Apathetic (Project Nemesis)

{8}

Turdas, 10th day of Sun's Height, 4E 200
...

"We cannot bring those with us, lass. There is no room on the horse. "

Raven scowled, starring sadly at the pile of soul gems and scrolls of potion recipes. Tossing the scrolls back on the bed, she grumbled to herself as she limps away from the room. Brynjolf shook his head, amused.

After recovering from the poison - well, recovered enough to walk on her own and will not faceplant after three short steps - the woman is back on her cold, quiet, and closed demeanor.
Even though Brynjolf knew it was all a facade (she is surprisingly very cuddly and whiny when sick. He is 80% sure she is too embarrassed to act like she remember everything), the distance between them feels necessary somehow.

By definition, they are still strangers. He barely knows anything about her, not sure how much she knows about him, though. It's best not to get too attached. Brynjolf still mentally facepalms when he remembers how he acted all concerned and caring to a literal stranger. He blamed it all on his soft side to the sight of helpless creatures, although Raven is far from being helpless.

"Hey, lad. Enthir mentioned something about a spell you college lads created for fun. A Pearl, aye? I understand it's a form of communication?" The thief turned, facing Aiden who's busy scribbling on his notebook as always. The ginger cat looked up momentarily, thinking hard. Realization came over him.

"Oh yeah, I remember the Pearls. It's an atronach of some kind. It was an assignment for Alteration class, we wanted to make long range communication easier and faster. Don't think the spell works properly though, the binding process is very difficult to go through."

"Well, I have one. Enthir... bound me. I just couldn't figure out how to call her back."

Aiden raised a sceptical eyebrow over the mention of the familiar name. He searches through his notebook for a while, pointing at a spell.

"It may take any form you wishes, be jewelry of accessory. All you need to do is to call it's name."

Brynjolf hummed, reading the rest of the page, squinting.

"Clover?"

"HI!"

"By the Twin!" Aiden jumped, grinning from ear to ear. "Hi! Hello! Welcome! Aiden, pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

"Likewise, Aiden! I'm Clover!" The tiny winged creature waved and smiled at him. Maybe she did, none could know for sure. From a distance, the pixie merely looked like a blob of green fire floating around.

"Quite impressive," the khajiit mage nodded curiously, examining the small fairy shaped atronach. She giggled in delight as Aiden held out his palm for her to sit on. The feline mage beamed with joy as she rested on his hand. Pulling out one of his earrings, Aiden mumbles a name.

"Andrea."

The earring melted into a small puddle of gold, and rebuilt itself into a similar looking, but purple coloured fairy atronach. It's flames licked the air in a strange manner, almost cautious. Clover inched closer to the Pearl. It stumbles back and took to the air, keeping a safe distance.

"Ah," Aiden glanced at Clover apologetically. "Apologies, she is a wary one. Andrea, I would appreciate it if you'd introduce yourself to our friends."

The Pearl atronach flickered a bit, seemingly thinking.

"Andrea, pleasure to make your acquaintance." She gave a slight bow and rested on Aiden's shoulder, keeping an eye on Clover. The eager latter took flight and returned to her own master.