Girls' Day Out (Kendall)

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Jaelyn gave an emphatic shake of her head at Kendall's polite words, but she was at least relieved at the reassurances offered, "No, he is a wrong and strange man," she leaned forward on the table, wavering a little, and whispered so only Kendall could hear, "I think he was even a member of the Ebonstryfe."

Settling back down in her chair Jaelyn listened to Kendall speak again and drank deeply from her mug. The ale helped to banish those dark memories away, and as she set the now empty mug back on the table she gave a relieved sigh. The smile she turned back to Kendall was slightly lopsided, and she spoke a little slower as she raised a hand to order another mug, "It is... The real world can be really unpredictable and frustrating, but at least it can be nice too."

Kendall's next question caused Jaelyn to pause, and then frown slightly as she mulled it over. Normally her dream was something that she did not share with others, even other Squires, but after what Kendall had shared with her how could she not return the honesty with her friend? Still, her eyes dropped to the table in a show of embarrassment as she started to talk, "Knighthood is my dream... or at least the path to it. My Father is a great Knight, but I have heard that is is a ghost of the man he used to be," she bit her lip for a moment in hesitation, fidgeting in her chair, but finally let go and continued, "When he lost his first family, including my half-brother, it changed him. He always looks and sounds so sad, and even at his happiest I have only ever seen a faint smile upon his lips."

Tears started to come to Jaelyn's eyes, and she took a moment to wipe futilely at them before she spoke again, her voice wavering with emotion, "I hope that maybe if I become an excellent Knight, become someone who can make him truly proud and unafraid that I cannot protect myself, then he will be able to be happy again. That's my dream..."

As Jaelyn finished speaking her tenious last holds on self control crumbled away and she started to sob softly. Dropping her head to the rough surface of the table she mumbled, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I know it's not something most would consider big or important..."

[Kendall Saarinen]

Kendall's brow furrowed when he heard Jaelyn speak of her brother. "Wow, a Syliran Knight and a member of Ebonstryfe siblings. You don't see that everyday. With all due respect of course." He could only imagine how it was to meet a sibling that you never knew existed. To think he had another sibling out there made no sense to him. "It must have been strange to meet him." To Jaelyn's next statement Kendall smiled brightly and raised his mug. "I'll drink to that." He had more than his fair share of unpredictable and frustrating. "It is nice to find the light behind it all though." He had found his light, or at least what he hoped it was. "There is always something out there that can make even the worst situations feel like a breeze. The trouble is finding that something, whatever it is." Kendall listened to Jaelyn talk. She was so modest at times. He admired her dream, or at least the fact that she had one. She had direction, she was going somewhere. Kendall knew that he was going somewhere as well, someday. He just did not know where that somewhere was. He had dreams of helping Ivak, although he did not think he would voice that to Jaelyn. He wanted to be a girl again, desperately in fact. It was nothing like wanting to be a knight though. Kendall reached out slowly to place his hand on Jaelyn's. He felt awkward due to the obvious fact that he was a male touching a clearly attractive female's hand. He hoped Jaelyn would see this was a gesture between friends, for that was all it was. "I'm sorry to hear about your father. It must have been hard for him." He looked at Jaelyn with a sympathetic glance. "It is a beautiful dream. You want to help someone and that is really important." Kendall smiled lightly as he thought of his own father. "Believe me, if I could make my father smile at me again, even for a moment, I would be the happiest person in the world." Oh Gods, did he miss his father. He missed everyone in his family. Grabbing ahold of his chair, Kendall dragged it next to Jaelyn and sat down next to her. Perhaps it was the booze that was driving him to be so touchy feely. He wrapped his arms around her in a friendly embrace. "You are going to be an amazing knight. I've met other squires and you are going to be better than them. They want to be knights for themselves. You want to be a knight to make your father proud. You're doing so much work just to see someone else happy. It's really wonderful."