Bringing the Rain, attn: Bella

[Alianora]

Liaran Sedai

Almost as soon as Liaran had turned to look for Haeden, the Gaidin had appeared beside her. She blinked at him and nodded at his comment, appreciating that he had not tried to tell her what to do. "I know," she said. "I knew I'd be tired, but I haven't done this in a while and I'd forgotten just how draining it can be." In fact, Liaran was tired enough that she thought she'd return to the inn to rest. The Aes Sedai stretched her arms over her head, then lowered them. She turned to walk down the hill they stood on, telling Haeden her plans as she did.

"I'm going to walk back to the inn," she said. "I would like you to walk with me, but you don't have to stay if you'd rather not." Acting Warder or not, Liaran didn't want Haeden to feel obligated to be with her everywhere she went. She smiled at him, hoping he'd understand that she'd meant what she'd just said. As she kept walking, Liaran blinked several more times. By the time she reached their inn and climbed the stairs to her room, the Aes Sedai was ready for not just a rest, but a short nap.

[Bella]

Haeden answered quite simply, just by not leaving. He offered her a faint smile as he walked alongside her from the hill and back to the inn, following the same path by which they'd come. That was useful to him in a warder sense, since it meant he didn't have to study the path as keenly. He only had to watch out for anything out of place or potentially dangerous.

Happily, neither of these things were seen, and they reached the inn without incident. He kept an eye on her just as much, seeing how tired she was and being ready if needed.

"I'll be in my room as well if you need me, Liaran," he said, bowing his head slightly as she went through her door. He lingered there for a moment, sensing something just at the edges of his awareness that he couldn't identify. As that was the case, he tore himself away and went into his room.

He had not worked nearly as hard as she hard, although there was a bit of fatigue to him as well. His was mostly mental, though, but he allowed himself a bit of quiet. His thoughts were a little turbulent, and it gave him a chance to just hold out against them, trying to sort and understand them, as best he could.

After a time without any sound from the room beside him, he presumed she'd fallen asleep. He remained where he was, keeping unobtrusive watch, until it neared mealtime. He left his room then, going to her door to knock softly. When she answered, he inclined his head again. "I wanted to see if you were hungry," he said simply.

[Alianora]

Liaran Sedai

Alone in her room, Liaran laid down on her bed without bothering to get out of her dress first. Her eyes closed, but her mind was active. Though her nightmares were far less frequent than they'd once been, she still had them, and still sometimes woke to the sound of her own screams. She didn't want that to happen with Haeden close enough to hear her, and that made it difficult for Liaran to rest. She turned over, shifting positions, and tried not to worry about that possibility. It took a little time, but eventually, she managed to fall asleep.

Liaran woke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. It startled her, and she sat up on the bed, stretching her legs out in front of her as she tried to wake up. When she felt ready, she stood and crossed the room to see who was there. She opened it just wide enough to see the person on the other side, pulling it open further only when she identified Haeden. She smiled up at him, hoping he hadn't been too bored while she'd been sleeping.

Is it dinnertime already? Liaran hadn't thought she'd slept that long, but now that Haeden mentioned it, she noticed that she was getting hungry. She nodded in response to his question, pushing a tangle of disorderly curls away from her face as she did. "I am a little hungry," she admitted. "Would you like to go somewhere for dinner?" Liaran hoped the wording of her question made it clear that she was asking her friend what he wanted to do, and not commanding him as a Warder.

[Bella]

He truly did appreciate her polite consideration, but he felt an impulse to tell her that she didn't need to worry about it. Wherever she went was where he wanted to be. Not out of any sense of obligation, but because it was what he wanted.

"I would," was what he said instead, offering her a small smile. "There is a common room in this inn and I can already smell that they had begun making their evening meal, so we could keep it simple and eat here. Or I saw another eatery down the street from here that we could walk to fairly easily.

"I haven't seen anywhere else serving food, so I believe those are our options. Unless you want to walk to the market and trust yourself to my limited cooking abilities over a fire in the woods." His smile rose higher on one side, showing that he was in jest. Not that he couldn't make a meal by a campfire, but there was no reason to do so with two eateries right here.

[Alianora]

Liaran Sedai

Standing in the doorway, Liaran smiled at Haeden's joke, and even found herself laughing briefly before shaking her head. "I don't think that will be necessary," she said, still smiling. "Downstairs should be just fine." The Aes Sedai put on the shoes she'd left beside the door, and pulled at the skirt of her dress, trying to remove the wrinkles her nap had left in its fabric. Once she was done with that, she left her room behind her to descend the stairs. One hand held the rail, and with the other, Liaran tried to pull some of the tangles from her hair. She doubted that Haeden cared what she looked like, but Liaran knew that as a representative of the Grey Tower here, she needed to at least try to look presentable and not appear as though she'd just woken up, even if she had.

By the time she'd reached the common room downstairs, Liaran had abandoned her efforts, allowing the unruly curls to do as they pleased after pushing them away from her face. That will just have to be good enough. Once she'd requested to be seated, they were quickly shown to a small table near the back of the room. She sat down, hiding her tattooed hands in her lap, and once Haeden had taken a seat, Liaran spoke to him. "I hope you weren't bored earlier," she said. "Waiting for me to do something that you can't see probably isn't what you thought you'd be doing as a Gaidin."

