Healer Hall - Library
This large room, almost square, holds most of the Healer and Harper Halls' records and instructional texts. An effort has been made to arrange them in a logical fashion and the shelves on the walls are arranged according to subject and complexity. Rectangular tables with chairs are placed throughout the room, providing study areas.
In one corner, an area has been partitioned off where several computers sit, four in all. The computers are hardly ever left alone. The main entrance, in the northern part of the eastern wall, leads to the hospital hallway, while a pair of doors in the western side of the library hide behind them a large lecture hall. In the southwest corner, a small spiral staircase leads down to the archives which the harpers still maintain. A small, open archway to the north leads to the back hallway.
It's only been about two or three days since Phylicia had her brain picked apart and examined by the Craftmaster and a few of the other higher ranking Masters concerned about her quality of education. The summer days have continued on around the Healer Hall, a cool summer breese wafting through open windows and down the hallways. So it's a bit of an oddity when on a clear summer's day that Phylicia is found in the library instead out outside reading whatever it is she has in front of her, resting on the table. One hand holds open the book, her index finger seeming to point to a line, while her other hand is busy jotting down notes in her notebook. She doesn't look particularily frazzled or engrossed in the book, but more like she's looking something up for curiousity's sake.
It's that breeze that might alert Phylicia to Tenebrous' presence before he finally makes himself known. Stone and dirt, wildlife and some kind of spice all tickle the nostril of anyone in the area, but it's a combination uniquely him. He finally founds a corner, and for the first time since the fire, he looks half normal. Gone are the borrowed jeans and sandals, replaced with more of those sturdy, hardy pants with hide knee patches, made for the rough and tumble lifestyle he lived not so long ago. A simple, off-white over tunic remains open at the chest, the leather thong of his little wood flute clearly visible, and a satchel rests over one shoulder. But for the coat…
If his scent wasn't ingrained into Phylicia's brain from the time spent with him over the past turn, the activities the pair found themselves engrossed in four days ago certainly would have fixed that. Phylicia doesn't notice the change in the air immediately, though as she pauses to look at the book, the scent permiates her awareness. Her own clothing is that of what she wears around the Hall and Weyr, since she isn't climbing through the wildlife and has no need to be more utilitarian, her duplicate coat tucked safely into her personal chest in the dorms. She wasn't wearing it during the fire, so she still has it. She looks up and looks around for a few moments before she finally finds Tenebrous' form. Leaving the pen carefully marking the page, but with the writing tip sticking out of the book, she waves in hopes of getting his attention. "Ten!" She calls softly, not wanting to disturb the few other people there are in the room.
Tenebrous turns slightly when Phylicia calls his name, throwing the woman a bit of a smile and starting over. He absently adjusts the satchel on his shoulder as he approaches, murmuring, "I've been looking for you." Arriving at her table, he slings the satchel down quietly before rummaging around in it. A moment later, he pulls out a small, new-looking Journeyman's knot and shows it to her. "I find myself approved for active duty again," he offers, that slight smile growing just a little. "I've been released from the Hall's hold and cleared to go about my business. I wanted to come and see you before I left."
Phylicia can't help but return the smile. Especially since after the grilling from Fraille, she was left with the grudging verdict of 'satisfactory' from the other Masters. She notes the satchel however, and the smile doesn't quite fade, but it loses a only a little bit of its shine. "That's wonderful!" She exclaims over the new knot as she shifts in her seat to look up at him. "Do you want to spring me out while your at it? I haven't heard much from them." Them being the people who wanted to pull her back here. And then he's talking about leaving and finally the smile fades a little bit, though it's still obviously there it's just a touch sad now. "Did they post you anywhere, or are you just going to go … about?" Well if this isn't a slight case of deja vu, but in a much better context than the last time they were talking about his leaving to wander.
