Main Beach (#1538)
This long stretch of white sandy beach is one of the main gathering spots at Ista Hold. A large uprooted tree, felled in the big storm, makes for a great bench, for people or firelizards alike. To the east, the crystal blue waters of the Hold cove roll up in gentle waves onto the beach, hissing softly as they ebb and flow.
To the south, Ista Hold juts out of the cliff. Just west of here, a low bluff leads up to the grassy field that serves as the Hold's main gather grounds. Beaches stretch away to the north and south.

"T'was a pleasure to meet you too, Kiylan!" Lyne calls towards the departing apprentice as she tosses a farewell over her shoulder, her knees now hugged to her chest. "Would you like t'sit down, Alesa?" The bluerider queries politely as she spreads out her jacket more upon the sand. "Lemme just go retrieve my glass..." Hopping up to clasp the forgotten cup in her hands, the bluerider notes the newest beach-patron with a large smile. "Kaeryn!" she calls out happily, waving with her free hand before she takes a slow sip from the glass' contents.

The tiny bundle in Kae's arms reacts to the call of her name before the harper has time to, with little pink fingers stretching up from the blanket and wrapping around Kae's golden curls. "Good evening Lyne," she calls out in return to the harper turned bloo rider. "I was told you were out here, and thought I might see if I could trouble you for a lift back to the weyr later?"

Alesa smiles. "Sure, I'd love to!" she sweeps her windswept locks back behind her , tucking them behind her ears and back into her braid where they belong. The n, upon spying her mentor, she grins and waves. "hullo mentor of mine!! lOng time no see....!"

"Why, certainly, Kaer." A kind smile flows gently across the bluerider's lips after she swallows the smooth drink, curiosity dancing in her eyes. Moving closer to the Journeywoman's side, Lyne looks down into the bundle held within her arms, her smile seeming to go deeper. "She's beautiful. So tiny..." Awe almost enters the woman's voice, as if she's never seen a small child before within such a close distance. Looking from the baby up towards her obvious mother, the rider continues her plastered smile across her face.

"I've been busy," Kae replies with a soft laugh and a nod of her head in the direction of the squirming infant in her arms. "Brencia here has been demanding all of her poor mother's, and poor father's time, leaving me very little time to actually visit with my favorite students." To Lyne, she gives a grin and a proud nod, "she's the most perfect thing I've ever done. We, I guess, because T'rell would not be pleased if I took all the credit."

Alesa looks on adoringly at the babe. "Of course, i imagine so." She smiles, remembering her own experience with babies when she was growing up. Baby humans, baby animals, baby everything. All adoreable, and all VERY time consuming. She gives an annoyed look at the flit on her head and removes her with a sigh. "Allegra, dear you are totally messing up my hair!" she says quietly. Then with a laugh "more than it already was, that is...." and with that, allegra's head is given a pat.

Lyne nods and chuckles as she refrains from looking again towards the baby -- Brencia, she was nicely named -- yet instead looks towards Alesa with the mentioning of 'favourite students'. Smirking, she flashes the apprentice a wink -- her expression rapidly changing to one of exhaustion and mock annoyance. "No, Nolth, you can /not/ have one." The blue merely wrinkles his nose at his rider and snorts, knowing that eventually he'll make his lifemate acquire one of the 'babees'...however that's done.

Alesa giggles. Funny that a dragon would be thinking that. And winks back at Lyne. Favorite student on her own is more like it. Oh well, not that she has suffered. And the working with madarivian bit DOES give her an excuse to be at ISta where all the action is harperwise anyway.

"Thank you, both, she's definitely our pride and joy," Kae runs a finger down the soft skin of Bren's face and smiles down at her daughter. "It's hard to even think about harper duties, when I've a little one to care for, but, I'm sure Lyne can understand that, not that a dragon is comparable to an infant, except for maybe right after hatching." With a laugh and a shrug she grins to the two, "Would one of you like to hold her?"

Marius strolls down onto the beach, humming softly to himself in the sunlight of the spring afternoon. His lips break into a smile when he sees the collection of other Harpers on the beach. A slight wave is made as Mar picks his way across the sands, hair flipping a bit in the salty breeze.

Both hands fly up in the air as the bluerider backs away, her auburn eyes wide as she turns her face away. "Faranth, no, Kaer! I don't trust myself enough. Look at my hands tremble." Making her hands tremble to signify her inability to be able to hold the infant, Lyne grows a crooked smile upon her face. "Sides, if Nolth saw me holding it..." Allowing the sentence to trail off, the rider winks towards the Journeywoman. "I'm not going to have a child." she mutters under her breath before waving towards the entering Marius.

