Kasim is sitting on a bench near the river, smiling softly. His silver harp is in his hands, and he plays a merry tune.

Appearing to be somewhat inebriated, Talill stumbles through the park, his clothing rumpled and his hair in wild disarray. Upon closer inspection, one would notice a bags under his eyes and a bit of red in their whites. Talill grips a staff loosely in his left hand, and with each step, he seems almost ready to tumble over, his walking-stick like weapon propping him up when such stumbles happen. (Talill)

The figure of what might be Fayth appears just on the edge of the clearing. Her hair is pulled back into a severe bun, and her face is utterly expressionless. She bends to examine a something on the ground a bit more closely, and doesn't seem to notice anyone other than herself. Apparently dissatisfied with her findings, she takes a few steps closer to the clearing, her eyes still scanning the ground. (Fayth)

Kasim hears twigs cracking behind him, but doesn't bother to turn around, assuming it's just some trainee or other unimportant person that Kasim shouldn't care about. His hands move up and down the strings not too quickly, but not too slowly (think Greensleeves), creating a tune that is intoxicating and cheerful in itself.

Talill looks around, as if startled, at the sound of Kasim's music, and with an easy, rolling walk, except for several stumbles, and the way it isn't nearly a straight line, he approaches the younger man. He sniffs, and rubs at his nose, and says in a slurred voice, "Hi Kashim. Hooww are yshoo?"

Fayth starts when she hears the voice, and freezes much like a startled deer. She slowly lifts her head to stare in the direction of the bench and drops the small flower she had been holding. Very slowly she straightens up completely from her bent over position and takes a slow step backward, trying very hard to be quiet.

Kasim looks over his shoulder, chuckling slightly. "Light Illumine... Talill?" Answering his own question, he continues. "How does the day find you?" He continues to play, not yet noticing Fayth. He looks back out to the water, and lets out a contented sigh. "Light, the day is fine."

Talill blinks uncertainly, a sheepish grin coming to his face for no apparent reason. "Light Illlumint, Kashim." He lets out a drunken giggle, and says, "I found a way to get drinksh that aren't watereeed down at the innsh." He laughs again, the same drunken giggle. "The differensh is amazshing."

Closing her eyes and whispering something inaudible under her breath, Fayth's face once again becomes expressionless. Without opening her eyes, she starts to slowly walk away from the clearing, moving backward. She steps quite loudly on a twig before she's taken so much as two steps and her eyes flutter open to stare guiltily at the two men. (Fayth)

Kasim chuckles at Talill, opening his mouth as though to comment on the man's new revelation when he hears the crack. He whips his head around, one had going to the dagger at his hip. He freezes when he sees Fayth there, the music stopped, the harp on the bench. Kasim looks as though he's staring at a ghost, and fumbles stupidly for words, managing, "Agh-uh" and "Fay..?"

Talill looks around in confusion, his mouth dropping open as he spots Fayth. His grin becomes even sillier, and he drops the staff in his hand to the ground, turning around and very gracelessly heading toward her. "Fayth? Ish that yoush? I mished you!" His eyes narrow, and he says, suspicious entering his voice, "Or ish it someone elsh?"

Fayth takes a reflexive step backward and raises her arms as if to defend herself. Realizing this, she crosses her arms instead, and schools her emotions, staring at the two men almost accusingly. "What are you two doing here? I'm not supposed to..." she stops, and watches Talill's graceless movements. "What is the matter with you?"

Kasim blinks, obviously a case of mistaken identity. "Er, my apologies for being forward, Accepted. I thought you were someone else." He stands and bows. Answering her question, he goes on, "I was just taking a break to dry off. Radnor knocked me into the lake earlier, and told me that I could take a brief rest before sparring again." He shrugs, leaving the drunk Talill to speak for himself.

Talill smiles happily, and moves forward, extending his arms and wrapping them around Fayth. "Shugar! I mished you so much!" He squeezes, and lays his head on her shoulder, his eyes closed. "I haven't sheen you for sho long!"

Fayth tenses and doesn't move as Talill puts his arms around her. Her eyes widen with fear? as he squeezes, though she says nothing. When he rests his head on her shoulder, she stares at it, and a twinge of pain crosses her face before she looks to Kasim. She shudders once, and then her face returns to the expressionless mask.

Kasim looks at her with an almost melancholy look, turning around to leave her to the drunk. He begins to play his harp again, the same song, though slower. Being as versatile as Greensleeves is, it easily goes from the perky tune to a sadder one, echoing off the trees and over the water, wavering and flucuating with the heat. A soft yawn escapes his lips.

Talill lets go, and his features seem saddened, gloomy even. "Ish something wrong, Fayth? You don't feel right, shomehow." He looks around, digging his feet into the ground and fidgeting. "Don't be mad at me!" He exclaims, before falling to the ground on his rump, sitting.

