A Quiet Contemplation

Rhace Tarrin

A Contemplative Quiet

Today, the SS Endeavor was visiting… somewhere foreign. At this point in time, the airship was now halfway through its cruise mode and was currently situated somewhere over the ocean, where its crew could experience a little down time and relax as they were travelling through international waters. While there were certainly things that could hurt them here, there was far less chance of experiencing trouble.

Which meant that the guild’s operatives were free to go and undertake leisurely pursuits in the middle of the day. It was a rather pleasant change, particularly for Rhace; he’d gone through his usual morning routine of go and visit with Lethe for standard morning training, consult with Cass and Cord to make sure he wasn’t about to do anything stupid (good news: not this time), and then proceed to do something else for the day. Typically this was about when he’d elect to leave the confines of the gigantic arboreal cruiser, though today there didn’t seem to be much point in doing so, especially when the only thing to see was the ever-expansive stretch of ocean that spanned as far as the eye could see. It was just… blue. A pretty blue, to be sure, but blue.

Instead, Rhace had elected to visit the ship’s library, and spend his downtime reading. Under normal circumstances Rhace would have saved his reading for bedtime– his chosen method of winding down– but this was an exceptional circumstance. Boredom was absolutely an exceptional circumstance.

In an effort to keep himself occupied for a number of hours, he’d taken the time to brew an entire pot of black tea. Sure, there was going to be milk and sugar involved, but that could be added as he went. Instead he’d elected to bring the entire set down, have tea as he read, and then spend the time he was putting forth into reading a nice book actually feeling relaxed for once. The girls would have been proud: the stick was very much not present in places it should not have been.

The library was typically a quiet place, with the guild members respecting its sanctity; the librarian, a quiet woman who liked to run a tight ship, pun intended, could be found fussing over a small returns pile that she was preparing to have put back where they all belonged for the morning. As Rhace entered with a tray laden with a full tea set, she shot him a disapproving glance, though said nothing as he set the contents of his load down on an empty table and went off to find a good book.

Now where to start? Fiction or non-fiction? Fiction, of course. Mindless content to keep the brain mildly active instead of studying. This was relax time, not progress time. And, of course, to pick a random yet well-known author who could string more than two sentences together…

After five full minutes of deliberating, Rhace settled on a science fiction novel. In some cases, what he read– what he lived– felt more like science fact, particularly when this airship was in fact space-capable. However, book in hand and well-selected, Rhace resumed his seat in front of his tea set, poured himself a cup of tea– white, no sugar– and entered the fugue state of relaxed reading that allowed him to switch off from his perennially alert state and simply enjoy life.

Rhace Tarrin

A Contemplative Quiet

By the time Rhace was about two chapters deep in this book, he was rather well lost in the content that he was reading. Science fiction was always going to be one of his favourite things to read; the fact that people could write about weird and wonderful things that challenged the status quo of technology and the collective knowledge of the world was such an amazing thing, something that came with no upper boundaries to what was possible in the fantastic worlds that were created. Truly, there were few greater things. Besides, normal high fantasy was boring. Really, he could have lived that one out himself if he actually wanted to, so it seemed a little more droll.

Instead, there was a moment about a page into the third chapter where he noticed the presence of someone else entering the library. By all accounts, most hands were on duty for the day and this person moved with a purpose; they were probably another operative using their down time for the same reason he was. Which made sense - there was little to do over the ocean, meaning that there was an absolute need to fill in time somehow when you were bored out of your skull with only so many places to go. Rhace himself could attest to how much the boredom ate away at your soul until there was nothing left to do.

However, if it was another operative, then he felt the need to be polite and extend them the courtesies of sharing his tea. It was the polite thing to do, and by all accounts he wasn’t going to be a terrible host. Host? No, that wasn’t the right word. It was better to just be a decent person instead. So, the book was placed back down on the table, and the tea tray scooped up from its resting spot - and Rhace went right over to Aliannah, without hesitation.

A cursory glance at the nook told Rhace most of what he needed to know; this was certainly not library standard, and definitely customised to taste. He wasn’t sure what the librarian thought, but the fact that it was still here was sufficient evidence that its presence was tolerated. However, the young blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman in question stared out the ship’s viewport and out onto the deep blue beyond its glass facade.

”Hey. Sorry to interrupt,” Rhace began, then extended the tray in his hands with a sheepish smile. ”Tea?”

A peace offering. Mostly just to be a good neighbour.

Yeah, that was the right word for it.