| Checking In |
| Summary: | Jacsen and Avinashi catch up with one another. Information and herbal remedies are exchanged. |
| Date: | 07/09/288 |
| Related Logs: | With This Seal |
| Players: |
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| Reading Room — Four Eagles Tower |
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| Lots of books, some dust, some seats. |
| 7 September 288 |
Avinashi has made good use of her time in the Roost, so far. She has ventured to the market to purchase a variety of ingredients for various concoctions, she has spent man =y hours in the kitchen, speaking with the cook and learning the tastes of local flavors ad many of the dishes prepared in the tower. Much of her time has been spent working in the Sept where a little space and a cauldron over the fire has been generously offered so that she might work on whatever herbal recipe has caught her interest, and she has, of course, made appearances now and then to offer gentle company to the residents of Four Eagles. Just now, however, it is only her own company she keeps, curled up in her silk and bangles in a chair in the library, reading through a thick book resting on her lap.
"Ashi." Jacsen's special name for her, as he seems to have for all of those so close to him, is spoken with a warm tone, preluded only by that faint rap of his cane as he ventured into the reading room his father owns and his Septon keeps. "I thought I might find you here," he admits, wasting little time - such as it is for his pace - in making his way to where she sits.
She lifts her gaze from her book to offer Jacsen a soft smile. "My lord," she greets warmly, setting aside her book. "How may I serve you?"
"I wish your company, Ashi, that is all," Jacsen tells her, leaning heavy on his cane as he lowers down into a seat. "There's been much afoot of late, and some of it like as not you should hear. Chief among them…" He simply lifts his hand, which is newly weighted down with the signet ring of Terrick's Roost.
The girl's attention glides down to the ring, heavy and gold as it gleams dully on Jacsen's young hand. She simply studies this a moment, her expression calm and implacable, before sliding her gaze back up to the lame lordling's face. "I suppose it was well," she begins with a faint smile, "that I did not leave anything behind at Seagard. How does it feel?"
Her words can not be mistaken, and Jacsen's lifting of that hand to consider the signet his father has entrusted to him is confirmation that he knows precisely of which she speaks. "I have been asking myself that same question, Ashi… I think I've decided that it feels very heavy." His eyes lift to her features again, "Both metaphorically and physically speaking, even." He sets his hand down, and tips his chin. "It does seem as if we shall not return to Seaguard for the foreseeable future. I trust my Lord Jason Mallister will be pleased by this appointment… and I hope you don't find yourself becoming too bored with the more provincial nature of my boyhood home." His lips quirk into a smile at the last.
"Good," Avinashi approves for that heaviness. "Something such carried lightly would show a thinness of character that I did not believe you possessed." She chuckles for the rest of his words. "I am confident I may yet find ways to keep myself amused even in so small and simple a place as this." Canting her head a little she adds, "I did visit the Rockcliff for a moment and meet its new owner."
"That seems to be the entertainment of the past few days, as my dear sister Lucienne has done the same," Jacsen observes with the remnants of that amused look only slowly fading from his mouth. "So tell me, in your brief visit, what did you make of this Mistress Loree?" He rests an elbow on the arm of his chair that he might prop his chin in his hand, listening attentively to what thoughts Avinashi shares.
The Dornish girl considers this for a moment longer before she offers, "She is a very confident woman, and it is clear she has been successful enough that confidence suits her. She has not… any great amount of elegance and, perhaps, less tact than might be wise, but again, she has wealth and so power and so more leeway than another might. Certainly, she speaks of a kinship with the Roost and an interest in firming her ties, here. It could be beneficial, I expect, to make her feel welcomed." She falls quiet, studying her skirts in that way that seems to suggest she is still rolling several thoughts around, unshared.
His forefinger, heavy with signet and restive against his cheek, begins to drum a slow beat against his freshly shaven face, a clear sign as any that thoughts swirl behind Jacsen's blue eyes. "She wishes permission to build a house not far from the Sept, making use of local labor and material, so her investment within my father's hold is not much in question, especially paired with your observations…" His distracted gaze lifts back to the Dornish girl and he smiles, though it's a faint thing. "There's more you're not telling me, Ashi?"
"Not far from the Sept places her very close to Four Eagles as well," Avinashi muses. "I doubt that is incidental." For her further thoughts, the girl hesitates a moment before exhaling softly. "I was witness to her treatment of one of the girls she inherited when she purchased The Rockcliff. I was… underwhelmed, though certainly, her inclinations were hardly poorer than other such places I have witnessed."
Jacsen frowns slightly, his eyes careful in consideration of his favored adviser, and friend. "Can you put that in more detail, Ashi?" he asks of her, his forefinger stalling against his cheek. "My Lord Mallister did, though indirectly, instruct her to come here… It can't be so terrible, can it?"
"No, I suppose it was not," Avinashi said with a small shake of her head. "And, at any rate, it should not rank consideration in your interactions with her. It was only unpleasant from a specific perspective, and it is not a perspective most carry. It need not be discussed again."
