He's Wonderful

Writers: Ames, Eimi
Date Posted: 13th May 2013

Characters: Elmaldi, Ilvae
Description: Elmaldi talks with her friend and reveals more of her feelings for the Master Harper
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 13, day 25 of Turn 6

"Oh my!" Elmaldi stated as she entered the small room. "You'll never
guess what news I have to tell you!" She hurried over to her friend.

"What?" Ilvae asked as she used her finger to blur the line she had just
drawn. Shading was not her strong point, and her Master had assigned
her extra practice. It was quite frustrating.

"Master Grayvor, well you know is retiring. Well, he's just told me
that Master Vestian will be taking over my training, _personally_."
Elmaldi declared this with excitement. Her eyes were shining bright
and she was eager to share her news. "Can you believe it? Vestian! My
Master!
She declared the last in a rather dreamy voice.

"Huh," was her friend's unimpressed reply. Such news was hardly
amazing. They had all known that Master Grayvor would be retiring. It
only made sense that his apprentices would be assigned elsewhere. Ilvae
was more concerned why her shading had turned out so dark. Surely that
wasn't right!

"Ilvae!" Elmaldi huffed, realizing her friend _wasn't_ getting it. She
moved over and grabbed her arm. "You don't get it. Master _Vestian_
will be my tutor. Vestian! You know like the most amazing artist I've
ever known! He'll be working with _me_, helping _me_. He's so amazing,
isn't he?" She sighed again, picturing his face, his hands, the way it
felt when his hand was over hers, guiding her to mix the paints. That
thought sent a shiver down her spine.

Well, now it was ruined, Ilvae thought with a slight frown after the
shake had caused her to draw a line straight across the page. Oh well,
it wasn't turning out right anyway. Setting her paper and charcoal
aside, she turned her body to look at Elmaldi. Obviously, she was going
to get no peace as long as she was in this state of excitement.
"Elmaldi, what are you getting so excited about? He's just one of the
Masters. He'll probably have tons of students now."

"You don't understand," She gripped her friend's hand now that it was
free. "He _doesn't_ have many students at all. In fact, I think I'm
his _only_ one. I'm going to be working closely with him on lots of
projects as he tutors me. I'll even get to go with him on some of his
assignments from time to time." Her eyes open wide, she squeezed
Ilvae's hand. "Ilvae, you _know_ that it was _his_ art that inspired
me. Now I get to work with the _man_ himself, and let me tell you he's
quite a man!"

"Ok, Elmaldi, that's my drawing hand," Ilvae said, looking down at the
fingers that were now turning purple under her excited grip. "You're
talking about a new teacher, not a new boyfriend."

She let go of her friend's hand, but didn't stop her persistence.
"He's my teacher, yes, but he's wonderful. You don't get it because
you're not working with him." Elmaldi couldn't help but dwell on that
last statement. He _wasn't_ her boyfriend, but boy would she love to
have a man like Vestian in _her_ life. He was so much more mature than
the boys her own age. He was so talented, so kind. "He's better than a
boyfriend, Ilvae."

"_Better_ than a boyfriend, Elmaldi?" her friend asked incredulously.
Obviously she could only say that because she had never had one before!

"Yes!" She declared with emphasis. "In fact if I had a dream man,
Vestian would be _it_!"

"Ok, what is so sharding great about this man?" Ilvae just wasn't
seeing it! "Yeah, he's not bad looking, but he's old. He could be our
father for Faranth's sake!"

Elmaldi heaved a frustrated sigh. "You just don't get it! The boys our
age are so silly and goofy and haven't even figured out what they want
from life. Men like Vestian already know who they are and what they
want from life! He's so mature and driven. Age is just a number
anyway!" She knew it was silly, but now that Ilvae had challenged her,
Elmaldi felt it necessary to defend Vestian. As she spoke she realized
her words rang truer for her than she ever realized. She _was_
attracted to Vestian. It was the first real attraction of her life. It
was an exhilarating feeling that she'd only ever felt when she was
creating some of her best work.

Ilvae still didn't see how that was all that bad. "Do _you_ know what
you want from life?"

"Yes!" She declared, " I want to be an artist!" Elmaldi looked at her
friend seriously, then she couldn't help but start to chuckle. The
chuckle turned into a laugh until she was ready to roll on the floor
itself in her amusement. "It really did all sound silly didn't it?"
She asked when she could catch her breath. "I _am_ excited though. I
have always loved his work." She knew she had to lighten the
situation, and it was clear that Ilvae wasn't going to get what she
was getting at. Still, a seed had been planted in Elmaldi's thoughts.
There _was_ truth to all the words shed spoken to her friend, whether
Ilvae understood it or believe it, didn't matter. Elmaldi did. Her
life would change with Vestian as her master.

Last updated on the May 31st 2013

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

He's Wonderful