Intelligent Design

[Perdita Westcott]

Intelligent Design

30th Ashan, 721

They were supposed to be in work - or in the University. They were both supposed to somewhere else, and they both had places to go and things to do. But there was a storm the like of which had to be seen to be believed. Windows rattled and doors shook. There would be damage, there was no doubt. Soot, their cat, was cowering under the table in the kitchen. Hailstones were bouncing in the fire which burned in the fireplace, hissing and sizzling and it sounded, for all the world, like the windows were being bombarded.

Earlier to-trial, Elisabeth had been meant to call over to pick up her cat, Storm. But, it felt like they were under attack, somehow and so Storm was there too, and the two cats were afraid. And, just like she had when they'd been in Rharne and had been facing thieves in a marketplace, Perdita had jumped into action. She was afraid, terrified. Every time that lightning struck somewhere, or thunder roared, Perdita jumped. When a door banged, she let out a yell.

But she didn't stop. Because if she stopped, she'd give in to being afraid and she'd cry. So, she put excluders and pillows and cushions in front of doors to keep out the wind and to stop rain from leaking in. She kept busy and busy and then there was nothing more to do and the storm was still roaring. "Eli," Perdita whispered and looked around. "I'm afraid," she said. She'd fussed and she'd run and she'd kept herself as busy as she could. But now, there was no more to do. So, she stepped up next to him, then wrapped her arms around his waist. Her brown eyes lifted and she gazed up at them, then kissed him. In fairness, since her parents had arrived and they'd agreed that together was what they wanted to be, Perdita had realised that kissing Eli was definitely added to the list of things she particularly liked. But then, thunder roared again and she squealed in fear. "Eli, I don't like it."

So, she pulled away from his arms, but took hold of his hand and pulled him towards the kitchen table. "Can we plan the studio?" Perdita asked. If they had something to focus on, then she could get on and not be terrified. "Please?" Because that was something that they could do and they could focus.

Maybe.

"It's not natural," she said, looking at the window. They'd closed the curtains because it helps against the wind, but still the lightning flashed and the whole window lit, briefly. When they sat at the kitchen table, she pulled her chair as close to his as possible, and nestled next to him. "I feel pathetic," she said, with a slight smile. "But I'm scared," she pulled herself as close to him as she could, almost like she was burrowing. "And you're ...." she paused. What was he? "Safe." Nodding, she considered it. No. That wasn't it. Although, he was safe, it wasn't all he was. "Comforting."

That was better. But then, she frowned. It wasn't all of it either. A smile lit her face, briefly and she leaned up and kissed him again. "Distracting." Perdita whispered.

On the table were bits of information, things and lists about the studio.

She looked at him. "How many rooms do we want?" That was the first question. Then. "And what size, each one?" From there, they could start.

[Elijah Lamoreaux]

It wasn't a fit night out for man nor beast. It was something like Domnall used to say back in Rharne when the weather got so ferocious and outspoken that taking even two steps out the door could be a deadly proposition. It wasn't nighttime, exactly. But so far as Eli was concerned, it made little difference at all. They could only hope that the house would stay standing, and come out mostly unscathed.

Not completely, he figured. The way the hail was pounding against the roof and against the exterior walls, from the sounds of it, it must be as big as his fist. He figured that was mostly alright. His experience with engineering and tinkering meant, so far as he was concerned, that he could fix just about anything. Right as rain. In the meantime, it was a fury all around them and Perdita was as jumpy as a cat, as Soot was, and seemed to be currently frayed around the edges.

As for Eli liked storms. He liked the snap and pop, the static in the air that caused his spine to tingle and the hair to stand up on his arms and the back of his neck. Perdie, Eli thought, didn't like it nearly as much. "If only I could figure out a way to harness all that energy and bottle it up," he'd said, sometime over the course of the day. "There's no telling what I could power with all that." Anyway, Perdie did what she always did when she was nervous. She busied herself, fidgeted, straightened and sorted, then straightened and sorted again.

