As usual all speech in italics is in the Old Tongue.
Interlude V - The 'Modern' World is a Lonely Place II
The present day in an abandoned farmhouse near Falme
That night when Taija went to bed sleep eluded her, despite her exhaustion, leaving her lying there tossing and turning on her bedroll. Like they did most nights, her thoughts led back to painful memories. With them hovering around the forefront of her mind, she just couldn't find the peace that she needed to fall asleep.
======
A bit more than 3,000 years ago, around ten years before the end of the Collapse and the start of the War of Power.
Taija had been out drinking with Antero one night. It was during better times, before the start of the War, when the world still seemed like a good place and she could live in blissful freedom. She'd never been a big drinker, but Antero had an annoying talent for getting her to let loose a little. By that point she was definitely tipsy, although to be fair, not as drunk as he was.
Antero took another gulp of beer and eyed Taija up consideringly over the of his glass. "You know Taija, what you need is a boyfriend." Declaration made, he slammed his now empty glass back down and called the waiter over for another.
It was one of the nicest bars in Jalanda. Not the kind of place Taija normally frequented, or could even afford, despite being able to live very comfortably on her salary as a full professor. If she was honest with herself, she even felt a little out of place among its glamorous denizens, but Antero had just bulled his way through whatever objections she raised and dragged her along behind him.
"I do not need a boyfriend," Taija's tone was as prim as it ever was as she sat back and folded her arms across her chest. "You've just been with Saela for too long and now you're trying to set up all your friends so you can have some vicarious excitement." She nodded with satisfaction at that argument. "Also I'm far too busy."
"There. That's my point!" Antero ignored Taija's very good point about just wanting vicarious excitement of course. "You're always too busy for it. Do you really want to spend the next five hundred years surrounded by books and cats?"
Taija pretended to think, stroking an imaginary beard below her chin. "Well it has its appeal." A pause and then they both burst out laughing.
"I know for a fact you don't even like cats." He took another gulp of beer to match the sip Taija took from her excessively ornate cocktail. "Seriously though, you're such a sweetheart, it would be a horrendous waste and I know the perfect guy I want to introduce you to. You'll love him."
Taija sighed and rolled her eyes. "Not another of your vacuous influencer friends, please. I'd rather the cats than that."
"No no seriously, you'll love him. He's super smart, very motivated aaand he's ripped." He leant forward and earnestly put his hand on Taija's. "Look I'm playing a game of airball with him next week. I'll bring Saela and we can make it a doubles match. No pressure, if you don't like him you're just doing a favour for a friend."
"Hmph, you really think I'll like him?"
"You'll love him, on my honour."
"Fiiinnne," Taija deliberately drew out the word, "but if he sucks you owe me one."
=======
It had been a productive day for Tel. His usual morning routine of plyometrics, fencing, archery and wrestling dominating. Then a healthy lunch followed by an hour of channeling practice, wrestling the raging torrent of saidin into complex webs under the direction of his ageing tutor.
The afternoon brought with it a quick trip to open a new sports complex in his home town. Forced smiles, glad-handing and autographs were sadly part of the job. Finally there was the meeting with Antero, a great agent, but more importantly one of the few people he considered a genuine friend.
Opportunities discussed and contracts signed, Antero persuaded him that it was time for a drink. Tel had been planning a quiet evening at home, but Antero was disturbingly persuasive. How he managed to combine logic, puppy eyes and being a huge, middle aged man with a bushy beard into one giant package Tel had no idea.
Still, that was how he found himself nursing a beer in a quirky little bar halfway across the world. Apparently Antero had heard about it from a friend and since Tel could Travel…
"Look, Tel you need to lighten up a bit. Saela and I both worry about you. I know you're selling the brooding bad boy look and that's great, but I'm not interested in that right now. You can't spend all your time training and have none for yourself. You need some more fun in your life!" Antero leaned back and waggled his eyebrows, "you need to get laid!"
Tel sighed, "for fuck's sake Antero you go on about this every time I see you. Honestly I'm fine! I have a great life, I love my work and meeting women is hardly a problem." He couldn't resist a small smirk at that.