[Bella]

It felt like some kind of reward to Haeden to be able to make her smile, and especially to laugh. He didn't consider himself the funniest of men, but he wasn't quite the stick in the mud that most who'd just seen him in the warder yards presumed him to be.

They went into the common room, and Haeden watched everything. He kept an eye on doorways that they passed, what there could be seen at the bottom of the stairs, and Liaran's frequent attempts to control her hair. Although he wanted to tell her that she looked just fine and shouldn't worry so much, he kept it to himself.

He let her handle the request to be seated while he took a quick inventory of everyone through the room. They sat, and he took the seat where he could best keep an eye on things.

Why does she always hide her hands like that, he wondered as he noticed her put them in her lap. Again, he said nothing, but he had been trained to be observant. So, he observed. When she spoke, a small smile curved the corners of his mouth upwards. "Having grown up in the Tower has given me a more...in-depth perspective regarding such things.

"I've often been guard to my sister on in the world, and not all of her missions were of the martial variety. I know that a Gaidin's work can often be...sedate, but that doesn't make it less important. I do not mind." Then he laughed softly, reflecting on his own earlier thoughts. "I do sometimes wish though that I could see it. It must be fascinating."

[Alianora]

Liaran Sedai

He really means it, Liaran thought to herself. She did not believe Haeden would have agreed to come with her if he hadn't wanted to, but was still glad to hear that he did not mind his task. Liaran smiled and told him, "I would show you if I could, but I don't think that's possible." She would have continued speaking, but was interrupted by the arrival of menus. After a few seconds had passed, Liaran removed her hands from their hiding place to flip through hers. Not wanting to bother Haeden, she remained quiet for a while until they both appeared to be done reading. Only then did Liaran speak again.

"I'm glad you don't mind being here, but...doesn't it ever bother you, having to go wherever the Aes Sedai or Asha'man you're with tells you to go? I feel I've asked a lot of you, to have you leave your own life back at the Tower just to travel with me, but....I know that's what Warders do." She looked down shyly once she'd spoken, eyes on the table in front of her.

[Bella]

"Liaran," he said quietly, "please look at me."

The words were soft, almost gentle. He didn't wish her to feel like she had to look away from him, for any reason. But neither did he want to come across as harsh in saying so, and he hoped he'd struck the balance. After a moment, he went on. His voice was only a little louder, just a little more even again.

"It is what warders do," he said, "and there have been times when I've been sent on a mission and wished I hadn't. That is simply life sometimes. It is the duty I have trained for my entire life. Practically what I was born for, I sometimes think..." He drifted off for a moment, images of his father coming to mind.

He shoved them away.

He took a slow breath and continued, "But there are some who it is a privilege, not just a duty, to aid. Such as you." He almost bit his tongue before he said anything more. The life I have is just an interlude before finding someone to swear my sword to...though it may be an interlude that lasts till I die.

[Alianora]

Liaran Sedai

Liaran's eyes went back to Haeden almost as soon as he'd asked it of her, not wanting him to be bothered by her shyness. She smiled at him, then listened quietly to what he said. She thought she was beginning to understand him a little better, that he truly wished to be where he was and didn't consider it a boring obligation. She blinked when he called traveling with her a privilege. That was a surprise to her, and Liaran struggled not to look away again.

Eventually, her dark eyes met his green ones. "It sounds as though you really enjoy your work with different channelers," she said with another smile. "Do you think you'll continue doing that, or...would you rather be bonded to one person?" Her question sounded casual enough, or so Liaran hoped, but it was one for which she was slowly realizing she needed to know the answer. When she'd spoken to Sadira, the other Blue had told her he wished for it, but if that was so, Liaran wanted to hear it from Haeden directly. She blinked, a little concerned that he might not want to answer the rather personal question, but her eyes stayed focused on the Gaidin.

[Bella]

Haeden's mouth went very dry very suddenly, and he was possessed of a strong urge (that he resisted) to look around for the serving girl with something to drink. Anything. Ale would have been good, but he also never drank while escorting a channeler. Echoes of a not-so-long-ago conversation with his sister bounced around in his head, but he worked to silence Sadira.

He only needed one Blue in his mind at that moment.

The Gaidin wanted to be honest, even blunt. Needed to be. But one of the only things that terrified him in this world now sat right on the table between them: rejection, should he say too much. There was a great deal built up in his mind that should he speak wrong, this could be a crushing blow. But he would not lie, nor hide himself either.

He inhaled slowly. "I am not..." He paused for his words. "It is not without fulfillment, to train the next generation of Gaidin for the Tower or to be available to channelers who need aid... I am not ungrateful for the chance to do these jobs." You're stalling. "But no, Liaran, I do not want to spend all of my life doing so.

"Since I was practically a child, I envisioned myself bonding. It was the image that completed me the most. It is still something I wish for, and hope I may be granted."