Lt. Ryden Sylvax - Places DO have their own scent.
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Ryden Kel
Jul 22, 2026, 2:25:45 PM (2 days ago) Jul 22
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(Ashalla District – StarBase 118))
Ysatch: Wow, that's ... ::pause for a moment:: .. thank you! I had been nervous that it was perhaps the wrong thing to say.
Ryden's smile lingered, soft and unhurried.
As they stepped beneath the canopy of trees, Ryden slowed slightly. His hand moved between them, and after the briefest hesitation, he offered it to Tori, palm open.
It wasn't an assumption. It wasn't a question that needed an answer. Just an invitation.
Sylvax: I'm glad you're here.
Ysatch: ?
His smile lingered as he waited, content simply to walk beside him... whether with their hands together or not.
End of Scene for Ryden
Ysatch: Wow, that's ... ::pause for a moment:: .. thank you! I had been nervous that it was perhaps the wrong thing to say.
Ryden's smile lingered, soft and unhurried.
The words settled over Ryden more heavily than he expected.
He'd meant the comment simply as an observation... that Tori had given him a new way to think about the smell of home. He hadn't realized Tori had been carrying the uncertainty of whether he'd said the right thing all this time.
It struck Ryden how often that seemed to happen. Tori would say something impulsively, immediately begin second-guessing himself, and then brace for the possibility that he'd somehow spoiled the moment. Yet the things he worried most about were often the very things Ryden found the most endearing. The enthusiasm. The curiosity. The willingness to say exactly what he was thinking before polishing it into something safer.
Ryden hoped Tori would eventually believe what he had already begun to suspect. That Tori didn't need to edit himself quite so much around him.
Sylvax: I'm glad you said it. ::A beat.:: I don't think I would've come up with that description in a hundred years... and now I don't think I'll ever forget it.
Ysatch: I worry about that sort of thing a lot; saying the wrong thing. Not anything offensive just ... y'know ... I know I'm a lot and I worry about getting on people's nerves. ::pause:: But I don't worry about it quite so much when I'm around you.
Ryden slowed almost imperceptibly. Not enough to stop their walk. Just enough to let the moment catch up with them. There it was again... that familiar instinct to apologize for taking up space.
He knew it well. Perhaps not in exactly the same way, but well enough.
Ysatch: ::walking again, at a slightly faster pace:: So how about this garden of yours? We take any longer and they'll have started the autumn weather cycle.
Ryden laughed, the sound light and unforced. He recognized the shift immediately. Tori wasn't pulling away. He was simply doing what he always seemed to do after letting someone see a little more of himself than he'd intended.
Ryden was content to let him.
Falling back into step beside him, he gestured farther down the promenade where a winding stone path disappeared beneath flowering trees and softly glowing lanterns.
Sylvax: Ah... changing the subject already?
Ysatch:?
A playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Sylvax: Come on. It's this way.
They continued side by side, the sounds of the district growing quieter with every step.
Ysatch:?
Sylvax: Though... if we've managed to miss summer entirely, I'm filing a formal complaint with the horticultural department.
A beat.
Sylvax: I was rather hoping to impress you.
Ysatch:?
The path curved gently ahead, and beyond it the garden began to reveal itself.
The station's ambient lights gave way to softer illumination tucked discreetly among the trees. Water could be heard somewhere in the distance, its quiet rhythm threading through the evening air. The scent of flowering vines drifted on the breeze, subtle enough that Ryden found himself noticing it almost instinctively now.
He smiled to himself. Tori had been right. Places did have their own scent. And somehow, this evening already did too.
Without thinking, Ryden glanced toward the Bajoran walking beside him.
Sylvax: You know... ::He hesitated only because he wanted to get it right.:: I'm glad you asked me to coffee.
The admission came simply. Without flourish. Without trying to make it into anything more than what it was: an honest moment between two people who had spent the evening learning each other a little better.
He'd meant the comment simply as an observation... that Tori had given him a new way to think about the smell of home. He hadn't realized Tori had been carrying the uncertainty of whether he'd said the right thing all this time.