"Hmmm," Antero was extremely good at looking sceptical. "What happened to the last girl? Cleo wasn't it?"
"I don't want to talk about it. How are things with you and Saela? Are you trying for a baby yet?"
"Oh no no no you're not changing the subject that easily." Antero took a swig of beer. "Come on, out with it!"
"Fine. Yes I got bored again. There just wasn't the spark, you know. Sure, she was beautiful and good fun for a bit, but there was no substance." Tel's mouth turned down in displeasure. "Anyway she couldn't channel, so we both knew it wouldn't go anywhere long term and in the end she left. Something about me not being emotionally engaged…"
Antero raised his eyebrows, "which to be honest sounds fair enough."
"I suppose it is," Tel sighed again, slumping in his chair.
"Same shit different day." They both sad it companionable silence for a minute before Antero broke it. "Alright, well I've got just the solution for you. A couple of weeks time, Saela and are going to be in Jalanda. You know how much they're into airball down there, so we were going to get some games in."
"Well that's nice, but what's that got to do with me?" Tel had a sneaking suspicion and he didn't like where it was going.
"Ah well here's the good bit," Antero leaned forward with a grin. "You know how good Saela is at that blasted game and she's getting tired of pasting the floor with me. Let's make it a doubles game, there's a girl I know there. Absolute dreamboat, cute as pie and I want you to meet her. Then I can actually have Saela on my side for once."
Tel looked unimpressed, "so what you're saying is that you want me to trek to a different continent so that your wife doesn't beat you in a ball game?"
Antero's grin widened, "exactly and also meet a really cool girl."
"Nope. I'm far too busy and we both know how the last date you put me on went. I had to pay a professional to get the stains off the wall!"
"Oh come on. I know you're not that busy, I'm your agent for Light's sake! Anyway you can Travel, it's not like distance is a big deal."
"Still no." Tel's face was was uncompromising.
"Oh come on Tel. She's totally your type and you need some fun. Stop being so serious for once and just let your hair down." Antero glanced at Tel's very neat, short-cropped hair, "well leave it unbrushed or something. Anyway, you'll love her. She's got a third name and everything, at under 200, super accomplished! You'd make such a cute power couple."
"Light will you stop! The last thing I need is to be in another celebrity power couple," Tel scowled.
"Ok ok, look I worded that wrong. She's a physicist not at all the celebrity type. To be honest, knowing her I doubt she's even heard of you!" He met Tel's eyes and his voice took on a wheedling tone, "come on! You'll have fun, meet a hot girl and I can finally win a game of airball!"
Tel rolled his eyes. "You know what, fine. I'll come. But if you think you're going to win with me on the other side… pffff." A dismissive gesture and a swig of beer punctuated the sound.
=====
Taija had turned up bang on time, getting off the bus outside the Cam Braet Sports Complex, a huge building that dominated this little part of southern Jalanda. Apparently it had some of the best airball pitches in the city and, despite herself, she was quite excited to give the game a try. The date on the other hand… It had been a while since she'd found time to go on one, particularly after the disastrous way the last couple had ended. If she was honest with herself, she was more apprehensive than excited about it. Especially given Antero's occasionally odd choices in match making.
Saela was waiting for her outside, looking as glamourous as ever and they headed to the changing rooms together, catching up as they went.
"I still don't understand why you take the bus Taija. It's ridiculous, I know the service is good here, but they take forever and you can Travel for Light's sake." Saela immediately restarted on an old debate between the two of them.
Taija shrugged with a small smile, it was almost a ritual by at this point, "I know, but I like them. It's relaxing, I grab a seat on the top deck and I can watch the world go by."
"But it's such a waste of time! I can't even Travel and I don't take the bus."
Of course Saela was just trying to relax her by getting her onto a pet topic, but Taija appreciated it nonetheless. "Sure, but I'm hurrying all the time. It's too easy to just live in your little aes sedai or university bubble and just not experience the world… Aes sedai should be part of the world, not separate from it."
