What Do We Need?

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 5th December 2015

Characters: Irabel, Thayde
Description: Irabel remembers Thayde's belated birthday.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 3, day 9 of Turn 8

Thayde

Irabel knocked upon the door and waited for the voice to come through.
When it didn't come, she tried again, but alas, the call never came. She
must have come while Thayde was busy elsewhere. As she pondered what to
do, she glanced at the box in her hand. Should she leave it outside the
door? While most people in the Hall were honest, she didn't want someone
to take it. If the door was unlocked, she could step inside and leave it
on his desk, but doing so without permission didn't settle well with her.
After a brief moment of pondering, Irabel decided to simply try again later
and turned, only to come face to face with the man she sought. "Oh!
Um...sorry!"

Thayde wore a bemused expression on his face as he looked down into
Irabel's eyes, "No need to apologize. Were you looking for me?" He asked,
reaching around her he opened the door to his office.

"Um, yes." Irabel attempted to scoot out of the way in order to allow the
Master better reach. "I...I know it was your birthday recently and thought
maybe you could do with bit of cheering." She lifted the box, then
extended it toward him for him to take.

Thayde's eyebrows rose as he took the box that was handed to him. "For me?
Come on, come inside, I'll open it." He led the way into his office. Very
little had been made of his birthingday, not that Thayde had really
expected anything. The fact that Irabel acknowledged it made him smile.

"Benden red, my favorite." He said as he opened the box and pulled out the
bottle of wine. Reaching out, he touched a hand to the back of Irabel's
head as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Thank you,
Irabel, this means a lot."

The gesture of thanks made Irabel want to squirm, but she managed to keep
control of herself. "Y...you're welcome." The stammering only added to
her embarrassment and despite her attempts, colour sprang to her cheeks as
it seemed to do any time she was around the Hallsecond. "I just
thought...well, I hoped you would like it."

"I do like it, a lot, Irabel. I haven't gotten a birthingday gift in a long
time. I didn't even realize you knew when my birthingday was." Thayde set
the bottle of wine down on his desk and retrieved a couple of glasses,
intending on opening the bottle immediately.

Irabel knew. She had also known Famell's and other dolphineers at the
Hall. Although Irabel might not be the most social with other adults, that
didn't mean she didn't pay attention. When she realised he pulled out the
glasses, she glanced around. "Don't you want to save it?" Granted, it was
the end of the day, the time when those who had worked hard would wrap up
their last tasks and head over to dinner, but Irabel hadn't expected him to
dive into it then and there. "Also...I'm not sure in your office would sit
well with others." Namely the new acting Hallmaster.

"Well, no one else is here but us. If you'd rather join me in my quarters
for a drink that's the other option." From what Thayde had observed about
Irabel so far, he doubted whether she would want to risk being along with
him and a bottle of wine in a room that also held a bed.

That was true, but it still worried her. "How...how about where we caught
the fireflies? It's quiet there and we could enjoy the sunset." Another
thought struck her and thought Irabel wouldn't have normally made the
suggestion, the words were out of her mouth before she could truly think it
through. "We could get some food from the kitchen...have...have a picnic."

Thayde nearly teased Irabel about asking him on a date, but the light pink
on her cheeks made him think twice about it. He didn't want to scare her
away. "I'll swing by the kitchens then, you can grab a blanket and I'll
meet you out there."

Irabel nodded and let go of the breath she hadn't realised she had been
holding and a hint of a smile. "Okay. That sounds nice." They could both
use the fresh air, and it would keep him from possibly getting into trouble
should someone find out they had wine in his office.

*********

Irabel only had to fetch a blanket which meant she arrived at the meeting
place before Thayde had. Although he hadn't taken _that_ long, the time
had been enough that she began to wonder why she had suggested it in the
first place. Then she began to wonder if he would actually go there.
Although Irabel did like people, she realised she wasn't the best of
company. Her life had been consumed by her craft for so long, she had a
difficult time focusing on anything else. Thayde was the first to get her
to see something beyond the creatures that danced in the sea. What else
had she missed?

"When I explained that this was a belated birthday picnic the ladies in the
kitchens were more than happy to oblige us." Thayde said as he walked up
the hill, a basket dangling from his hand. "I see you managed without
hurting yourself." He teased as he sat down beside her on the blanket and
then looked up to admire the sunset.

The words were the first to warn her that he had indeed arrived. As he had
approached, Irabel had been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't
realised he had drawn near. The tease however brought a bit more colour to
her cheeks. "Thus far." He was was never going to let her forget that,
was he? Irabel drew her legs close to her and wrapped her arms around them
since he paused a moment to study the display the sun splashed across the
sky. "It's nice this time of day. Peaceful."

"It is." He agreed. Opening the basket, Thayde set out the food, all finger
things that were easy to eat. Pulling out the glasses he had stashed from
his office, he poured the wine Irabel had gotten him.

"Are you feeling any better?" The departure of Famell was still the top
subject around the Hall coupled with the arrival of the current acting
Hallmaster. As he offered her a glass of one, Irabel took it and sipped
slowly.

Thayde lifted his shoulders a little as he also brought the Benden red to
his lips. "About the same really. I'm trying to separate myself from my
work a little so it doesn't bother me so much. How did your meeting with
him go?"

