Taking Our Time (Closed)

[Draemorticus]

"Come on now, we'll be there by sundown," he said gently, patting at Gypsy's neck.

The horse replied with an annoyed whinny.

"I know it's been long. But if we just keep this up for a few hours-"

A loud snort issued from the animal's nostrils, sending two plumes of hot breath out into the brisk evening air.

"Don't you talk like that to me. Come on." He squeezed gently with his knees. "Please?"

Gypsy broke into a trot. If I ever have to travel with this beast again, I'm going to have to learn her a bit about a horse's place in the world. It just doesn't do to have her stopping to munch on flowers every five miles.

Horse and rider had been traveling for nearly a week. He'd heard word of this "contest" about two days before they set out, and about who had entered it around an hour before. It wasn't hard to see where his priorities were.

The news had been old, he wasn't entirely sure how long it had taken for it to travel so far as to reach him, and for all he knew the contest, or pageant, or whatever it was, had already come and passed. Regardless, he felt as if he should at least make his best effort to get there.

It had been several months at least since he’d last seen her. Compared to the time they had been apart, it seemed their time together was nothing more than a flash in his memory. He could still remember it clearly, though, and had thought on and pictured the day in his mind over and over again in the months since.

* * *

He blushed a deep crimson, hardly daring to let his eyes alight on her- Don’t start staring there, you idiot!

What were they going to do?

“I-“ he began, trying to stop both his eyes and his mind from running amuck and failing miserably at both, “I think I should probably turn around.” He made an attempt to speak the words confidently, yet really had no idea if that’s how they ended up sounding.

There was something about the way the water dripped off the tips of her hair onto her shoulders, something about how the moisture clung to her skin, something about how it seemed to envelope her like a cloud of warmth, which made him just want to wrap his arms around her and never let go.

After several moments, he realized he still hadn’t turned around. “I- well, this isn’t working out too well. I should turn around. I really should.”
And he’d stared into her eyes then, and sat down awkwardly in a nearby chair facing her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t force himself to turn away.

* * *

The road stretched onward towards the horizon and a way up in the distance he could see the first signs of civilization. “We’re getting closer now,” he spoke, more to himself than to Gypsy. The horse gave him a humoring snort anyway.

He didn’t know where she would be, and he didn’t know where the contest was, but he knew both should be here in the city. It was only a matter of time until he found her.

[Min]

Ugh. That was an unmitigated disaster. She shook her head and turned away from the commotion, all the while trying to avoid the raining confetti. Waste of parchment, anyway.

She’d heard the other woman’s offer clear enough, but wasn’t about to speak her mind in front of those gathered. It’s enough for me to know that I meant my words sarcastically...at least I hope it is. I’ve no idea how she overheard my muttering... She made her way down the stairs with some difficulty; her attempts at keeping her departure unnoticed caused her to consider each step.

And it wasn’t enough for her to be daft and assume that I was actually serious about wanting to be someone’s Ambassador...she had to go and announce my identity, too. It certainly wasn’t a difficult thing to ascertain, but I’ve no idea why she’d decide to declare my presence before I’d already done so. Her mental grousing had carried her to the bottom of the stairs; she continued on to the dressing area in relative silence.

In a matter of minutes, she’d managed to properly clothe herself for traveling and put everything she’d brought into the proper boxes and bags. “No point in carrying this home, really. I’m not going to use any of it again, especially not the bathing whatsit.” She sighed, and began picking through her things carefully. “No reason to keep that...already have plenty of lanterns at home...those shoes are worthless...guess I should keep the dress, though...” She pulled the dress free of its covering cloth and folded it as carefully as she was able. When its size was reduced to something manageable, she fashioned a bag from the cloth, placed the dress in the bag, and draped the whole contraption over her right shoulder.

“Oh.” Just before she turned to leave, she looked back down at the pile of things discarded, and pulled the scarf free. One of the orchids came with it, and she stopped herself just short of grinding it into the floor. “Always good to have reminders...”

* * *

His eyes were locked on hers, and she found herself unable to look anywhere else.

Her previous squirming had stopped; now her fingers were taking up the lost movement as they flexed, interlocked, pulled apart.

I wonder if he heard me? I said that I... Didn’t I? I think I remember... Maybe he just didn’t hear. My words were little more than gibberish...

She opened and closed her mouth once and still found herself watching his eyes.

“I...well...I...” The words which previously had poured from her mouth were now blocked by her nervousness. “I can’t sit here and drip forever...”

She turned slightly away from him, guarded by whatever shred of modesty remained, reached toward the pile of clothing, and let the towels fall.

* * *

With the scarf wrapped around her neck, the orchid behind her left ear, and the bag somewhat secured, she made her way out and away from everything that had just failed to go her way.

And that’s just it, isn’t it? I’m upset because I didn’t get my way. It’s not like this is the first time this has happened, or that I was the only one who didn’t... She shrugged, and let her thoughts fall away as she began walking toward the fading sun.

[Draemorticus]

Modesty, it seemed, had long since left him as he sat there unabashed, watching her dress.

He dared not speak a word, though as he sat it seemed there were a good many things she had said that he ought to respond to. Some, certainly, more important than others. Through the pounding haze in his mind, he was sure at some point he had heard the words “I love you” reach his ears, and such a phrase certainly struck him as being significant enough to warrant a response.

There will be time. And it was true - they had plenty of time.