Alesa grins. "I'd volunteer, but I think my flits need a scratching post, and dont think a baby makes a good one..." she bats away flit talons annoyedly. Goodness if she only had some clawtrimmers.....hehehe. She makes a devious face.

Marius grins to Lyne and gives her a slight wink as he joins the circle, "Heyla. Did I hear something about Brencia looking for a new roost?" He sidles over and gives Kaer a quick peck on the cheek, "Welcome back home, Kaer."

With a large and audible yawn, Tegran is seen drawing closer, pulling his jacket over his arms as he goes. Once he reaches the sand, his head facing down, he half-stumbles as his foot catches a drift of loose sand. Shaking his head quickly and rubbing his eyes, he raises his head and a large grin spreads across his face. Rather than saying anything, Tegran pulls his hair back and lets it hang around his chin again as soon as he releases it, merely pulling it back from his face. Now standing just a weaverlength behind Lyne, he grins and looks around at the others, nodding and flickering his brows upwards, pleased too finally see the others again.

Kae's face lights up as Marius appears and plants a sweet kiss on her cheek, "Thanks Mar, it's good to *be* home." The tiny squirming bundle with fingers is extended in Marius' direction with a grin from the infant's mother, "I think she wants you, you know," she notes, as Bren's tiny brown eyes locate Marius and she begins to burble happily.

Marius gingerly takes the infant from her mother, "I think that she's just got Ista in her blood. Just like her mum." He grins to Kaer, then turns and solemnly winks to the happily bubbling child. After the brief interplay, he looks back to Kaer, "What brings you down to the Hall? I thought that you'd be spending your time up at the Weyr."

Lyne continues to back up, one hand held up defensively towards the infant while the other clutches protectively onto a glass of wine. Grinning, she winks back towards Marius, glad to see him since she last saw him...which was a wherry's age ago. "Marius!" she simply exclaims -- everyone she's seen tonight having been given the same greeting. Glancing towards Alesa, the bluerider grins before her mouth is hidden behind her concealing glass rim once again. "G'eve, Alesa." she says warmly as the apprentice takes off to find some food for her stomach.

"T'rell had to ride sweeps, and was coming over Ista, and he knew I missed everyone..." Kae pauses, her lips curving upward into a sweet smile, "so he thought I might like to take a trip down, and here I am." Assured that her daughter is in good hands, Marius' hands being one of the few she'd truly trust her to be in, the dolphinsinger flops down into the sand, resting her head against a small pile of the grainy stuff. "I was also in need of some adult conversation, and he felt bad about leaving me alone today."

Marius grins to Kaer as he gently bounces the babe in his arms, "Whatever reason, I'm glad that you're here." He catches a movement out of the corner of his eyes and turns, then calls out, "Nherys!" His grins grows even wider, "Ack, but it's like a family reunion!"

Just as Lyne takes the last two steps back, Tegran's arms open then close around her, hanging down over her shoulders as he talks, "Well Kaeryn, y'came to the right place. Been at /least/ a couple sevendays' since mah last visit to th'Weyr when Ah saw you," His grin widens abit, nodding to the bundle in Mar's arms, "and th'wee one. And Mar! Faranth, Ah've nae seen you for...t'is nearly been a turn since Ah saw you in th'dorm lounge the last time!" His eyes drift over to another figure approaching, his eyes widening abit as Mar's exclamation is heard, "Nher! /You're/ here too!"

"It's almost like the old days, isn't it?" Kae tiredly notes from her unladylike sprawl in the sand. "When we were supposed to be in the dorms sleeping, yet we all managed to find our way out here..." ahhh, the mem'ries. Feel the nostalgia in the air! "Nice to see you again, Teg, and Nher! How's the little one?"

A sharp intake of breath is taken as arms surround her shoulders -- yet even the breath taken in, smelling of sweet hyacinth, reassures her. "Hey there." Lyne grins fondly as she leans against one of the arms, careful of her beverage still in hand. "Would anyone like a drink?" she offers towards those who can sustain the wine, holding up the cup in hand as she raises her eyebrows. "Y'know, Kaer, I was just thinkin' about all the classes I miss. I miss the thrill of actually sneaking out of a class to hide out down here..." Not like she couldn't do it now...it just has completely different and more severe consequences. "Heyya Nher!" she waves.

Marius chuckles to himself, "Aye, it is like the old days. Of course, I think I prefer returning to my own room than back to the dorms." He sinuously sinks down to sit next to Kaer on the sand, hardly jostling the precious package in his arms. He winks to Lyne, "That's true, but then you've got your dragon for company..."

