An Evening of Unexpected Events (Coren)

[Sera]

Winter 48th 511 AV

The Skyglow Hold was busy. People were running around doing what they needed to, getting their jobs done. The late afternoon sun peered through the window in Sera’s room. The Vantha girl poked her head out of her room, lazily. She then stepped out and closed the door behind her. Some kids ran by, chasing each other. Sera chuckled at their youthful energy. She whistled at them, then waved. They returned the gesture and continued on. Then, she leaned against it and looked around wrinkling her nose. Maybe it was time to get something done. The Vantha girl watched as a few people passed by and waved at them with her brilliant smile.

One of her eyes held a dark, brilliant crimson, as the other was a deep sapphire. This was her normal stance, her normal emotions. She was calm and ready to do something productive, whatever that would be. The girl’s dark, yet colorful hair fell down her back in thick wavy curls. She had styled it out of boredom, emphasizing each individual curl. She brushed her hair hundreds of times right after getting up that morning, as well as twisted it in numerous directions, allowing the curls to form beautifully. Sera had stayed in her room the majority of the day, just to avoid doing anything. So when the evening bells had rung, she decided it was time to leave. Her cloak was clean and hanging off the back of her shoulders, mostly as an accessory. Her charm necklace was shimmering in the light, a constant reminder of the love her father had for her. Sera adjusted the cloak awkwardly, trying to get it out of the way of the chain. She didn’t really need it after all, the cloak that is. Being Vantha, marked by Morwen, she had a resistance to the outside cold. Her sleeves were pulled up, as was the length of her dress, being pinned neatly to hang at her knees.

She waited for a while, just leaning against the door, legs crossed at the ankles, throwing her slightly off balance. Sera didn’t know what to do. In a way she wanted to spend some time with someone. Though… who would want to do something this late in the day? She sighed, thinking of everyone she would spend time with. Besides her family, which she was avoiding, especially her older sister… Sadly, everyone she knew of was most likely doing something or away. Or she didn’t know how to find them. The girl left out a sigh and decided to just walk and see what was awaiting her.

That’s when it hit her! An amazing idea!!

What about a little adventure heading towards the Mirror Lake? It had been FOREVER since she had gone there. Even if she hadn’t planned to skate, she could sit and watch people having fun. That would be so entertaining. And on top of that, it would be beautiful at night, with the reflection of the aurora borealis on the ice. She had so many memories as a child, skating on the ice and playing in that area.

She’s eyes brightened to an amber- orange color and she began to skip down the hallway, greeting everyone she passed along the way. Then she stopped suddenly, peering around a corner curiously as she had heard a voice she recognized. Or at least, she thought she recognized...

[Coren]

Coren had just stocked up once more paper, ink and other writing and drawing material's and was making his way back towards his room, fully intent on trying to go work some more on his manuscript before he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Coren, may I ask what you are going to do with those material's? They aren't supposed to be wasted in one of your pranks.” He heard somebody say in a stern voice and slowly turned around, looking right into the eyes off an middelaged vantha who didn't looked as if he would appreciate any of coren's normal antics. “Look, I'm not going to use any of this in a prank, even I got other hobbies then pulling pranks.” Coren tried to explain, a slight tone of annoyance slipping in his voice. “Besides I'm even pitching in when the stock runs out, so why would I waste any of it on a prank?” Coren tried to reason with the older vantha. “How should I be able to know your thoughts coren? Even your own mother and father don't know what you are thinking half of the time and the other half they probably are wrong about their guesses. So if not for a prank, what are you using those things for then?” Coren just shrugged. “I'm writing and practicing my letters for the most part, I'm a scribe you know. Can't slack of on that part.” Coren couldn't keep the smug grin of his face as he saw the man's eyes widen a bit in surprise, though the old man quickly composed himself again “Oh really? You finally got a job. Good for you I guess, though I do have some pity on felix, the poor man is really getting senile if he takes on you off all people.” Coren had to grind his teeth to keep from throwing some favorite insults at the man, though his eyes flashed a cold graphite for a few moments before he composed himself as good as he could. “I have to inform you that felix is still quite sane and as sharp as ever, so why don't you go back to pouring your whole life into an useless endeavor like art. See if anybody finds ever a use for it.” Coren bit out loud enough for anybody to hear and gave the man in front of him a defiant glare. Daring him to go against him. A soft almost inaudible voice murmuring something that sounded inviting in his ear, but for the life of him he couldn't make ot out.

