Serious as Ever

Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Kestrel » Sat Aug 16, 2014 2:37 pm

He looked pleased by her obvious glee, his mouth curling into a simple smile that lightened his expression. The slight wrinkles just beginning at the edges of his eyes winked at her and brought to notice that he laughed often. "Well, I hope to live up to your expectations, whatever follows," he rumbled, adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

Then, he was kneeling at her feet and she took his shield, affixed it to her forearm as she had seen the men do. His shield was beaten, but strong. It had a few deep scars, just like the faint white lines on his face. Arms. Hands. A soldier's strength, a body healed, but wouldn't keep secrets.

He found his feet, the sturdy hand wrapping around the hilt of his sword with loose fingers. His voice was lilting, half-laugh as he tilted his head at her. The girl who stared him down with a shield to separate them. The girl who insisted that he strike her with steel. "And is this, pray tell fair Gloria, how they court where you are from?," he challenged, with an expectant quirk of lips.

He feigned a wound to his heart, clutching at his loose tunic with his fingers. "You wound me that you did not expect courtship. I will slay dragons for you," he promised, both brows drawn sharply over his dancing eyes as he gestured - fingers closing, one thumb dragged across his neck, miming what said scaly beast would be in for. Her dragon was far less corporeal, though, and snuggled up comfortably in the belly of her dear friend.

He blinked suddenly, as she spoke of Burnie. "No, not him," gently said. "The dog in Thessilane. They say Burnie courts his attentions far more than the King's. Dangerous business, that. A sword will surely find his neck if he does not shift his loyalties, but not mine." He cleared the situation as best he could, from the rumors he'd heard, from the murmurings between the King's men and between dwarf and Lady.

She prepared herself for his assault and he frowned at her with uncertainty. It did not seem he was eager to come to blows, real or not.
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Rance » Sat Aug 16, 2014 5:11 pm

"Men are greater beasts than dragons could ever be, Edmund," she chimes from behind the shield, her voice echoing against its concave spine. Her words are matter-of-fact, recited with balanced temperament and composure. "But you'll need to slay nothing for me, not even beasts of legend. There's no courting in a land like Jernoah, where girls are objects from their first blood. If you're to court me at all, it should be by the standards of your home, of -- of your heart. Where is that? How is it done there, Edmund?"

His hesitation to swing was written in the tense lines of his shoulders. The Glass Sun shone white across the the scar-ridges of his flesh. Though he spoke of a different traitor with a soldier's passion, his reticence to strike was what endeared her to him: here, he was not Henderson, but Edmund, just Edmund, noble and tender and altogether too proper to turn his edge toward even a girl who anticipated the swing--

"I know nothing of this dog in Thessilane. But all soldiers are boys. And boys?"

A glance tossed over the flared shoulder of her dress invited him to look at the gaggle of soldiers surrounding a cookfire not so far away.

"Boys," she whispered, "demand example. Your brothers ought to know that I'm not just another fat peasant girl who thinks clever words can -- can win her a soldier. They should see that I've earned my time with a man they respect so highly. We're on a field of formation and practice, after all. I'll not dilute its purpose.

"Hit this shield, Edmund Henderson. You'll not hurt me or this child growing inside me. My arm is not a broken branch, and no matter how hard you swing, I already know how gentle you are."
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Kestrel » Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:48 am

His sword-arm faltered at her words and he attempted to catch her gaze over the rim of shield she hefted. "Truer words were never spoken," he agreed, somewhat resigned.

He shifted on his feet, his stance turned somewhat uncertain in the wake of her words about her home. "Jernoah seems a harsh place to grow into a woman. Are you glad to have escaped it, or do you miss it still? Is Myrken your home instead?," he questioned, honest curiosity held in his voice. "I am from a small sea-side village near Westenford, in Amasynia. Though it's hardly that. Just a few scattered homes at best. There was one girl my age and she thought she was meant for better things than a man destined to become a soldier," though he hardly seemed disappointed with his fate.

His gaze followed her gesture to the men sparing them what they thought were covert glances. Upon seeing themselves caught, they scrambled to find else to do.

He heaved a sigh at her insistence and lifted his blade. The strike, when it came, would clatter the heavy shield upon her frame, but it was hardly a serious blow. He took caution, as always. Another soldier would have laughed it off, but she was unused to battle. And when he'd finished, the concerned lines of his face popped up from behind said shield to make certain she was unharmed.
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Rance » Sun Aug 17, 2014 5:56 am

For a moment, the sword seemed aflame in the last winks of dying daylight, long and orange and gleaming--

From behind the shield, the collision was a crash. Reverberations shot through her brown bones and threatened to tug the hefty shield out of her grip. She stumbled backward to manage the impact, but the girl's balance never faltered. When she settled back to her heels, the shield peeled away from her face long enough for him to see her excited, challenging smile leering from behind it, a scimshaw of poor color that brought cheer to her dull complexion.