He watched enthralled, and while there was certainly nothing truly special about the task of toweling off and donning clothes, it somehow seemed to become entirely significant and beautiful to him. The atmosphere in the room was landsliding from awkwardness and timidity to a kind of elegant, simple intimacy. While it would have been untrue to say all of his thoughts were of the pure and clean variety, he watched her in a kind of sober, awe filled, respectful observance that - at the very least - confined such images to a small corner of his mind.

After a short time, he stood slowly from his procured seat at the side of the room. Walking to where she stood, he placed his arms around her bare waist and pulled her close enough to him that he had to tilt his head downward to continue to peer at her eyes.

“I hope you don’t mind, but it looked more comfortable over here.”

* * *

He was never entirely sure if he had handled things correctly that day. A part of him, in the months since, continued to feel the situation was entirely irresponsible and ungentlemanly. On such occasions another part of him, however, often told that first part to go jump off a cliff. As hard as his proper conscience might try to convince him that something had played out incorrectly, he always found himself agreeing with the part of him that wanted to run around wildly like a schoolboy after the end of term.

Looking down, he realized that once again Gypsy had gotten distracted by some sort of bright, delicious-smelling foliage on the side of the road. “Come on, damnit. You do realize there’s a plenty good reason I’m in such a bloody hurry, don’t you?”

The horse tossed her head in frustration.

"Well there is. Come on!"

She plodded onward.

[Min]

She had been walking for no more than fifteen minutes when she decided that she was really just too tired to go any farther. Everything that had happened back behind her had added weight to her thoughts and her steps, and it took precious little time for her to realise it.

She directed her steps off the road; if she continued to stand in the middle of it, it was more than likely that some errant man-on-horse would come barreling over the next hill and mark her passage into the earth with hoof prints. She settled her back somewhat uncomfortably against the bark of the nearest tree, and considered her options.

Oh, how stupid of me. There’s a village around here – they wouldn’t have held such a contest far from civilisation. I must’ve just walked off in the wrong direction, which isn’t in the least surprising, as my head’s all sorts of muddled. ‘Course, I can’t imagine that it’s a village of any proper size, since there were pitifully few people in the audience...you’d think that such an event would draw some manner of a crowd.

She leaned past the tree on her right, and peered through a tangle of branches and trunks until her eyes made out something that looked like the side of a building. At least, I suppose that’s what it is...though I was foolish enough to miss the entire blasted town on my way out...

She shook her head, and began walking toward the-thing-she-thought-was-a-building.

* * *

She had seen fireworks, once, when she was young. She had been frightened of the noise, dazzled by the colored explosions, and mesmerised as smoke filled the sky and obscured the stars.

When he touched her, she saw and heard them again, and even in the depths of her memory, the colours were nearly blinding, the sound almost deafening. It was the haze afterwards, though, that she most enjoyed – almost like one was pleasantly drunk and quite unable to see properly.

She had heard that the composition of fireworks was difficult, at least to the untrained – she’d never dabbled in such matters of alchemy herself. This, too – standing with him, his arms ‘round her waist – was difficult, too, but becoming easier with each second they stood together.

She saw red, and blue, and small bits of green, slowly falling...

* * *

For a moment, she felt the barest whisper of hope at her ear, but shook it off. It was a breath of wind, nothing more, and she should be glad that she remembered to take the scarf. Here in the south, the weather was still stubbornly clinging to a warm fall, but the air to the north was heavy with frost, and threatening to push its way down with every passing day.

She was cold, she was tired, and there was no use for the memories that had decided to run rampant in her head. He hadn’t shown up, and it was useless to wish he had – men would move as men willed, and he had quite moved on.

[Draemorticus]

As Gypsy continued to plod forward, he started to have doubts about the location of this "contest." Why did he think it was in a large city anyway?

Not to mention that he was starting to wonder about the sanity of the somewhat-elderly man who had told him there was a large city around here. While he saw the occasional farm house, there was little to indicate that he was about to happen upon anything more than a thorpe of perhaps a dozen houses. His confidence, for the most part, was hovering somewhere between mediocre and failing.

Gypsy, on the other hand, seemed perfectly confident that she could find a million different plants to stop and examine before they arrived.

He had discussed the contest a bit with the old man who had given him directions, and as he thought about it, he realized there was quite a bit he had said that didn't make much sense. There was the part about the entire event being held in a cave, and the part about plums falling from the sky and appearing in people's hands and various orifices. Neither really struck him as entirely feasible, much less sane.

It was at that point that he had asked about the city, and it was at that point that the man was probably furthest from his rocker.

He sighed and patted Gypsy’s neck, “It might be another night outdoors.”

As they started to near one of the farmhouses, he decided it might be worthwhile to have a talk with someone about the local geography.

“What? Yes, yes, coming!” a voice cried from within the house as he knocked. A few moments later a short, stout man opened the door and peered up at him, his face appearing entirely off balance. One eyebrow was raised slightly higher than the other, and one of his eyes bulged out at him, scrutinizing him from head to foot.

* * *

“Hello!” a voice called at the door, followed by three quick knocks, “Anyone here!”

A key turned in the lock.

Pulling back from her sharply, he blinked and looked down. His eyes widened. Not good. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he transplanted the half-naked girl behind the door just as it creaked open and a head peered into the room through the opening.

“What- Oh! Excuse me sir, I didn’t know anyone was in here!” the man’s voice croaked into the room, as he stared up at him with surprised eyes. “I’m just here to clean! It won’t take but a minute to-“

“That’s really alright,” he said quickly, casting a nervous glance at Min standing around the back of the door.

