Neliar is sitting in one of the comfortable sofa's, the hide he was reading has slipped to the floor as he falls asleep.

Laurel is walking through on her way to a place outside as she notices Neliar asleep. Grinning slightly, she picks up the hide and places it in his hands like he is reading and goes to sit down as if she didn't do a thing.

Neliar slowly comes awake as someone places a his forgotten hide in his hands. He opens one eyes slightly to see who has sneaked up on him, spotting Laurel he pretends to be still asleep, while keeping a close eye on her. (crafty Neliar)

Laurel glances over at Neliar and shakes her head. Why he's asleep out here she can only guess. With a shrug, she picks up a few of her things and starts to walk towards the door, knowing he can't really be asleep.

Neliar realises he has been rumbled! Crafty Laurel. "Hey Laurel, what ya up to?" he asks yawning for effect.

Laurel looks over, acting surprised. "Oh hi, Neliar! Didn't see you awake there. I'm just... wandering around," she says, smiling and holding up her bag. Free time is so rare, she almost doesn't know what to do.

Dropping the hide on the table Neliar stretches his rather stiff body, /That/ I'll teach him for sitting up all night reading instead of going to bed! He quickly glances over to Laurel thinking how nice she looks this morning. "Oh, you've not got a class then?" he asks hoping she'll be able to stay for awhile.

Laurel laughs and shakes her head. "For once, no. I finally have some time I don't have to be pouring over hides." She rolls her eyes then looks to Neliar. "What are you doin here?"

Neliar grins slightly, "I was trying to catch up on my classes." rather sheepishly, "I'm a bit behind at the minute." Yeah and you know why, too much time spent daydream about certain appies! Neliar pats the seat near him for Laurel to come and sit down, if she wants.

Laurel gives him a slight grin. "Behind? It happens. Especially when you're not paying attention." She laughs then takes a seat next to Neliar. She doesn't have anything else to do.

Neliar smiles warmly at Laurel as she comes and sits down beside him, he feels himself going all warm and fuzzy just being close to her. What is the matter with him, surely he does not /like/ a girl! "so how are your classes going." I bet she's doing fine he thinks, a smart girl like her, there he goes again!

Laurel smiles in return, then looks down at her bag. Since when has someone payed honest attention to her like Neliar does? "Classes are going pretty well, I think. I pretty much have everything straight, so I don't have to study too much." Great, she sounds like she's going off about herself.

Neliar smiles as he listens to her speak, watching the way her mouth forms the words. He just /knew/ she would not have problems with her classes, he wouldn't normally if he was not so distracted all the time. "How long do you think it'll be before ya make Sr Appy?" he hopes it's not too soon cause then Laurel may get posted somewhere else, then what would he do?

Laurel shakes her head, widening her eyes. "Oh gosh I don't know! Is there a certain age you have to be? I haven't though about that..." Her voice trails off as she thinks about the possibility of leaving here, and she doesn't like it. She looks over at him, smiling a bit as she notices he's watching her. "So how're your classes?" She didn't ask that already, did she? Don't think so.

Neliar looks away quickly as he realises he has been staring, but he /can't/ help it, Laurel seems to have put a spell on him or something like that. At least she does not seem to mind, or why else would she be smiling at him, or maybe she's just being nice? To cover his confusion, "Classes are great...when I remember to pay attention to them, but I'm really good at naming the constellations now." at least I'm good at something.

Laurel doesn't know what she's thinking. "Constellations? Yeah I love those. Something about the stars has always caught my attention." She smiles slightly, thinking she's going off in her own little world again. "When you remember to pay attention? You forget?" she asks, slightly amused.

Neliar grins what he hopes is a rather charming grin, "Yeah, my mind kinda wanders off on it's own sometimes. I really must teach it to behave!" he hopes he does not sound too stupid, he /really/ is good at learning things honest. "Have you had many classes yet?" He can't remember seeing her in that many and he would remember if she had been there.

Laurel can't help but grin back. She's like that. "Yes, I suppose you must 'cause think of what will happen if you're sitting there and all of a sudden you notice everyone is waiting for you to answer!" She laughs, shaking her head. How awful. "Umm... I've had a fair amount, I guess. How about you?" There have been classes she didn't see him in either.