[Sera]

Sera moved back around the corner and leaned against it, one eyebrow raised. 'An argument? This sounds... entertaining?' She bit her lip and looked around the corner again, studying the two talking. They look familiar... Wait, is that Coren? She asked herself. Coren! The one Alea and herself had pranked. She squinted. It had to be. And with more observation, it was determined. 'Maybe he'd like to join me...' He did seem stressed after all. She was going to approach him. So, the Vantha girl moved forward cautiously and stopped, making sure she wouldn't interrupt them. She acted as if she was looking for soemthing, while waiting for a perfect time to say something. Once she felt she wouldn't be a bother, she tapped Coren on the shoulder, then held her hands behind her back.

"Hello Coren! I hope I'm not interrupting anything, if I am I give you full permission to send me off someplace..." She began, "But I noticed you over here and thought you might want to go to the Mirror Lake with me. It's got to be beautiful right now. Don't you think?"

Sera wanted to do something, but the truth was, she was lonely and didn't really want to be by herself. On top of that, she wanted to apologize once again to Coren. 'I probably made a horrible impression.' She shifted her weight anxiously and flashed him an innocent smile. "That is, if you don't have anything else to do." She looked at him expectantly, hoping for a good answer. After all, she was on her best behavior.

[Coren]

The man in front of him narrowed his eyes at coren's slanderous comment. “Of course, I should have expected somebody of your caliber to be so unappreciative of your own hold's specialties.” The old man said with as much superiority he could squeeze in the sentence. Coren just didn't give an answer right away, his granite colored glare boring into the other man. The slow murmuring was had slowly grown a tiny bit louder, its soft murmuring in its ears sounding strangly inviting and well... just right. And even though he didn't understand a lick of it. But there was a strange and unspoken promise in the back of his head that if he used djed, all would become more clear and whatever secrets the whispers where saying. Besides didn't that man in front of him deserve to be show what his knowledge of the arcane would be able to do? Didn't the man deserve to be shown what he was messing with? Coren was startled out of that line of thoughts when suddenly somebody tapped him on the shoulder, Seeing the girl that had been with alea the last time she suddenly flipped out on him and tried to wrestle him to the ground. Offering if he would want to go towards the mirror lake with her right now, rolling over the idea in his misty head, the murmering of whispers being still slightly distractive but had died down enough that he could see the folly of the actions he had been about to do. “No, you aren't interrupting anything important.” Coren said after a moment, “And yes, I think I will go with you, clearing my head will probably a good idea. I'll just need to put this all in my room first though.” He motioned towards the supplies he had stuffed underneath his arm. “Wouldn't take to long and its on the way to the exit of the hold anyway.” He tried to push away the cooling rage he still felt lingering and slowly began to walk away from the older man not giving him another look or word, hoping that the girl, her name was sera wasn't it, Followed him.

[Sera]

OOCSorry it's short. As Coren explained that he needed to put his things away, Sera just nodded. She was relieved that he wasn't very hostile towards her from what had taken place before. So, she followed him quietly, not wanting to disturb him too much. Though, it was nice to know someone she didn't know so much was willing to go do something with her. Maybe she could actually make a new friend, under somewhat normal circumstances? It had also been a long while, many, many days since that entertaining morning. "So what was that all about?" She asked nonchalantly. "Seemed like a heated... conversation?" Yes, she was just trying to break the silence. Though a question did arise on the tip of her tongue. "So, has Alea tried anything else to drive you crazy? Just curious." She chuckled, still sticking with the hunch that that human had a crush on a certain Vantha.

[Coren]