Kae raises a hand in negation at the offer of wine, "Thanks, but I'm still drinking for two, ya know." As Mar settles down in the sand beside her, she twists around so that her head can rest in his lap. "Little did we know how much our lives would change, did we? I know that if you'd have told me back then that I'd be the mother of T'rell's child, instead of... well..." Jerran of course, but it's still a little easier for Kae to just not *say* his name. "But, here we are."

Tipping his head to the side and releasing a *pop* much louder than he expected, Tegran winces, "Still sore from this morn..." He mutters before his eyes leave the top of Lyne's head to drift over the others here, then out over the sea into the horizon, "Aye, t'is jest like 'em." He says nearly simultaniously with Marius, then looking over as he continues, he adds with a chuckle, "OR mah wagon. Ahh, t'is great out in the open, s'pecially right next to the woods like Ah am." He says with a sigh. His eyes shift from the water to Kaeryn again, and the barest sigh is noticable from him as he rests his chin atop Lyne's head, nodding, "So much different than we thought things'd be like back then, nae?"

Marius slowly passes Bren back to her mom. He turns slightly and makes a face to Teg, "Aye, I think I'm about where I thought I'd be. Of course, the path that I took t' /get/ here wasn'a the one that I might 'ave chosen, but..." He shrugs and settles back on the sand, enjoying the fading sunlight, "Things happen. Life goes on." He looks over to Kaer, his eyes flickering with something unreadable for a brief moment, "Love's won and lost, nae?"

"Some we win, some we lose, and some will always be there," Kae whispers in response to Mar's comment, as she settles her daughter on her chest so that both of them are leaning against his lap. As her daughters fingers clasp and unclasp around the harper's golden curls, Kae relaxes enough to let her eyes slip shut to just enjoy the memories. "I suppose everything always works out for the best, but we don't necessarily see things that way when things go other than planned."

Phoebe strolls onto the beach, attracted by the people-ish sounds. "Hello," she says cooly, waving one hand.

Chuckling, Tegran nods towards Marius, "Aye, Ah always knew ye'd walk the tables, but /Ah/ was gone so much on mah 'unexcused leaves' that it suprised how long Ah actually /did/ stay in the craft..." He pauses for few breaths' time, then lightly lifts his shoulders, "T'was always an artist but...jest dinnae really 'fit' with the HarperCraft...dinnae get to see as much of the outside world." His eyes flicker towards the two on the sand with a smirk, "Course, Ah was all too impatient to set out an actual Journyman's project." He crinkles his nose as he lowers himself to the sand too, finding a nice loose drift of the sand just behind him, even with a slight dip for a rest. After lowering himself down, he finds it's not quite as comfortable as it seemed from up there, and shifts his weight out of the hollow. Finding Lyne's hand, Teg gently pulls her down beside him, nodding and releasing a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a snort, "Aye, Kae, Ah believe you've said it perfectly."

The bluerider simply stands in the sand, her toes occationaly wriggling through the sand, trying to bury themselves in their nakedness. Ear attentively listening to the wistfull voices being exchanged around her, Lyne's eyes fall blank upon the sand before her, her lips and counternance set to make her emotions undefinable. Blinking as her hand is grasped, she obligingly sits beside Tegran -- new voices making her aware of the here and now once again. "T'rell." she merely says with a chuckle, shaking her head back and forth with the name of the bronzerider. "He spiked several of my drinks when I was a Candidate."

Torkenz is a perfect example of catlike grace gone horribly wrong. His flopping feet manage to trip him each step of the way across the sand, his otherwise graceful movements practically exhuding energy. He's practically vibrating, bounding along with a smirk curling his lips gently, until he spots the harpers. Then the grin just gets wider, the apprentice giving a clumsy bow at the waist before offering a tentative wave towards Phoebe. Someone who might not eat him. Good. "'Lo." It's quiet little greeting, despite the fact his twitching with energy tonight.

Marius clears his throat after that moment of stark melencholia. He looks up to Lyne and gives her a lopsided grin, "Figures." A wink is sent Kaer-ward as his eyes once more take on the shallow cheerfullness that perfectly masks his true emotions. A small pipe appears from somewhere in his clothing, and the blows a quick trill on the carved instrument. He nods to Torkenz and moves over closer to Kaer so that the rest can have a seat on the sands.

Phoebe arches her eyebrows. "Hellooo there," she drawls, looking at Torkenz with a smile quirking at the corner of her mouth. She shifts slightly, and almost overbalances as her fine boots sink into the sand. "Bah!" she exclaims. So much for her haughty attitude. She sighs. "I'm Phoebe," she says, in case the other didn't know.