Neliar is laughing inside but he puts on his poor little me expression, "You're not teasing me are you?" Surely Laurel would not do /that/ "I've only had the three that count so far." Yeah the three he managed to concentrate for the whole class.

Laurel gives him a little grin. "Me? Teasing you? Of course not!" She shakes her head, trying not to laugh. She's naturally a person who jokes around. "Really?" She tilts her head. "Me too! Three that count." Others didn't count for much and she only wanted to learn. Darn her and her wanting to learn.

Neliar grins back at her, maybe she likes him a little bit! The thought is enough to make everything worthwhile in life. "I'm not surprised really, after all we almost joined on the same day." Smiling as he casts his mind back to their first meeting. He's glad she's got a sense of humor not like his horrible sisters.

Laurel nods her head and laughs. "Yeah, I remember that too. I was still a probationary apprentice." Ick, and the expression on her face shows she didn't think much of that. She isn't one to like people easily, and she never says anything either. A hard one to fall for, she is.

Neliar remembers his time as a probby all too well and the pranks people played. He grins sympathetically at her, "they gave you a rough time as well?" He's glad to hear she remembers meeting him, he'll never forget meeting her! it's a start anyhow. Why anyone would not like her is beyond him.

Laurel wasn't really bothered. She stayed out of people's ways, and they left her alone. "No, as a matter of fact they gave me little time. Some did, but for the most part I wasn't noticed." She shakes her head. So staying quiet isn't the best way to go about meeting people. Of course she remembers; there's little she forgets.

Neliar is relived to hear Laurel was spared the bother he was subjected to, he would not have like for her to have gone through that! As he looks over at her again he sneaks in along look, hoping she won't notice he's staring again. "Ya know you've never told me where you come from and what your family is like." and he would like to know even more about her, but first things first.

Laurel looks up quickly. "I didn't? No," she muses, "I've never really had the chance to talk to you, have I?" It seems like she has, though. Her family... "Well, my family is myself, my mom, and my dad. That's all. Of course, we lived on one of the caravans- you know those, right?- so they didn't want a lot of kids running around. Goodness knows there were enough from the others. Anything in particular you want to know?" She'll get around to him soon enough.

Neliar thinks he could watch her all day and still not be sick of her. "Nothing in particular, I just want to get to know you better. Like ya said we've not had the chance to talk much, us both being so busy." feel free to tell me anything you want, especially if you have a /special/ friend, although he's not quite sure he wants to know the answer to that one, especially if the answer turns out to be yes.

Laurel studies him for a moment, then grins. "Yeah, I know. We're both appies and everythin but we hardly ever get the chance to talk!" She could talk for a long time, especially if he's truly interested. She's good at talking. "So how about you, Neliar. Where'd you come from?" May as well get that out of the way.

Neliar smiles as Laurel quickly turns the tables on him, well if she doesn't want ta talk now I'll be plenty of time later on, he hopes. "I was born in Tillek, my parents are traders so we've moved around quite a bit. I've got two older sister." the expression on his face shows his dislike for them. To be honest I'm glad to be here in one place where I can make friends." He looks Laurel straight in the eye for the first time since he'd met her.

Laurel smiles, meeting his gaze. "Traders?" Her eyes shine with interest as she lights up. "So were mine! Wow, isn't that cool?" No, she's not gushing... She pauses and calms down. "Sisters? So I take it they're not worth it to have, are they?" Not by the way he's looking. "And this is the best place to make friends." Nobody moves around so much. And we're /nice/.

Neliar can't help himself from grinning right back at her, "it's seems we've got quite a lot in common." more than he'd hoped for, so many people look down on traders. "And no sisters are not worth having, unless you like people spying on you all the time and getting you inta trouble worth ya parents!" he stops realizing he's ranting on as he usually does when his sisters are mentioned. He quickly smiles again, hoping she won;t pay too much attention to little rant.