"It went fine. I gave him my report and copies of the maps. He said my
work was satisfactory." Which, from what little she had heard, was about
as good as she was going to get. "He...actually asked my opinion on what I
wanted to see in the Hall."

"What did you tell him?" Thayde asked as he sorted through the tray of tiny
sandwiches, looking for one with the roast slices.

Irabel plucked one from those that he had set aside and studied it before
biting into it. She supposed it wouldn't do any harm to share her
comments. "I wanted a more active Hallmaster and to work more closely with
the Seacraft hall. I also suggested we do more exploration. Those
islands, they show great promise, and there are so many places that haven't
been explored yet." Even though they had been in the South for a long
time, much of it was so wild, no man had set foot in certain parts.

"Maybe if I stepped down as Hallsecond I could join some of the exploration
teams. I think it would be nice to get away from Dolphin Cove for a little
while." Since he'd returned from Jade Harbor he'd not stepped foot outside
of the Hall.

"Stepped down?" Irabel lowered the glass she had brought back to her lips
and peered over the rim at him. "Would you really want to spend all that
time away?" As she mulled over the idea, Irabel wasn't sure what she
thought of it.

Thayde shoved his fingers through his hair, something he found himself
doing a lot lately as he debated the decisions he was making. "I don't
know. It's just a thought I've had, I'm not sure if I'll really do it." He
shrugged a little and turned his wine glass up to his lips.

"If...you did do that. How long you think you'd go on expeditions?"
Irabel's gaze dropped and her fingers fiddled with a fingerbit of food.
"Do you think you'd do that...for the rest of your career?"

For a moment Thayde was sure Irabel was hinting that she would miss him if
he left, but he couldn't be sure, not with Irabel, she was so hard to read.
"No, I do not imagine that I would do that for a career. I enjoy working in
the infirmary too much. I feel a responsibility to the dolphins there."

Irabel nodded slowly, glad that it wouldn't be a permanent thing, but how
long would it be? Although she dearly loved the children she worked with
and the apprentices, Thayde was the closest thing she had to a friend among
her peers rather than just an acquaintance. Even Famell, as nice as he had
been, hadn't really...well, it just hadn't been the same. "The Hall needs
you." She murmured before popping another sandwich into her mouth then
allowing herself a longer draw from her glass of wine.

**Does it?** Thayde wondered as he watched the sky turn a brilliant
orange-red. Glancing sideways at Irabel, Thayde took a chance by asking,
"And what is it you need, Irabel?"

"What do you mean?" Irabel frowned and sipped again at her wine before
taking a piece of cheese.

"For the Hall? You're hoping to earn mastery some day. Is there anything I
can do to help? Is there any resources you need?" Thayde finished off his
glass of wine and then tore off a piece of bread.

"I don't know. I know I need to work on a project and successfully execute
it in order to earn my knots, but I haven't come with something I think
would be worthy of such a venture." Therein lay the problem. "I...had
pondered that perhaps doing some exploration would set me on that venture.
The fact that I specialise in two areas means it takes longer as well,
since I can't simply focus on one at a time." That had been a choice she
made since both were interesting and meaningful to her, as well as the fact
that techniques and information she learned in cartography could be
extremely useful in her other specialty.

"Specializing in two areas is ambitious." Thayde's plate had been full
aplenty with just his specialization in the medical field. He could only
imagine what Irabel was trying to juggle.

"Maybe...when I'm eighty." Irabel allowed a hint of a smile before popping
a another tiny sandwich into her mouth. She chewed on it thoughtfully,
slowly, as if trying to form words before swallowing. "If I go another
expedition, I can request you to be a part of the team again - if you
like." They had done it before, and if he was no longer Hallsecond, he
would be even more available.

"Yeah, I guess we would just have to see what was going on in the
infirmary." Even before he had become Hallsecond Thayde had been mainly in
charge of the injured dolphins. He wasn't quite ready to leave his earlier
train of thought, however. "What about your personal life, Irabel? Sounds
like you have your work life planned, what about life outside of work? What
are your goals?"

That was a harder answer and Irabel didn't have one at the ready. She
picked at a piece of fruit studying it, then shrugging. "I don't know. I
haven't really given that much thought." Irabel knew where she wanted to
go as far as her craft, but anything else was a mystery. She'd been so
focused for so long, she didn't know how to focus on anything else.

Thayde had a feeling that Irabel would wake up someday and realize she'd
missed the joys of living life because she'd been so buried in her work.
After all, work wasn't what kept you company or took care of you when you
were sick. Still, it was her decision he supposed.

The last sliver of the glowing sun slipped beneath behind the horizon at
the point, cloaking them in a soft darkness.

"There they are." Thayde murmured as the first of the fireflies flew up,
flashing its light at them.

Irabel lifted her gaze and, in that darkness, a little brighter of a smile
appeared. "They're pretty." She murmured, following its flowing, floating
motions with her eyes. Too often, she was so consumed with the creatures
of the sea that she missed the beauty of those on the land. Thayde had
pointed them out to her and she'd found herself seeking out the beauty more
of the world had to offer a little more often. One blinked right before
her eyes, then floated over to wink its light before Thayde's, as if trying
to get both of their attentions.

Thayde watched as the little creature flitted away, out to join its family
of glittering lights that swept down the hillside below them. "Thanks for
suggesting this, Irabel. I think it's what I needed."

Last updated on the December 10th 2015

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