oh, uh, hi :: luce

Henri sat on the little dock that overlooked the pond at Ekul Park, waving his hand gently over the water and watching the small wave that rose up and across the surface. He smiled, liking the way he felt controlling the little water formation.

He'd settled a few months ago, right after his sixteenth birthday, and was enjoying learning the different ways he could manipulate water. And at this time of day (nearing dusk), not many clio were out here at the pond--it was a perfect time to go through his assignment book. He looked back down at the book propped open next to him to find the next Ughdarras excercise.

Lucina was out at Ekul Park taking a short run before dark. She wasn't the sporty type, but she liked exercising to stay strong and healthy, so here she was. Dusk was an ideal time, because there were less clio out on the trails. Luce was far from self-conscious, but it could still be annoying to run during the day when everyone was here, especially since there were sometimes cat-calling assholes around.

As she ran on the trail that looped around the pond, she happened to see a familiar figure up ahead. It was Kin's one cousin, Henrik. Despite being in the same year as him, Luce was more familiar with Kin's girl cousins, Senna and Poppy. They had come to the Solas Estate every once in a while. Henrik hadn't come as often, and when he had, he'd always kept to himself, just like he did at school. He seemed very shy, which was a shame, because he was pretty cute.

On a whim, Luce decided to stop by and say hi. She jogged up to the dock and stopped a few feet behind him. He was just sitting by himself, messing with his eilemaiden. He must have just settled. "Hey," she greeted casually. "How's it going, Henrik?"

Henri jumped a little as someone approached him and spoke from behind. Water sprayed into the air as he lost control in his fright, and some of it splashed onto his face and hair.

Lucina wrote:Hey. How's it going, Henrik?

He turned around and saw that it was Lucina, the girl who lived in the Solas estate with Kinley and his Aunt Amerie and Uncle Max. "Oh, uh, hi, Lucina," Henri said, quickly standing. It felt awkward sitting on the ground while she stood. Not the the standing helped, Henri realized; he still felt just as awkward standing in front of her. He brushed the wet curly hair from his eyes, and felt his cheeks get warm. "I was doing homework."

Lydia sighed from her still-laying spot at the edge of the dock. Henri had always had difficulties talking to clio, especially when he was caught off guard, and it was sometimes painful to watch. Dry yourself off.

Oh, right. Henri quickly squeegeed off his hair using his eilemaiden and felt his now-dry curls boing up quickly.

Ugh. He was a mess.

Luce very quickly turned her laugh into a cough when Henrik got so startled he hit himself in the face with his own eilemaiden. It was funny as hell, but she didn't want him to feel any more embarrassed than he clearly already did. He was even blushing, aw. It was almost endearing. She hoped he'd be capable of having a conversation without passing out.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya," she said, smiling as he dried himself off. His hair floofed up cutely. "I was just out for a run and thought I'd say hi. You just settled as ughdarras, huh?"

Great, she was laughing. Henri wished he could jump into the water. It almost made it worse that she tried to hide her amusement by forcing a cough.

Lucina wrote:Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya, I was just out for a run and thought I'd say hi. You just settled as ughdarras, huh?

"Yeah."

...his one word response hung in the air for a moment and Henri felt himself grow more uncomfortable. Ugh, this was the worst part about talking with clio. You had to know what to talk about.

"Do you like running?" Oh, gods, of course she liked running. She was doing it, wasn't she? WHY WAS HE LIKE THIS. Were his ears red? He felt like they had to be red.

"Eh, I'm not sure anyone really likes running," Luce said with an exaggerated shrug, trying to keep the conversation going on her end since Henrik was obviously struggling. Cute as his shyness was, she didn't want him to be so uncomfortable talking to her. "It's just a workout for me. I like to stay healthy, you know?"

"So what made you choose Ughdarras?" she asked, thinking it might be easier for him to talk about himself than to try and think of more questions to ask her. She knew his mom was the overloridian of Nadar, and it always made her curious when overloridians' kids didn't choose their parent's eilemaiden.

It was a good question, Henri thought, but one he didn't quite know how to answer out loud. A lot had gone into his decision, and, much like Henri approached everything, he'd spent a lot of time studying all his options before he settled and had to make the ultimate choice. Part of the reason he'd been attracted to Ughdarras was because he'd been too afraid to really learn to swim when he was younger (something that earned him much ridicule from his more adventurous sisters), but as he studied in his eilemaiden classes he'd also come to appreciate a lot about the water. It was as beautiful as it could be deadly, and Henri really enjoyed how it was so fragile in some ways but so strong in others.

That was a lot to say though, and way more personal than he was willing to let on to anyone, so he lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "I think I just like the water," he told her. "It's calming, you know?"

What about you? Lydia offered.

"What about you?" Henri asked. "I mean, what did you settle as?"

Luce walked to the edge of the dock and looked out over the water. The setting sun reflected off of it beautifully. "It is calming, isn't it?" she agreed. "You seem like someone who likes things calm."