Laurel starts to laugh out of delight. "I guess so! I never thought I'd meet up with someone from a trader family. Imagine." She listens to him talk about his sisters and only sits back with a smile. "I guess not." She doesn't mind. She'll always listen.

Neliar gives Laurel a grateful grin, how can someone so nice as her like someone like me? she's so kind and funny. "Did ya enjoy moving around a lot?" or where you lonely like me.

Laurel thinks on that for a while, then nods. "I did. I um... I didn't really care about the other kids so I always wandered around on my own. I love traveling." Meaning she lived in her own Rhel world for most of her childhood. "Though I didn't like it too much when we had to move away from a spot I liked." She frowns, thinking back to past memories. But that's in the past. "I kinda liked it, but I'm glad to be here. Ya know?" Ok, she is not making any sense. And Neliar doesn't need to put himself down.

Neliar knows exactly what she means, having spent most fo his childhood daydreaming. "I used to look at the stars are make things out of them, ya know like shapes and things." he ducks his head to hide his red cheeks, what made him tell her that? She'll probably laugh at him now, like the other kids used to.

Laurel stares at him with newfound interest, eyes wide. "Y.. you did that too? They thought I was an odd one for that." She blushes slightly as she adds quickly and quietly, "Clouds too?" She wants to make sure she isn't so alone in the world.

Neliar gapes at Laurel in amazement, he wasn't the only one after all! "Yes, I'm so glad someone else does the same thing as me, all the other kids used to laugh at me, saying I was crazy." After all these turns he's finally found someone who's as strange as him, not that it's a bad thing to have a good imagination.

Laurel nods, eyes shining. Sadly or happily? You can't really tell. "Oh, me too. Wretched little things they were, always running around scaring off runners and disrupting any business. They had their little games, too..." Ah, she didn't care much at the time. She suddenly remembers something and peers into her bag, pulling out a flute. "Huh. Forgot I had this. A trader I met here gave me this! I never saw him again, either. He was a nice man." Yah, where is he? Oh don't worry. He was only a nice person she's grateful to for giving her a flute. And it's wonderful to have imagination.

Neliar eyes the flute with interest, "you play?" he inquires. Looking back at her he notices the look in her eyes and hopes if the past upsets her that she can put it behind her like he has put the past behind him and enjoy herself now. He knows all to well how mean kids can be. Hum, he does not like the sound of this man, is that a pang of jealously?

Laurel shakes her head. "Nah, not really. I only know about one tune. That's all I learned before he left. He reminded me of my dad in a way..." See? Nothing to worry about. Her eyes clear as if she shoves everything out of her mind. She only thinks about that certain past rarely. She likes living in the now.

Neliar grins, "i can't play anything. Not for the want of trying." he's glad to hear she does not dwell on things like himself. "Are you making many friends here?" knowing that appies don't have much time for friends.


Laurel shrugs. "Ah, not so many friends as I have acquaintances. I've met quite a few people, but only talk to them once more." Her face falls a bit. She wishes she had more friends. With a quick smile, she turns to Neliar. "How about you?"

Neliar shakes his head, "I've been too busy to make many friends, although I get on well with Linora, I guess she's taken me under her wing." he adds rather sheepishly. In a way he's glad theres no other male friends who she might like. "i know what you mean about only getting to talk to people once, there's so many people around it's hard to keep up with them all."

Laurel nods, smiling. "Linora is nice, the few times I have spoken to her. And I rarely run into any male apprentices that you would have as friends. I mean, not that you can't have girl friends, er, friends that are girls but you know." She shrugs, looking away. Ok, that was wonderful. "I've met mostly people older than me or younger, you know? It doesn't bother me, but I wish I could find more my age." Or maybe she's just not looking.

Neliar smiles slightly at her discomfort, Laurel looks soooo sweet when she's embarassed. "Yeah Lin of nice, but your right I would be nice if they was more people my age." hoping she does not think he is too young, after all he's only a /few/ months younger than her.

Neliar suddenly relises that he should be in class by now, he jumps up, flusstered. "I'm sorry I've got to go." is all he has time to say as he runs out of the vault.


harpers-tale - Sunday, July 29, 2001, 6:41 PM