Advice for Thari

The world has shaken itself and dried out a bit. The road has been kind to the dwarves for the most part, and tonight is cool but not cold--wonderful travelling weather. More than one spark of a pipe-bowl can be seen glowing against a bearded face in the fading evening light.

Thari is, against the advice of a pair of dwarves closest to her, trying out a bit of walking at the edge of camp. She still has her crutch but she is testingly putting a little weight on her bad leg. Her head is down.

Ranol is lingering away from the others, enjoying a smoke in solitude while he stares at the darker silouette of Weathertop. He doesn't seem to notice Thari approaching, but he is watching for danger without the camp, not within. He's also deep in thought, the reason he's continued to keep himself isolated.
The sun sinks in the sky and falls below the horizon. Nighttime takes over.

Thari glances upward at the nearby dwarf. She sees only the back of his head but only two dwarves have that haircut and she happens to be one of them. Her step whispers through the grasses. "I'd really rather be able to stand on my own two feet by the time we are in the wilds to the east of here," she says by way of greeting the sentry.

Ranol turns, not surprised by hearing a voice behind him. He had heard someone approaching. He lowers the pipe away from his mouth and slowly blows out the smoke. "You will. You are too stubborn to accept anything less." The guard pauses, then continues, "I am sorry for my attitude when we last spoke. I was in a foul mood."

"You both were," Thari says calmly. "Not that I blame you. Just mentioning that man puts me in a rotten mood, too. I've no idea what he said to Frarin but considering how he used to speak to me I can imagine it. Seeker is gentle enough to those he judges well, but rude to those he doesn't."

She holds her crutch before her like a staff now and leans against it, putting ginger weight upon her bad leg.

"It was.. not pleasant." Ranol wouldn't dance around the truth unless he had little intention of sharing it with her. He draws from his pipe again, his blue eyes wandering back to the landmark in the distance. "Care to smoke with me, cousin?" He asks, his voice sounding troubled.

"Yes, please." Thari puts the crutch beneath her arm again and limps over to stand beside him. She pulls out a small, short-stemmed pipe and starts packing in the pipeweed. "One thing you can say for our Frarin, he is very loyal to a friend, isn't he? It really is a good quality of his."

Ranol smiles, nodding in agreement. "That is an admirable trait. In truth, I'm surprised at my own anger. I think the entire incident is still bothering me. I usually do not have such trouble letting things go after they are done.." He admits softly, then glances around for a soft patch of the fresh spring grass that they can sit upon. He clenches the pipe in his teeth as he pulls off his cloak, and lays it out for her.

Thari limps after him, smiles a bit, and then lowers herself slowly to a corner of his cloak. "Why does it trouble you so then?" she asks. Her voice lowers a bit. "Is it because you were the one to see it done?" There is a brief pause where she grinds the weed into the bowl of her pipe hard with her thumb. "I ought not to have asked for my honor to be looked after. A lady does not /ask/ for such things to be done." She sounds a little bitter.

"Maybe.. But.. I don't know. I do not regret seeing to your honor. I.. I spoke with Cordelia, as I said. She had so much hate for our people, but something didn't feel right. She was surprised that I showed any concern for her well-being after the fact, as if even prior to the incident she held a belief that the dwarves are monstrous in some way." He settles down next to Thari, opening up as the peace of the night spreads around them.

Thari is quiet for a little while, her breath quickening. She reaches over and plucks a bit of dry grass and passes it toward him. "Might I have a spark from your pipe?" she asks, her bitterness leaving her voice, though slowly. A deep breath, and now she sounds only confused. "Why would she believe dwarves are monstrous? I had offered her my protection repeatedly before, and I am sure any one of us would do the same."

"These are my words, not hers." Ranol frowns, growing quiet again for a long time as he thinks back to the brief conversations he had with the woman. He offers the pipe to her so that she may light her own. "Maybe I'm wrong. Hopefully she'll change her ways. She seemed almost afraid to turn from the lies and deceit. I hope you are not too angry that I spoke with her."

Thari takes his pipe and catches a bit of fire on the end of the grasses. She offers his pipe back toward him while touching the fire to her own pipeweed. She pulls at it a moment, then releases a cloud of blue smoke into the air. "Ahh." She crushes the burning grass into some dirt.

"I only... can't understand why so many of our people wanted to see the punishment done, and then seemed so upset and reluctant about the doing of it. Perhaps they did not think the punishment real justice but only did it out of respect for one of the women of the dwarves." Her teeth are hard against her pipe-stem.

"You speak of Frarin?" Ranol asks, looking over at her again as he takes back his pipe. His gaze is searching and intent. There's an opinion he isn't sharing, his question poised to push the topic away from himself.

Thari's pipe turns a deeper red as she breathes in, which makes it look as if she is flushing: perhaps she is. "I-- I don't--" She removes the pipe from her mouth with one and while rubbing at her forehead with the other, her head bowing. "I-- I did not mean to make it sound as if I do not respect him."

"You are upset that he disagrees with what you chose?.. but.. it was -your- decision, and that he respects it and supports you, regardless of how he feels, shows that he is a man of integrity. People cannot always agree on everything.. but isn't that part of being in a relationship?"

Ranol pauses, then adds another thought on the matter, "Perhaps, if it worries you, try to be supportive of his pain right now? A man he thought a friend has betrayed his trust.. Frarin may have doubts now about his own judgement. He might welcome your sympathy, even if you don't agree with how he feels of Rhifaroth... then again, maybe I'm speaking too much." Ranol realizes how much his thoughts are escaping, and grows quiet again. "I'm thinking too much on things that don't concern me."