"Lovely," Kae wrinkles her nose at Lyne's memory, but the look leaves her face as quickly as it appears. Marius' shifting causes her to adjust herself and the babe sleeping upon her chest as well, and she finds herself with her head resting against his thigh and her eyes study his sunset-kissed face as he begins to play. "Hallo, Phoebe," the older harper lady replies to Phoebe in greeting, and she rubs a hand across Bren's back to settle the infant, as she begins to squirm in accordance to the sound. "I think she's impressed, Mar," she whispers softly in his direction.

"Well, m'lady," Torkenz drawls equally, tilting his head slightly as he watches her with his wide, tawny eyes. "I'm Torkenz. Or Tork, Tenz, Nez, the ugly, or whatever you wish to call me." As long as it's not Torky, he's fine. But the bright grin continues as his slow voice tries to get out a rush of words. "Isn't it a lovely day? I don't suppose you're feeling quite purple?" As if too weak to stand any more, he flops back on the sand with a dramatic throw of his arm, offering Marius a bright grin.

Phoebe smiles in Kaeryn's direction "Hello." Then, she looks oddly at Torkenz. "Purple?" She blinks and watches what she can only call his...display. "Hm." She settles down next--carefully, of course, so as not to marr her lovely clothing.

Marius chuckles softly to himself at the antics of the apprentices. He gives a slight nod to both of them, then turns back to Kaer, his eyes twinkling slightly in the sunset light. "Aye, I think she might have a slight affinity for music." He lifts the pipes to his lips once more and plays a soft, soothing lullaby for the babe. His fingers slowly dancing across the pipe as he weaves the melody.

Lyne nods towards Marius as one side of her lips draw up into a quirky smile, her wine glass now sadly empty and tilting lopsidedly in the sand. Looking towards the little Bren lying atop of Kaeryn, the bluerider grows a studious frown -- her bottom lip nibbled on before her soft eyes blur, denoting mental speech with her Magnolth, who only appears to be slumbering. "Purple?" her own voice, suprising even herself, mimics Phoebe's perfectly as she looks towards Tork with a wrinkled nose. "I dunno. Feeling kinda...aqua right now." Shrugging, her attention draws once more to the other pair upon the sand, a genuine grin soon filling her face. "I'd hope that she'd appreciate it, coming from the likes of two Harpers."

Slipping one arm behind Lyne and the other beneath his head, Tegran grins and taps his foot against the air as the notes drift from Mar's direction. "Aye, shells, t'is been too long since Ah've heard a good harper tune played, Mar. They've nae got many musically gifted people within the whole Ladon Folk." His eyes slowly lid again, having still been tired in the first place when he stumbled his way onto the beach. "Aye, and...and that plains melody, Mar," His right eye opens, peering out the corner towards the Journyman, "Ye still remember that'n? T'was the last thing Ah heard played by ye, now that Ah think of it. Pfft, t'was before ye'd even walked the tables, too."

Torkenz sees no odd looks, trapped in the oblivious world of harper melodies and his own crazy inventions. The blissfully cheerful smile that has settled on his face only grows wider as he nods vaguely, grinning at Phoebe. "Purple. Haven't you ever felt purple?" It's an easy enough question for him, a light tenor chuckle escaping him as his gleaming eyes turn towards Lyne. "Aqua's rather a nice feeling.... Can be more mellow than purple. I think I've got a little bit of an orange tint, though." With this he begins inspecting his hand, as if searching for telltale signs, until he glances back up. "I think you've got a little of a lavender hint, yourself."

As suddenly as the little one woke and started wiggling, she is soothed by Mar's music, much to Kae's delight. "You've always had that special touch, able to sooth even the most confused or upset soul, with me, apparently, being a speciality for you," she refers, of course, to the many seemingly endless hours they pair have spent together, just talking the night away. The fingers of her right hand trail along in the sand beside her, making art of lines and circles and swirls, even as she rests. "As much as I love the weyr, it'll never seem quite as much like home as this does. This is where my heart has always been, always will be."

Phoebe will not play along. Nope. She just looks at Torkenz again--one of those 'you're crazy' glares that tend to frequent her features. She settles in the sand, placing her violin on her lap carefully, hoping no sand leaks into the case. After a few moments of staring at the ocean, she finally breaks down. "Purple," she snorts...then grins. "Alright. Maybe I feel a little purple."

Marius pauses at the end a phrase of the lullaby, and looks up to Tegran, "Aye, I think it's still rattling around in m' head somewhere." He leans back in the sand, adjusting a bit under Kaer. He gives her an apologetic glance, but needed the bit of leverage to pull off this second piece. He looks back to Tegran, "I think it goes a' somethin' like..." He takes a breath, then launches into a toned-down version of the tune. His eyes flick to Bren, reassuring himself that he's not disturbing the youngling, then settling into the soft, gentle notes. Normally, this piece is played as a dance, but this slow it seems to be more of a lament, slightly mournful.