"That was scarcely anything at all, Edmund. A breeze and nothing more!"

To the sky, she barked a victorious dramatic, victorious laugh, a villainous tease like those described in her favorite storybooks. She dug her wide feet into the earth again, reassessed her grip on the leather handles, and set herself in preparation again.

"I miss Jernoah for its familiarity," she reasoned -- a conversation between strikes. "For that it was home, once, and no one can ever scrub home out of you. But Myrken Wood is home now, and likely will always be. Do you miss yours? The -- the scattered homes, the arrogant girls who refuse to see the better things right in front of them?"

Her stump knocked against the shield, another encouragement.

"Will you go to Thessilane," she asked, a quiet ribbon of fear in her throat. "And if you do, will you return?"
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Kestrel » Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:07 am

For a moment, the brilliant colors reflected off the blade almost looked lovely.

His worried expression was met with her grin from behind the shield. The tense stance relaxed a little and he laughed when she squared herself again. "You will never seek to amaze, girl," he teased. He lifted his blade again to strike her shield. Never a blow that would harm her. The strength behind them never increased, despite her complaint.

They conversed easily between their fabricated combat. Henderson's breathing did not even begin to increase with the activity. "Sometimes, I suppose," he agreed, when she spoke of the past. "More a yearning for the simplicity of childhood. I like where life has taken me, though," he offered, with a shy smile at the woman who had caught his eye months ago. The compliment was subtle, but present.

The fear was noted and his sword was lowered. He stepped closer and firm hands attempted to nudge the shield aside. He stood, toe to toe, with her and gazed down at her plain face. "If my Lady goes, I will go with her. Her men are my brothers and I have to be there to protect them," he said, quietly, with great regret. The mood was lifted with a smile and he lifted a hand to cradle her chin.

His eyes shone with affection. "How could I help but return?"
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Rance » Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:22 pm

Sword struck shield. Steel exchanged its momentum against stalwart iron and wood. He never seemed to lose his breath, she realized -- he moved with particular grace and confidence, never feeding too much power into his blows, but never taking for granted the lack of expertise that lofted the shield, either. Only when he came close to her did the shield lower. The game was done, and despite her firm stature, she was pliable and obedient to the guidance of his hands.

His boot-tips touched hers. Gloria found it hard to look away from them, but when he did, she found his face: sharp-edged, boyish, forced too quickly to find its adulthood.

Fingers cupped her chin. This close, this near, confidence fled out of her. Her face was flecked with imperfections, all pockmarks and old scars written like miniature maps into her coarse skin. Her dress was clean and crisp, a vestment not often awakened out of its storage. He could see her teeth, couldn't he? And the split, frayed edges of her black hair. And the rugged angle of her nose, twice-broken.

Edmund's posture, gait, and carriage screamed soldier, soldier in all its poise and care; hers, however, whispered commoner, commoner, and she was afraid that this close he'd need to look somewhere else, realize his mistake--

"You're meant to do as your Lady instructs. I'm meant to stay here with Cherny and -- and Noura and Ser Catch." And the child.

His conviction was ironclad. Gloria's, though equally firm, fell off her lips like an unsure excuse.

"I think..."

He's handsome, isn't he? But you've only just met him.

Wetting her lips made the words no less clumsy.

"I think it's very good what you do for your Lady. For your men, for the soldiers. But if you yearn for simplicity, I'm not a very simple person even if I wish to be. My brain, Edmund, is a senseless thing. It demands I make weak choices and foolhardy decisions."

He knows so little about you. You know so little about him.

"I hurt people. I'm afraid you'll come back to see me, and I'll just hurt you too."
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Kestrel » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:12 am

He could see the doubt in her eyes. It whirled like a maelstrom and he sought to break her thoughts with a faint pinch to her chin. A gentle interruption to that she might see the affection in his own gaze as he stared down at her. He smiled. "It is fascinating to watch the wheels in your mind work," he mentioned. "You don't hide much of yourself from the world. And while that is a brave way to live, you risk others doing harm to you, should they bother to look closely."

He wished to protect her from the world and its horrors, but knew that she had long survived without him. Even now, she sought to shield him from her own character.

He was taller than she was and his sturdy frame much wider. He could crush her physically, should he wish. His spirit was gentle, though, and Gloria held great concern that she was far more likely to wound him. The awe he held for this self-described commoner standing before him increased with each passing moment.

