((. . . So, we have a lot of material in this. lol. I'm just going to post the past few responses. I have the whole thing saved though, if you ever want it.))
Faelon smiled, and stroked her cheek gently. With one last good bye he left, closing the door softly behind him. He began to whistle as he walked back to his new room. It truly had been a magnificent day.
Lainis looked up at Eckart with tears in her eyes. The pain in his voice was noticeable, and unmasked. She hadn't meant for that. She sighed, and leaned forward onto his chest once again. The reestablished closeness renewed her confidence and allowed her to speak. As long as she did not look into his eyes.
"I just don't know what's going on anymore," she whispered into his shirt.
"Everything was so simple and now. . . It’s not. I'm not used to things like this. It's potentially distracting. I love your company, but I can't get too close to you. There would be. . . problems. Please."
The last word came out in a strangled voice. It was hard to admit that she was afraid. She knew she could trust him, but that didn't make it any easier to break years of habit. Besides, she absolutely had to make sure that she didn't get too close to any of the boys. Especially if she liked them as much as she did Eckart. Her mother had made clear that romance was not an option in her life. She was to honor her families name and make her father look good, even in his death. There was no room for mistakes.
Eckart grabbed her shoulders gently and pulled her closer. “You can have anything you want, if you want me to go away I think that would be a big mistake but I'll honor your wishes.” he sighed a breaking occurring in his usually strong confident voice. “We can still be partners, if we try this, you and me and it doesn't work you know we tried. We have four years. You can still have romance, friendship even with keeping your family honor it is your life and I don't think you'll find anyone who understands and supports your calling like I do but its your decision I won't bother you again.” he let her go and turned away back into his room with a rather heart broken expression crossing his arms over his chest.
It just wasn't fair the ideas people put into her head. It wasn't supposed to be all this serious either. Four years of schooling, but even so he did;t like for his options to be taken away from him. Not when whatever this was felt so good for the brief moments they were allowed to share it.
Tula undressed and slid into bed beaming and excited about the next day. Which was probably the first time since she got here that she was so excited for school and her life. Things were finally happy and she couldn't wait to share the excitement with everyone she met.
Lainis stood there silently in the shadowed room for a moment. His words - straight from the heart - had pierced hers. Her mind raced as she struggled to know what to say. What to do. Finally she walked up to him. Tenetavely, she took hold of his hand.
"I think you're right. There's no way I could find anyone who could support and understand me like you can. And there's no way that I'd ever ask you to leave." She coughed, embarrassed. "A-anyway, we let this conversation get way too serious." She said with a hoarse laugh. Her head snapped towards the doorway as she heard the handle jiggle.
Faelon reached his new room fairly quickly. Both his good mood and his long legs had shortened the journey. He didn't bother to knock, since it was now his room too. As he opened the door however, he wished that he had have.
Eckart and Lainis stood in the middle of the dark room, holding hands. Both of his friends looked surprisingly serious. He had the feeling that he had interrupted something.
"Um. . . sorry," he mumbled, "I'll uh, I'll just leave you guys alone."
Eckart coughed nervously as his heart quickly slowed down from his frantic pace. “No,” he wasn't sure what to make of her statement. “Its ok, I'll walk you to your room Lanis and I'll be back.” letting go of one of her hands to start to the door where Faelon now stood.
He didn't even look at him too centered in his own thoughts. Maybe he gave her some hope that they had a chance but it wouldn't be easy. Something so hard and heavy for someone so young. It just didn't seem fair but it seemed like now he had a chance.
So he moved out into the fall still holding onto her hand waiting to see if she would let go or push him away again. She shouldn't have to do all this alone. “So.. what do you think, willing to try?”
Lainis allowed herself to be led out of the room. Her heart was still racing in her chest, and her mind was reeling. When he asked his question though, she had to pull her thoughts together. It took her mind a minute to comprehend what he had asked her. Finally, she nodded.
"I-I think it would be well worth the time to try," she said softly. "It's not like we're unused to overcoming adversities." She smiled, hoping to ease the mood a little bit. Her mom would be angry of course, if she ever found out. But that didn't matter right now. As long as she didn't let. . . whatever this was. . . distract her from her shield, there was no reason for her to give him up.
She shifted her hand in his slightly, and nudged him a little. Who knew? It might even be fun. After all, before she had met Eckart she had concentrated fully on training. It made for an efficient lifestyle, but not a very pleasant one. Maybe this way, she could have both.
Faelon couldn't help but smile as the two walked out. It would be nice if Lainis and Eckart were there to support each other. He quickly dressed for bed, but he didn't try to sleep yet. He didn't know if Eckart would want to talk when he got back, but he wanted to be there for him if he did.
He almost fell over with relief when she agreed to give it a try. He wasn't going to dream of getting in the way of her shield. Though her mother that he couldn't help at all may be in time they would prove it could work, either way, it was her life. She could do with it as she pleased and that would most defiantly be that.
It had been the oddest day, the most wonderful. As they got to her bedroom door he did venture to give her a hug, pulling her against his body “Then you won't mind getting up early for more training. You need to keep it up for your challenge” they both hurt like hell but he was going to prove to her he was there to help her get the shield not keep her from it.
With a small smile he looked down at her as he hugged her waiting for her to say something. Eck planned on taking things slowly. No need to rush after all, they had time.
Lainis couldn't help but groan as he mentioned early morning training. It was good, though. She usually got up early to train anyway. She was ashamed to admit though, she had been thinking of skipping. Between her soreness and the punishment. . . but no. She needed to work hard now more than ever. That way, she could prove to her mother that she was capable of pursuing friendship. . . and love. . . and her shield. She was a little taken aback as he enveloped her in warmness. She smiled though, and wrapped her arms around him as well. Her arms didn't quite make it all the way around his broad back.
She laughed into his shirt.
"I'm far too short," she said lightly.
It was hard to be so little, but she had gotten used to it. And it was kind of fun to make fun of herself. And it was always fun to see her opponents' faces when she beat them so easily. It was especially fun if the opponent was much bigger than her.
She let him go, and stood back a little.
"Thanks for walking me to my room. I guess I'll see you bright and early in the morning. What kind of training did you have in mind? Sword, or tilting, or. . ." she trailed off, waiting to see what he proposed.
Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:35 am