Lyra My Love|Neo'anar, New Anarlina

[Kender Bard]

Sunray tried not to fiddle with his cuffs or do anything else so juvenile as he approached Lyra's home. He knew, from her usual schedule, that she was likely not teaching or working or anything like that. So that meant now would be the best time for what he had planned. Swallowing, he knocked at her door, tugging his cloak about him tighter as a random gust of wind blew at him.

[Darastrix]

Lyra answered the door after a moment or two, and smiled brightly when she saw who it was. "Sunray, what a lovely surprise!"

She took in his posture and the way he held his cloak around his shoulders and stepped aside, her expression turning amused. "Come inside before you catch a chill, my poor, dear Fire."

[Kender Bard]

"I'd warm myself but I may set alight my clothes," he joked as he stepped into the house but didn't bother to take his cloak off. "I know the day isn't perfect but I was actually hoping you could grace me with your presence in a little ride out of the city." He smiled shyly at her. "For a picnic. Not precisely the season but I know a little place that should be comfortable anyway."

[Darastrix]

"I could be comfortable even out in the open," Lyra said, teasing. She'd found that she preferred the seasons in Naruta's mountains to the milder ones they'd had on Contrasta. It made her feel closer to her Element, in a way.

"But I'm more than happy to come away with you regardless." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Just give me a moment to ready myself and we can be off."

[Kender Bard]

Once Lyra had made herself ready, Sunray took her arm in his and led her on a short walk to where his horse was hobbled to a hitching post. "The place I had in mind is farther out in the country," Sunray explained. "But not too far. We'll take a leisurely pace. I wanted to hear how the guild has been faring at any rate, so you can tell me along the way. Of course if you don't want to, I'll understand and we can merely walk there."

[Darastrix]

"I'll be fine so long as the pace is slow," Lyra said. She didn't mind riding; she just wasn't very good at it, more from lack of experience than anything.

"The guild is doing well," she told him. Lyra imagined there were still those who wouldn't hire her bards because of her relationship with Sunray, but since the majority of fervor regarding the former king had died down a bit, it wasn't so noticeable. "After the incident in Vara a few months ago, we have had people hesitate to take jobs they might otherwise have jumped at before, but I think they're beginning to relax."

[Kender Bard]

Sunray assisted her up and mounted himself before taking off at a leisurely pace for the westward gate out of Anarlina. "That's good," he remarked. "The incident in Vara was a downright tragedy. Lord Diokles, so my brother tells me, has been alternately acting incredibly shamed and embarrassed for it happening in his land, and with livid fury in his attempt to deflect some of the accusations being thrown at him. He damn near started a witch hunt, but of course was, ah, talked out of it."

If by talked one meant nearly shouted right out of the palace.

[Darastrix]

"I thought the people who did that were wanderers in any case. After the guard rushed in, I can't imagine any that escaped would try to hide in Anarlina," Lyra said. "Not when they could just as easily go into Talen'sul and be even more well-hidden."

As crowded as the Wind-heavy half of Caelium was, it seemed one could have trouble finding someone who wanted to be found. If someone wanted to hide badly enough, she was sure they could.

[Kender Bard]

"Well it was just an attempt to seem as though he was doing something productive," Sunray pointed out. "And at any case, it was damn foolish and everyone knew it so no harm was done."

He tried to turn the talk to more peaceful and pleasant subjects - some of it idle gossip which he had been surprised to find was more interesting on a commoner-level. He also shared news from home as well.

"I wonder if it would now be safe to move out of the palace," Sunray murmured. "It's been my home for so long but I can't help but feel idle. Twilight consults me for advice now and then but he does not come to me nearly as often as I used to go to him. But then, it would feel peculiar to live somewhere else. What do you think, my dear? If you had a choice, would you continue to live where you do now or would you want to have a more lofty home in the palace? Hypothetically."

[Darastrix]

Lyra was quiet for a moment as she thought, both about the question itself and why Sunray was asking such a thing. Was he thinking about their sharing a home? And if he were thinking of that, maybe....

No, she told herself firmly. No sense running ahead before the conversation's even begun.

"I have no particular attachment to my home," she said, "but I would feel strange in the palace. I'm no one of real standing, and I don't work there, either."

[Kender Bard]

"It's really a lot more... cozy than you'd think," Sunray remarked. "I mean, after a while. But at the same time it's still large and empty."

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck a little. "I'm making no sense," he mumbled and was incredibly grateful when he noted they'd reached their destination. He smiled and brought the horse off the trail for a while - taking the pace a little slower so as not to jar Lyra - until coming upon a shallow cave in a large hill or small mountain depending on how you looked at it. The opening was suspiciously clean, however, as though someone had come and smoothed the ground and shored up the inside of it.

Sunray grinned to himself, glad that the Earth he'd hired to do just that a few days ago had been willing to work with him even if it was a very strange request. He stopped the horse and hitched it to a nearby sapling before helping Lyra down. "We're here," he announced. "I wasn't sure if it was going to rain or be windy or whatnot so I wanted a place that was a little protected while still affording a pleasant view."

The mouth of the cave faced an open meadow, in fact. Sunray pulled a blanket out of the saddlebags and started to spread it on the smoothed floor. "There's no bats or anything," he added. "I made certain."

[Darastrix]

Lyra smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt and looked into the cave. "I think any bats would be more bothered by us than the other way around. How did you find this place?" she asked, curiously.

She knew Sunray liked to ride, but didn't think he did much in the way of exploring. Lyra would have made a guess at his seeing it on a map or mentioned in a text, but it seemed too small a cave to be of much note in that respect.

[Kender Bard]

"Happenstance," Sunray answered. "I was going for a ride a couple weeks ago and something spooked my horse a bit. He ran off the trail and I noticed this spot when I'd gotten him back under control again."

He'd gotten the food out and set it down as artfully as he could manage. Glancing her with a look of concern, he asked, "Do you like it...?"

[Darastrix]

Lyra tilted her head and gave Sunray a look of fond amusement. Oh, Sunny. You worry too much sometimes.

She took a few quick steps into the cave to kiss his cheek. "My sweet Sunray," she murmured as she brushed his hair back with her fingertips. "Of course I do."

[Kender Bard]

Sunray swelled up with pleasure at her approval, even as the faintest tinge of pink colored his cheeks. He couldn't help but feel incredibly, well, boyish around Lyra. Grinning widely, he leaned over and returned the kiss softly and gestured for her to make herself comfortable. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that," he chuckled.