and what she's done, which are, instead, filled with aching for Jerran.

Marius takes the book and flips through a few pages, absently scanning the scrawled script. He looks up to your eyes once more, his own almost whirling slightly in the darkening light, "Tell him this. He'll understand."

"I will," Kae promises again, this time the promise comes from her heart, causing the words to break as she says them. "I just hope he understands, and believes me, the way you do." The book is clutched in against her chest and she smiles, "Thank you, Marius, for always knowing what to say."

Marius hrms softly, "Nae, Kaer. I can only guess at what the right thing to say is." An impish grin settles itself on his features, "I've just been /right/ so many times..."

A smile breaks it's way onto Kae's pink lips, and she can't help but laugh softly. The sparkle that's been hidden away returns to her blue eyes, and the tears stop rolling down her cheeks. "Maybe you know me too well, hmm?" she asks with a wink.

Marius can't help but dart forward and plant a brotherly kiss on your cheek, "Either that, or I can fake it well enough to get by." He grins and reaches up a hand to wipe away the last traces of yours tears, "Are you staying on the Lady Rose, or back at the Hall?"

"I've been sleeping on the 'Rose, actually," Kae frowns slightly at that, "though a nice, warm, /still/ bed would be a nice change. I don't suppose the guest room is open, is it?"

Marius ponders the thought for a moment, "I do believe so, actually. We've finally gotten all of the new Journeyman from the Fortian Hall quartered, so the guest room is back to what it's /supposed/ to be used for: guests." He smiles slightly, "Of course, my bed's always availible. I can just go and bunch with Gaea for the night, if the guest room's occupied."

"Mind walking me up to the hall to check?" Kae asks with a sweet smile, showing her old self once again. "I'm not even sure I could find my way there anymore, it's been so long."

Marius offers an arm, "I'd never mind. After you."

Kaeryn takes the offered arm and leads the way.

Guest Room (#1075)

Marius looks around and nods his satisfaction, "Doesn'a look like it's being used."

Kae flops onto the bed and kicks off her shoes, all in one motion. "Perfect," she mumbles, apparently ready to doze off as soon as the glows are covered.

Marius grins in response, "I'll leave you to your sleep. Dream well, Kaer."

"Thank you, Mar'us," Kae mumbles as she curls up on her side and closes her eyes. "Night.."

Marius chuckles once more as he lets himself out and gently closes the door behind him.

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