“Nonsense, nonsense, I’ll be gone before you know it!” the man said jovially, pushing gently on the door.

“No, really, I insist, please, come back later,” he said as firmly as he could, pushing back on the door with equal pressure.

“What?” the man said, looking genuinely hurt, “Well, fine, then, I suppose!” He let go of the door and turned away from it, “Not my fault if he wants to stay in a filthy room!” And he was gone.

He shut the door again, bolted it, exhaled, and laid his forehead on the wood.


* * *


“Ah, hello,” he said awkwardly under the gaze of the man’s oddly large eye, “I don’t suppose you could assure me that there is a city up beyond those trees, could you?”

The man gave out a hoarse laugh, “Hah! City? This is Golden’s Hollow, and I’m Golden.”

“Golden?” he asked tentatively. It appeared as if he was supposed to know what that meant, though he hadn’t the slightest clue.

“Golden! My name! And no, sir, there isn’t any city near here. Hah! They did have a bunch of ladies and men prancing around in gowns and their skivvies near here, though. That good enough for you?” He let out another rough, sandy laugh.

“Prancing around? Like a pageant? That sort of thing?”

“Somethin’ like that. Didn’t want nothing to do with it m’self. Vouergil, my neighbor, he says that-“

“Where’d they hold it? I don’t see any great halls around here.”

“You sure don’t!” he rasped. “Blighters held it in the old miner’s cove. They were bringing benches and wood in there for months!”

“Cove? Where’s that?” he asked quickly. It sounded almost like a cave.

“Well over there in the mountain,” the man said, gesturing toward the cliffs that rose above the treetops near his home. “You know, where you comin’ from anyway, we don’t- Hey!”

“Thank you!” he shouted over his shoulder as he nearly jumped back onto Gypsy.

[Min]

There’s quite a bit...less...here than I thought. She peered up and down the strip of dirt that composed the road, and tried to place the area from before, when she’d arrived near the contest site. Hmm. I guess I was in a bit of a hurry then — the faeries were beginning to complain, carrying the weight of the dress between them as they were, and arguing over each direction change that might wrinkle the fabric... She smiled at the memory, knowing full well how indebted she was to the fey.

She shrugged elaborately. She wasn’t seeing anything that appeared particularly familiar, and she wasn’t sure she’d remember this area more than five minutes after she’d passed through it this time.

She turned back in the direction of the building — from here, it indeed looked akin to a structure — and figured that it was the best place she had to ask about an inn, unless she wanted to query a tree or a rock.

As she approached the house — and at this distance, it was certainly a house — she began to cough. The road in front of her had gone all cloudy, and for the first few moments she spent coughing, she couldn’t quite determine why. Then, once she was able to breathe and think freely again, she remembered that the pageant had recently ended, and she was surely not the only one who’d left.

Whoever that was, though, was certainly in a hurry...

* * *

She burst out laughing as soon as the door was closed, and quickly ran over to the bed to procure and place her missing clothing. Apparently, the woman at the desk had decided that she needed a bit more refinement in her clothing — which was no surprise, considering the state Min’s clothes had been in when she entered. The touches of decoration at the collar and sleeves were a little much, and sure to get overly discoloured when traveling, but she was sure they were well-meant, and likely improved her appearance.

“Well,” she said, while inspecting the placement of her shirt, “I suppose it’s our fault if we want a dirty room now, isn’t it?” She walked back over to the door, her head tilted at a considerate angle. “I...uh...figured that I should probably...” she motioned down at her chest, and managed to blush only a little — which was likely because he had his head against the door and couldn’t see the manner of her gesture. “We’ll need to eat dinner at some point, and...”

She blew out the smallest of breaths between her lips and tugged on his hand. “Oh, it’s not so bad as all that. Leastways, I don’t think it’s worth trying to sink into the wood...”

She lifted herself up on the balls of her feet, and then back down. She’d since let go of his hand, but that hadn’t felt quite right, so she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around the lower part of his chest and snuggled her way against him.

* * *

The exchange at the door was almost more than she could handle in her current state of exhaustion.

“Yeah, this is Golden,” he nodded, as he swung the door open. “Oh!” His bulging eye bulged even wider in surprise. “You’re not the fella that was...er...can I help ye?”

She had to open and close her mouth a few times to coax it into speaking properly. “Er...myeye...er....I mean...there was someone here?”

“Sure,” the man — Golden — said. “He asked about the pageant and left almost before I could tell him anything. Weird sort...isn’t anyone around who wouldn’t be kind enough to stop in and talk to me over a cup of tea. Don’t see many travelers ‘round here, ‘cept for lately, what with all the prancing and carryin’ on...”

She bit her tongue and hoped fervently that she, too, could manage to avoid tea with the man. “Er...right. In which direction did this man go?”

“Strange question — y’all are full of strange questions. He was headin’ in the direction of the cove, and I’ve no idea why. Guess he didn’t know the contest was over, and he certainly gave me no time to- HEY!”

She backed away from the doorway, turned swiftly, and began to run in the direction of the cloud of dust.

“Gave me no time to tell him that the event was already over,” Golden finished with a mumble. “Feh. I’ll not open this door again ‘less it’s someone I know already."

[Draemorticus]

He rode hard towards the cove, filled with some foolish, child-like hope that he'd arrive to find her standing up on stage, and that she'd see him enter as she began whatever it was she was going to do, and-

Stupid! He'd completely forgotten to actually ask the man if the contest was over or still in progress. Had he spoken about it in the past tense? Or had he acted like it was ongoing?