But meanwhile he'd done his own bit of fortifying against the storm. He'd pounded in a few nails and put in braces across the interior shutters that just wouldn't quit rattling and shaking otherwise. He could do nothing about the rafters shaking, however. "Don't be afraid, Perdie," he'd told her. "It's just the fates shaking their fists at the furies. They'll settle their differences eventually and the house will hold." Famous last words, he guessed. He hoped it would.

He couldn't help grinning just a little when she squealed in fright and jumped into his arms. He'd take that however he could get it. "We can do whatever you like," he said. Planning a studio together sounded like a very good way to while away the time until all of this weather passed them by. "It's natural as can be," he reassured her when they sat down at the table and she scooted as close to him as she could. "Or maybe it's just nature showing us her very best at the moment. Or maybe worst would be more apt."

"I'll take distracting any trial," he said, grinning again when she leaned even closer and they shared a lingering kiss. "And I'll thank ma nature, if it's her that's gotten me an extra chance to kiss you." So now she was the one who was distracting, but Eli wasn't complaining. So, the studio. "So a studio. What are we talking about here, exactly?" he asked, glancing down at her plans. "An art studio? A more general craft one for working on your weaving and books? If that's the case, if not separate rooms for it, it would need to be of sufficient size to accommodate all your tools and materials. Then, divided into separate working areas?"

[Perdita Westcott]

Intelligent Design

30th Ashan, 721

The fates shaking their fists at the furies? Perdita shook her head. "If you did harness it," she said, referring back to something he'd said earlier on, "it still wouldn't power your imagination." There was no power on Idalos which would do that, Perdita thought. He was as imaginative, and full of ideas, as anyone could be. She was relieved, though, that he'd nailed the shutters shut. The rattling bothered her. Eli, for his part, seemed entirely unafraid and that did nothing to ease her feeling of being pathetic, but Perdita felt what she felt, and that was that. Coming from Rharne, she thought, she probably should be better. But she wasn't, and that was that.

Besides, it was as good a reason as any to pull herself close to him and to distract herself from the storm by concentrating on his arms around her, their shared lingering kiss. Smiling up at him, she shook her head. "Ma Nature?" She chuckled and lifted her hand to tangle her fingers in his hair. "You have all the chances," she whispered. "Any time you like." She nestled there a moment, resting her head on his shoulder and only jumping a little bit at next clap of thunder. "If I was a mouse," Perdita said, entirely seriously, "I'd make a nest here."

It would be nice there, she thought. All burrowed safely in his arms and not being bothered by anything of anyone. Lifting her head, she watched him with curiosity in her gaze as he talked about the studio, then, she shook her head. "No, Eli," and in those two words were fondness, but also just a tinge of something else. "Not my studio. Ours." She looked at him with the best stern she could manage and did her utmost to sound like she was telling him off. "Look, here," Lists she had, where she put down questions, included things like Eli ~ separate room for design and invention? and Library ~ shared? CWE..

The letters "CWE" appeared regularly, and she pointed to one occurrence. "Check with Eli," she explained. "Our studio. Our space." It delighted her, in truth, and terrified her a little, too. It was, after all, quite a commitment. She knew that she wanted to be with Eli, that she and he worked well together, lived well together. But to her things were moving fast. Even though they'd been together over a year, had lived together in Desnind and now Scalvoris. They'd only recently got together romantically and he was being very respectful in terms of things going at her pace. She trusted him, the trusted them together.

"The first question," she said, focused on what they were doing - so much so that she didn't notice that the storm stopped. Suddenly. It didn't ease off, it simply stopped. "Is how much do we want to share rooms?" Her blush at that was born of having had the conversation with her mother that he'd suggested she have and it having gone about as well as she'd feared. "I mean work rooms." Her blush deepened, but she looked at him without dropping her gaze. That was progress, Perdita knew. "What space do you want, and which ones shall we share?"

She was concentrating, so she didn't notice the lack of storm. Or the slight shiver she gave as the temperature suddenly dropped so low that their breaths misted in the air. "I'd like these," she slid over a list. An art studio, yes, but a glassblowing studio with a furnace. A study / library and a bookbinding room. Storage, basketweaving, jewelry making and pottery. A chemistry station for making inks and paints. It seemed, she had quite the plans. "I split them into must have, would like, and nice dream."