Fourth Floor Common Room [late evening]

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

Aravis, as it so often happened, could not sleep. She'd tried pacing, she'd tried reading, and eventually, she'd tried coming out to the common room to lose herself in the light of the television. Perhaps that very informative program from the other night would be on again. (And she did hope that Raven tracked it down again somehow.)

Eventually, she made herself a pot of tea, weakened with honey and milk, and set to work on a few letters home while listening to the news. She started with the one to Hwin, as that would be the easiest (though she'd have to censor her latest, er, activities somewhat.)

[YES I AM PLAYING ALL MY CHARACTERS TODAY. WHATEVER. Open CR is open.]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

Oh, like Ben slept these days.

But he was avoiding his common room just in case Karla found him and tried to nag him about it.

"Hey," he said, smiling at Aravis. "Is the tea for everyone?"

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Only people who are nice to me," she said, smiling back. "So you'd best follow through on that."

[momslilassassin]

"How nice?" Ben asked. "Complimenting your pajamas nice or doing your laundry nice?"

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"I like compliments," she decided. "Tell me my hair is like a silken raven's wing, though, or that my eyes are like a wild sea, and I'll take the tea away again. There is a certain limit."

[momslilassassin]

"Your hair is very...hairlike?" Ben tried, frowning.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Well done. Take some tea," Aravis said generously. "It's on the counter."

[momslilassassin]

"Thank you," Ben said. Remembering how Aravis liked her tea, he weakened his just a little more with another splash of milk before finding a spot nearby to sit. "What are you working on?"

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Letters home," she sighed, setting her quill down. "They're coming across as very boring, I think."

[momslilassassin]

"Are you leaving out the part about the syrup rain?" he asked.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Oooh, I could include it. Hwin would have been appreciative," Aravis noted. "What has you up so late?"

[momslilassassin]

"I haven't been sleeping much lately," Ben said, sipping from his mug. "And you?"

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"I'm always up late," she said with a faint smile. "What's troubling you?"

[momslilassassin]

He looked into his tea like it might reply for him. "I'm not really sure to begin," he said finally.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"The beginning," she suggested mildly, setting her letter aside.

[momslilassassin]

He chewed on his lower lip. "Okay. So Tahiri and I are still dating, right?" he said. "But when I went home in the spring, the Tahiri there...wasn't so nice."

Excellent use of hedging, Ben.

"And sometimes I get confused."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Does she know?" she asked softly.

[momslilassassin]

He nodded, looking humiliated.

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"How did that go?" she asked quietly, scooting closer to him.

[momslilassassin]

"Less well," Ben said. "I told this Tahiri the bare minimum of what happened at home--she has enough on her plate as it is with her own war without worrying about a future that might not be hers anyway--and she was just so horrified that I stopped."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Do you think you should tell her at all?" Aravis asked, a little surprised. "I understand that she's your girlfriend and you want to tell her these things, but I wouldn't tell Peter a thing of his future other than that he has a beard."

[momslilassassin]

"I really didn't want to," Ben said. "I couldn't let her touch me for almost a month, so she was drawing conclusions on her own."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"I know you must care for her," Aravis said quietly, "or you wouldn't still be together, after that sort of trauma. Is there anything she can do to help?"

[momslilassassin]

"I don't know," Ben said, sounding frustrated. "This isn't exactly the most pleasant conversation to have." His cheeks turned the color of his hair. "If we try to get much past kissing, I completely freeze up. My head knows which Tahiri this is. My instincts are just reacting faster."

[notqueenyet.livejournal.com]

"Has she been pressuring you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

[momslilassassin]

"Of course not!" Ben flailed. Like a flailing, flailing thing. "But, you know, isn't there supposed to more than hand holding and kisses?"