The door of the library opened up briefly sending in a draft of cold air from the hall, as Morgan slipped into the library, and then closed with a soft thrump -- thankfully cutting the draft off as well. Though Morgan was trying to be quietly, but the steady drips from his rain soaked cloak and the slight squishing of his wet boots can be heard as he made his way to the fireplace -- which was blissfully pouring heat into the library. Heat that Morgan needed, as it would be a bit before his chambers were refreshed and the fire lit in his chambers.

As Morgan peeled off his cloak and hung it on cloak hook to dry, he noticed Gideon's lamplight. And asked, "Good Afternoon Lord Gideon, I was going to order up a tea service and some sandwiches did you want me to add something for you?"

Gideon looked up from his notes and gave Morgan an evaluating glance. After a second he nodded and looked back down at his notes and answered while writing. "If you are ordering some tea, Lord Morgan, I would be pleased to have some also. As for the food, I've already eaten, thank you." Gideon then wrote a last line or two, finding himself a spot to stop.

"Decent storm, eh?" Gideon asked, looking up.

"That is a way to describe it," Morgan replied as he pulled off his boots and set them to dry a little by the fire.

Then walked back over to the door carefully avoiding the splats of water he had made walking in. For a brief, moment he opened the door and murmured to the servant there for a tea service for two and a hot cheese sandwich from himself.

After Morgan closed the door, he walked back to the fireplace, commented as he did so to Gideon, "Tea ordered, should be here in a few minutes."

Then walked back over to the door carefully avoiding the splats of water he had made walking in. For a brief, moment he opened the door and murmured to the servant there for a tea service for two and a hot cheese sandwich from himself.

"Thanks." Gideon answered, watching the fire burn and sputter. "I watched the storm build up this morning. I went up on Kolvir, checking out Corwin's empty tomb. I could tell we were in for a good blow. A good day to stay inside and enjoy the comforts of civilization."

There was a quick look of surprise on Morgan face, and then he asked, "If I may ask, what prompted you to go up to Prince Corwin's tomb?"

Gideon shrugged. "Boredom and curiosity? I had a free morning and the will to act, nothing else required. It was worth the climb, though someone has littered the vault with broken wine bottles."

Tugging on his beard, Gideon asks, "You haven't gone out on a bender lately have you?"

"No I haven't, though I will make it a point to go up there the next time the weather is good, and clean it up. Thank you for letting me know," Morgan said, with polite care to hide his disgust that someone would do that to Corwin's tomb.

"Well, at least he's not in it to be offended." Gideon answered absently before opening his book again. Thunder crashed loudly, the sound shaking the building. He looked up at the nearest window as if to make sure it was still intact. Gideon went back to his reading, slowly thumbing through the yellowing pages.

Morgan was saved from a reply as the door to the library opened and a servant came in with the tea service and Morgan's hot lunch. He would settle down on a stool by the fire to eat his lunch quietly, leaving Gideon to read.

After the tea and food arrives, Gideon continued to read his book for a few minutes allowing Morgan time to settle into his sandwich. He closed his book again and rose to stretch his arms out and yawn. With a barely visible smile he walked over and poured himself a cup of tea. He carefully added a couple of cubes of sugar and stired them into his cup.

"You don't mind?" He asked, gesturing to a chair closer to Morgan and the fire.

Morgan smiled up at Gideon, "No, it's ok. It's certainly warmer and I am finally almost dry. Do you know if anyone has done a storm scrying to tell how long this storm is going to last?"

Gideon nodded, taking the seat and pulling it slightly closer to the fire. With one hand he held his tea, and with the other he grabbed the poker sitting on the brick fire-stoop.

He answered Morgan, "Not a clue, I'm afraid. To me, a storm is a storm. It will pass when its time is through. When you are done with your cup though, you could always check your tealeaves. I'm not one for divination but I always thought that an elegant form of it."

At that, Gideon stirs the coals, sending a few burning embers flying.

Morgan blinked and looked down at the tealeaves at the bottom of his empty cup. Then he looked at up at Gideon and replied with a bit of well meant humor in his voice, "I am afraid tea leaf reading wasn't on my list of skills taught to me in my mother's Court, though that might be because in Rebma one doesn't drink tea."

"A shame. What do they drink down under the sea?" Gideon asked in a somewhat rhetorical tone. "I suppose I could check mine then."

Gideon finished the last of his cup, swirling it around three times when only a sip remained. He looked down into the cup and smiled at what he saw. "Either it's going to rain large cats, or there is a tiger loose in the castle. I can't be sure, the reception seems to be fuzzy on this cup, maybe I need a second opinion."

Gideon poured himself a fresh cup.

At this juncture, the library door opened. The dark-haired young woman who entered rather thoroughly resembled a kitten fresh out of a bath: wet, bedraggled, and annoyed with the whole situation. She shut the door quietly enough, and then marched straight to the fire, where she dropped her book bag and plopped down so close to the flames that her red and gold dress seemed to be mere inches from peril. "I hate the rain," Saffron muttered, half-apologetically as she looked up at the two men with bright blue eyes. "Good afternoon, Lord Morgan, Lord Gideon."

Morgan laughed at Gideon's words. It took him a long moment to recover enough to say anything, and even that was filled with his humor, "Oh that was very well said and well timed, Gideon."

After refilling his own tea, Morgan answered Gideon initial question, "We don't really drink anything per say, in Rebma, at least not in the traditional sense -- we get most of the water from the food we eat. There is a liquid that is sucked out of a pod, which is very similar effect wise to some hard spirits I have experienced. But it most certainly doesn't taste like anything I have so sampled. It’s a rather unique experience, if you want, I can bring a pod back for you to try the next time I go. Though I have to warn you, the stuff is seriously strong, and a little bit goes a really long way."