It struck Ryden how often that seemed to happen. Tori would say something impulsively, immediately begin second-guessing himself, and then brace for the possibility that he'd somehow spoiled the moment. Yet the things he worried most about were often the very things Ryden found the most endearing. The enthusiasm. The curiosity. The willingness to say exactly what he was thinking before polishing it into something safer.
Ryden hoped Tori would eventually believe what he had already begun to suspect. That Tori didn't need to edit himself quite so much around him.
Sylvax: I'm glad you said it. ::A beat.:: I don't think I would've come up with that description in a hundred years... and now I don't think I'll ever forget it.
Ysatch: I worry about that sort of thing a lot; saying the wrong thing. Not anything offensive just ... y'know ... I know I'm a lot and I worry about getting on people's nerves. ::pause:: But I don't worry about it quite so much when I'm around you.
Ryden slowed almost imperceptibly. Not enough to stop their walk. Just enough to let the moment catch up with them. There it was again... that familiar instinct to apologize for taking up space.
He knew it well. Perhaps not in exactly the same way, but well enough.
Sylvax: Tori... I don't think you're "a lot." ::He smiled as they walked.:: I think you're curious. Enthusiastic. You notice things most people miss. I also think you spend far too much energy worrying you've said the wrong thing when, more often than not, it's exactly the right thing. ::A beat.:: For what it's worth... I don't think tonight would've been nearly as enjoyable if you'd talked any less.
Quite the opposite, though he left those words unspoken.
Ryden glanced over at him, a small smile lingering.
And perhaps it was the way the lantern light caught the edges of his features, or the way he became so animated whenever he found something he cared about, but Ryden found himself noticing something else.
Tori was handsome.
Not just in the obvious way. Though, admittedly, there was that too. There was something about the way he moved through the world... openly, earnestly, with a curiosity he hadn't learned to hide... that made him difficult not to look at.
Ryden let the thought pass without saying it aloud. Some observations were better appreciated before they were spoken.
Ryden smiled to himself. He'd apparently found the upper limit of how much open sincerity Tori could comfortably absorb in one evening. The quiet warmth between them hadn't disappeared; it had simply transformed back into motion, the restless energy returning like a familiar friend.Ysatch: ::walking again, at a slightly faster pace:: So how about this garden of yours? We take any longer and they'll have started the autumn weather cycle.
Ryden laughed, the sound light and unforced. He recognized the shift immediately. Tori wasn't pulling away. He was simply doing what he always seemed to do after letting someone see a little more of himself than he'd intended.
Ryden was content to let him.
Falling back into step beside him, he gestured farther down the promenade where a winding stone path disappeared beneath flowering trees and softly glowing lanterns.
Sylvax: Ah... changing the subject already?
Ysatch:?
A playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Sylvax: Come on. It's this way.
They continued side by side, the sounds of the district growing quieter with every step.
Ysatch:?
Sylvax: Though... if we've managed to miss summer entirely, I'm filing a formal complaint with the horticultural department.
A beat.
Sylvax: I was rather hoping to impress you.
Ysatch:?
The path curved gently ahead, and beyond it the garden began to reveal itself.
The station's ambient lights gave way to softer illumination tucked discreetly among the trees. Water could be heard somewhere in the distance, its quiet rhythm threading through the evening air. The scent of flowering vines drifted on the breeze, subtle enough that Ryden found himself noticing it almost instinctively now.
He smiled to himself. Tori had been right. Places did have their own scent. And somehow, this evening already did too.
Without thinking, Ryden glanced toward the Bajoran walking beside him.
Sylvax: You know... ::He hesitated only because he wanted to get it right.:: I'm glad you asked me to coffee.
The admission came simply. Without flourish. Without trying to make it into anything more than what it was: an honest moment between two people who had spent the evening learning each other a little better.
Ysatch: ?
As they stepped beneath the canopy of trees, Ryden slowed slightly. His hand moved between them, and after the briefest hesitation, he offered it to Tori, palm open.
It wasn't an assumption. It wasn't a question that needed an answer. Just an invitation.
Sylvax: I'm glad you're here.
Ysatch: ?
His smile lingered as he waited, content simply to walk beside him... whether with their hands together or not.
End of Scene for Ryden
((OOC: Thank you for this scene! I have absolutely loved it and I am so excited to see what happens with Ryden and Tori in the future.))
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