#kavaina

Something about hammocking at the beach made Kav remember to check her mailbox; the last time she sorted through it all had to have been well over a month before when she sent a few letters to some friends with recording crystals attacked. Her heart raced at the thought; V had been one of those friend and might have responded without her having taken the moment to check! "Way to go he could have sent something and you didn't even know about it when you last spent time together!" Kav's mind teased her as she scurried through the jungle path to her bungalow near the resort.

The elf grinned when she saw only one folded envelope sticking out of the mailbox. With a quick slam of the letter drop door, Kav skipped off to her large swing bed hanging under the treehouse home and flung herself across it gleefully. Those nimble fingers made easy work of the creases after seeing V's noticeable handwriting.

"Hi there,"

Kav giggled as she read the first words and heard V's voice in her head. She cleared her throat, straightened the paper, and started again, imagining V speaking the words aloud to her right here.

"Hi there,

I really enjoyed that night we spent together after the Enchantment. Truth be told, I can't stop thinking about it. About you. I miss you! Like...a lot. I'm not sure if you meant it, but I did. I want to take you somewhere - somewhere where we can both relax and just be ourselves. No distractions, no interruptions, no parties, just us.

Meet me at the zeppelin tower in Orgrimmar in a few day - bring some cute underwear~!

All of my love,

V."

A blush settled upon her face and her ears slipped back as she read the whole thing over again. She knew he'd mention it. It was going to stick with him until they discussed it in detail. Flipping the envelope over once again, Kav checks the date. It had to have been in the mailbox for less than a week.

- Monday Morning -

“She seemed lonely.”

Iloam’s comment echoed in Kav’s mind as she tried to sleep. The predawn bird cries of spring bombarded her tent, yet her mind was stuck on Iloam’s distant voice. He hadn’t said it loud, and he had been a good distance away, yet her ears caught it. As she rolled over in her sleeping bag she grumbled in discomfort and shoved one of her pillows over her ear while pressing her other ear almost painfully into the ground.

You are lonely.

All her muscles relaxed as she came to that realization. The hand atop the pillow dropped to the ground near her chin while the other ran through her jumbled hair slowly. Through her eyelids Kav began to see the light of dawn penetrate the fabric around her. Each breath became calm and calculated.

The sun-touched elf sat up without ceremony. “I’m lonely,” her voice whispered, raw from a night of little sleep. Scattered around her tent were bottles of many shapes, sizes, and colors, most of the liquids inside half drank from the weekend in the Hinterlands. The morning sunlight danced off them, creating a spectacle along the fabric walls of her sleeping place. Kav crawled across another pillow to a clear bottle with a water label on it and gulped down the last of its contents loudly.

You’re jealous.

Her thoughts, driven by the lack of sleep, caused the elf to wince in annoyance. “Its my own damn fault anyway. I’m the one not making myself available. I’m the one not walking up and talking to my friends,” Kav argued with herself aloud, pushing her hand roughly through her bangs, pulling on the sleep snarls with a growl. “I very well can’t be jealous when the fucking problem is me.”

Many of her recent encounters with friends, lovers, and new acquaintances flew by her inner eye. All had a similar theme; she wasn’t engaged or passionate. Even when playing the guitar it was out of boredom and necessity rather than inspiration and excitement. 

She went to Fancy Cakes and found herself being over-dramatic so to wedge herself into conversations, or sitting to the side barely paying any attention while letting her coffee get cold.

She went to Menagerie Boutique but rarely bought anything, didn’t talk to anyone, and watched the performances while clapping when other clapped without realizing if the act had ended until the performer walked off stage.

She DJed at Aquarium Nightclub yet most of her set was a prepared playlist with very little of her personal mixing since none of the patrons noticed anyway.

You’ve become a ghost.

“What the crap have I been doing to myself?” Kav said loudly this time, a few birds outside becoming silent as they listen to the forest intruder before returning to their songs. Her pale green eyes studied her surroundings before she pushed her fingers against them, rubbing the crude sleep from the edges. She could feel the puffiness of lack of sleep in the skin underneath.

A loud, slow whine and rumble sounds from her abdomen at the same time as the woman yawned widely. Kav shook her head and stretched her arms as far as they could go above her body, ignoring the groan of her stomach while reaching for a bottle of juice.

You’ve not eaten anything substantial in days.

“Alright, fine!” She dropped her hands to the ground with a great huff of annoyance. “No more of this depressed shit. Time to get up and get going,” Kav motivated herself, suppressing the doubts and internal monologue. It didn’t take her long to collect all the bottles and toss them out the front flap, collect all the pillows and blankets into a compression travel bag, and put on her clothing. Soon enough her whole tent and travel belongings were stowed away into an easy to carry sack.

“That Heart of the Raven Tavern & Inn isn’t too difficult to get to from here,” the elf said brightly as she walked towards the closest town in hopes to find quick transportation.

“Hello, I said I owed you and I aim to make good on that. The picture isn’t one of mine, but it’s close enough for a rough idea, and I thought you could probably use something a bit sturdier–and nicer–for your guitar than the strap you’ve got now.

The only problem is that it’s hard to personalize without knowing the person! Please let me know what you would like, and please, don’t worry about complexity–if I can understand the request, I can probably make it!

Yours, Tanner Gravelroar”

Seeing the letter addressed slightly wrong made Kav smile. At least they attempted at her full name instead of just her nickname. Thanking the delivery person, the elf takes the winding hallways back to her dorm-like apartment just near the Dalaran library. 

Opening the letter at her desk was a good thing because of the picture falling out into her lap. That grin appeared across her face as she read the letter. Pulling up a quick piece of parchment from the small clutter of them around her desk, Kav penned a response.

 “Tanner! You’re amazing!

My guitar has this lily design made out of wood splinters arranged along the wide bottom - it’s the wood from my old guitar. If that flower could be used on this strap that would really tie everything together. Letters wise I sign all my stuff with K.T. while the words “Wander” or “Adventure” usually get attached to me because of my lifestyle. Which ever you think would suit me well - it’s up to you!

Thank you so much for the thought!