Her words only seem to serve to deepen his frown. "I do not keep your counsel because I think your perspectives unworthy of attention, Ashi, I keep them exactly because they are insightful. If you were willing, I'd hear more on this," Jacsen tells her.
For a moment, it seems as if Avinashi may not be willing as she laces her hands and sets them on her knees. But she draws in a small breath and lifts her gaze to study Jacsen. "There was a girl, a child, really, or barely more than. She was drunk, I should think, and loud and a nuisance, but she was causing no great harm. Mistress Brooke ended her conversation with me to, as she proudly put it, 'deal with one of her former whores and throw her out'. Then she and another woman carried the girl off and I left. I do not expect she was beaten, only turned out. But there was something her her manner, it caught me for a moment. It struck me as poorly done, my lord, but it was her choice and her right. That was all."
There are worlds he can read into statements such as that, and the body language that accompanies them. Whatever either reveal to him, he does not share, save to nod his head at the end. "I will take that into my considerations, Ashi," Jacsen informs her. "I appreciate your candor. Is there aught else of her you think worth the noting?
"She is very proud of her own children, my lord," Avinashi answers, "I gathered that was what the discussion covered before I joined it. Otherwise, I am sorry to say it was only a brief encounter. I did not learn as much as I should have wished."
"There are other encounters," Jacsen says with a waved hand, not seeming concerned in the slightest. "Do not trouble yourself with concern." He shifts in his seat a touch, considering the woman across from him. "Tell me… how have you been settling in? Have you found everyone accommodating?"
"I find them fascinated," is the food tatser's bemused response, "but courteous and helpful. It has been a pleasure, meeting your family and those close to it. It has been no great task, to feel at home here, my lord."
That seems to please him well, for the smile he shares with her. "I had hoped it would be so, Ashi. I was… uncertain how my return would go, after so long, and your coming here doubly so." Jacsen nods once more, satisfied. "I am glad to know you hold them in a decent light."
"It much explains how you came to be…" her lips quirk upwards, "so very you, my lord. I find them quite decent, indeed." A bit less playfully she asks, "If I may be so bold to inquire, how has your leg been treating you these past days, my lord?"
"It seems to ebb and flow from day to day," Jacsen says more soberly, after the smile he wears for the talk of his family. "Though more often than not it hurts, on account of my inability to stay still here." He lets out a breath. "I've been inundated with various salves, creams, and unguents of late, kind benefactors hoping to do me some good. I've had varying levels of success with them."
She nods slowly, listening. "I tried to make one of my own," Avinashi admits, "though I would not wish to press yet one more potive on you, if your hands are already filled with them. Still, if you might let me see the ones that serve you best, I should like to determine their making and see if I might improve upon them for you, my lord."
Jacsen shakes his head, "Do not neglect to share whatever you might have come across, please… I trust your insight into such things much more than a few of the other sources of such." He shifts lightly in his seat, seeking more comfort in the chair. "But I will let you know what I think of the others."
Avinahsi nods. "I have kept it with me. I am leery of leaving such things in my trunk, when the room is shared by so many. I think I may ask the Septon if I might leave my collection of herbs in his sept in exchange for teaching him about them. He seems most hungry for knowledge." She draws a small jar from one of the folds of her skirt which must have been hiding a pocket. "I am hopeful this may give you some relief, though it will come with several caveats."
He leans forward to accept the jar, smiling gratefully. "I think Josse would welcome that sort of arrangement," Jacsen observes, settling back into his seat with the jar in hand. He gives it a little sniff, considering, before he looks back at the Dornish girl. "What caveats, Ashi?"
It smells a bit of mint and a bit of other, milder herbs for an aroma that's overall fairly appealing. "Use a sparing amount, and apply it with a cloth or a spoon or some other means," Avinashi answers, "I would not suggest allowing it to touch your fingers, as it is a potent numbing agent and it will not distinguish between fingers and knee. It is strong, but having a knee with little feeling may affect your timing or your regular waking rhythm, so I would not encourage you to use it, should you feel the need to be on your most alert. And, should you put on too much or use it overmuch, the skin may turn red for a time. That jar, there, should serve for about twelve uses. Should it suit you, I can then make more."
"You think, then, it might serve me better when I cannot sleep?" Jacsen asks of Avinashi, whom might know well the sleepless nights this leg causes him, a phenomenon most here at Terrick's Roost have yet to grow accustomed to.
She nods once for that, "Or during travel, mayhaps, or times when a degree of lessened mobility would be of no concern. You will come to know better when it would most suit once you use it and become familiar with its properties, my lord."
He nods, looking at the jar again. "I will use it carefully, Ashi, thank you. I should… I should like to rest a whole evening more than rarely," Jacsen informs. "I pray the Seven make this helpful in that."
"It seems, more than even before, such rest will be necessary for you," Avinashi agrees gently, "I hope this may aid in that. You will tell me if it works?"
"Of course," Jacsen assures her. "It would do little good otherwise, and I am loathe to waste your considerable talents." He sets the jar upon his lap. "Thank you, Ashi."
"It was a pleasure, my lord," Avinashi replies, smiling a little for that gentle praise. "I do enjoy the chance to test my skills, now and again."