Of course, despite Taija's best attempts at avoiding it, the conversation had inevitably turned to her date as Taija pulled her sports shoes on, carefully doing up the laces. Saela had been watching her get increasingly slow with her preparations before giving her a gentle shove and laughing, "don't worry Taija, you'll like this one! I'm recommending him too, not just Antero! He can be a bit awkward when you first meet him, but once he warms up you'll love him."
That was at least a bit of a relief, Saela had far better taste than Antero.
When the two of them emerged into the warm air outside Taija immediately spotted Antero and standing next to him was the man that was presumably her date. He looked short next to Antero, but she was fairly sure he was actually a bit above average in height. Much taller than her either way.
He was wearing a tight white t-shirt and blue board shorts, both filled with toned muscle. His face was framed by neatly cropped, short blonde beard and hair and he was doing some intriguing stretches…
Taija's mental train was derailed when Saela poked her in the ribs and hissed, "stop eyeing him up like a piece of meat and come over and say hi." With a jerk she realised Antero was waving and quickly hurried after Saela, already feeling her face heating.
======
Tel was somewhat dreading meeting his "date", the Creator only knew what she'd be like. Once Antero got an idea in his head he was like a dog with a bone, however bad it might be he wasn't letting it go. Still, at least the game should be fun. He stretched his arms, hands interlinked enjoying the crack of his knuckles. It wasn't something he had the chance to play very often, but he knew Saela was an absolute beast in the court and for all his complaining Antero wasn't half bad either.
"Ah here they are. Hey!" Antero pointed to the two women and waved enthusiastically. Broken from his musings Tel stopped warming up and looked over. He immediately recognised Saela's tall, glamourously blonde form, Antero was a lucky man.
Walking next to Saela was a shorter woman in a tight black sports top that left her arms bare and matching shorts. Slim, but probably not tall enough to be called slender, she had light brown skin and straight dark-brown hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. Pretty enough he supposed, but not all that much compared to his usual conquests, if he was honest he preferred a bit more in the way of curves anyway.
"Tel! It's so good to see you!" Saela was her usual whirlwind and grabbed him for a hug and kiss on each cheek, "you're looking great, still working out occasionally I see?" Laughing at her own joke she tugged him towards the other woman. "Right, I want you to meet Taija, she's going to be joining you in losing to us today," her grin sparkled. "She's one of our dearest friends so do make sure you treat her right." Tel didn't miss the undertone of warning in her voice as he offered this 'Taija' his hand and politely introduced himself with his full name.
He groaned internally as his big hand engulfed hers and and her cheeks darkened in a blush, so it was going to be one of those.
Despite that her grip wasn't weak, "Taija Kosola Miranen," she replied looking a little awkward. At least she actually did have a third name, although he supposed he should probably have looked up what she got it for before today.
"Pleased to meet you Taija Kosola. Shall we?" He gestured expansively towards the airball courts. There was a slightly awkward silence as they walked, contrasting with Antero and Saela's happy chatter to each other.
Tel had never minded silence, but Taija Kosola clearly did, "so uh Tel Janin, tell me what is it you do? Antero never said."
Tel gave her a quick look trying to work out if she was making fun of his name, but her face was a picture of curious innocence, "well a few different things these days, but mostly sports. I do a lot of fencing and archery as well as some athletics." To be fair to her, she'd probably been roped into this by Antero with as little information as he had. The man was a menace when it came to match-making.
"Oh really? Is that what you got your third name for?"
Tel nodded, "sixteen years ago now." It was an achievement he was justly proud of.
"Wow, you must be very good! I couldn't imagine doing something like that." Tel shot another look at her. Was she being sarcastic? No, she seemed to be completely earnest. He was already getting the impression that Taija was a very earnest person. He supposed it fitted with her being a cloistered scientist.
"I do alright and it's certainly more fun than sitting at a desk all day."
She looked a bit put out at that. "Sitting at a desk all day isn't that bad you know."
"Oh no no, of course not. I just like being active, you know." Tel quickly tried to change the subject before he put his foot in it again, "what about you, you look very young to have a third name."
She shrugged and her cheeks heated again, "oh I was lucky I suppose, but it was for research, I'm a physicist."