"Oh, I think I'll just take your word on the pod drink. I'm sure it tastes better when consumed in the proper environment." Gideon answered with a bemused smile. "I wasn't joking either, it really looked like a tiger on the bottom of the cup..."

Gideon shrugged at Morgan for a moment, then replied to Saffron, "Good afternoon, Lady Tiger."

Morgan was about to reply to Morgan when Saffron entered. He smiled and nodded at Saffron's words, "Good afternoon. And I agree with you. Would you like some hot tea?"

"I would love hot tea," she answered, trying to wring some of the water out of her hair. "What was that about a Tiger...?"

Gideon smiled his slight smile. "Just a premonition hiding among the tea leaves. I was checking the fates to see how long the weather would last." He took a long sip of tea and sat back in his chair.

Morgan got up, heading for the library door. He opened it enough to speak softly to the servant waiting outside, and then closed the door. On his way back to the fireplace, he paused at the library sideboard and selected a tea mug for Saffron and returned to the fireplace. As he handed her, the now filled tea mug to Saffron, "I sent for a few towels for your hair, Lady Saffron."

"Thank you," Saffron answered, smiling as she accepted the mug. "I don't mind being wet - but the *rain*..." She wrinkled her nose slightly and took a sip of the tea.

Morgan nodded to Saffron in total agreement.

His attention turned for the moment to the fire, Gideon again stirred the burning logs with the iron poker. A renewed wave of heat came rolling out of the fireplace and embraced the three children of Amber. Gideon hung the iron rod on its hook and sat back, silently staring into the glowing red and black fire pit.

There is a polite knock on the door, a momentary pause, and then Lucas enters. He is dressed casually, and, somewhat unusually, without a sword (though he does have a pair of daggers at his belt). He blinks at the gathering of relatives around the fire, then actually smiles, and speaks lightly "Was there a meeting called I wasn't aware of?"

Morgan looked up at knock and saw Lucas entered and smiled, "No meeting. Just a nice warm fire."

The servant that Morgan had expected with that knock, slipped into the library behind Lucas, a few clean dry towels and a refresh on the tea service. The tea service was set on the table near the fire and the servant bowed and held out the towels to Saffron.

Saffron set her tea down and claimed the towels with a, "Thank you." She promptly disappeared beneath them, trying to dry her hair. "And no rain," she added, slightly muffled.

Looking up, Gideon shook his head in the negative. "You are welcome to my seat if you wish. I've warmed it nicely I think." Gideon stood and collected his half full teacup, then gestured into the seat he just occupied close to the fire. Without waiting for an answer, he walked back to the table where his book, notes, and lamp waited. He sat back down and reopened the book, flipping through the pages in search of his lost place.

Lighting flashes outside the windows, followed by the low rumble of thunder.

Lucas nods to Gideon, and takes the proffered seat "Thank you, I believe I'll do that. What was everyone speaking of before I arrived? I'm afraid I didn't come to the library prepared with conversational topics."

Morgan replied to Lucas's question as he knelt next to the fire and pitched another log with some care into it, and then careful settled the log with the fireplace poker, "Rain, tea leaving and Rebma's drinkables."

Lucas blinked, obviously somewhat non-plussed by the answer, and replies in a somewhat bemused tone "Ah."

"You did ask what we were talking about. Lucas. Yes? That was in summary what we were talking about," Morgan says at Lucas's bemused 'Ah'.

Lucas smiles slightly. "I believe you, it's simply an interesting and somewhat odd selection of topics."

Morgan smiled, and shrugged. He was about say something when the door the Library opened and a servant slipped inside. The servant came over to Morgan, and murmured something to him.

Morgan nodded to the servant, tugged on his boots, which were now dry then stood. "Good Afternoon, Cousins." Then followed the servant snagging his cloak as he went by the line of hooks to the left of the fireplace.

Gideon looked up from his book and gave Morgan an acknowledging salute along with a quiet "Stay dry."

Morgan waved to Gideon and his salute as he left.

Saffron offered a, "Bye," as she emerged from under the towels and reached for her book bag. She rummaged in the bag and produced a small, green-bound book. "I'm afraid," she said ruefully, "that I don't have any more interesting topics to offer; I just needed to return this. Tempted to stay for a bit, though," she finished, glancing at the window.

Lucas too bids Morgan farewell, then turns to Saffron, his expression one of polite interest "Well, if we're going to all stay here, we should probably discover a topic, hm? What have you been up to lately?"

"Third-century Begman poetry," Saffron answered matter-of-factly, "and how it relates to modern society. It's thrillingly dull to read, and the critiques are even worse. What have you been up to?"

From his spot behind them, Gideon quietly choked upon hearing the Saffron's reply. He shook his head once or twice and then went back to reading his book and scribbling his notes.

Lucas blinks, then smiles slightly "Well, since you ask, I just got back from a somewhat grueling time in Shadow, and I've been relaxing, looking up old friends, that sort of thing. Nothing too exciting, unfortunately." he turns slightly to face Gideon "And you, Gideon? What have you been up to?"

"A little gardening." Gideon answers. He holds up the book up so the spine shows toward Lucas. Written in silver is the books title, Psychopharmacology in primitive cultures. After giving Lucas a chance to read it, Gideon resumes his reading, turning to the next page.

Lucas looks interested "Mmm. Intriguing. I'll leave you to it, then." He turns back to Saffron then, and sighs, speaking half-humorously "Well, for scions of Amber, we appear a singularly boring group of people today. There must be something we can talk about, but I must admit, I'm somewhat at a loss as to what."

"Well, you did come to the library," Saffron pointed out with a smile as she rose. "Libraries aren't usually known as hives of people doing interesting things."

Gideon chuckled quietly and smiled, taking a long drink from his teacup to cover his grin.