Allowing herself to be adjusted accordingly so that Marius can play, Kae closes her eyes, and just relaxes, oblivious to the tiny fingers that are rhythmically curling and uncurling around the chain that circles her throat. Her eyes flutter open to watch Mar playing, as the song changes dramatically, and they slip closed again, showing her comfort and secure feeling at her position and company. "The things I think about that I should have done back then," she whispers softly without stirring.

"Talking the night away..." The words are carried from Tegran's lips on a breath, followed soon thereafter by a sigh, though nothing more is said. He remains quite through most of the song, then a grin finally flickers back onto his face, opening his eye again and peering over at Marius, "/Aye/, t'/is/ that one. Mar, Faranth, good timing." Signs of a chuckle are seen, though it emerges as a snort, "Much better than how we /first/ learned th'thing, if ye wan't mah opinion. Course, Ah'd nae been able to play the entire thing anywhere close to how it was supposed to." Now comes the gentle chuckle, shifting his weight and settling abit deeper in the sand.

"See?" Torkenz's grin brightens as he eyes Phoebe with that glinting, tawny stare. He knew she'd get into the purpleness of things. "There's nothin' wrong with feelin' a little purple somedays. Better than feelin' like Keroon jumped in your head and is setting a tavern on fire." Okay. Maybe Tork's more than a little odd.

Settling back onto Tegran's supportive arm, the bluerider smiles as she views the stars now appearing overhead, setting the general scene out to be quite serene. "Hey," she lightly nudges Teg's side before pointing into the sky, her smile fond as she points slightly to the left to a familiar constellation. "There's one heart..." The sentence trails off to be filled with Marius' playing of the song. The gentle lulling of the waves, mixed with the contagious drowsiness of Kaer and Teg do wonders to Lyne's mind. Her stomach contently filled with the solitary glass of red Benden, the rider catches onto her own lifemate's waves and slowly falls asleep.

Phoebe claps softly at the song's conclusion, smiling fully by now. She's struck by how fitting the slow music is, seemingly rolling with the waves. Or maybe she's just feeling really purple, overcome by the purpleness of it all. In any event, she's content to reamin silent, resting her hands behind her head as the ocean breeze tangles strands of her hair. A glance is directed to Torkenz, and she smiles again. Chuckling almost too much effort in her relaxed position.

Marius finishes off the song and sighs as the last note is carried away by the sea breeze. He leans back and tuckes the pipe back into whatever pocket it emerged. He looks over at the now-asleep Lyne and smiles, shaking his head slightly. He winks slightly to Tegran, "I've had a bit o' practice since we first learned it, my friend."

"Marius always has had a knack for making *everything* seem a little better," Kae notes, nonchalantly, as her blue eyes are opened once again, to study the harper's face in the dimming lights as Rukbat slips silently beneath the horizon. "Somehow..." she adds, as she settles Brencia and the quilt she had been wrapped in on the sand before shifting herself so that her cheek is resting against Mar's thigh.

With a light grin, Tegran nods, "Aye Mar, so it is plainly seen..." His eyes drift down to Lyne, fast asleep with her head tilted against the inside of his shoulder, wine glass discarded a handspan away from the pair and slightly sunk into the sand. "Though Ah seem not to have mah touch, either. Still put 'em right to sleep." His eyes drift up towards the sky, a grin that was seen on his face mostly as an apprentice returning, "And on th'beach under the stars again, no less."

A flash of something undescribably flashes through Mar's eyes at Kaeryn's words. It passes so quickly that you couldn't even be sure it was there in the dying light of the evening. The next instant, the slight smile is back on Mar's face as he glances over to Teg and shrugs, "It happens to the best of us." His smile widens into a grin, "All the same, it's not as if she's had a light day, what with Sweep Ista. Wouldn'a take it too personally."

Kae's fingers return to tracing circles in the sand, collecting it and drizzling it over the sand, anything to keep her attention focused on something, and quietly. "So, if you could go back to when we were all apprentices again, and there was one thing that you could have done differently, like... practicing more for Master Jeraniums Choral rehersals, or sleeping more..." she licks her lips, pausing to chew on the lower one before continuing, "What would you do?" So it's a lazy day, and Kae's trying to do *something*, though what...