* * *

He wasn't really trying to sink into the wood. As much as he might have learned how to hide it, his heart had started thumping the moment he heard the key, and he'd been filled with a kind of wonderful excitement.

Currently, he was just trying to get it to calm down again before she noticed. He wondered what shade of red she might have turned if she'd been seen by that hag of an old man.

Her arms snaked their way around his torso, and he turned around slowly until he was facing her. "Pretty," he said, brushing a hand along the collar of her procured shirt and down her arm. "Though I'd say the clothes bow to the wearer, in this case."

After a few moments, he realized he'd been staring. "Well, er, shall I have something sent up here? Or, I mean, we could always go downstairs if you'd prefer."

He tried to be open about it, but thought better of sounding indecisive, "I think I might like being alone with you though - it's taken so long to get here, I'd rather not give you up to the general populace again."

Eyes widening, he realized what he'd just said.

"Well, I... Oh nevermind," he grinned sheepishly, "If I did any damage, it was probably inflicted a while ago."

* * *

Had he done any damage, though? How had he ended up so far away from her, after everything... it didn't make any sense. One would think he'd be smart enough to stay close by.

As he arrived at the giant entance to the cave, he jumped off Gypsy's back and strode inside, and was nearly knocked off his feet merely by what he saw there.

The entire place was full of people - there were some on stage, hundreds in the audience, a number in what looked to be judges booths, an still others milling about in every direction. His mouth hung open involuntarily, and he wondered how in the world he was ever going to find her in all this.

[Min]

After she’d run herself out of breath, she stopped and took an appraisal of her position while half-bent over her legs. She was still a few minutes’ brisk walk away from the cave, cove, or whatever it was, and she certainly didn’t intend to go back there and revisit the events of the not-so-distant past.

Don’t even know if it’s him. Don’t even know how he got word about the proceedings; it’s not as though I sent them to him. Not sure why that was, exactly...seems like that’s what one would do in such a situation. I don’t even know whose fault it is this time, and I can’t quite remember what happened before. Maybe we share the blame. I can’t remember, though, and it really doesn’t matter. I guess I’m just supposed to stand here and wait, but I don’t really have anything proper for staying out-of-doors, especially overnight, and the sun’s working its way below the horizon...

She pressed her fingertips into her temples. Maybe this is the third of so many signs that I’m wasting my time.

* * *

She laughed in order to give herself time to think.

“I don’t really see anything wrong with what you said?” She pulled back from him and peered upward.

“It’s not as though I’m just waiting for the moment when I’ll be a part of said general populace again.” She paused. “In fact, I’m rather dreading it.”

She twisted a piece of hair between her fingers. “So maybe we’ve both done enough damage now? Goodness knows I’m trying to sort the pieces of everything that’s been said, and I’m still not sure that I’m arranged them in a way that makes any sort of sense...” She trailed off with a blank stare, and then shook her head back into reality.

“So I guess the only thing that really needs to be answered now is the question of dinner, right? There’s always more time for the deep and difficult anyway, especially when we’re not constantly thinking of food.” She leaned forward and kissed his nose.

“I’ll be here waiting.”

* * *

Don’t know if I can just stand here and wait — he might just be in there captivated by some other woman. Wouldn’t surprise me much; those women were all certainly talents and beautiful and...

She crossed her arms over her chest. Tonight would be especially long if spent outside, but she couldn’t in good faith, and with him so close, just walk away.

’Course, that would mean that it’s actually him. Could’ve been anyone rushing off, anyone needing directions. Maybe I’ll stand out here for days and never see him, because he’s not actually here, and I’m just deluded and stupid and...

Her thoughts continued as she stood at the edge of the road, stubborn and hopeful.

[Draemorticus]

He stood agog at the size of the place, and somewhere in the back of his mind he was slowly dawning on the realization that trying to find her in this circus was going to be absolute hell.

Squaring his jaw, he walked forward and started to push his way in between people on his way closer to the stage.

She's probably be up there being crowned or somesuch, he thought absently, trying to get a better view of the raised platform where all the contestants seemed to be standing. He couldn't see her, though. At least, not at first glance. He'd seen her in a gown before, of course, so it wasn't like he didn't know roughly what he ought to be looking for.

* * *

She kissed his nose and he stood there feeling slightly unfulfilled (and that he ought to do something about it) for a moment before he realized what she'd said, and that she was probably rather hungry after everything.

"I'll be right back," he said with a smile. He hesitated before he turned, entirely unsure whether he should, could, or wanted to go or not. You're just going downstairs, coward.

Opening the door, he jogged down the hall and bounded down the stairs two at a time. When he reached the bottom he turned to his left, gave a bit of a silly grin at the old woman he had talked to earlier, and approached the innkeeper.

"Evening, ma'am."

"Evening," she said without looking up.

"Would it be possible for me to have some dinner sent up to, er..."

“Room three!” the old woman called out from behind him.

“Right,” he said, blinking extravagantly at the woman behind the counter. “Room three.”

Several minutes later, after being grilled about what he actually wanted to have sent up and having a hard time coming up with anything that even sounded vaguely romantic, he paid the innkeeper and went back up the stairs towards the room. As he reached the top, he saw the older man with the raspy voice who’d tried to clean the room several minutes before fiddling around with a set of keys outside a door further down the hall.

“Ahh, kin’ I get in there and clean it now, hmm?” he inquired shortly, his eyes widening at him in scrutiny.

