Small Kindnesses
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Cymiri
Date Posted: 6th March 2015
Characters: Reeva, Eioval
Description: A sad day is brightened unexpectedly.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 12, day 11 of Turn 7
Reeva was always a bit quiet on a certain day each turn. Not that it was a big deal- she was way too grown up and too happy natured to spend her days moping and lamenting around- but the observant would notice the day was quieter then usual. She always denied it, though.
The healer's she'd worked with for years tended to give her a little more space, when the calendar rolled around to it. It was a little reminder of the trust and care they had for each other, and it inevitably made her smile a little.
Tomorrow, of course. Today was always for quieter thoughts and fond memories. Even if she denied it.
Luckily for the healer, there wasn't much to take her attention away in the infirmary, either. A few of the usual blistered fingers and other rider botches, but nothing particularly in need of concern. A quiet evening meal with those she loved was the perfect way to finish the day. Even a meal which, containing a ten turn old boy with every inch of his father's exuberance and his mother's curiosity as it did, wasn't actually all that quiet.
But that wasn't the true surprise of the day. That was the little trinket box that was softly dropped into her lap later that evening.
Reeva wasn't a woman for baubles and fripperies, although she did have some jewellery she held dear. And there'd always been that one piece, a little dragon with glittering eyes gifted to her by a man now dead for a wedding she'd never thought she'd have celebrated as greatly as she had, that had been left behind and never retrieved. She'd always regretted it, but what could you do? Life moves on, and her life had changed immensely, all on that one day and all without warning. Sometimes, there *was* no going back.
Although sometimes, apparently, the past *could* come back to you. And slap you in the face when it did.
She had to blink a couple of times when she saw the same little pendant staring back at her. Well, it couldn't be, could it? That one was long gone. *Decades* gone. She presumed.
But if he'd had it commissioned, he'd done an incredible mimicry. But then, given his talents, that wasn't impossible. Though Lords knew what it would have cost if so.
It looked a little old, though. Hard to tell, in the light.
She glanced up at the man busily poking the fire and generally setting a house to bed while solidly pretending he hadn't just gifted her anything at all. Eioval didn't like displays of gratitude much, he never had.
She'd mentioned it once. Once. On a day not quite a year ago, if she thought about it. And then only because he'd seen the small portrait she had and had asked about it. She'd certainly not gone into what it had truly meant to her.
She felt her smile tugging at her lips again as she watched him. Of all the words people threw at the painter, 'exceptional' only generally referred to his talent. Little did they know.
Catching the tail of her smile, he returned it with a slightly hesitant one of his own. "No falling asleep in your chair, now, remember."
The soft words earned him a chuckle. Some days were priceless. Some people, too.
Last updated on the March 18th 2015