Coren let out a sigh as Sera finally broke the silence that had settled over them. “I'm not really well liked in the hold.” Coren said as he continued to walk. “I never have had any talent in the arts nor did I ever have an interest in it. no matter how hard my parents tried to find something that I could have a sliver of talent for or actually have a bit of passion for they never managed it. So there are people in the hold see me as something of a big failure. A skyglow that can't practice art isn't a skyglow at all in their opinion. And the fact I didn't have a job till last season didn't really help the perception that I was a complete failure.” Coren said in a offhand tone, he didn't really care about keeping that a secret, she just needed to listen around a little bit and she would have discovered it on her own anyway. When she brought up the name of one particular thorn in his side he let out a heavily annoyed groan. “Yes, she has bugged me a few more times this season. All her attempts where just as effective as usual but still highly annoying at the least, disruptive to my job and hobbies at its worst. She really can't get a hint on what behavoir isn't wanted it seems. Don't know how you where ever able to stand her Sera, but she really gets on my nerves.” Coren said in an annoyed tone as he stopped at one of the many room doors and pulled out his key unlocking his door, quickly walked inside and dumped all of the stuff haphazardly on his desk. If Sera would have bothered to look inside she would have noticed that aside from the desk, which was almost completely filled with papers blanck or not, the room was surprisingly empty. A bed to sleep in, a desk with a chair and a chest he probably kept his clothes in. As coren walked back out of his room, locking the door behind him he looked back towards sera, his eyes a more warmer dark green, only a few grey splotches still hidden in his irises told the tale that he had been absolutely livid a few moments ago. “Well anyway thats done and we probably have talked enough about me and my problems.” It was quite obvious he concidered Alea one of the problems he was reffering to. “How have you been all those day's and how come you invited this old man with you to the mirror lake, the rest of your friends all wrapped up in their own projects? Or did you just have a little bit of pity on an old man?” Coren joked as he began to walk towards the exit of the skyglow hold.

[Sera]

Sera always found the Skyglow hold to be quite open and welcoming. It was odd that Coren felt out of place. Though, maybe she just didn’t know everything. Okay, she definitely did NOT know everything, but she felt she knew a lot about her home. But... After all, she spent a lot of her time as far away from the hold as she could bear, having such an adventurous heart and all. Though, the Vantha girl thought of herself to be quite open, so she felt bad that Coren was in such a situation. But strangely enough… He seemed okay with it. Though, the whole topic of Alea got her to laugh. That human bothered him to the point that it was funny. The truth was, Sera found her to be unique, so she wasn’t bothered at all by her annoyances. Though she understood why others got a little… irritated. “Well, until she tries to light you on fire or even tries to kill you, I think you should just think of her as being...” She paused, trying to think of the perfect explanation, “Think of her as being a … Well she’s just trying to get a reaction out of you.” The whole thing sparked a bit of excitement and was a great story to tell. But no matter, she decided she wouldn’t bring up the subject again that day, so she just chuckled. “I’ve been well, relatively busy, but well. Been dealing with a lot of family issues, but that’s nothing new.” As they left the building, Sera couldn’t help but giggle at Coren’s comment. “You can’t possibly believe that you’re old.” She didn’t actually think of him to be old in any way, though she honestly had no idea how old he was. Maybe that was a reason that a certain human girl annoyed him… but then why would he agree to spend time with herself? Sera shrugged, avoiding the subject all together. “Actually, I was just being rather lazy earlier. So once I decided I wanted to do something, everyone I’d usually join is probably already doing something.” She said, shrugging, “I guess I was secretly hoping that I’d run into someone on the way out. Luckily, I ran into you.” Sera pranced a little bit as they walked in the windy air. "It's so beautiful right now." She said, a twinkle of orange building in her dual-colored eyes. "I have to admit I haven't been to the lake in a long time, though when I was a child I used to go there a lot." She said, admiring the sky. She then looked up at Coren. "So, I know very little about you. Should I be worried that I invited you along?" She asked, half jokingly.

[Coren]

Coren made an annoyed grumbling noise when Sera laughed at his response to her Alea question. “Oh don't laugh, you know how her pranks are nearly never thought out well. Not to mention she can't take it when they backfire. Or that she never seems to realize how the real world works and always tries to take the easy way out and never sees the consequences of her own actions. That isn't just trying to get a reaction out of somebody, that is behavior that could get her into serious trouble with the icewatch. You saw how easy she flew of the handle and tried to attack me right? What if she attacks one of the icewatch because he holds her up for a reason?” He just shook his head and dropped the subject, he would rather forget that hopeless cause existed. Lot less of headaches for him to worry about that way. Coren didn't ask further on her family comment, it wasn't his business and from the way she was vague about it she didn't really want too talk about it. “Well, believe it or not I'm already twenty four years old, so I have at least eight or so years on you, since I don't think you are married, nor are you an icemaiden. I would have heard about either of those from my mom if you where. She is a good woman, but an incorrigible gossip.” Coren let out a small chuckle as Sera mentioned how she came to the decision to ask him to come. “Well seems like you indeed had a stroke of luck that you ran into me right then.” Coren said. Glancing towards the sunset, not really seeing the beauty in it. It was just a sunset, something that happened every day. “Well, then lets see if you still remember how to skate, since I never really got the hang of it. Always fell right on my face at least once everytime we visited it when I was younger.” At Sera's joke he couldn't help but laugh a little bit. “Well, that depends on what habits you find worrying of course. But in general people describe me as weird but fairly harmless.” Coren smiled behind his mask, he was actually enjoying this conversation. “But I could say the same about you, aside from your name and your rather... weird choice in friends I know exactly nothing about you.” The fact that his comment could easily be twisted onto himself wasn't noticed by coren. “So, what any notable hobby's I should be concerned about, like an uncorrectable prankster streak?” Coren said in a joking manner.

