#Selene got grumpy and ruined the fun of the wizard npcs and 'Arry

[aquadestinyswriting]

Old writing snippet-ish

I was looking though my notes folder for something to inspire me and came across this scene I had originally written for Nano 2017. Naturally, I want to re-write this at some stage, but I thought the taglist might appreciate some of my early attempts at Edwin/Selene angst

Taglist: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes, @mariahwritesstuff, @ashirisu, @thesorcerersapprentice, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch, @lexiklecksi

Edwin frowned as he knocked on the door to Selene’s office, unsure of what to expect after Chrackle’s sudden and unexpected appearance in his bedchambers. While the cleric was no arcanist, he knew the magpie well enough to know that something was wrong for him to wake the Galanite up at this ungodly hour. The frown deepened when he received no response from the other side. He rapped more firmly on the door,

“Selene, is everything ok in there?” he called, “Chrackle was pretty insistent that I follow him all the way up here.” The cleric waited with bated breath as he heard a groan, a shuffle then, finally,  a soft click as the door he stood in front of was unlocked. Edwin gingerly took the handle and pushed the door open, peeking nervously into his old friend’s office. The room was dimly lit, but Edwin could make out the piles of books and scrolls scattered on top of the various tables around the room, but he paid them no mind as his gaze settled on the Grand Wizard. Selene was sitting at her desk, her head buried in her arms, glasses perched on top of her unruly mane of hair. She looked up with an unreadable expression as Edwin closed the door behind him, cast her gaze to her familiar, who was still sitting on the man’s shoulder, and glared at him. Edwin winced as Chrackle squawked indignantly in his ear, ruffled his feathers and took off to land on a hat stand that had been placed behind the door, keeping his back to his mistress. Edwin tentatively looked between Wizard and Familiar for a moment, noting with a great deal of worry how exhausted Selene looked at that moment. Selene sighed irritably, finally pushing herself into a more upright position,

“I’m sorry for the disturbance Edwin, Chrackle should know better than to go disturbing other peoples’ rest over nothing.” Edwin shrugged and walked over to the desk, freeing his arms from his cloak,

“It’s no trouble Selene. He seemed fairly worried and I believed it best to come by and make sure nothing was amiss.” Selene shook her head and rubbed at her eyes,

“Everything is fine, Edwin.” she retorted, “The feather-brained git is clearly going through a ‘mothering’ stage.” she muttered. Edwin crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby table, narrowing his eyes a little,

“I think I can see why. When was the last time you slept?” Selene glanced at the cleric, her own eyes narrowing a little as she perched her glasses back on her nose again,

“I really don’t think…” Edwin merely raised an accusatory eyebrow, causing the woman to trail off and look at the floor. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Edwin sighed and gestured to the chairs by the fireplace,

“I’ll get us some tea, and then we can talk about what’s on your mind.” he said firmly. Selene grumbled slightly, but nodded and pointed to a door off to one side of the massive room,

“There’s a small kitchenette through there, I should have some tea knocking about in there somewhere… at least I think it’s tea, it’s been a while since I last checked.” Edwin bit back the urge to ask what else might be in the larder, it was probably best he didn’t know. He cast another, somewhat worried look around the room, noting how… higgledy-piggeldy everything looked. He had visited the Library since arriving and it was completely immaculate; this was anything but. 

While Edwin busied himself with making the tea, Selene grudgingly collapsed into the wingback chair closest to the fire and ran a hand through her hair,

~If you were better at accepting help in the first place -~

~Oh do shut up you insufferable creature! I already told you I don’t need help.~

~Sure you don’t. It’s totally normal to not sleep for three nights straight and blow up at the junior wizards having a bit of fun before the New Year holiday.~

~I really should have picked a familiar that didn’t know what sarcasm was. At least then I wouldn’t need to put up with snarky attitudes.~

~My attitude is fun, carefree and loves to take long flights around the Garden of Galana thank you very much!~

~I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. It’s just… Of all the people to go and wake up in the middle of the night, why Edwin?~

~He’s the only one you’ll listen to.~

~*~

“I can’t help you if you keep pushing me away Selene!” Edwin snapped, his patience finally wearing thin, “What in all the hells are you so afraid of?” That seemed to finally get the woman’s attention as the wizard spun around to glare at him,

“I am not afraid, Edwin.” she hissed, “I just fail to see how any of this is any of your damned business!” Selene hugged her arm and turned back to the window and sighed, “Look just... go back to the Garden… please.” Edwin’s glare lifted as he watched his old friend continue to close him out, “Jij heimsk kvinde…” he sighed, “This whole situation is my business, Selene. It’s kind of in the job description to listen and advise, even when the people in question don’t want to hear it.” he said. He watched Selene’s expression from the reflection in the window. The wizard’s jaw twitched slightly, it seemed Edwin had struck a nerve. Seizing the opportunity, he pressed on, “Besides which, you are afraid, you just don’t want to admit it.”