“No,” he responded even more shortly, and smiled somewhat wildly, “It’s really not a good time,” and then added on a whim, “In the morning, perhaps? That would probably be better.”

The old man narrowed his eyes, “Hmph, fine.” Finding the key he was looking for, he opened the door he was standing in front of and entered, apparently much to the surprise and annoyance of whoever was inside.

Turning the handle of his own door, he walked inside and found Min still there waiting for him – not that he really expected that she’d be gone.

“Dinner should be up in a few minutes,” he announced, closing the door behind him.

* * *

After spending a good ten minutes searching through the cavern, he started to feel as if the sheer size and activity of the place was more of a hindrance to his search than he could manage.

Frowning, he started to move to the side instead of further forward. As he reached the cave wall, he found a man who appeared to be a part of the crew running the event.

“Is there any other way out of here beside the main entrance?” he asked loudly over the din.

The man responded quickly, “No, no other entrances,” and just as quickly went back to what he was doing.

“Good. Thanks,” he said, despite the fact that the man was no longer listening. Turning around, he started to make his way back towards the entrance. If there was only one way in or out, if she was still here then she’d certainly have to pass through it when she left, if she was even still here.

The closer he got to the cave’s mouth, the easier it was to navigate through the crowd, in so much as no one was really interested in going the direction he was.

As he reached the entrance, he turned around and walked the last few steps backwards, peering once again up towards the stage, both hoping and not hoping that he’d missed her up there, the latter solely because he had no desire what-so-ever to try to push through the crowd again.

He stood in the entrance and looked on as the closing ceremonies continued.

[Min]

It’s that easy? She blinked, shook her head, and blinked again. Can’t possibly be that easy...

But it was, according to the fading light and her eyes.

She was not surprised to find herself running forward, and did not remember being tired.

* * *

After he re-entered the room, she smiled at him from her vantage on the bed. She’d gotten restless while standing, and had spent a few moments peering into the various corners of the mostly bare room. She’d discovered relatively little of interest, as she’d already used the bathing area; the rest of the room’s furnishings were spartan.

She could say, though, that the room was clean enough — really, there had been no reason for the man to enter, and she was rather glad that Drae had moved him on to whatever cleaning tasks awaited.

It is Drae, I suppose. He always looked pained when someone used his full name, anyway. I guess I’m at least somewhat comfortable, then...

Her musings had brought her to the edge of the mattress, and she’d sat down without thinking. This, of course, led to a somewhat suggestive position when he walked back in the room; she was left with little to do but smile.

“Oh! Dinner! Right. Sounds fantastic. Lovely, even. I’m sure it’ll be splendidly...splendid. We probably won’t have to eat for days. Yes, the food here is very filling. Very...quite...uh.” She stood up quickly, and tried to cover the fact that she’d been sitting on the bed by flailing her arms about.

“Um...was just a place to sit! Certainly no time for that sort of thing with dinner coming, unless you think it’d be quick- Er. Rather, I liked the looks of the bed. To, uh, sit on, I mean. Not to...do things in. No. Well, I suppose that’s good, sometimes. Maybe frequently? I’m not sure. Not to say I have...well...that is...not to say I haven’t...” She stopped the flailing and tried to think him into forgetting everything she’d just babbled.

“What’s for dinner?”

* * *

He was both farther and closer than she thought. Her racing thoughts eventually caught up with her legs and drew her to a stop, just out of sight. Of course, it did help that the man’s back was turned.

It’s him. She was shaking at the truth of it, standing as she was no more than a stone’s throw from him...

She walked the rest of the way forward on unsteady feet.

“Mr. ...Jade?”

It had been too long for her to speak as if he was familiar.

“I’d rather we went somewhere other than here.”

[Draemorticus]

He heard the strangest noise coming from behind him - it sounded like there was someone imitating Min from just over his shoulder. They were doing a wonderful job; it sounded so much like her that he almost believed it. It was a horrible thing for them to get him so excited, though, and rather than just walk off he decided to turn around and give them a piece of his-

Before he knew what happened he had grabbed the girl up in his arms and spun her around in three full circles before setting her down again.

"Hi!" he exclaimed, grinning like a fool. "You- oh, not here, okay," he said quickly, somewhat confused, but having absolutely no reason not to go along with her, "Lets get out of here."

Taking her by the hand, feeling it not nearly enough contact, he started to lead her away from the cave. Behind him he heard Gypsy snort and start plodding after them, but he paid the horse no mind.

After they had gotten out of sight of the cave entrance, he led her off the road a bit where they wouldn't have to deal with any of the people coming and going from the competition.

"I'm so sorry for going away so long," he said finally, without clause or excuse.

* * *

The air was so thick with mistaken innuendo that he scarcely knew if he ought to open his mouth lest he make it that much more viscous.

“Well, I managed to pick out some things for you, somehow that was the easy part, I don’t know why. I had no idea what I should- er, okay, that wasn’t going anywhere good. I’ve been told there’s some potatoes, fresh bread, milk, and butter, some sort of roast, and… you know you’re awfully pretty.”

He blinked a bit, “Not that I really intended to bring up your beauty alongside talk of dinner, really the two don’t have anything to do with each other, I just… wanted to get that out.”

He fell silent for a moment, and was unsure what to say. It seemed odd that they were sitting in some inn room – he didn’t really know what to do with himself.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked, not really sure nor specifying whether he meant in the next few days, or on a more long term basis.