[Sera]

At Coren’s very accurate description of Alea, Sera laughed. It was true; she didn’t think things through too well. But, to Sera, that proved how entertaining she was. Sera then thought of how long it had been since she’d seen that human. A long while… But no matter, she was spending time with Coren, someone she had seen a few times but never actually knew of. Though, Coren had a very interesting way of expressing himself. He had some spunk, which made the conversation quite entertaining. But then he told her his age. 'Twenty four?!' The girl almost choked. “You’re twenty-four? You’ve got to be kidding me?” She exclaimed putting an emphasis on the words ‘got’ and ‘kidding’. She then, jokingly, punched him in the arm. “Never mind! You are old. Why did I invite you to come with again…?! And the fact that you came along willingly... Do you have any friends?” The girl stuck her tongue out at Coren, childishly and continued walking. It wasn't often she could joke with someone in such a way. "Oh, skating! Along with not visiting the lake in a while, I haven't been skating in a while either... But I'm constantly dancing, so maybe my balance will be alright. I just hope I don't fall..." She rambled as a worried look fell over her face. She really didn't need to sprain her ankle or wrist or neck... Or anything for that matter. "And maybe I should just keep my secrets to myself, after all, your mother hasn't said anything groundbreaking about me yet." She chuckled and ran her fingers through her hair, awkwardly. "Plus, I'm not that interesting... yet. I'm only fifteen after all." So, maybe it was that she didn't feel like exposing herself too much to someone she didn't know too well. But at the same time, she didn't feel as if he'd judge her for anything. "I'm just your average fifteen year old Vantha girl. I don't get in trouble too often, the only times I do is for ridiculous reasons, or for losing my temper." She said, with a smirk. "I guess, I'm still learning what I want to do with my life." She said, looking at Coren. "And I could ask you the same thing anyways... Care to share some stories about yourself? I know nothing of you... besides that you work at the library...AND that you seem rather secretive. "

[Coren]

Coren laughed at Sera's reaction. “No, I am not joking, I'm twenty four years old and since I was born on the 89th of winter so I'm almost twenty five actually.” Coren said with a clear tone of amusement in his voice. “And if I remember right you invited this old man along because none of your friends where free, which is mostly the same reason I accepted the offer actually, that and I actually enjoy working and interacting with most younger people.” He just rolled his eyes at the teenager's antics “And yes, I do have some friends, not that many though and a lot of them are busy with their own family right now, their own really young children take up a lot of their time at the moment. Coren shrugged, not really bothered by the fact his friends seemed to move on and leave him behind in the dust. They had to live their life and he his after all. “I don't doubt you'll do just fine with the skating thing, it is one of those things you never forget how to do as far as I know.” As Sera mentioned that she maybe needed to keep some of her secrets to herself while saying that she was just an uninteresting vantha teenager right now. “Your secrets are yours to keep, whatever secrets a fifteen year old vantha might have anyway.” Coren said, a bit irked that she called him secretive but refused to give up anything on herself but then again, who chattered on about themselves on the first through meeting with somebody? “But I get it, your just like the many young vantha out here in the city, still doesn't know what direction they want to go or what they want to become. And as for stories on my part? Well just like you I'm not really all that special, I am a skyglow who is incompetent in almost every art, I work in the library and enjoy reading and writing. My dream is to become a teacher, though I haven't really figured out what exactly I'm supposed to teach.” He looked towards sera. “Anything else you need to get out of me? I could begin to tell stories about how I used to get into trouble but then you have to throw some stories about yourself in the open. Since you haven't really told me any stories about yourself to be honest.