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[blue_ajah]

Her restlessness has been growing.

("In a sense, it feels as though almost all my life ahead of this day has become uncertain."

"Moiraine, you dwell in this place... a woman out of your own world and out of your time."

"My devotion to the mysteries of this world transcends any single law enforcement agency... it's my responsibility to go where I can do some good."

"I hope you find your answers, whatever they may be.")

Moiraine has her suspicions, if at present barely more than that, as to what the source of her growing unease may be, but as yet she cannot confirm them.

(And if she is to undertake what comes after if she is correct in this, then she must, she must be absolutely certain, without doubt or question.)

Thus it happens that the Aes Sedai may be found on this particular afternoon within the walls of Milliways, a gently-steaming pot of tea near at hand, and her attention focused on studying one of the books that Tom Riddle had so graciously retrieved for her some time ago.

There are not many here these days who would recognize the Karaethon Cycle for what it is, and perhaps fewer still who might grasp the significance of her interest in it now. Still, she makes no attempt to conceal what it is that she is reading.

Unusual, that.


[ooc: open until it scrolls.]

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[creator_raven]

There is thump to her left, and then a skinny man in a ragged black coat is tugging on her hair and looking at her book.

"Always there are for being threads, yes?"

Raven wrinkles his nose, the fingers of his free hand playing with the threads dangling from his sleeve.

"Possibly it is troublesome."

[blue_ajah]

"Many things might be considered troublesome," she returns, with perfect serenity.

A faint smile curves her lips as she glances up at him.

"Hello, Raven."

[creator_raven]

Raven laughs, head tilted back.

"Likely you are not for being the least of these. So."

It's like he's met her before.

[blue_ajah]

If anything, her smile grows, albeit slightly.

"Likely not," the Aes Sedai allows.

"How are matters with you this day, Raven?

[creator_raven]

Again he makes a face.

"It is not so boring, I do not think."

Not least because there are people for him to torment!

Er.

Teach.

Yes.

"There are always new stories, here and elsewhere, yes? So."

[blue_ajah]

"I am pleased to hear that you are not so very bored."

Laughter lurks in the dark eyes, although her tone remains equable.

"And yes, so long as the Wheel continues to turn, I believe there are."

[creator_raven]

Raven snorts, reaching out to tug at her hair again.

"You, I am thinking, are also not so very bored?"

She's got books, for one.

And Dale Cooper, for another.

Even if Cooper is not currently here.

[ostro_goth]

Teja may have seen this lady before, but never yet spoke to her in his over five years in Milliways.

But he knows she is one of those that have been here longer than he has, rare as those are.

"Greetings, lady," he says, as he passes her table.

[blue_ajah]

"Light illumine," she replies, her voice and her demeanor both bearing the calm of deep, still water.

"I do not believe that we are precisely acquainted yet, are we?"

[ostro_goth]

"No, lady," Teja says. "I have seen you in this place often; you were a familiar patron already, I believe, when I first arrived, over five years ago, which feels like a lifetime."

Pause.

"I am Teja, son of Tagila; I was the last king of the Ostrogoths in Italy and died in battle on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, in the year 552 of Christian reckoning. But in this place, I have become both less and more than that: I serve in Security, I run the forge, I am the human that the forge cats look to, and the betrothed of one Pyrrha, who is not always there, but even in my heart."

[blue_ajah]

"Five years in this place might well be a lifetime as time is reckoned elsewhere," she observes, then tilts her head slightly as she absorbs the rest of his introduction.

"May you shelter in Light in the palm of the Creator's hand," she replies, when he finishes. "Be welcome, even belatedly, unto Milliways, where it seems that you have already discovered how one may be changed by that which occurs in this place."

"I am Moiraine Aes Sedai, but you may call me Moiraine."

She waits, then, to see if either her name or title means anything to him.

[ostro_goth]

"Greetings, Lady Moraine," Teja says. "I do have heard your name in passing, as that of one that has been respected here for a long time. And indeed, I have been much changed here. I remember no time of peace and happiness that lasted as long, while I was alive, as it does for me in this place now."

[blue_ajah]

"Is it so?" she murmurs.

A subtle gesture of her hand clearly invites him to take a seat at her table, if he should so choose.

"I am pleased to hear that another has found this a place of peace and joy."

[52_dropoff]

"A tea drinker. I don't see that here much, even among the Brits." So says the man in the t-shirt and sweatpants.

[blue_ajah]

"It has long been a preference of mine," she replies, looking up at him.

"Is it so very unusual, then?"

[52_dropoff]

"Everyone prefers coffee. Caffeine. Which is not ideal." He can't remember the last time he had it, in fact.

[blue_ajah]

A hint of amusement dances in the dark eyes.

"I myself am acquainted with several people who are quite fond of coffee," she tells him. "I have tried it myself on occasion, but as it happens, I still prefer tea."

She indicates a seat at her table.

"Would you care to join me for a cup?"

[52_dropoff]

He sits. "What sort of tea is it?"

[blue_ajah]

"Ceylon black," she tells him, "with hints of spice and citrus; cinnamon and orange, I believe."

The Aes Sedai smiles.

"I have been visiting here for long enough that certain of my preferences are known, but upon occasion I allow the servers to offer a surprise."

[herald_to_be]

Ingress flits in every now and again to see Portico, Tom, and Door, even though she's quite busy with school in Haven. When she sees Moiraine, she simply has to stop. It's been a terribly long time since Ingress saw her last.

"Hello, Moiraine!"

[blue_ajah]

"Light illumine," she replies, and the smile that curves the Aes Sedai's lips is very warm.

"It has been quite some time, Ingress, has it not? It is good to see you."

[herald_to_be]

"It's been for

ev

er," she says, laughing.

Lots of times, she's noticed, grown ups she hasn't seen in a long time change when she sees them again. Not so with Moiraine.

"You're just the same as you were."

[blue_ajah]

"It is a characteristic of being Aes Sedai," Moiraine tells her. "The slowing."

She tilts her head, studying the young woman, and indicates her gray clothing with the graceful wave of one hand.

"I have not seen you attired like this before."

[herald_to_be]

"Sort of like the Underside," she says with a nod. Aging happens slowly there, too, or quickly. It depends.

"These are my school clothes. I'm at the Herald's Collegium in Haven now."

[blue_ajah]

"Are you, indeed?"

Moiraine smiles at some memory.

"And are you enjoying it?"