* * *

“I just… needed some time to think about things, I think. And I didn’t feel like I could do it here, what with… everything, and…” He was doing an awful job of completing his sentences concisely, and it was starting to bother him.

“I love you, Min,” he said, smiling. That, at least, he could say succinctly and with some definite finality. "Going away has at least taught me that."

[Min]

Her first instinct was to hit him, but he had been kind enough to move away from the cave entrance. Besides, if I hit him now, that means he’d get to hit me for the last time I left. That wouldn’t really be fair, all things considered — well, it would be fair, but not fair. Men, at least in general, hit harder than women do, and I’d probably be nursing a bruised muscle for far longer than he would. I suppose that’s out of the question, then, and I guess he did come back...though that’s sort of a stretch, as I had to find him, but he did come looking for me, and I suppose I should count it as a blessing that he managed to miss the spectacle of me losing. It wasn’t much of a spectacle, though, to anyone but me. I bet it would’ve been if he had been watching, though. Yes, decidedly. Did he say something about love? That’s unexpected...and...kinda...nice...

She finished the study of her knuckles as her thoughts trailed off, and then proceeded to draw a line in the dirt with the edge of her boot, over and over. “Yee...ee...eargh?” She blinked in surprise at the ineffectiveness of her voice, took a deep breath, and tried again. “Er...oops. I’m not quite sure what that was going to be.”

Her eyes were still focused on her feet. “I’m...I don’t know. I just had — well, maybe not just, but recently enough — one of the biggest disappointments of my life, and then, almost immediately after, I find you here. I’m glad you didn’t...well...I’m glad you...”

Her voice cracked, then went husky. “I’m not sure what to do. You’re here, and that’s wonderful, except I don’t know where you were when you were there, and I’m not really even sure why you had to leave...I was thinking about what happened last time, before, while I was following the person that turned out to be you, and now I’ve completely forgotten what happened...” Her voice gave out completely, and she took several moments recovering it. “I guess it isn’t important, really, with both of us together, and you having said...well, what you just said...” She shrugged. “But it feels unfinished, and with everything from before left hanging, I don’t know if I can figure out what’s supposed to be happening now.”

With all that said, it’ll be a miracle he doesn’t just turn around and ride off. I’m not even exactly sure what I just said, but it didn’t sound entirely positive. ‘Course, it wasn’t entirely negative, either. I guess it just was, but I don’t know what he’ll do with something like that. She moved her eyes upward briefly, and made an attempt to remember his features again.

“I guess you heard about the competition then?” The question had an obvious answer — there’d be no reason for anyone to be in this forsaken place unless they’d heard about, or were participating in, the event. “It was an experience I don’t think I’m likely to repeat. It wasn’t because of where I ended up — second, if you’re curious — but that it just seemed empty for me...”

If I say that, will I be contradicting everything I said before? This is so horridly stupid, all this dancing around just saying that I’m confused, that I don’t understand what happened. I suppose I did say all that, but I don’t know why I can’t ever say anything simply, in plain language... No wonder he felt like he had to leave before. What’s to say he won’t look at me and decide the same again? She pulled on strands of her hair absently, mechanically.

“...without you there.”

[Draemorticus]

"I'm sorry I didn't hear about it earlier," he began, and then realized that there were more important things for him to apologize for than missing the silly competition.

"And even moreso, I'm sorry for leaving you alone for so long. I just..." The sentence trailed off as he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. He just what? He knew he had needed some time to think, but as when he left, he still had trouble pinning down exactly what.

"I think I just had a lot of baggage to deal with in here," he said softly, pointing a finger at his temple, "and I didn't quite know where to stow it."

"I think, well, I think a number of things, but in particular I think I've sorted it out now, and when I heard about this... thing," he waved a hand in the general direction of the cave, "it gave me the extra little push that I needed to shove things into place and get on with it."

"I'm sorry I was gone so long- I’m sorry I had to go in the first place.”

Thus far, he hadn’t known what to say about the competition in the cave, and really his information about it was sketchy at best. In light of such limitations in his ability to speak of the actual contest or her performance therein with any kind of authority, he decided it might make more sense to judiciously keep his mouth shut lest he say something far emptier than he would have otherwise preferred to. No matter how hard he tried, though, he still felt as if he had missed something important.

“And regardless of how you did, or if you won or not, I still wish I had been here to watch you compete, Min. You’re brilliant normally – I can’t imagine how much you must shine when you’re actually trying to show it to people.” He smiled a bit, and hoped that all got taken as he meant it.

Looking around, he realized she would probably have preferred to be in an environment slightly less wooded and a shade or two closer to someplace to rest.

“How about we walk? Maybe we can find someplace we can rest a while – I think it’s been a long day for both of us.”

[Min]

Quiet.

That was the easy part — saying nothing, yet appearing as though she was right on the verge of speaking, so as not to alarm him with her silence. Every time she’d opened her mouth thus far, she felt as though the only thing occupying her skin was a bubbling sea of words, all impatiently waiting to spill out. There was nothing to organise; her thoughts were too numerous.

And I don’t even think we’ve gotten to the difficult part yet, have we? This was all just remembrance and recounting, the sort of thing one tells an idle companion in a bar. I don’t know if we’re just skirting around deeper issues or if there’s nothing there at all, and we’re both pretending, for the sake of the other, that we still see something. It’d be easier if I just knew, if he had some sort of halo surrounding him that only I could see, or maybe if his appearances were accompanied by some sort of choir from above-ward...

She smiled slightly, and nodded.