Soft laughter flows from Tegran once more, slipping his hand out from beneath his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, "Aye, and Ah couldnae /believe/ she dinnae say anything about it last night when Ah returned from Southern." He pauses, though keeps his hand where it is while opening his one eye again, the grin accompanying it, "Insisted to watch the sunrise this morn, we'd stayed up on the balcony off the Cloudscraper." Chuckling, he waves his hand in the air, then returns it under his head, "Turns out that rigging we messed with in the doors as apprentices still works well. Metral's magicwork actually /lasted/, pfft...course, donnae know of anyone even tried to come in there, coulda jest been luck no one came in." As Kaeryn's question is heard, Tegran's bottom lip slides between his teeth, nibbling gently on it as he thinks.

Marius chuckles softly and winks to Teg, "I have it on good authority that the the rigs are still well used these days, so the apprentices have a good excuse to keep them in good order." He lays back, eyes straining upward trying to pierce the heavens as he ponders Kaer's question. A sigh precedes his answer, "Ack, Kaer, there are so many things that I'd go back and change, if I could. Mayhaps a different word here, or there..." Another sigh, "It's too easy t' try and second guess yourself, nae? But..." A shrug this time, "You know my past. There's plenty that I would have liked to change."

"I would have stayed at the hall," Kae whispers softly as a breeze of wind blows, pushing her curls into her face. Disregarding the mess of hair now blocking her vision, she tilts her chin up to look at Marius, glancing over at Teg, and back to Marius. "Just a little longer than I did, I left too many things unfinished, too many friends behind, too many..." her shoulders are lifted in a shrug and she closes her eyes. Second guessing is what Kae does best.

"Anytin'..." Tegran mutters between his nibbling, his eyes flickering from one constellation to the next in the sky, the gentle rustle of the waves against the shore beginning to tug his eyelids down as he ponders. Instead of words, a large sigh is heaved, slightly tightening his arm behind Lyne in a half-hug. Tipping his foot up and down, the boot heel slowly digging a nice divit in the sand, he remains silent and listens to Marius as he speaks. Swallowing, his eyes remaining closed, Tegran merely nods, and a gentle "Aye..." is the only word that is released.

Marius looks down into Kaer's eyes, then has to blink and look away after a moment. He sighs once more then makes a face, "Aye, but that's hindsight, nae? Always perfect." He shifts slightly under Kaer purposefully keeping his voice light, "Sorry love, but I've got sand all through m' clothes. I either need a bath or a drink."

The sound of a dolphin chittering is heard in the distance, the waves sliding onto the shore and the rythmic lapping sound continuing. A small gust of wind begins, though only enough to gently tug at your clothing and send a gentle mist over your uncovered skin as if the barest whisper of a kiss. Tegran's eyes are now fully closed, his chest rising and falling as if times, the tell-tale signs of sleep beginning to be more and more visable. "Aye...dnk...t'd b..nice."

Kae pushes herself up to a seated position, being careful to not disturb the infant sleeping so peacefully beside her, and her gaze falls out in the direction of the water, and she releases a deep sigh. Knees are tucked up to her chest, or as well as they can be, and she rests her chin upon her knees. "Maybe a bit of both, then?" she suggests quietly.

Marius sits up, shaking some of the sand off of his tunic. He nods slightly, "Aye, that might be a good thing." He eyes the water with distaste, "Donna think I could handle a cold dunking, though. I thought it'd be a good idea to take some of the youngling in the Hall for a run the other day, and I'm still not quite recovere from it."

"I wasn't suggesting a swim," Kae explains as she, once again, begins tracing shapes in the sand beside her, and pauses to take a deep breath. Head tilts to the side to see the form of Tegran, which is sleeping now, as well. "Looks like it's just the pair of us now, doesn't it?" she states the obvious before looking back toward the crashing waves.

Marius chuckles softly and nods to the slumbering Teg, "Aye, I guess so." He looks over, "One of the ships from Southern just brought up a shipment of a fairly decent spiced cider. It's safe enough for Bren," he gives a slight nod to the sleeping infant, "but it's still fairly decent when you warm it a bit." Mar's eyes flick back to the Hold and Hall, "Care to join me?"

"'course," Kae nods, turning to face Marius again and giving him the same shy smile she'd have given him turns ago, when they were just apprentices in the same hall. "Just let me get my things.." she reaches over to pick up the bag that's on the other side of Marius, and pauses, for just a second, before grabbing it and tossing it over her shoulder. "Wouldn't want to help a lady to her feet, would you?" she requests, though he's still seated as well.