This was at least a bit different to most of the women he met, where even the most accomplished were generally celebrities, athletes or politicians. So he decided to press more, "how interesting, but you don't just get a third name for being lucky, you must have done something impressive."
Absent mindedly he wondered if she'd known Mierin Eronaile before she went off the rails. They'd both been in the same field, although if he remembered correctly Mierin was a fair bit older.
"Oh it's not very interesting really," she vaguely waved a hand in the air, "very esoteric."
"Come on, indulge me, I'm interested." At least Antero wouldn't be able to claim he hadn't tried.
"Well, I uh found a way to directly observe gravitational waves using the Power, you see before they were largely measured only by their effects…"
Tel lost track of what she was saying very quickly, but there was something about her enthusiasm and without realising it he found he enjoyed listening to her rambling explanation.
Eventually she trailed off, looking a bit embarrassed, "sorry! I didn't mean to go off on one." She kept talking over his protest that it was fine, "so have you err played airball before? I heard Saela and Antero are really good."
"Every now and again, I'm not all that great at it." Well he wasn't compared to the sports he actually got paid to play, "but yes Saela is disturbingly good I think she could have gone pro if she'd worked on it. Antero moans about how terrible he is, but he's actually pretty good too, just outshined by his better half. How about you?"
"Oh, no I've never played before." She looked a little awkward and then brightened up again, "but I've read up on the rules and watched a couple of games online, so I should be able to pick it up pretty quickly."
Oh Light, he was partnered with a nerd who'd never even played before, they were going to lose so badly it wasn't funny. Still, she did have a nice smile.
========
Taija sensed Tel Janin's irritation when he realised she'd never played before, although he did try to hide it. However, she'd hauled herself away from her desk for the day and she was determined that she was going to have fun either way. Winning wasn't everything and at least he was easy on the eyes.
They both bumped fists with Antero and Saela before moving back to their sides of the court.
Like most airball courts it was a large space with a grass floor, perhaps 70 metres long and 30 wide, with obstacles scattered across it. The ball sat on a plinth in the very centre of the court with the players starting at the far ends in front of their small goals. This time the pitch had a copse of convincing looking trees to Taija's right, a small lake ahead of her, the usual raised ground blocking the plinth from direct sight of both of the goals and various small mounts dotted around for cover and to provide vantage points.
Tel Janin looked over to her and said, "I'll go for the centre and attack, you take the left and defend. Got it?"
Despite her initial doubts, by the start of the game Taija was quite excited, rocking up and down on her toes and glancing over at Tel Janin. He wasn't a very smiley man, but the way his muscles moved as he loosened up his shoulders was quite appealing, 'working out occasionally' indeed… It was just a pity he was so grumpy. Taija gave herself a mental slap, she needed to focus on the game.
It started with a shout of "go!" from Antero and they were both off. Taija opened herself to saidar and felt Saela do the same out of sight behind the ridge lines. Tel Janin was already moving, an impressively fast sprint taking him into the trees and towards the ball.
A moment's hesitation and Taija was running forward too, scrambling up to the top of one of the mounds to see a cackling Antero tackle Tel Janin to the ground, the shaking of a nearby tree suggesting a flow of air gone awry.
There was no time to watch them though. A grinning Saela was running forward, fast and lithe, with her web of air shooting ahead of her to grab the ball and fling it straight towards their goal. Taija wasn't going to lose before the game had even started properly though. Not on her watch!
A flex of her mind and Taija's own web had curled around Saela's, a subtle twist to disrupt it and boom! She had the ball, propelling it quickly towards the other end of the pitch. Well, she'd thought she had it, but then with no warning her foot was suddenly yanked out from under her by a web of saidar and she hit the ground with a thump, the air driven out of her lungs.
As Taija pushed herself up on her elbows, she saw a cheering Saela grab the ball from where it had fallen and charge towards the goal, web of air poised to fend off any channeling from her side.
She knew she'd have bruises after this, but nevertheless Taija sprang back to her feet and chased after Saela, trying desperately, but futilely to get her own web of air past Saela's. All to no avail. With a loud bong from the scoring system Saela flung the ball through the goal and the first round went to her and Antero.