“That’d be nice, I think,” she said, dismissing her thoughts until later. “I saw a house before I’d caught up to you, and I think you must’ve gone to the same house, because the man there said something about some other person having just been there, and it...” She took a deep breath, and trying to rein in her words. “That is, I don’t know if he’d want to see me — us — again.”

She nodded, and then yawned. “I guess it’s been a longer day than I thought. Yeah, I think it’d be best if we tried to find a place we could spend the night. I hope your horse won’t mind traveling a little farther?” She quirked an eyebrow at the animal, who had her nose deep in a patch of wildflowers, and didn’t notice the attention.

“There are always more flowers, anyway, though you have to look harder in winter, especially for orchids...” The words were quiet, spoken mostly for her benefit. The one reminder that she had of the name they’d given her in the contest was buried in the makeshift bag she’d constructed, and she still had no idea why she’d even bothered to pick the withered flower up.

Well, because it’s an easy symbol, of course. It’s withered, don’t you get it? Like my spirit, I suppose. Or my beauty, or whatever other handy thing fits.

She knew that she needed to shake herself out of the melancholy of losing; she needed to stop pretending that she’d been tragically mistreated. The other woman had been better, that was that.

Besides...

She took a step closer toward him, and carefully placed interleaved the fingers of one of her hands with his. “I’m sorry. I just...didn’t expect the loss in that stupid contest to hit me so hard, and I know it doesn’t matter at all, and that’s the part that makes it all such a waste of time for me to even care. I’d rather be with you, here, any day, than standing in a shower of confetti with a tiara on my head. That’s just not me, really, and being here is. Or wherever we are.”

She tugged his hand gently and began walking forward, hoping they’d find something suitable soon. As it stood, she’d just as well sleep beneath a tree. They’d be able to wrap around each other enough to keep warm, if it came to that. An actual bed would be nice, but might introduce some additional — and unnecessary — strain.

The sky was having no part in being at all helpful in their endeavour to find shelter, however; it began to grow dark, and a light rain started to fall.

[Draemorticus]

As it started to rain, he reached back to pull the hood of his cloak up over his head, yet paused right as he touched the cloth. Firstly, he wouldn't really be able to see Min very well if he did that, nor would she be able to see him, nor would it have been terribly gentlemanly to keep his head dry while a lady was walking along without any cover what-so-ever. Min had apparently left the competition without more than a sack and the shirt and pants she was wearing.

"Would you like my cloak?" he asked tentatively, "I... well, I'm not entirely sure you wouldn't trip over the hem of it, though." It was quite apparent, what with their difference in height, that she would most likely do just that if she were to wear it, unfortunately. Letting the question go, he opted to just ignore the cloak as if he didn't have it.

They walked on for a while, hand in hand, and every so often he heard a muffled snort or plodding behind him that let him know Gypsy was following along obediently from a distance. The horse was probably having a glorious time with their current pace - he could almost hear the foliage trembling in fear.

He wasn't terribly sure where they were headed. There wasn’t a city anywhere near here, as Golden had been so kind to point out, and while he couldn’t speak for Min’s experience with the man, he wasn’t entirely sure he’d be well received if he returned to said gilded cottage.

“It sounds as if we’ve both paid a visit to the same farmhouse, and I’m not entirely sure I’d like to make another one. Perhaps we should go try to find some other locals who might be willing to put us up for the night?”

Looking over his shoulder, he called to Gypsy, who came cantering up to the two of them, several stems still sticking out of her mouth.

The horse looked at him and whinnied – making known her general distaste for suffering a rider, much less two.

“You’ll live,” he murmured to the horse, patting her nose.

* * *

The first farmhouse they came across looked more than a bit run down and unsettling, and he felt it a perfect excuse to seek out other lodgings when his opinionated horse all but shrieked her disapproval.

The second house they found, on the other hand, was far more inviting. It had a lantern lit outside its front door, and a good deal of light pouring through its windows, giving them a sense of homeliness as much as the last structure had conjured up a sense of dread. Dismounting, he walked to the door and knocked as politely as he knew how.

Within a moment a female face peered through the mottled window of the door, her eyes widening at the pair of them, now quite thoroughly wet, standing more or less pitifully outside her home.

The door opened and she peered out, “Yes?”

[Min]

She was dripping water from every angle, and could only manage to summon the smallest of smiles for the woman who’d opened the door. She tried to straighten her posture before she spoke, though; there was no use in appearing absolutely pitiful.

She opened her mouth, and then paused. The woman seemed to be engaged in a furious study of the pair’s hands. Min looked down, too, and tried to follow the woman’s eyes – she noticed, with some surprise, that her hand was joined with Drae’s again. They must’ve fitted them back together after they’d both gotten off the horse, but she couldn’t remember reaching toward him...

The woman had looked up again, and had the faintest flush of something – guilt? surprise? curiousity? – colouring her cheeks. “Er...I was just checking the area where you’re standing – I thought I dropped something out here yesterday, but if I did, the rain probably washed it away by now, right?” Her laugh was forced.

Min nodded, slowly, still confused about what the woman had been trying to find on their hands. “Right,” she said, firmly trying to push her questions out of her head. “We’re lucky, I think, that we didn’t get washed away.” She took a sidelong glance at Drae, and then pushed her way though her nervousness. “And I guess that’s why we’re here – we’d probably manage better if we were indoors through the night, and we wondered if maybe you had a room or two to spare? We’ll try to keep our dripping and such to a minimum, but we don’t want to impose if you don’t have the room or the inclination to host two strangers in your home...”