"Mistakes, Weakness, and Foolhardy are what make us human, Gloria. We've all a number of those traits that plague us will doubts. What you need, Wynsee, is someone to remind you of the good within you. I see now that Myrken has been unkind. It shows you all of your failings in brilliant colors so that you might not see the muted success. I pray that you do not let it consume you," he offered, after a moment's thought to collect his words.

She warned him that she might hurt him and he grinned, suddenly. "We shall see what damage you can do, then." And it was almost a challenge. "I'm certain that you will be as gentle as you are able," he teased, he assured before leaning in to angle his mouth against the heated skin of her cheek. The press of lips against her flesh was just shy of her own mouth, as if he had changed his mind at the last second. As if his manners had reminded him that she was a lady and he should not make assumptions.

But the desire was there.
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Rance » Sat Aug 23, 2014 3:04 am

"But if others can't look closely," she said, "they won't see what few good parts of me there are, either."

And he was close, near enough to peer into those Sun-bleached eyes or even see himself reflected in them. Near enough that her breath -- tempered earlier in the day by water, by sprigs of mint -- belied the solidarity of her body by trembling out of her in stuttering gasps. It wasn't like Tennant. It was different. Tennant deflected and wholly parried her advances, her stupid-fool-girl needs and weaknesses. But in her mind, all the holes the red-haired man had punched in her over months, over nearly two years, were instantly gone, dashed away. Edmund touched her. Not lasciviously, not desperately, but gently. On the chin. And then, with politeness and patience, he sought out her cheek.

Mistakes, Weakness, and Foolhardy are what make us human, Gloria.

He knew weapons. Knew how to prime his body to deliver pain and receive it. Her hand scooped up his, her thumb playing soft, soothing lines across the whitened scars that lined his flesh. She lifted his hand. She brought it against her mouth, her lips dancing against his rough knuckles. He was oiled iron and sweat; he was pure, a good boy, a good man, and--

Emund Henderson made smiling so very natural.

"Do you need someone to remind you of the good inside you, too? I want to find it for you if -- if you ever feel like you're losing it. I want you to feel as safe as you made me feel. I like you. I want--"

Clumsily, she sought out her mouth with his. An unpracticed kiss -- not one that asked for anything more. Timid, wooden, but only for a lack of experience; its sentiment was genuine.

"Is it supposed to happen this quickly?"
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Kestrel » Sat Aug 23, 2014 12:54 pm

"They are not few," he assured, gently. The seamstress lacked confidence in herself, at least in vulnerable moments like this one.

She lifted his hand and he smiled in response. Brows shot up, nearly to his hairline, as she bent to kiss his knuckles. Despite the men at his back, he did not seek to draw away. He did not appear to be bashful with her attentions. Instead, he gazed at her gently. "Sometimes I will," he agreed.

Suddenly, she leaned forward and brought her mouth against his. He seemed startled, but eased into it in nimble manner. He tilted his mouth against her own and showed her some skill at the task. The honest affection returned as a hand sought to press against the small of her back.

They parted to cat calls from the other men, but he ignored them.

"Only if you are lucky, I am told," he replied, with a wink.
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Rance » Sat Aug 23, 2014 3:34 pm

He tilted his mouth against her own and showed her some skill at the task.

--had never used those parts of her mouth had scarcely ever known they could be used in such a way and by the Nameless the Glass Sun had never been so hot and stifling she could see every pore every crease in his skin every fleck in his eyes they were the color of brittle grass she could she could and she felt--

...honest affection returned as a hand sought to press against the small of her back.

--fabric wrinkling at his touch knuckles brushing crinoline and is this how men hold you is this how men are supposed to be is it is it so she leans back and he is a citadel she barely knows anything about him but knows he is gentle so gentle doesn't mind your belly or the things you've done just let him hold you be close be near be adjacent--

He broke the kiss. Sound returned; soldiers hooted and blew whistles between their thumbs and forefingers; a howling wind whispered against her ears and her belly ached and her shoulders shook and she was laughing, giggling (what was that noise, what was that noise). Her fingers twined in his sleeve so she didn't have to let go.

"All those sparks," Gloria Wynsee said, never pulling her attention away from him.

She remembered she had feet. A body. She stood. The fingers crawled up the arm of his shirt and brushed ribbons of his hair away from his temple.

"We'll spend time together. Dinners and days in the autumn. Won't we? Before Thessilane. Before..."

The child.

"I want you to know who I am. I want to know who you are, Edmund Henderson."
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Re: Serious as Ever

Postby Kestrel » Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:19 pm

Gallantly, he ignored the friendly jeers at their backs. Instead, he smiled at the young woman in front of him like she were the only thing in the world.

"We have all the time in the world," he assured, though it did not quite ring true.

Maybe they would just pretend they did.
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