With a sigh, rubbing her sore backside, Taija headed back to her goal to meet an irritated looking Tel Janin. She could already see he hated losing. Then again, despite her earlier thoughts, Taija was quickly discovering, she did too.
=====
Tel was not in a good mood. He'd been outplayed by Antero, the bigger man successfully distracting him with rough and tumble and letting Saela breeze straight past the weak link on his team. This might be a long day.
He could see Taija Kosola wincing a little as she joined him, ready for the second round. It seemed like Saela hadn't gone easy on her, which was a bit harsh really given how much she outmatched her in both size and skill.
Internally he sighed, the poor woman probably wasn't used to this kind of activity, he should at least try to be nice to her. It wasn't her fault Antero had dragged both of them into this.
"Are you alright Taija Kosola?" He tried his best to sound sympathetic rather than annoyed, "it looks like Saela did a bit of a number on you, if you want to stop we can just let her beat up Antero instead."
To his surprise she scowled at the suggestion that she might want to stop. "No! We're going again." Well that was a change in attitude, no diffidence in her tone there, just a statement of what was going to happen. He could work with that.
As she stretched out, wincing occasionally, Tel watched her appraisingly out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps she wasn't as unfit as he'd thought, nicely toned actually. She winced at one of the movements and then did it again. Some grit to her too. Not really his type of course. He looked away before she could catch him watching.
This round Tel called the start, ignoring the goosebumps that sprang up on his arms when the women embraced saidar. They both ran forward, Tel choosing to take the left this time and Taija Kosola the right. Of course he was faster, ploughing straight through the shallow lake, he used his flow of air to send up an obscuring spray of water in front of himself as he ran.
Again Antero was hurrying to intercept him while a smugly confident Saela ambled in Taija Kosola's direction. Their single, small webs of saidin clashed, the amount of Power they were allowed to feed into them strictly limited by the rules to allow players with wildly different strength to match each other. Some of the best professional players could barely channel, but here dexterity, fitness and wits were what mattered.
Antero was irritatingly successfully tangling his flow of saidin and moving to stop Tel from getting by when, with a yell of surprise, he suddenly faceplanted. Glancing to his right, Tel saw a determined looking Taija Kosola charging towards Saela and the ball flying towards him over Antero's prone form.
He was already sprinting to catch it and push through to the goal, using his own web to hold Antero down. Judging by the look of concentration on Saela's face she was even now fighting with the Power too. Light Taija Kosola must be fast, in a fraction of a second she'd shifted her web from Antero to the ball and to Saela. He wasn't sure he could have done that.
As he rounded the other players' ridge, he glanced behind him to see Taija Kosola tackle Saela with a yell of triumph. He flung the ball ahead of him, his throw perfectly accurate, sending it straight through the goal. Bong!
When Tel came back round the ridgeline to the centre of the pitch he saw a grumpy looking Antero, picking himself up and brushing the mud out of his beard. On the other side of the pitch a grinning Saela seemed to have somehow managed to get on top of a squirming Taija Kosola.
Well that had been an unexpected victory, maybe this day wouldn't be so bad after all.
After Saela had been persuaded to let her up, he gave Taija Kosola a far more appraising look as they walked back to their side of the pitch together.
Her chest was heaving from the exertion while he'd barely gotten started. She was also covered in dirt, her hair in disarray, but Tel could see the excitement thrumming through her. He wasn't even sure she realised how predatory her grin looked under her deep brown eyes as they started discussing a plan for the third round.
======
The second round had been much more fun than the first. Taija hadn't been confident enough in what she was doing or what was going on around her the first time, but in the second she'd been surprised at how easy it had been to slip her web around, evading and out maneuvering her opponents.
She'd even managed to tackle Saela, she hadn't seen that coming! Sure she'd ended up on top after a brief, laughing scuffle, but Taija had still taken her off her feet!
Of course Taija was under no illusion now, Antero and Saela were going to throw everything they had at her and Tel Janin.
He'd actually given her a proper smile after the second round though. Really he should smile more often. It had looked good on him.
With a shout, Antero started the third round and they were both off. It seemed that this time Antero was targeting Taija, while Saela was marking Tel Janin. Antero met her as she rushed through the trees, probing ahead of herself with her web of air.
