A/N: I'm skipping the entire dinner conversation b/c I want to get to the [relative] action!
Sandry stifled another yawn as she fought to keep her eyes open. She tried to concentrate on what Kel was talking about, but her eyes kept falling shut. 'You know you don't travel well! she mentally scolded herself. 'You should have stayed in your chambers and recovered tonight, not attended a dinner, even a small one.'
You guys want to go now? she asked Briar and Daja through their connection.
Sure, answered Briar. At the same time, Daja said, No way! She's completely interesting! And maybe she'll tell me something about metalwork . . . she added wistfully.
Sandry stood up. "Kel, I'm sorry, but I'm really, really tired, and I have to get up early in the morning, and I'm really, really tired . . . " she trailed off. "Wait. . . I just said that, didn't I?"
"It's okay. I've noticed you were a little out of it. I hope I'll see you again!" Kel answered with a smile.
"Okay, well I'll see you later, then!" Sandry waved goodbye.
"I think I should be going too," Briar spoke as he stood up. "I need some extra rest as well. I've discovered that traveling over water isn't the best thing for a green-mage like me." He grinned at Sandry, and she felt a little fizzy feeling inside her before she squished it down. Briar bowed gallantly to Kel, who laughed. "It's been wonderful, Lady Keladry, but I must leave now."
Sandry smacked his head as she said, "Hurry up, Briar, if you're coming, and stop flirting with Kel."
Briar smiled apologetically as Sandry pulled him away.
***
"Sooooo . . . where exactly are we going, Sandrilene fa Toren?" Briar muttered.
"I don't know. I think I took a wrong turn getting back to our rooms." She looked around desperately for someone to ask for directions.
Suddenly Briar veered off towards the right.
"Briar!" Sandry hissed. "What are you doing?"
"There are some plants calling for me! It's not like I can just leave them! Besides, I don't recognize their voices. That means I've never seen them before!" Briar glanced back at the girl in enough time to see her rolling her eyes. "Oh come on. It's not like you've never been called by a new, um, dye color, or uh, some new thread." He paused. "On second thought, maybe you haven't had that happen." He grinned at her again and exited the hallway through a set of double doors.
As he smiled at her, Sandry felt the same fizzy feeling rise up inside her. She shoved it down again. 'What is going on?' she wondered. 'It's not like he's changed or anything since we've arrived here. What is happening? And since when were his eyes so green?'
Sandry sighed heavily and followed him outside. She'd figure out the fizzy feeling later; for now all she was worried about was finding her rooms, and she didn't want to be responsible for losing Briar.
The sight that greeted her was a luxurious garden, lit by moonlight. Briar had vanished. She felt along the ties in her magic until she found the one that led to him, and followed it through the garden. After walking a short distance, she found him. He was sitting in a tailor-seat on the ground, both eyes closed, with tendrils of plants curled around his legs, arms, and head. Sandry laughed. Briar opened one eye and gazed reproachfully at her.
"Keep it down, would ya? These plants are interesting, and with your directional skills, I doubt we'll be able to find this garden again."
Sandry walked over in front of him and waited for him to tell the plants to move. Now it was Briar's turn to sigh. "You make it so much work," he grumbled. Please? he asked the greenery.
Looking up at the stars, she heard a slight rustling as the plants moved to make room for her. Sandry looked down to make sure there weren't any stems she might crush, then she laid down on her back, propping her head on Briar's legs. Foliage moved back into place around her, almost locking her in. Sandry yawned.
"Gods," she murmured. "I'm so tired." Her head drooped.
Briar glanced at her. He was about to ask her when the last time she got any sleep was, but he swallowed his words when he saw her regular breathing. 'Whether or not she's asleep, she really needs the rest,' he thought. Craning his neck to look into her face, he saw she was already asleep.
Instead of immediately returning to his plants, he found himself gazing at Sandry. The moonlight reflected off her face, casting ethereal shadows. How her eyes sparkled when she laughed, and how soft she looked while she slept. That night, he had seen her in a different way than he ever had before, and it was beginning to unnerve him. 'I hope she doesn't notice,' he thought. 'Our friendship would be ruined if she didn't feel the same way.' With that last thought, he began talking to the plants again.
After conversing for a while, Briar caught himself yawning. He fought through the wave of sleepiness that almost overwhelmed him, wanting to keep talking to the plants. But it seemed even they were against him. Rest, they told Briar. We have waited this long for someone like you. We have waited for decades. We can wait another night to finish.
Briar knew plants advice was usually good advice, so he nodded sleepily. Weaving a mat of branches under Sandry's head, he lifted it off his lap and placed it gently on the ground. He sat looking at her for a few minutes. After another wave of sleep overtook him, and he laid down beside her. Briar had just enough presence of mind to create two separate blankets for the two of them, a sort of cocoon of tendrils. He fretted a minute over whether they would be warm enough, but decided it would be fine. Briar told the plants to make another layer if the night got colder, and just remembered his head touching the soft moss before he drifted off to sleep.