Tenebrous spreads his hands. "The option is mine. I've got… open offers from several different posts, rather than the Hall simply appointing me to one. Xanadu, of course, is fairly irritated that they've lost two good people out of this whole fracas, so their arms are open. Rubicon has offered me a permanant spot of authority there, though I can't see myself sitting in a building all day long." He looks over his shoulder briefly. "Of course… the Hall wants me to stay here and teach. Fewer and fewer of the apprentices are following the older paths of study, and that doesn't sit very well with the Master." He sighs. "Truth be told, Phy… I'll probably wander. I'm a journeyman after all, for all that I don't care for my rank. Granted, I'll probably wander right back to Stormhaven for awhile, but…"
Phylicia's smile spreads across her face a little more again as she shakes her head. "This is what you get for knowing what you do, and being good at it." She says, trying to make her tone severe for the joke, but ending up giggling anyways. "You have all these people willing to offer you a place, even if it is likely temporary." She leans into the back of her chair, pressing her side against it as she watches him. "I wish I could go back to Stormhaven with you." She says wistfully with a small sigh, even though she shakes herself out a moment later. "And there's nothing wrong with wandering…"
Tenebrous lets his hands slip back to his sides. "Phy…" He legs out a chair and sits slowly. "Listen… I don't have any doubt that Xanadu's going to want you back when this is all said and done, but… I was serious, awhile back. About running groups of apprentices out into the woods, and wanting someone at my elbow that I could trust. The Masters…" He swallows. "The masters were impressed with the review that you gave them…and they'd like to saddle me with another apprentice, when I feel comfortable with it." He gestures with a hand. "I don't… really want another apprentice."
"So ask for your old one back." Phylicia says, as if its merely as simple as that. Maybe the Masters were impressed with her 'interview' with them, but the young woman still doesn't think she'll be seeing the inkling of a promotion for a few turns yet. Not that it even seems to bother her. "It's not as if I've learned everything from you yet." She's still watching his face carefully, before she leans over slightly, placing one of her hands on his lower thigh. "Or you can just tell them 'No'. I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time someone's refused to take on an apprentice, even after teaching one." She doesn't retract her hand unless he forces her to or moves away as she slides to the other topic. "I would be happy to help you with that project, Tenebrous." Finally her hand does lift from his leg and it's in a partially dismissing wave. "Whether Xanadu would like me back or not, me actually going anywhere is completely in the Craftmaster's hands." Isn't it just all sorts of both convienent and not, signing one's soul away to the craft for one's teenage and young adult years? To ask 'how high' when a Master says 'jump'.
Tenebrous either doesn't notice Phy's hand on his leg, or doesn't care, which is more likely. "I think you'll get your posting back if you ask, Phy. The masters have no reason to take it from you, and while Fraille might be…hard, she rarely does things without a good reason." At the mention of taking her back as his apprentice once again, he raises a brow. "You… know the conditions that the Craftmaster set on you working with me again," he says softly, leaning in just a little. "I'm not… sure if I'm ready to take…I mean, don't get me wrong, if I had to pick someone to run around with, it would be you." He smiles a little. "I wouldn't want to start over with some new kid. I don't know if I have the patience for that. But then, you got in somehow, so…" He waves a hand to clear the stray thoughts. "You… know the limits that the Craftmaster set if you become my apprentice again…"
Phylicia doesn't look put out by most of this, that little grin stuck on her face. "But you don't want anyone tagging along right now." She hazards a little guess. The hand on his leg gives a light squeeze before she lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "I'm in no huge hurry to get back to Xanadu, Ten. With you going to wander, and Fraille here as Craftmaster now I really wouldn't have a good botany teacher anyways." Her cheeks flush to a light rosey hue then as her grin broadens, her voice dropping to a more discreet level. "We did botch having the chance to work together again, didn't we?" There's only a trace of disappointment there, amongst her subdued pleasure. "At least until whenever they decide I'm ready for my journeyman's knot."