At the last second Taija felt the resistance of Antero's web, barreling straight for her. With a yelp she jumped to the side, instinctively wrapping her own web around his and diverting it away. She kept running towards him, matching his web with the precisely measured strength of her own to keep it off her.
Of course Antero was perfect happy for Taija to try to tackle him, he was probably more than double her weight, but she had other plans!
A momentary release of her web allowed his unseen one to swing towards her, frighteningly fast. Reestablishing hers at the last she second, she guided his just over her head, accelerating it away before whipping her own web back into him, forcing him to stagger aside with a surprised grunt and letting her spring past him.
Holding Antero's web away from her with jabs of her own, Taija sprinted towards the opposing goal with a shout of, "Tel Janin!"
He had Saela pinned on the ground, using his superior strength while they wrestled with the Power. At Taija's shout he looked up and made a split second decision. Taija saw Saela's web suddenly stop pushing against an unseen obstacle and thump unto Tel Janin, launching him off her, but the ball was already flying towards her, propelled by saidin.
Antero had recovered and was charging towards Taija at terrifying speed, but she caught the ball and flung herself forward, covering the last few metres to the goal, diving ahead and flinging the ball through it just before Antero could run her over. Bong!
====
Tel stood up, resisting the urge to wince at the pain where Saela had clonked his arm with her web. It seemed they'd won again.
To the sound of laughter Antero and Taija Kosola emerged from behind the ridge. She was definitely limping and even more covered in grass and mud than before, her hair band must have gone missing at some point because her hair was loose, but what really caught Tel's eye was her big, open grin.
"That was amazing! I thought you were going to crush me Antero, you need to be more careful!"
"Careful!? If I give you the slightest leeway you'll have me upside down and tied to a tree!" Antero theatrically rubbed his side, "I might need to get healing later after what you did to my ribs."
On seeing Tel, Taija Kosola's eyes lit up more. "Tel Janin! You were great, I can't believe you just let Saela hit you like that to throw me the ball." She gave Saela a sideways look, hustling over to him, "are you ok? She didn't hit you too hard did she?"
"No no I'm fine, it was just a friendly slap, anyway I'll get my revenge in the next round." Tel straightened up and looked down, meeting Taija Kosola's deep brown eyes with his own icy blue ones. There was a moment of... something and then he found a grin slowly growing on his face matching her own.
It was at that moment Tel realised he might be in trouble.
They played a few more rounds before, by mutual agreement, they agreed that their bodies could only take so much and headed for the showers. Saela took a moment to heal the other threes' bruises and then he returned the favour for her. It really did make these sorts of games so much more fun when you didn't have to deal with the aftermath for your body.
The two men were luxuriating in the hot spray of the showers when the smug question Tel had been dreading came, "so what did you think of her?"
He shrugged noncommittally as he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair, "she seems nice I suppose. A bit different to most of the women I meet it's true."
Antero's laughter wasn't the response he'd been expecting, "Come on, you're not fooling me at all, I saw the way you were looking at her by the end."
"Hmph," Tel grunted irritatedly, "fine you were right, she's pretty cool, maybe a bit soft but I wouldn't mind hanging out with her occasionally."
Antero just kept laughing, "you're not convincing anyone, you've got it bad."
Afterwards as they dressed Tel commented to Antero, "I was quite impressed by how fast Taija Kosola seemed to be able to spin and manipulate her web. She must spend a lot of time practising."
Antero gave him an odd look, "why would you say that?"
"Well I assume she's not all that strong in the Power, right?" At Antero's blank look he tried to stop digging, hurriedly adding, "not that that's important of course, but I was just wondering. There's a certain… confidence? Arrogance? that most powerful aes sedai have, but not her. Also, I think she mentioned she'd come here on the bus and I've never seen her at the Hall of Servants…"
He trailed off as Antero burst out laughing. "Oh you poor fool."
"What?!"
"I'm tempted to just leave you to put your foot in it and see what happens, but I'll give you this one for free. Taija's a total sweetheart yes, but she's probably the most powerful channeler in this city. Top two or three definitely. Who did you think was going to make the gateway for us to go home tomorrow? We all know you'll be gone far too early for me and Saela!"
