Chapter Seven: Poetry in Motion
Elsword's eyes flung open as a sharp beeping came out of nowhere. She looked around franticly and saw her small clock was blinking. She poked the largest button on the top and it went silent, static once more. Letting forth a yawn the crimsonette swung her legs over the bed and stood up wearing little more than her panties. It was still slightly dark out so surely there was time before breakfast. She opened her closet and pulled out her normal clothes, Ara and Elesis had gotten her more sets the day prior.
Fully dressed she crept out the door and snuck downstairs. She didn't want to be cramped up in her room nor did she want to wake anyone up. Arriving at the safety of the living room she sat down and sunk into the soft sofa. Relaxing she wondered what today would be like. The only plan she had was to attend that performance in the afternoon with Lu which she was actually looking forward to. She heard something suddenly and turned her head to see Chung having come down from upstairs.
"Oh! I-I'm sorry….i didn't mean to wake you up…." Elsword said. Chung blinked, confused.
"Oh, no you didn't wake me up." He reassured, "I get up early for some morning stretching before the day really starts. Hey, want to join me?" Chung hadn't managed to do anything with Elsword since the incident. Elsword thought it over for a moment.
"Sure…if I'm not in the way."
"Nah, it's fine. Come on." The kind hearted blonde said, heading for the front door. Elsword got up and followed, wondering what to do, "Stand however you like, nothing really specific I do just stretch a bit." Chung said, draping his left arm over his head and holding it with his right. Not knowing any good stretches Elsword just mimicked him.
"So…you're Chung right?"
"Yup."
"Who are you exactly?" Elsword tried to make conversation as they switched arms.
"Well…I'm the prince of Hamel, my mom rules it at the moment. Dad is always out and about helping with peace and monster problems." Chung said, putting his heels together and bending forward to touch his toes. Elsword did it with surprising ease, hands flat on the floor, "You and the others saved my life when we first met, back before everything was pretty peaceful. Stuck around ever since."
"So, what do you like to do?" They moved on to stretching their legs, lunging forward.
"I'm pretty fond of painting, but mainly I spend time tinkering with little gears and stuff. Sometimes help fix things around the house if Raven can't do it."
"That sounds fun." Elsword said; it seemed similar to what Add did. Chung stopped and looked up at a window on the second floor with a small window garden on it.
"Ah, Rena's up. Breakfast should be ready soon." He said.
"S-Should we go inside?" Elsword hadn't been to a breakfast yet and didn't know what she had to do.
"If you want. Hey, maybe you can help Rena prepare the food?" The prince offered. Elsword nodded as if it was an order and went inside, leaving Chung to his stretching. Just as the young girl entered the house Rena had reached the base of the stairwell.
"Oh, good morning Elsword!" She greeted with a motherly smile, "Joined Chung for some morning warm ups?"
"Yeah, he said I could help you with breakfast?"
"Sure! It's nothing difficult so of course you can help." Rena said, motioning for her to follow. The crimsonette met up with the elf in the kitchen, the older maiden already setting out a few pots and pans and an assortment of food.
"Okay Elsword, what I want you to do first is to cut the sausages." Rena said, bringing her new 'apprentice' to the meat in question, "Just cut it horizontally as you see fit, not too big or small." Rena said, taking a small knife and demonstrating, "Now be careful where your fingers are, Raven does a good job of keeping the cutlery very sharp."
"Yes ma'am." Elsword nodded.
"Oh ease up, just Rena." With that she started to crack eggs into a pan, "So, did you sleep well?" Rena asked suddenly, eyes remaining on her cooking.
"Huh?" Elsword looked over but quickly looked back at the work she was doing to make sure she didn't hurt herself, "umm…okay I guess."
"Have any plans today apart from the theatre with Lu and Ciel?"
"N-No." She frowned, feeling rather distant.
"Maybe you could try to find a hobby?" Her friend replied, tossing eggs while she also prepared some toast.
"But I don't know what to do."
"Why not ask around?" Rena said simply, "I like poetry, maybe you can join me?"
"But I don't know any poetry." Elsword said, it felt familiar to her.
"Oh that's alright, we can work on it together!"
"Thank you…" The crimsonette smiled, Rena was so kind and open. They continued with minor idle conversation until breakfast was ready. After showing Elsword how to set the table Rena went upstairs to get everyone else up. Within a few minutes the group had joined together at the table and started eating. Elsword especially sat in silence, still not knowing of the normal social graces they all shared during meals. Chung was first to go.