Tenebrous smirks. "I don't know about you, but I havne't exactly gone around talking about that, so unless the Master is Psychic, we're still in the clear on that front." He shakes his head. "I just…the only thing I really want to do right now is go back to stormhaven and see about putting that part of my life back together. I really am trying to move on, but the forest has been a part of my life for a long time now. I fele out of place here."
Phylicia shakes her head as her grin turns a bit impish. "Why would I? It's not like I want to be banned from working at your side." And only because staying partially leaned forward is a weird position to hold does she retract her hand from his leg. "Though sometimes I swear that woman has /some/ sort of psychic power." At least Phy has gotten out of calling Fraille a crone out loud. Bad thing to do, that. But the smile drops a few levels, the remnants of it still curving the edge of her lips. "So go back and fix what you can for the moment." She holds up a finger as if she might waggle it at him. "Though you can't go and become a hermit again." She tacks on playfully. Since apparently she'll have something to say about that?
"Logic," Tenebrous offers calmly. "The master simply employes logic, combined with the fact that she's been around long enough to understand how humans work. The two of them together make a potent combination." An unpleasantly wicked smile flickers across his face. "I can't begin to tell you how much it bothers the Mindhealers. Just drives them crazy, if you'll forgive the pun." His smile tempers itself a little. "Not that I tentend on going back to being a hermit, but sometimes I really think it was easier. There are a great many tyhings that I would have missed, yourself among them. But…" He sighs. "At what cost?" He shakes his head again. "Probably won't turn into a Hermit again, but you can bet your knot that I probably won't be stomping into town for social hour in the caverns any time soon."
"I hope she did that to Daddy at some point in time." Phylicia says somewhat sourly, not exactly approving of how her father wanted to coddle her after the fire, among other things. "He deserves to be driven insane by someone." Other than his children. But the image of him even stepping into the caverns has her giggling in amusement a moment later, her eyes laughing as she covers her mouth with a hand until she gets them under control shortly there after. "I would have to worry on how much you changed if you set foot in the caverns or the tavern merely to socalize." She teases gently and then pauses. "You really need to stop thinking in terms of 'what cost', Ten. Being a hermit and coming in when called…" There's a small break in her words. She doesn't want to offend him, but her words might. "Wasn't it lonely?"
For a moment, something older, perhaps a piece of the man that died in the fire, peeks through. "It was safe. It might not have been as wildly rewarding…but it was safe. And at the end of the day, some people put a great deal of weight on that. Stop thinking about 'What Cost'? Phylicia…that's all ther eis. Cost. Consequence. Result. No matter what you call it, it's always there. Even if we ignore it." His face softens a little. "There are…very few times in my life where I simply ignore the cost of something, or don't think about it. I'm sure some folks might think that's sad, but…" He sighs. "Thats what I am."
There's a little bit of a 'whoops' running through Phylicia's brain as she listens, trying to think of a response that's still true, but won't get the pair of them into any sort of arguement in the middle of the library. "Alright, I'll give you that." She says after a few long moments of silence. "There is always a price, but to balance the price there's usually a benefit to go with it." Her shoulders lift in a lopsided shrug. She's refraining from hugging him, since most of the hall doesn't know their prior history at Xanadu, and she has no wish to start tongues waggling. "It is what you are, and I don't entirely mind." And a little bit of a smile tugs at her lips again. "It's just you could like at the bright side of things, now and again." Always look on the bright side of life.
Tenebrous ticks off fingers without hesitation. "You're alive. I'm alive. We're both upright and functional people…and we've both proven that now." He smiles blandly. "In front of the review board, of course." He leans in, continuing. "I always look on the bright side, Phylicia. I'm just also painfully aware of the cost of that. We cannot appreciate the good withou the bad, the light without the darkness. Each has its place, and a wise man understands both." Then he blinks and leans back again, musing, "why in the world did I jump off of the to[p of Stormhaven again? I odn't know why that just poppe dinto my head, but…what in the world could have possibly posessed me to try that?" He waves a hand. "I've always sort of… wanted to try, but I never had the stones to do it."