"Ah."
"Yep, so maybe be careful what you say to her. She's normally pretty chilled." He thought for a second, "actually, weirdly so when it comes to channeling, you're right, she doesn't act like most strong aes sedai. She really is a bit of an oddball at times," he added affectionately, "but I daresay she might be able to give even the great Tel Janin a nasty shock if she put her mind to it."
=====
After changing, all four of them went out for dinner and drinks. Taija had looked at her watch a few times early on, but conversation flowed freely as did food and drink and Tel ended up deep in conversation with her.
She'd seemed fascinated by his life as a sportsman, asking all kinds of questions about it to the point that he started feeling like some kind of a test subject. At some point Antero and Saela had discretely disappeared, Tel couldn't put his finger on when. Normally he'd have been a bit annoyed at being left stuck with a random woman they were trying to set him up with, but this time he found he didn't mind.
Taija didn't seem to mind either and kept on with her interrogation.
"So you're telling me you're actually famous?" She tilted her head to the side and looked sceptically at him out the side of her eyes.
Tel groaned, "yes and honestly it's very overrated."
"So you're not just trying to impress me? Guys do that sometimes, but it doesn't work." Tel wasn't sure how drunk she actually was at this point. Actually he wasn't sure how drunk he was either.
"No! It's good that you're not impressed!"
"Oh so you're not trying to impress me then? Ouch!" Tel's groan of frustration was stifled by the sight of her amused grin.
As the drink flowed they found they had a mutual love of history, mutual affectionate frustration with Antero and a mutual dislike for some of the more staid elements of society.
But all too soon, the bar was closing and Taija was blearily looking at her watch before jolting upright. "Crap! I'm meant to be lecturing tomorrow morning. Fuck, this morning! I need to go!"
Before Tel could protest she was grabbing her bag and phone and climbing out from behind the table, a bit wobbly on her feet. He quickly stood too, panicking slightly, "wait, hold on!" He tried to think of something to say, "how are you going to get home?" That was rather less smooth than his normal game.
Goosebumps suddenly sprang up along his arms and legs and Taija's face slipped into an almost comical look of exaggerated focus before she slumped slightly. "No, I am waaay too drunk to Travel," she muttered to herself. Then she looked up at him and smiled, "don't worry I'll get a taxi, but I've really really got to go."
Tel found himself lost for words, sudden indecision hitting him in a way that it hadn't for the best part of a century, at least when it came to women. "Taija can I…" he started to say.
Taija cut him off by going onto tiptoes and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You're nice, once you lighten up. I like you," she muttered and then smiled before sticking her tongue out slightly in concentration, "here!"
A white paper napkin floated off the table and unfolded itself before a series of finely formed numbers seemed to burn into it. A pause and then a smiley face and a pair of Xs below it. Job done, Taija stopped focusing so much and the napkin floated into his hand. "Call me."
As Tel watched Taija's slim form disappear out the door he was impressed despite himself. He couldn't remember the last time a woman had left him so off balance and, he had to admit, her ability to perfectly burn her number into a paper napkin while completely off her face without setting half the restaurant on fire was kind of intriguing.
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That had been the first time the two of them had met, but obviously not the last.
Taija still fondly remembered how one night a couple of years later they'd been snugging on Tel's sofa and he'd pulled out the napkin with her number on it just to prove he'd kept it.
It had been a lovely evening of reminiscing about their first date, but the thing that still made her smile the most was when he'd asked her, "so that day, back when we first met, did you really have no idea who I was?"
Taija's musical laughter had filled the room, "don't be ridiculous Tel, of course I knew. Everyone knew who you were! I'm pretty sure there was a poster of you up in the postgrads' bar at the university. You were just so stern and full of yourself, I just couldn't let you have the satisfaction."
His annoyed grump had mixed in nicely with your giggles.
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The present day, in an abandoned farmhouse near Falme
Taija rolled over in her empty bed resisting the urge to reach for someone who wasn't there, who'd never be there again, and tried to force herself to fall asleep.