Looking at Kasim, Fayth sighs softly. "Good to see some things never change, Kasim." She inclines her head slightly, acknowledging the umm back of his head :P, then turns her attention to Talill. Staring at him with an almost disgusted look on her face, she raises an eyebrow. "What is wrong with you?" Her tone is cold and flat, harboring no emotion. "Are you drunk?" (Fayth)

Kasim stops playing, turning around to look at her. "Yes, dear Fayth, it seems that some things, people, *do* change." He sets the harp down and stands, feigning a soft smile again once more.

Talill nods sadly, and tears out a patch of grass with his hand, sheepishly looking at the ground. "What'sh wrong, Fayth? Do you hate me now?" He tears out some more grass, and looks up toward her. "Pleash don't hate me. I loff you."

Fayth narrows her eyes at Kasim, but doesn't quite respond. Instead she glares down at Talill. "You ARE drunk!" She shakes her head in disbelief. "I leave for a while and come to find you...you..." She sputters a moment longer, then sighs. Kneeling down in front of Talill, she moves to grab his chin (not exactly gently) trying to force him to look at her. "Light, Talill, I don't hate you. But you know you aren't supposed to be here. What if you get caught?"

Kasim sighs at being ignored, story of his life. He returns to his bench and resumes playing, Greensleeves again, though a bit faster and in a higher key, some semblance of being cheerful. He sits facing the two this time, however, watching quietly, looking with sympathy at Talill as da supa-bitch prepares to open fire.

Talill blinks, and stares down at the ground, his entire manner reminiscent of someone about to cry. "I'm sho shorry, Fayth. I..I..I." He hiccups, and goes on, "I couldn't take thish anymore, and sho I shnuck in. I couldn't find you, and sho I went, and, and, and." He stops suddenly. "You look pretty."

Fayth lifts her head and stares at Talill. "You need to sober up." She gently but firmly removes his head from her shoulder and starts to stand. "Go dunk your head in the river or something." Looking at the river herself, she bites her lower lip and turns away quickly (and coincidentally at Kasim :P). "It's been awhile."

Kasim nods and stops playing, looking at her. "Aye, it has. You disappeared on me for a bit." He frowns and stands up, pacing.

Talill frowns uncertainly as he is pushed off, and with a slow, resigned nod he stumbles first to his knees, then to his feet, beginning a slow, stumbling walk toward the pier. He reaches the end with little event, then stands there, looking down in the water and catching his own reflection. He steps forward, his feet cathing nothing but thin air, and falls down into the murky water, disappearing below its surface.

Eliana strides down the path towards the bank of the river, and just as she catches sight of the people she stops and takes a couple of steps back. She pushes back a stray strand of her short cropped black hair, and her eyes narrows as she quickly takes into account all there. Her eyebrow quirks up as she sees one of the men, fully clothed, jump into the river.

Never taking her eyes away from where she saw Talill fall into the river, Fayth nods. "Mmhmm. I...was busy. Chores and things. I apologize for not letting you know that I would be gone for so long. It...must have slipped my mind...is he going to come up?" She starts moving toward the river, quite concerned. (Fayth)

Kasim shrugs. "I understand. Priorities." He pays no attention to Talill underwater, knowing perfectly well there's ample time to drag his unconcious body out of the water before he drowns, if need be. He doesn't notice Eliana's entrance and continues to pace back and forth, as though in thought.

Talill pokes out of the water, his hair dripping with water, and looks around. He slowly slims toward the pier, and tries to hoist himself onto the pier, messing up horribly and instead falling into the water again. He tries again, succeeds, and lays down across the pier, breathing shallowly.

Eliana crouches down beside a shrubbery which borders the path towards the bank. Her nostrils flare as she takes a deep breath of the air. She licks her lips nervously, her golden gaze quietly observing the two men and the women in sight.

Fayth nods again, not really listening. Breathing an audible sigh of relief, she backs away from Talill and moves toward one of the benches. Raising an eyebrow at the pacing Kasim, she gestures to the bench. "Mind if I sit?"

Kasim narrows his eyes at her, a look of indignated surprise on his face. Murmuring, just on the edge of hearing, he says, "Sit wherever you wish, -milady-," with exaggeration on the last word. He begins to walk away, towards the docks.

Talill crawls forward a bit, a puddle of water gathering underneath him. He rises to his feet, and his eyes seem heavy now. He wobbles uncertainly, starts forward, and shakes his head, sending beads of river water flying all about him. "Ugh!" he exclaims.

Eliana gets an amused smile playing in the corners of her lips as she sees the interaction between the three. She shakes her head slightly as she shifts her weight from the balls of her feet to her heels.