Halfway through Mar's second sentence, shortly after Southern is mentioned, an idle sniff is heard from Tegran before his right leg stretches out, the divit now pulling out into nearly a mini-trench. Turning onto his side, Tegran's other arm drapes over the sleeping Lyne, and a few more beats pass after Mar's question is asked before something is heard. Nearly plain as day, though slightly muffled as it's spoken through the side of his mouth, "Watch out for the glass next t'me...in th'sand...Night you two..." A large yawn seems to wake him more than bring drowsiness on thicker, and Teg blinks twice and slightly lifts his head back to the side, the standing Marius coming into the far corner of his vision, and a nearly fully-asleep grin slides onto his face, "Le's jest hope donnae rain tonight..." Then that's it, just as before, his head tips back onto the sand just above Lyne's head, and again is unmoving.

Marius rises easily to his feet from his sitting position, carefully avoiding the sleeping rider and trader. His lips twitch slightly as he offers his hand to Kaer, though his eyes have a more distance cast to them. Then the smile spreads to those sparkling blue eyes of his, and he winks in the growing darkness, "Always a pleasure t' help."

Kaeryn takes the offer hand, and is easily pulled to her feet with Mar's assistance. Finding herself face to face with him, she takes a step backwards, giving him a sheepish smile, and collects her daughter and the quilt from the sands. "Lead on, my dearest friend," she requests, with a slight nod of her head.

Marius gives the sleeping forms one last amused glance, then nods to Kaer and turns back to the Hold and Hall.

Cloudscraper Lounge

"It's been such a long time since I've been in here," Kae notes softly, as she makes a little bed for Bren on the floor using her riding jacket and the infants quilt. "Hasn't changed much...has it?"

Marius leads Kaer in, and peers around as the pub is remarkably empty for this time of night. Even the barkeep seems to have disappeared on them. He shrugs and steps behind the bar for a moment, scavenging until he comes up with the required bottle and a pair of glasses. He smiles slightly as he makes his way back over to the table that Kaer's requisitioned, "Nae." He looks around, the memories of this place flooding over him, "It never does."

Kae slips down into a chair, now that the infant is happily sleeping once again, with her tiny fist against her mouth. "How has this stayed the same over the turns, while everything else that I know has changed?" she comments softly as her gaze slips around the room and finally to the surface of the table she's seated at.

A soft murmur is Mar's only response as he finds some of the 'hot rocks' that inhabit one of the baskets by the bar. A few of them are put into a holder along with the bottle of cider, warming the liquid as the two talk. Marius returns to the table, reversing a chair before sitting himself down once more, folding his arms along the back of the chair and resting his chin on them. He shrugs slightly, "Stone's aren't like people. People change, grow...the stones just sit here and watch us all flitter by."

"Have we really changed that much, Mar? Really, I mean?" Kae's voice is soft, her words carefully thought out before they're spoken, and her eyes search his face for some sort of answer to the question. Fingers run along the surface of the table between the two of them, back and forth, a nervous gesture on her part.

Marius looks into her eyes for a brief moment, then glances away. His shoulders shrug, "I don't know, Kae. I really don't." He sighs before reaching over and popping the cork on the bottle of cider. The now-warm, amber liquid flows into the cups. He offers one to Kaer, "I know that I've been through too much these past Turns /not/ to have changed." A wry (almost to the point of self-damning) smile twists his lips, "Maybe I'm justting getting old..."

Taking the cup into her hands, she stares down into the liquid and waits, allowing it to warm her hands while it cooled just a bit. "Never thought I'd be a mom," she gives him an exhausted smile and shakes her head, "not the way things are now, anyway." The glass is lifted to her lips, and she takes a small sip from it, testing the temperature and the taste, before taking a larger drink.

Marius takes a sip, breathing in deeply as the spices mix with the sweet juice and burn their way down his throat. He reaches over and gives one of her hands a gently squeeze, "You're going t' be a great mom." He can't resist a bit of a tease, "I'd've been happier for you if the father had been someone who /wasn't/ out risking his hide every day, but..." His soft smile robs the words of their sting, "As long as you're happy."

Kaeryn's hand returns the squeeze as her fingers wrap around his. "It wasn't exactly what I'd planned," she explains for what seems to be the fiftieth time of doing so for one of her friends, "nor what I'd hoped for, even after I left Tillek as I did. But, here I am, a mother, even more confused that I've ever been."

Marius makes a negating gesture with his free hand, sloshing the cider in his glass but not spilling any. He shakes his head to accompany the sentiment, "Then come back to the Hall and stay for a while. Shards, we've got more apprentices than we know what to do with, and we could use the extra help." He leans forward, "With Mak and Teraille's brood running about, Bren could grow up in the Hall. You're family's here. Stay here with us, stay with..." He cuts himself off, not allowing himself the last bit.