Phylicia really should know better by now than to get into debates with Tenebrous. She looks only a little embarrased as he finishes making his point, her cheeks slightly rosey. "And I've never argued the fact you're wise." She murmurs to him before she blinks. "Ah… I don't know?" She says after a moment of surprise. "All I know is if you throw yourself off it again and it doesn't kill you this time, /I/ will kill you." She shakes her head offering a small grin. "I met you after you did that, but your torso was a mess of bruises." How she got to see his torso, she'll leave for another explaination. And upon thinking that, her lips twist slightly as if she just thought of something a bit sour.
Tenebrous snorts. "I'm not wise, Phylicia. I'm around 22 turns old. I don't get to be wise just yet. I just parrot old women really well." he raises an eyebrow about the waterfall issue, grinning. "And here I was thinking that I might have to try it again. I obviously survived it the last time." Then her face turns a bit off and he frowns. "And we were doing so well, too…" He gestures to her face with a fingertip. "I don't suppose you want to tell me what that's about, do you?"
Phylicia mmphs softly. "Well, you're wiser than I am, even if you're just mimicing. How about that?" She says, the beginnings of a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "If you seriously start thinking about jumping off that waterfall again, I swear I'll find a way to confine you until you change your mind." It's a fairly idle, yet playful threat. And as that finger points to her face she quirks an eyebrow at him, as if he's daring her to nip at it. "You remember a few mornings ago… you said you hurt Thea?" She asks softly, which half contradicts that look of 'put your finger down'. "I'm … thinking she did her fair share of hurting you, and it didn't stay to only the emotional level." She pauses and then shakes her head, as if trying to dismiss it.
Tenebrous wiggles his fingertip in front of Phy's lips for a moment while she speaks, but when the conversation turns to Thea, it lowers, his face a mask of sobriety. "It makes me wonder if it was justified," he says quietly. "But you seem like a reasonable woman, Phy, so I … guess I hope I didn't become a monster in the last turn." He purses his lips. "I guess that explains why she's always acting the way she is around me. So…on edge, I guess." He exhales slowly and spreads his hands. "Nothing for it now, I suppose. Life moves on. Hers did, anyway." He arches an eyebrow. "You know she's with child, right? Like… far along?"
Phylicia's chocolate eyes flare with momentary irritation as she simply looking at him. "You were no monster." She says crisply, more annoyed with herself for letting the topic come up than with his reaction. "Nor are you." She leans forward slightly, looking to take the hand that had been wiggling a finger at her in her own. Part of her wants to sigh. "I'm sorry she couldn't let that part of the past go… if she's still being edgy around you." Don't ask anyone why Phy is the one appologizing, but she is. And then she pauses as she tries to think back to the times that she's seen Thea. "N-… No, I don't think she ever told me." Her entire body pauses for a moment. Being with child is a happy thing, but she looks mildly annoyed Thea didn't tell her. "How far are we talking, do you know?"
Tenebrous simply lets his hand exist inside of Phy's for the moment. "It's not your fault that what happened between the two of us did." He smiles slightly. "Not to imply anything about THea's character, but whatever existed betwene the two of us can't have been that special for her. She looks to be around six months along. She's visibly showing, and if you do the math…" He waves his other hand around for a moment. "This assumes that whateve rhappened between her and I was quick, and towards the beginning of the period in time that I can't remember." His lips quiver with a bit of suppressed, if wry, mirth. "Wow. I never stopped to think of it like that, but…" He rubs his face with one hand. "Let it go, Fetch," he mutters with a grin. "Apologies, Phy. I've got no idea what happened, so I can't judge."