"So, bizarre dream last night." He said.
"Oh?" Aisha cocked an eyebrow in curiosity.
"We were all Phorus, color coded too."
"Wait then how'd you know who was Elsword and Elesis?" Ara questioned.
"Elesis had longer hair." The prince said, "Anyway, for some reason we were all competing in a race to the bottom of a hill and just rolled down before going too far and landing in a pond."
"That's kinda cute." The elder Sieghart commented.
"So anyone have any plans for the day?" Rena said, changing topics.
"Well, me and Ara are going out for the day." Elesis said.
"Rena you already know what I'm doing." Raven said.
"Oh do i?" She snickered, always wanting everyone to relatively be in the loop with everyone else. Raven sighed and just went along with it.
"Going to work on my truck."
"I'm planning on working on some drawings." Chung said next. Add remained silent, everyone knowing and not caring that he was just going to be in his lab all day.
"Just some reading." Aisha said, "Reaching the peak of my book, I'm so excited!"
"Eve and I have plans to gossip over tea before I leave with Elsword for tonight's performance." Lu said.
With that they finished eating and went their separate ways. Chung, Eve, Lu, and Aisha went upstairs as Ara and Elesis left for the garage followed by Raven. Add went downstairs leaving Rena and Elsword alone.
"So, mind helping me tidy up the table and then we can do some poetry?"
"Okay." Elsword nodded and followed the elf's lead, picking up the plates and stacking them on one another and resting the silverware on top. After bringing them to the sink Rena filled the sink with water, put the dishes in, and headed to the living room; the dishes could wait for now. Together the two girls sat on the sofa.
"So, poetry really isn't that hard." Rena stated with a smile.
"Really?" The crimsonette blinked, getting hopeful.
"Yeah." Rena looked around for a moment and then back at Elsword, "Throat slender and thin, base solid and made of tin. Roses fly through the sky, hidden only behind the ribbon that ties."
"Huh?" Elsword stared at the elf, wondering what that meant. With a smile she pointed behind the confused girl to a vase sitting on shelf. Its shape and structure matched what Rena had said, the skin covered with countless roses and a red ribbon tied around it.
"I just found something, took what it looked like, and made it rhyme. 'Thin', 'Tin'. 'Sky', 'Ties'." The emerald maiden explained, "And poetry comes in all kinds, some don't even rhyme. Want to try?"
"Umm….okay." Elsword looked around, hoping she didn't embarrass herself, "Ummm….."
"Why not tell me what you want to use as an example so I can help you?" Rena proposed.
"Oh, t-thanks. What about that?" Elsword pointed to a small flower pot with a white lily sitting on the table holding the television set.
"Oh, this flower? Sure. Flowers are always a nice fodder for poetry and songs." The gentle motherly figure rose and brought the lily over to the couch, gently setting it down between them, "So, what comes to mind when you see the flower?"
"It's white…" Elsword felt stupid for being so simple but Rena smiled encouragingly.
"That's a good start. How would you describe its color?"
"I guess it's like a cloud?"
"Hmm…" Rena thought for a second, "Pristine and pure, like fluffy clouds above. Yet smooth and soft, like the feather of a Dove." Elsword was dumbfounded, picturing Rena as this genius who could make anything sound lovely.
"I don't think I'm cut out for this…" Elsword frowned.
"Oh don't be like that." Rena smiled, "You just started, so of course you won't be great at it right off the bat. I've been doing poetry for a while. That and since you're suffering from amnesia your vocabulary took a bit of a hit. I'm sure with some time you'll get a lot better with it."
"If you say so." Sighing Rena set the flower aside and faced Elsword directly.
"So, Elsword. I'm seeing you've been showing some affection to Add."
"Y-Yeah?" Elsword answered.
"I know you might not know this, but Add has never been very…comfortable within the group given our past history and how he is normally." Rena said, "He isn't very social, preferring to spend his time alone in his lab. Even if he acts like it, he wouldn't give you the time of day. Would you really want to be with someone who isn't going to spend much time with you?" Elsword's first thought was that Rena was trying to deter her from pursuing a love interest but given how she felt around her clearly Rena was trying to help.
"I guess when you…put it like that I'd feel really lonely…"
"Exactly." Rena smiled, "Why don't you give relationships some time, just relax and enjoy things as they come."
"Sure. Thanks Rena." Elsword smiled. She felt so warm around her friends, they really cared.