Strange But Pleasant

Writers: AL, Kaysea
Date Posted: 2nd May 2008

Characters: Fog, Eliste
Description: Fog visits Eliste and she reveals her real name.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 9, day 27 of Turn 4

Thanks to Jardon, the wheelchair had been cleaned and Eliste had discovered a way to get out of her confined room. She had brought work with her, and it was so much nicer to be out in the sun rather than stuck inside. She was bundled up, her cloak around her, another quilt wrapped over her legs. The healer had said she could sit up for a while outside as long as she didn't stress herself. It was important, he said, to stay away from stress as that could cause contractions. To be honest, Eliste felt _less_ stressed once she was able to go outside.

"Care for a visitor?" Fog asked, rounding the side of the building and spying Ellina just where the healer said she could be found. He carried a small basket that contained bubbly pies and sweetmeats that Neke had been cooking that morning on the boat.

Eliste jerked a bit, startled by the sound of a voice that she wasn't expecting. She turned to see Fog and she smiled gently at him. "Hello Fog." She quickly tucked the miniature quilt she was binding beneath the one upon her lap. She didn't want him seeing it until she was finished. "What brought you here?"

"I came to see how you were doing..." he smiled softly, edging nearer, "... and Neke sent these for you." he glanced around the small garden area, "You haven't any other visitors?" he asked curiously.

"No." She'd had visitors, but not that particular day. "Vaheri came last time the boat docked and her son has come a couple of times.
You're the first today." She returned the smile with a small one of her own. "It's nice to see you. How have you been?"

"I'm fine, but more importantly - how are you?" he asked, setting the basket down by the side of her chair. "You're looking much better than the last time I saw you." he said, smiling softly.

"I am. I haven't had any contractions in the last few days." Eliste admitted softly. She let her gaze drop to her lap, her hands intertwining with one another. "It's strange though...being so limited."

"Strange in what way?" he asked, hunkering down next to her, before finally plonking himself down on the tufty ground beside her chair. "You're alright - aren't you?" he asked, his eyes clouding a little in concern.

"Yes." Eliste smiled gently. "I'm all right, just...it's hard not being able to get up and move freely. I'm not used to being confined to bed or chair." She fingered the quilt upon her lap that hid the small one she was finishing for him. She had only three quarters of a side to finish binding. She had wanted to wait to give it to him when she had finished, but she wondered if she should show it to him and then finish it while they talked. "Did Vaheri give your daughters their quilts?"

"What?" he was thinking on her words, and how much he had felt constricted after the accident, and almost missed her next words. "Oh, the quilts, yes. Yes, thank you." he smiled, "Tahna and Linli loved them. Apparently your work is exceptional - from the gasps of awe and pleasure from the pair. I'm sort of jealous. I missed out..." he gave her a silly pout, then grinned. "Thank you. It was very nice of you to do that for them."

Eliste flushed and looked down at her lap. She hadn't meant for him to see it until it was done, but surely she could show it to him. She could probably even finish it before he left, or perhaps by the afternoon and maybe he could come back to get it or someone could take it to him. She didn't want him to feel left out and felt bad that he had. She just hadn't finished it with the others. "I'm sorry, Fog."
She said softly, then pulled the miniature quilt from its hiding place. "I...I didn't mean to leave you out. I just...I just hadn't finished it yet."

She offered him the quilt. It was about the same size as the girls, not a useful thing, but something to decorate the walls. A river wound across the scene, a couple of trees flanking it. Their branches stretched up as if worshiping the sun, tiny knots making flowers on their branches In the back, Mountains stood tall and proud, surveying their land. In the sky, a gold and a bronze firelizard flew, dancing and, playing together. "This is for you."

"Oh Ellina!! I didn't mean...that wasn't a hint..." he flustered his words in embarrassment. He hadn't meant to coerce her into presenting him with one, but her work took his words away. He took hold of one end; his eyes travelling the length. He began to shake his head, "I..I couldn't. This could earn you many marks. Marks I think you'll need in the coming months." he said, his eyes glancing for a moment on her belly.

"I made it for you." She said softly, not meeting his gaze and picking at the quilt on her lap. "I...I still have to finish the binding, but it's almost done. I don't want it to earn marks, I want you to have it."

"Really?" he cocked his head to one side, considering her words. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why? But really he wasn't sure he wanted to know, not right now - not when she was in such a vulnerable state. "It could raise enough to last you a little while," he suggested, though the more he looked at the quilt, the more he wanted it for his own bunk onboard the boat.

"No. I made it with a purpose in mind, though I still need to finish it." Eliste had plenty of time to make other quilts. If she was on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy, she'd have a lot of quilts made and a decent amount of marks by the time the baby came. When that was all she did, she got a lot done in a day. "I can finish it today.
Could you...well, would you like to come back and get it? Or I could have someone bring it to you."

"I could come back and get it later today, if you're sure?" he asked, finally lifting his eyes from the quilt and meeting hers. He released the edge of the quilt, and pushed himself from the ground, "You do wonderful work."