Phylicia isn't particularily intent on doing anything with his hand, she just felt a need to hold it. For her benefit or his could be up for debate. As he states just how far along Thea is, her hands give a twitch around his and her annoyed expression deepens for a moment. "I should plague that woman with checkups and tests until she appologizes for not telling me…" The young woman mumbles mostly under her breath. But that's until what Tenebrous is saying sinks in and she just decides not to touch it. "You'd have more of a clue than me, Ten." She says after a moment before she exhales, willing some of the uneasy tension out of her frame. "I really know next to nothing when it comes to whatever happened between Thea and you…"
Tenebrous smiles. "I don't know much of what happened either. It didn't end well, I think everyone's in agreement on that. And it couldn't have lasted long, because Thea obviously found someone, her Weyrmate I assume, that she was fond of. So fond that she decided to have a child with him. And that takes time, said fondness. At least…it usually does." He laughs a little. "I don't know. And, in all honesty, I don't really care. Stormhaven is probably the closest that I'm going to get to that Weyr again for a long time. It would be a real treat for her to be just…normal around me the next time we see one another. But again. I don't really care. It's done and over." Then he laughs a bit darkly. "You could always drop a hint in front of the Craftmaster. See if she'd do Thea's checkups. I'm told she has cold hands."
Phylicia grins, barely smothering a laugh as he suggests broaching Fraille on the subject of Thea's checkups. "That'd be a bit cruel. I don't think she likes Fraille to begin with, and I know she does what she can to avoid the infirmary." Speaking of one of the reasons the whole mess between them likely started… But Phy ponders on that topic for a few more quiet moments before she shakes her head. "It is done and over." For him, but next time she's at Xanadu she might be having a talk with a certain junior. As conversations of this particular nature tend to do, it stalls with a bit of an awkward silence, letting Phylicia peek over her shoulder at the book she has open still though she makes no attempt to turn back to it. "When were you thinking of leaving?" Comes a question from her after a few long moments, breaking the quiet.
Tenebrous chuckles. "It's been my experience that most people usually avoid infirmaries for the wrong reasons. That having been said, I avoid infirmaries like the plague, but I'm at least half-trained ot take care of myself." Phy's next question brings him to a pause for a time as well before offering, "Tomorrow. Maybe the day after." He makes a face. "I need to find a new coat, and I'm having a bother of a time doing it. Sixteen turns in the forest buggered my eyes a little. I don't feel right without a hood on my head anymore, and those light patient cowls that we have in the labs just do not cut it."
Tenebrous' need for a coat brings a grin about Phylicia's face. "If you'd fit into it I might let you take mine if you asked nicely." And her smile broadens as her thumbs idly start to rub at the palm of his hand in slow circles. For a moment she seems to hesitate before she puts what's on her mind out there anyways. "If you want company before you go, all you have to do is ask." And there's an implication there she's not voicing the the public. "You know that, right?"
Tenebrous chuckles at that. "I don't think I've been your size since I was ten, Phylicia, but it's a generous offer." He makes a face. "There was a hideworker down by the region where Shai-Morul was located that made that coat, years and years ago. Maybe I can take a trip down there and see if they're still in business." Her other offer has his smile widening slightly. "If I find myself with any rooms that need cleaning, I'll be sure to look you up," he promises with a grin. "Either way…don't worry. I'll come look you up before I leave. I promise."
"Like I said, 'if you'd fit'." Phylicia says with a smile. "You might want to think about where you got me mine. Since it was a present from you, and cut the same." Because seeing her in his coat was likely just way too funny, the girl drowning it. And one eyebrow rises up again as she laughs softly. "Oh, room cleaning is it?" She asks laughingly, gently letting go of his hand so she can cross her arms under her chest. "Mmm. I'll remember that you promised."
Tenebrous smirks. "Well, you did such a good job with the bath house…" He stands then, pushing his chair in with a little noise. "I'll be around, don't you worry." His smile fades to seriousness. "And even if I do go somewhere else, I'll stay in touch. I'm not sure about all the other times, but I won't disappear this time. Too much good has come of this." Then he's slinging his satchel over his shoulder and padding away, his feet making no sound on the library ground.