OOM: Sometimes, Raven is a little less than kin and more than kind

[creator_raven]

Raven is, perhaps, often found in the rafters.

It allows him to see much.

He is a curious bird, after all.

And sometimes--sometimes hurt is not particularly instructive.

Which might be why he is waiting for Moiraine as she reaches the first landing on the stairs.

Hopefully she is of a mind to notice him before she hits his chest face-first.

Comments

[blue_ajah]

"I know that!" she snaps at them both, and with a sudden movement she shifts Raven, who is balancing awkwardly between the couch and her lap in order to best confront her, so that he finds himself entirely on the sofa as she stands and moves swiftly away.

"Do you think that I do not realize it? I am fully aware, but now I have complicated matters for myself, given what I would see done--"

Moiraine stops at the window, both hands on the sill, and looks out at the roses.

"-- perhaps Malcolm Reynolds," she muses. "I will approach him, and we shall see if there is anything to be salvaged, or if I have come to the end of this path, after all."

[creator_raven]

Raven tilts his head, studying her.

He does not snort.

Nor does he roll his eyes.

Not quite.

"That, I think, is what a machete is for."

Well, on occasion, at least.

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

"Yeeeah, I can see that goin' well. With the machete. We'd have t'teach y'a few good warcries first, sommat that goes with a machete."Ace replies calmly, snagging a cookie for herself. She is quite encouraged by the return of the temper. In her experience, things are not quite right in the state of Moiraine when she gets overly quiet.

"But f'now, the real question is when are we all goin'ta change into sommat more comfy? 'Cause I dunno 'bout you, but as much as I love m'jacket, it's not the best thing t'lounge about in until the wee small hours tellin' ghost stories an' such."

What?

[blue_ajah]

She turns back and gives Ace a sideways look.

"You would prefer a gleeman's cloak, perhaps?"

[creator_raven]

Raven peers intently at Moiraine.

"It is sparkly, perhaps?"

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

Ace throws a pillow.

Gently.

Considering the past conversation, she might be commended for not throwing it sooner.

"Pajamas, y'nutter. Gleeman's cloak. Do I look like a gleeman t'you?"

Pause.

"... What is a gleeman anyway?"

[blue_ajah]

She considers protesting that she had not intended to stay so long as all that, and then reconsiders it as she studies the both of them.

Slowly, a faint, clear smile curves Moiraine's lips.

"Some might say a bard, perhaps -- one who tells tales and entertains crowds with the splendor of story and spectacle, among other things."

[creator_raven]

Raven, meanwhile, takes the pillow full in the face, and promptly tumbles off the couch.

When she stands up again, it is accompanied by another snort.

"That, I think, was almost unfair. Still."

She grins at Moiraine, black eyes bright.

"They do not, perhaps, sound like such unpleasant things, yes?"

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

"Almost unfair in the way that it was an utterly righteous move." Ace retorts, smugly. "An if I can entertain with fireworks, I'm in. Maybe even sparklers."

[blue_ajah]

"A gleeman and an Illuminator, now," Moiraine says dryly. "Light preserve us all."

To Raven, she adds quietly,

"No. They are not, as it happens... although some, of course, are far better than others."

There is an odd, half-hidden fondness in her tone, just for an instant.

[creator_raven]

Raven wrinkles her nose at Moiraine.

"You are not fond of explosions, then?"

She sounds half-shocked.

Most of it is probably for show.

Probably.

"As to the rest--it is often so, I think. Even for Tricksters."

And, you know, other things, too.

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but we've got the best." Ace crows cheerfully. "B'sides. S'always good t'go with the team with multple strengths, yeah?"

[blue_ajah]

"Remind me not to demonstrate anything of the sort," she says, with perfect serenity evident. "I shall leave it to the two of you to entertain in such fashion, I think."

A beat.

"Although I will not disagree that differing strengths are useful."

[creator_raven]

Raven just snorts, grinning at her.

Irrepressible is a good word, perhaps.

"Possibly you are for juggling, then? Or there is a trick, I think, with scarves?"

Not the Dance of the Seven Veils.

Honest.

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

"Well, we know she's good with a tamborine." Ace suggests innocently.

Too innocently.

What has she got in that wardrobe, anyway?

[blue_ajah]

Her cheeks flush with bright color, at this. Moiraine glares fiercely at Ace and observes tartly,

"At least I was not occupied with fleeing from a pig."

[creator_raven]

Raven looks at Moiraine, black eyes bright with what is probably mischief.

"You would have preferred the leopard-print, then? I had not imagined cleavage was a thing you liked."

Not that they can't fix that, if she does . . .

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

Ace?

Is wounded in action.

Maybe someday she'll be able to stand up again, but right now she's keeled over laughing, holding her ribs.

[blue_ajah]

The Aes Sedai makes a very quiet, half-strangled noise, and turns her back on the two of them to look out the window with determination.

[creator_raven]

Raven attempts to stop laughing, and then reaches out to pat Moiraine's shoulder.

"I will wear tiger-print, perhaps, if you are for wanting to blend."

Hey, Raven can compromise!

Really.

[nitro-is-ace.livejournal.com]

"I am not goin' about dressed like a Cheetah." Ace protests from the floor, still giggling. "That's too much, even f'me."

[blue_ajah]

"No leopards, tigers, or cheetahs in attire," Moiraine says firmly-- but then she sighs, and turns around to face the other two.

"However, I feel certain that it might be possible to find something both comfortable and appropriate."

This might, in fact, be what acquiescence sounds like.

[creator_raven]

Raven does not quite grab either woman and start shoving them out the library door.

Not yet.

She does, however, grin very brightly at Moiraine.

"It is more than likely, I think. And possibly we will even let you be the judge of both, yes?"

Then, laughing not at all quietly, she tugs both sisters out the door.