Anytime she received praise, Eliste couldn't help but blush. She didn't quilt for praise, she quilted for the love of it and because she had wanted to give something back to those who had been so kind to her. "Are you going already?" Eliste asked shyly, turning the subject away from her skill as she saw him rise. She enjoyed Fog's company. She didn't feel like she had something to hide or that she had to be afraid. She didn't feel like he wanted something from her.
It set her at ease. "You could have something to eat before you do."

"No, I really should be getting back. We have a cargo to load this afternoon and Lineal'll be wondering where I am, if I'm not back soon."
he demurred, "I'm sorry this couldn't be a longer visit, but I also don't want to tire you. I _will_ be back this afternoon, and hopefully I'll stay for a little longer then, if you'd like some company?"

"That would be nice." Eliste smiled, her eyes meeting his instead of dropping away like they would normally. She was silent for a minute, then finally said softly, just barely audible. "Eliste."

"Eliste?" he glanced around, expecting to find someone else appearing behind him, but there was no one there. He turned back, "Who's Eliste?
he asked, wondering if he had missed something. He knuckled his head, something he hadn't done in a long time. Had he missed part of the conversation, had he lost concentration, he could feel a pain beginning behind his eyes.

"That's my name. My real name." Eliste explained, her smile faltering for a moment. "I...I didn't use my real name."

"What?" his brow creased in a furrow of confusion for a moment more, then began to smooth as everything became a little clearer. "Can I ask why?" he said quietly, moving closer to her again.

Eliste lowered her gaze and stared at her hands. She wasn't sure if she could go through the whole story, but she supposed she owed him that. He had been the one to let her on to the boat, just as Vaheri had been the one to let her stay. "I was afraid my husband might come looking for me and...I didn't want him to ask about me and be told I was on board."

"You left him." it wasn't a question just a statement. He had seen women like Eliste before, onboard the Sungazer. Vaheri had helped many escape from bad situations, it wasn't spoken about onboard, but he was sure he wasn't the only one who knew what happened. "Does he know," his eyes glanced at her belly for a moment, "about the baby?"

"Yes, I left him." Eliste lifted a hand and rubbed her eyes. "And no, he doesn't know about the baby." She let her hand drop and looked back to Fog. "He never will. My situation was...difficult." She hadn't expected to reveal so much to him, but she couldn't lie to him either.
She supposed she should have known that he would ask questions when she told him, but to be honest, she hadn't planned on revealing her real name. It had been an impulse, one that had come upon her in the spur of the moment and she felt that she could trust him with the information.

Her words raised concern in him, would she be alright here on her own, he wondered. "Will, er, I mean - do you think he will come looking for you?" he asked, concern in his every word now. She didn't need to give details of her life, it should have been obvious to them all, the life she had left behind.

"He will probably look for me." Eliste's lips tugged upward into a humourless smile. "But I'm hoping he'll think I've taken up with a dragonrider. Had I not been pregnant, that would probably have been the way I would have left." But it wasn't, and the riverboat was nothing she had even considered using until the idea of leaving had been presented. Helvar wasn't a very imaginative man, so she hoped the idea wouldn't come to him. She paused a moment, then added. "I trust you Fog, and you, Vaheri, the others. You've all helped me, a stranger who just showed up without anything to offer. I trust you."

"Vaheri is the one you have to thank. You're not the first and you won't be the last, I'm sure." he said with a small smile. "But I'm worried," he continued, "if he does think to follow you, who should we be looking out for?" The chances of her husband coming by riverboat were good, if he thought did bring him this way.

"His name is Helvar. Vaheri knows - I've told her the entire story."
It had taken every ounce of control she had not to break down when she had told the woman. She didn't know if she would have that kind of strength again.

"What does he look like?" Fog asked, before he left today he would be having a word with the small holder to alert him to be on the watch for this _Helvar_ just to be safe if he did think to follow Eliste this way.

"He's of average height, average weight." Eliste's lips twisted as she added, "He's stronger than he looks. Blonde hair, blue eyes. He has a scar on his upper lip." She had no idea how he had gotten the scar, for she had never felt secure enough around him to ask. "To be honest...I hadn't planned to stay so close to the hold. I had planned to go a lot further." Funny how plans changed.

"It's alright, we'll be alert for him; I'll speak to the holder and the healers, then they'll all be on the look out for him too, if any strangers show up." he assured her. "You just need to take care of yourself, and don't overdo things." he spoke firmly but with care, as he met her eyes.

Eliste's smile turned a bit more genuine and she nodded. "Thank you, Fog. It's...it's been nice to have so many people to look out for me."

"A woman should always have someone looking out for her, and now you'll have a whole Hold and riverboat." he smiled softly.

Eliste looked down, though the smile still played upon her lips. "Yes.
Yes I do." It was strange, still, to think that so many people cared about her enough to protect her. Strange, but pleasant.

Last updated on the May 5th 2008

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Strange But Pleasant