A voice broke his concentration and the bard jerked sharply, both books falling from his lap as his fingers reflexively flickered in a complicated sign— then promptly stilled as the older power failed to rise to his call yet again. It didn’t help that the ‘intruder’ in question had made no hostile move whatsoever, giving him only courtesy that left Jigano feeling unusually embarrassed and caught out. He cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his dignity, giving the newcomer as gracious a nod as he could muster in welcome.
”Ah, no, not at all. This place is open to all, as far as I’ve been able to determine. And you aren’t disturbing me, or at least it’s my own fault for not paying better attention.” He grimaced ruefully, shoulders lifting in a shrug. He bent to retrieve his dropped books and the pencil, pale hair falling forward and nearly brushing the fiery blossom of one of the plants before he sat up again, straightening his clothing and offering the woman a proper smile. He flipped one of the books back to the page he’d been poring over, setting it down beside him on the rock and gesturing to it in invitation for her to come closer.
”As to your question, well, I’ve been trying to determine that as well. I came across these this morning, though I would swear they weren’t here a few days ago when I first came through here. I borrowed this herbal from the Atheneum but…” He shrugged again, tapping the illustration on the page and the oddly curling markings of text around it. ”I think I’ve deciphered ‘earth’ and ‘fire’ and a few other words, but I haven’t quite puzzled out the whole script yet so the proper name eludes me, much less a proper translation.” His smile turned a touch wry as he glanced back at the flowers, as exasperated by his inability to learn more about them from the book as he was delighted by the challenge. ”For now, I’ve just been calling them “volcanettes” because, well, the colors and appearance and…” he trailed off sheepishly as his tongue ran away from him. Self-conscious at his babbling he cleared his throat again and folded his hands firmly together to stop their flustered movements. ”I don’t suppose you’ve seen anything similar before?”
”Ah, no, not at all. This place is open to all, as far as I’ve been able to determine. And you aren’t disturbing me, or at least it’s my own fault for not paying better attention.” He grimaced ruefully, shoulders lifting in a shrug. He bent to retrieve his dropped books and the pencil, pale hair falling forward and nearly brushing the fiery blossom of one of the plants before he sat up again, straightening his clothing and offering the woman a proper smile. He flipped one of the books back to the page he’d been poring over, setting it down beside him on the rock and gesturing to it in invitation for her to come closer.
”As to your question, well, I’ve been trying to determine that as well. I came across these this morning, though I would swear they weren’t here a few days ago when I first came through here. I borrowed this herbal from the Atheneum but…” He shrugged again, tapping the illustration on the page and the oddly curling markings of text around it. ”I think I’ve deciphered ‘earth’ and ‘fire’ and a few other words, but I haven’t quite puzzled out the whole script yet so the proper name eludes me, much less a proper translation.” His smile turned a touch wry as he glanced back at the flowers, as exasperated by his inability to learn more about them from the book as he was delighted by the challenge. ”For now, I’ve just been calling them “volcanettes” because, well, the colors and appearance and…” he trailed off sheepishly as his tongue ran away from him. Self-conscious at his babbling he cleared his throat again and folded his hands firmly together to stop their flustered movements. ”I don’t suppose you’ve seen anything similar before?”