"Frarin and I..." Thari sounds guilty for a moment. Her head lifts again and she looks into the distant horizon. "How shall I explain it. Frarin and I tend to be frank with each other." The guilt is leaving her voice. "Which is something, I think, that we both appreciate. If I were to try false sympathy he would know it at once and would become disgusted with me."

Her eyes turn to Ranol. "He values my scolding and my honesty and my temper, I think. Some of that he has said to me. It is why he wants me for his wife."

"You can be supportive of someone's pain without necessarily agreeing with what caused it.. " Ranol suggests softly after taking some time to consider her words. "And even if it wrings false, sometimes a gesture alone can mean a lot to a person, I think." He blows out a small cloud of smoke, his eyes frequently skimming the landscape around them.

Thari bends her good leg and rests her elbow upon the knee. She spends a quiet moment beside her cousin attempting to blow a smoke ring. At last a small one is managed which blends against the grey sky. "What Rhifaroth did to Frarin was horrid," she says in a low tone of agreement.

"Yes. But he knows that. He isn't looking for us to tell him that any further. I think he only wants us to understand how he feels about it. But, you do know him far better than I. I could be completely wrong." Ranol admits, shrugging faintly. He's been wrong on perceptions before.

"Perhaps." Thari's eyes slowly drift to the stars. She lowers her pipe. "I will talk to him before long I am sure. We've been avoiding it for it is an awkward subject." She releases her breath. "He is a good lad. We always mend things. I am not worried."

Her eyes drift toward her cousin again. "And you? You have pushed our conversation away from your own troubles."

"My troubles?" Ranol frowns again, his brows knitting together. "The issue of Rhifaroth and Cordelia aside, for I think that is something only I can come to terms with on my own, there is another .. situation, that is on my mind." He looks over at Thari with hesitance on his face. "What do you know of Eirdis?"

"Not very much." Thari's face is turned toward Ranol now and she lifts her pipe to take a puff. "You'd think with how few women there are she and I would be fast friends by now, but we aren't. I've kept mostly to my family on this trip and she to hers I imagine. She hasn't even come to me about healing, come to think," she adds, brows drawing together.

"Hmm.." He looks back to the dark horizon. "She has made little secret of her desire to speak with -me-.." Ranol sounds wary. It's not the nervousness that one might show if they were excited about a relation that could be forming. It's more of a quiet dread.

"Why? Does she--? Ah." Thari's voice goes from curiosity to understanding mid-sentence. She raises a brow. "Tell me about this Eirdis?" she invites.

"She is a healer.. very dedicated to her studies. You know I have made no secret of my lack of interest to -you-." Ranol falters, then continues, far less confident in the conversation than with earlier topics. "She speaks often of wanting to start a family. She worries that we will never return home and longs for a hearth of her own."

Thari's mouth opens once and shuts. "It's strange that she came along then. Of course men would be all over her at home. Often would be on this trip, come to think. You don't fancy her, I take it? Why not?"

"Why? I don't know.. I suppose I'm not interested in a relationship. Maybe it's her." He scrubs his hand through his short hair, growing nervous. "She makes me uncomfortable. I barely know her, yet she's made her intentions clear enough for me to see. I feel on edge around her, lest I say something to lead her on."

"Well, hmm." Thari worries at her pipe-stem with her teeth. Her eyes pull away from Ranol. "It sounds a little bit like what happened with Frarin and me, except we were fairly good friends before." Click go her teeth on the wood. "Have you told her that you don't share her intentions?"

"No.. She hasn't come out and said anything directly, and .. well, I've been avoiding her." Ranol looks a bit sheepish at that. He'd rather go into battle than deal with the awkwardness of intergender relations. "I don't think I should be getting involved with anyone, anyhow. I have obligations that must be put first.. you know?"

"Well," answers Thari in her 'practical' tone, "If you did return her sentiment, your obligations would not matter. You'd find a way to settle them in such a way that you could be free to be a husband to her." She clutches her pipe in her teeth and picks up her crutch, using it to stand.

Ranol glances over at Thari, one brow lofted. "I don't think you comprehend the debt my father has managed to accrue with his follies. I would never ask someone to marry into my situation. It wouldn't be fair." His tone is also practical. He is not remorseful of his decision. He came to terms with it all before the trip began. When he notices Thari standing, he rises as well. "Regardless, I do not hold any feelings for her. I just hope that she does not think otherwise."

Thari settles her crutch against her body and tips out her pipe, crushing out the spark. "Ranol," she says in a firm voice while tucking it back into her pouch. "You are a fine, honorable dwarf and if you loved a lady who loved you, your personal qualities would overcome your situation."

Her eyes lift from the ground ot his face. "It is to your credit that you have a desire to not take a wife with your obligations, but it is true too that any wife you took would still be fortunate. If Frarin were in your situation and tried to push me away because of it, I would have /such/ words with him that his ears would bleed."

She begins her slow limping path toward camp. "Good night, cousin," she says with a smile.

Ranol brings his attention to her face when she speaks his name in that firm tone. He listens quietly when she speaks such praise of his character, looking almost uncomfortable by the end, though a hint of a smile touches his features. "Thank you, Thari.." He responds softly, then grins warmly, "Have a good night." He bends down to retrieve his cloak, shaking it out once before pulling it back on.