"It isn't the hall I miss so much, or that feels like home to me, Marius," Kae whispers, unable to look him in the eye, for the first time in her many turns of knowing him. Pink tongue slips over her lips in an attempt to dampen them, as if that's what's left her completely speechless. Her gaze falls on his hand, entwined with hers, before she closes her eyes completely.

Marius suddenly wishes that the glass in his hand contained something much stronger than the cider. He takes a breath, then slowly sets down the glass. Very deliberately he slides out of his chair and around the table, his hand never leaving hers. He finally ends up kneeling next to her, those deep blue eyes completely unveiled now as he looks up to her. "Kaer..." He opens his mouth, but simply can't go any further.

As he moves from his seat to the floor, the chances of Kae actually not looking at him diminish into nothing, but when they're opened, they reveal not just the usual blue sparkle, but they're filled with tears. "From the very first moment I saw you...." she whispers softly, her voice shaking with emotion as her eyes finally meet his again, as she just tries to vocalize the words that are tumbling around in her head.

Marius tenderly reaches up and strokes Kaer's cheek with his hand, still arm from the cider-glass. He's not that surprised that his own breath is coming in slightly more ragged than normal, "Kaer, how can I..." His eyes glisten as they search over her face, "Gods how I've missed you..."

"Is that why you hate T'rell so?" Kae comes to a sudden realization of the way her beloved harper has looked at the father of her child, and she glances over to look at her daughter and licks her lips again. "He's a good man," she begins to explain, but finds that she can't, not now. "How long... but... you...," her sentences all try to come out at once, not making sense in the least bit when they do, so she resigns to just not speaking at all.

Marius helps Kaer with that decision as he places a finger across her lips, "I know he's a good man, or else he would never have had a chance with you." A slight smile turns the corners of his lips, "And I don't hate T'rell, I just..." He sighs, "As long as you and Jerran were together I felt as if it was my responsibility to try and keep you two together since I was the one who opened my big mouth and got things started." The floodgates have been opened, and Mar's tongue can't stop, "Then, all of a sudden you're no longer with Jerran, and then T'rell..." He takes a long breath, hardly making any more sense than she was a moment or two before.

"Do you...did you...did you know how I felt about you, all this time?" Kae whispers, not trusting her voice enough to speak louder than that. "Before Jerran, before anyone, or..or anything, I wanted you but...it didn't and you, and....her and Jerran." She pauses and takes a deep breath, "I've loved you from far away for so long, that I don't know..."

Marius emits a noise that's somewhere between a laugh and a soft sob. He shakes his head in response to her question, "Nae, I didn't know. There was a hint, a time or two, but..." His eyes cloud over slightly at her final words, "Take some time. If..." he falters a bit, then regains his voice "If it's want you want, we can go back...pretend that tonight never happened." His eyes find her once more, "But I /will/ love you, Kaeryn. Whether as a friend or..." His voice catches, but he forces himself onwards, "...or something more."

"Brencia," Kae says her daughter's name as if it's the most important thought, but to her, it is. She is. "She's me too. To lov..." her voice trails off as she realizes what she was about to say, and no longer knows how. As if Bren knows she's being spoken about, the infant makes a soft gurgling soung, opens and closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep again. "I'll never be just 'me' again, it'll always be 'us'." With shaking fingers, she reaches out, and presses her hand against his cheek, "Mar, I don't ever again want to just be your friend, but can you just pick up and be with both of us?"

Storm filled eyes meet Kaer's as Marius sinks down to rest on both knees, his emotions warring inside of him. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath, "I don't know if I can..." His hand reaches up to take hers, "But I want to try." He brings her hand up to his lips, "If you'll let me."

Tears that have been building up in Kae's eyes finally overflow, slipping down her cheeks, but she doesn't bother wiping them away. "I have to figure out what's best for us both, I can't just decide right now, d-despite the feeling in my heart. As much as I want to make a decision based on my heart, I have to think of her..." she blinks, forcing more tears to roll down her cheeks, and she looks into his eyes. "Can we try, but slowly, and just see what happens?"

Marius nods slowly, "As you wish." He gently reaches out and brushes away the tears, "If you want to take this slow, slow shall it be." He leans forward and places a chaste (HA!) kiss on her cheek, "If you decide that the two of you shall be better off with T'rell, then so be it."

"You might decide that you aren't ready to be a father," Kae notes quietly as she pushes her chair back enough so she can get to her feet, all while taking his hand and pulling him to his feet. "But whatever happens..." she whispers softly, leaving the statement open for his personal intepretation, as she moves close to him and wraps her arms around his waist, her head finding a comfortable rest against his shoulder, letting herself be folded into his embrace.

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