She looked back over at him when he asked her about her eilemaiden. "Solas," she said. She showed off a little, snapping her fingers and producing a little electric current between them. "It's my step-mom's eilemaiden. Man, you should see the crazy stuff she can do with it. I always wanted to learn it from her, so...obvious choice, really."

Lucina wrote:It is calming, isn't it? You seem like someone who likes things calm.

So his awkwardness was definitely obvious. Instead of making him more nervous and embarrassed, though, the knowledge that Lucina already knew he was uncomfortable made him...less nervous and uncomfortable? Like he had less to prove, less to cover up.

Lucina wrote:Solas. It's my step-mom's eilemaiden. Man, you should see the crazy stuff she can do with it. I always wanted to learn it from her, so...obvious choice, really.

Henri had always been shy, and that included with Lucina's moms, but he did remember Aran, he thought her name was, doing some cool light shows for him and the other kids when they were little. "I think I remember some of that," he said thoughtfully. He could definitely appreciate the beauty in Solas, and he watched with a half-hidden smile as Lucina spun her electricity between her fingers.

"I don't really know anyone in Ughdarras--I mostly like to learn it from books, from class." He'd always been an information sponge, and loved learning through reading most of all. He nudged his textbook with the toe of his shoe.

"Ah. Believe it or not, my step-mom was like that too. Self-taught, I mean, she didn't go to school, but she read a lot of Solas theory to learn her eilemaiden," Luce said. She gave another shrug and a slight laugh. "Not me, though. I was always better at practice than theory." There was a misconception that there were only two kinds of eilemaiden-users--those who were naturally good at it, and those who weren't. But that wasn't true. Even those who didn't have the "natural talent" for their eilemaiden could still become expert users by studying and applying theory.

"I always thought it was pretty cool though," she continued, "to really understand your eilemaiden like that. Have you learned anything super cool about Ughdarras yet?"

"Oh, I don't know," Henri said, hoping that response didn't come off as shy as he felt. "I think everything about it is kinda cool...

"Like, I can't do this at all obviously, and it's really rare, but I read of clio who can control other clio using Ughdarras. I'm not sure if that's terrifying, or cool. Or, like, terrifyingly cool. But it's definitely crazy."

"Oh yeah?" Luce asked with raised eyebrows. That was definitely pretty creepy-cool. "I wonder if Solas can do that too, since muscles move through electricity." Her step-mom had taught her that. She could use Solas to move at faster speeds and be stronger, by stimulating her muscles. Crazy-cool stuff. Maybe theory wasn't so bad after all, despite the fact that Luce would much rather learn by doing than by reading.

"Maybe we could study-slash-practice together sometime," she suggested, playfully nudging Henrik with her elbow. She didn't really care all that much about studying, but she wanted to spend more time with cute lil Henrik, maybe get him out of his shell a little bit. He was so cute, like a puppy or something. "What do you say?"

"I bet so," Henri said to the comment about Solas. He had read plenty of accounts in history about powerful clio who could use their eilemaiden in intense ways. Not that Henri would ever want to be in control of someone else's body, but knowing that the ability existed and was out there was pretty creepy.

"Wait, with me?" Henri asked, shocked, after Lucina mentioned practicing together sometime. He didn't often study with anyone else, and the only time he even really worked with others was when there was a group project. "I--I mean, yeah, okay. I mean, only if you want to."

What would that look like, he wondered--working together without actually being assigned to. In his group projects he gotten used to doing the majority of the work. He usually sat silently, afraid to speak up for anything. He was conditioned to expect his grade suffering because of his partners' involvements. The whole thing had kinda turned him off working with others on things willingly (not that he'd ever felt the want to work together before, either).

I think it could be fun, Lydia said. You worry too much.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to," Luce said amiably. They worked out a time and a place to meet up, and once they had that all planned and figured out Luce smiled at him. "Great, it's a date then."

Just for fun, she leaned in and gave him a little peck on the cheek. "See you then, Henrik," she said, giving him a little wave over her shoulder before beginning to walk off.

As Lucina turned to walk away, the kiss still fresh on his cheek, Henri's eyes shot open wide and he froze. If he'd thought he was blushing before, it was nothing compared to now--his face felt like it was on fire.

By date she had definitely meant, like, just a hang out. They were just going to hang out and practice their eilemaiden and definitely not do anything date-like. It was a figure of speech, and the kiss had been... The kiss on the cheek had been... In books, sometimes clio would kiss their friends on the cheeks before they parted. It was a sign of friendship. She was being friendly.

Can you use your eilemaiden to mop up a puddle of Henri? Lydia asked with a little kitty smirk.

He couldn't stop staring at Lucina's silhouette as she walked away. Why, now that she'd reduced him to a mess, was this the first time Henri had ever realized how cute Lucina was? She was so pretty, and here she'd been, talking to him. She'd set up a date a hang out a practice session.

What if all he could think about next time they saw each other was how pretty she was?? Henri grabbed his book and hurried back to his dorm, more nervous than he'd been the entire time he'd been talking to her.