Fayth does sit, despite Kasim's sarcasm. "Kas..." she starts to say, but stops herself. She sighs loudly and watches Talill struggle, struggling to keep her attempt at Aes Sedai serenity from slipping. Dismissing both boys completely, she stares at a nearby tree, apparently lost in thought.

Kasim stays a moment at hearing the beginning of his name, not so hard as to ignore her. He sighs and flexes his arm like he wants to punch something, but nothing is nearby, so he just sighs and lets his arm deflate, and plops to the ground right there, sighing.

Talill wanders down the pier, aimless and confused looking, droplets of water falling from the entirety of his body. Hair, clothes, face, and even water squishing out of his boots. He looks around, and catches sight of Eliana, giving her a friendly smile. "Hello there," he says, then suddenly frowns, clutching his head as he continues on toward Fayth.

Eliana's smile is quickly gone and she tries to slip back into the leaves as she is spotted. She mutters to herself, and if anyone could hear, the words would likely cause them to blush. She takes a deep breath, knowing she has been discovered and slowly stands.

Fayth jumps when she sees Eliana stand and leaps off the bench as if it had bitten her. "We were not talking, I was not idling, I..." she trails off, her eyes narrowing a little as she looks more closely. "Oh, you're not Lay..." She sits again, obviously relieved and a bit shaken. She offers a tentative smile and a quick wave before falling silent again.

Kasim looks over his shoulder at Fayth, eyeing her with much worry. He stands up and walks towards her, and kneels before her, trying to make eye contact. His voice isn't the gravelly one that she would remember, but softer, more musical. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Talill walks over to Fayth, appearing nervous and shaken, and taking shallow breaths, still clutching his head as if it is in great pain. "There. Jumped in the river for you... stop hurting me now. Please." He wipes a soggy wisp of hair from his brow, its normal bright, reddish color darkened by the water.

Eliana swallows dryly at Talill's words, her eyes widening. She quickly looks about, and a look of fear is strong in her eyes. She starts to slowly back down the trail, the two men at least now seemingly distracted by the woman.

Fayth stares from Kasim to Talill and back again, and all attempts at Aes Sedai serenity are forgotten as her eyes fill with pain and her face twists into an expression of anguish. She slowly reaches out one hand and places it gently on Kasim's cheek, and reaches the other out to touch Talill. "Light, how I have missed you both." Her eyes fill with tears, though they do not spill.

Kasim stands and pulls away, more hurt than consoled by her lack of an answer. "Tell me, dearheart, how you missed me when I 'slipped your mind?'" He seems somewhat hurt, and begins to walk away.

Talill closes his eyes, and lets out a small sigh. "Why did you act like that earlier? It made me feel horrible to be pushed away like that. I- I can't just be left alone, not after all that's happened." He grabs her hand that still lies on his cheek, and clasps it in both hands.

Eliana turns around and makes her way back down the path from where she came, leaving the threesome to themselves. Once quick glance behind her shoulder, she looks to see if she has gathered anymore attention.

Fayth drops the hand Kasim pulled away from, and her expression hardens again. "I was not given permission to speak with you, Kasim." She turns to Talill and adds "Or you." She sighs loudly. "At least at first. Then, well, then I just wanted to be by myself for awhile." She grunts. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

Kasim ignores Fayth and keeps walking, coincidentally the same direction that Eliana is trying to disappear down. Calling over his shoulder, he says, "If you feel like giving me a straight answer, I'll be around." He sighs and continues walking.

Talill lets out a breath of air, and clasps Fayth's hand in his more tightly, letting go of the grip and twining his fingers around her's. "I'd be angry with you, I think, if I didn't miss you so terribly." With water still dripping from his clothing, he makes a fairly laughable figure.

Eliana disappears down the path, the sound of her booted feet springing into run can be heard after a moment, fading fast as she distances herself from the banks. From several miles away, the faint howl of a wolf can be heard, in the same direction in which the faint sounds of running faded away.

Fayth glares after Kasim, biting back the sharp retort she had in store for him, and instead offers a retort of a different kind. "Of course. I wouldn't want you to have to make an effort to come looking for me. Goodness knows you have enough problems of your own." She turns to Talill. "And why, pray tell, would you be angry? There was nothing I could do. I was told to stay away from you and so I did."

Kasim sighs and continues walking on, the knives coming free from his hips. One goes flying off to his right, hitting in tree, causing the blade to cleanly snap in half. The other goes to his right, splashing in the water near the center of the river. Kasim walks on, heading back to town.

Talill sighs sadly, and lets go of Fayth's hand, turning around and closing his eyes. "You've changed. I don't think you're the woman I love anymore." Without further word, but a sad glance backward, he starts off, stumbling a couple times, and grabbing his staff as he goes.

Fayth stands abruptly and moves stiffly and jerkily to the river. She takes a few steps into the water, then sits on her bum, ignoring the water that is level with her chest. She stares dumbly at something only she can see, and says nothing.