The woman shook her head with a smile. “Nonsense – I won’t see anyone sleeping out in the rain, not when I can do something about it. You look like decent enough folk, married as you are. It’s just me and my eldest son here, and you won’t see much of him. Please, come in.”

The woman pushed the door open and gestured for them to step inward. Min looked back at Drae, mouthed “What? Married?”, shrugged, and followed the woman into the house. As she stepped over the threshold, she heard the woman mutter something about no rings and how customs were so odd these days, but the words were obviously not meant for her ears, so she decided to leave the matter alone.

If nothing else, the pretense of marriage had gotten them a roof over their heads, at least for the night.

* * *

A handful of hours later, they were both a bit drier, and had been fit into clothing that the woman had provided. Nothing fit properly, of course, but there was no reason to complain; they were warm, well-fed, and looked a bit less like drowned rats.

The horse – Min learned that her name was Gypsy during an exchange between the woman and Drae – had been taken to the barn by the son, and was apparently quite enjoying the hay and oats available there.

The woman showed them to their room and then bid them both good night as she closed the door behind her.

Min found, for the first time in several hours, that her attention was now focused solely on Drae.

“One bed, huh?”

[Draemorticus]

"That seems to be the case," he began dubiously, unsure of where he was headed with the sentence, "you can take it, if you want, or-"

His words caught in his throat with what he perceived as the boldness of them, "or we can both just, you know, stay to opposite sides of the mattress. Or something like that. To keep up the pretense of marriage. And all."

He hoped to the dear gods above that he had made that as unambiguous a request as possible without actually saying it, but he wasn't really sure, and set out to tactfully try to banish any lingering, pesky doubts from her mind.

"Or, whatever... to make her think... to keep the... thing. That she thought we had."

It wasn't quite what he was going for, but it would have to do.

He looked around the room, unsure of where those comments had really left him. He knew where he'd like it to leave him, however he wasn't terribly sure if that was a real option. Desperately he suppressed that portion of his mind that called for the immediate impeachment, sentencing, and permanent jailment of the currently dominant portion.

“Really, I’m just happy to be here with you,” he said, looking around, “wherever here happens to be. I don’t really care where I sleep, so long as it’s at least in the room.”

“That is, er, I have preferences,” he added quickly, lest it sound like he didn’t care at all where he slept, “that, er, won’t get in the way of my better judgment. If they shouldn’t. But which are there. I’m going to shut up now.”

He grinned foolishly, finding it difficult at that particular moment to meet her eye, what with his random blunderings.

“This is kind of fun to dance around, isn’t it?”

[Min]

She had, with most of her head, been listening to him try to piece together some manner of speaking of the matter at hand without saying anything directly. With the attention that remained, though, she was slowly taking an inventory of the room. The count in her head always stayed the same, one table, one chair, one wardrobe, one bed, one bed, one bed… On the third or fourth pass of her eyes around the room, she noticed that the table wasn’t bare; it took her another five or six glances to piece together the identity of the object resting on the wood.

“That is, er, I have preferences,” she heard him say, and she smiled; he was just as flustered as she was. She began to nod, but he continued on, so she went back to processing the room.

That’s a…whatsit…a…oh, it holds liquid and – eep! Looks like he’s nearly done speaking, and I better look as though I’ve been paying attention, even though my eyes have been roaming around the room, and I probably looked as wild as a spooked horse and the best thing I can do is smile and nod, and smile and…

Her mind snapped back into place and she lunged toward the table, grabbed what she now realized was a bottle, tugged the cork out as quickly as possible, and drained as much of the wine as she could manage in one swallow.

After she lowered the bottle, she stood silent for a moment, wondering what on earth was wrong with her head.

She decided to answer her own questions aloud. “Erm… It…seemed like a good idea? Maybe might make me less self-conscious and, um, doyouwantsome?” She held the bottle out toward him and blinked. “I don’t know what to do about the bed, and maybe I’ve made the situation worse, and – eep!” She reached her free hand upward and tried to cover her mouth, but didn’t quite manage to stifle the burp before it escaped; her eyes were shining with apologies until her head began to feel …spinny.

“I’ve kinda…got a reaaaaaaaaaaally low tolerance? For such things? It just sorta runs right into my blood? You’re probably not the same, being as you’re a male and bigger and so forth, and maybe you think I’m making it up, but…” She pushed the bottle into his hands and then slowly made her way to the edge of the bed and sat down.

“’S sorta…everything’s just kinda moving. ‘S just easier for me to sit down. ‘S kinda fun though, in a way, ‘cause I’m not worried about who’s sleeping where right now, but more worried about making sure my head stays exactly as it’s supposed to here on my neck and-” She tilted her head to one side, and then to the other, and giggled.

“’S really not very good wine, as far as wine goes, not that I have much experience with such things, being as I get this way as quickly as I do, and of course you’re seeing this as well as I am, and maybe even better, since your thought processes aren’t so clogged up with all this wine-stuff. And I really think that you should give the bottle back to me unless you’re going to drink it, because I can keep it safe – very safe indeed!” With that, she was back to the giggling.

Idiot…idiot…stupid! Stupid girl!

Another giggle.

But it is rather fun not having to worry about all the mundane things…

Her face, just for a moment, flickered back to a serious expression. “Please sleep next to me?”

She tried to repress the next giggle, but couldn’t quite manage it.

Oh…But…I was serious about that…