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 Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:07 am
It seemed utterly pathetic, but to him life without love, care and companion ship seemed utterly pointless! He'd been so in love before, so close to his fiance and barely away from them for even a day... how could he face this now? Life without ever having that again? It was so lonely and he could feel that slowly nibbling away at his clarity of mind... No one, however, wanted to spend their life with a man who could never love them back... who said the words with no true passion, who could never care enough for them to make them feel special and wanted... he could never lie about it either, that just wasn't fair... he told them all, straight up, that eh could never love them... and that usually put things to an end.
He wasn't far from the goblin kingdom now, he wasn't sure exactly where he was, but he was wandering, just drifting here and there and he was halted for now on the warm, sunny side of a hill. It wasn't long past midday and though the area was very heavily surrounded by clouds that promised rain before long, there was a break in the weather that was currently allowing the sun to kiss the hillside. His camp was a little way away, a treated canvas tent like structure and a small fire shelter, but there was a small copse between him and it just now.. he'd get caught in the rain for certain, but that didn't matter just now... this was the first time in a little while he'd felt any promise in life, the good weather was lifting his slightly blue spirits.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:22 am
Junius studied the patches of blooming gorse from where he was sitting, further down on the same hill Caerwin had come to. He hadn't noticed the other presence; he was caught up in thought, attempting to look at the lovely yellow flowers before him but somehow gazing right past them. A ragged sigh escaped the Dryad's lips and his eyes clouded with his unhappiness. He was so far from home...
Yes, home. Home was where Aubrey was; Aubrey had cared about him, but once he'd gotten legs he'd just had to come here! This place had turned him reclusive. Not many people really wanted to talk to someone crawling with thorns. It hadn't mattered to Aubrey.
Junius guessed it was just frustrating that the flower he loved so much drew blood. People avoided it because of its thorns, only looking from a distance. That was what people did to him, too. He didn't understand why, as there really were so many odd people here in the Underground, but then it didn't really matter, did it? He didn't... need them.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:32 am
Cae, after being away in his own little world for quite sometime, shook his head, clearing the fog away from his thoughts. The hillside was still bathed in the pretty afternoon sunlight, but the flitting of a shadow down below, a little way down the hill caught his attention. It hadn't been a big movement, but it had been enough of one to make his gaze flicker towards it.... okay... so maybe it wasn't as lonely as silent here as he had first thought it was, there was someone down there amongst the gorse bushes that he'd climbed through much earlier that day.
Curious, he pushed himself to his feet and brushed himself down. He'd not spoken to anyone in a little while as he'd spent the last few weeks utterly on his own, travelling here and there. Taking smaller steps than usual as the hillside was slightly slippery, the grass was smooth and didn't offer much purchase, he made his way down towards the blonde haired figure he could see, it certainly couldn't hurt to say hello. "Good afternoon." he stated, thinking for a moment how much this fellow reminded him of the fairy he had met in the goblin king's castle, Tamson... maybe they were related?
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:40 am
Junius' eyes flicked up quickly as a voice sounded, making him freeze up slightly and look in alarm to the stranger he hadn't noticed. "G-good afternoon.." The Dryad murmured back skittishly, standing abruptly and backing up slightly, ignoring the light pricks of the thorns in the gorse bush. This stranger had probably come out here to get peace and quiet or something. Peace and quiet that Junius' presence was most likely disturbing.
"I'm sorry." The Dryad stared down. "I didn't notice you were already here. I'll leave." He was being too extremely polite most likely, but it was mechanical and automatic. People didn't appreciate his presence here. That had been his assumption from the beginning and he now had a firm belief in it.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:47 am
"Oh? Must you go?" Caerwen found himself asking at once, "Its been a fair while since I found myself with any companny, of course if you are busy then I do of course completely understand, but... if you're simply leaving on my account then I would much rather you stayed..." he rested his hands on his hips and smile very slightly at the rather nervous looking dryad, "Of course though, if I'm making you uncomfortable with being here I will naturally return to the patch of fading sunshine I was settled in..."
With the small, kind, and slightly sad smile that he usually wore fixed on his face, Cae brushed some of his white hair back over his shoulder to try and stop it from continuing its assault on his face. He'd not want to impose on anyone, of course... maybe he should have stayed away and not bothered the other...? Then again, it was only a hello, and he'd soon find if his company was truely very unwelcome just now.
"In case you do wish to stay a while," he stated kindly, "My name is Caerwen, or Cae if you prefer, I'd be more than happy to make your acquaintance."
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:57 am
Junius looked up to Caerwin, wide-eyed. "I-I..." He trailed off in confusion, gazing up to the other. "I thought you wouldn't want me here." He admitted sheepishly, his eyes finding the ground again. "Not many really like when I'm around..." The Dryad clasped his hands together, wringing them a bit nervously.
"I'm Junius..." He murmured uncertainly, glancing up to Caerwin yet again before quickly looking down. It was a gesture Junius repeated very often with people he didn't know. It really had to be admitted that he was awfully shy of strangers.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:07 am
"Well, I think it would be a little unfair for me to simply decide I disliked your presence before I've even had a chance to speak with you, don't you..?" he asked, the same smile still on his lips, "I mean... how can you know if you like or dislike someone before you even speak to them..?" he lifted his shoulders in a questioning shrug. "You seem rather quiet, so I don't really see why people should find you company as distasteful as you profess them to, Junius..." as the other had given him his name it seemed sensible to use it.
"I hope you'll find yourself at ease soon," he stated, turning slightly to admire one of the yellow flowers himself for a moment, "I don't mean to set you on edge as I seem to be doing, I promise I mean you no harm what so ever... though I can understand if you find it somewhat harder than I to trust the word of a stranger..." he looked back over at the dryad again, not yet abnle to place what race the creature was himself...
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:14 am
Junius blinked. "Well... I have thorns..." He trailed off shyly, brushing a few strands of his blonde hair away from his face. "People don't like thorns." The Dryad sighed with a small shrug. "So they just don't come close to me and they don't want to, either." He wrung his hands together yet again, trying to keep eye contact with Caerwin but failing many a time.
"So mostly I try and stay away from other people. That's how it works." He tried to explain with a small look up frustration. "I don't know why you don't seem to dislike me, though." He frowned up at Caerwin, trying to discern it.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:23 am
"Thorns..?" Cae asked, before glancing once at the green spines that did indeed seem to decorate the other male that he was talking to, "Ah, I see... well.." he lifted a finger and tapped one of his silver coloured armguards, "I suppose you could say that these were almost thorns as well..?" he smiled once again. "How you look won't bother me in the slightest..." he stated, "You're not attempting to hurt me, or anyone else that I can see, you seem placid enough, so I see no reason to suppose you'd have any wish to do anything of the sort in general... ergo, you give me no reason at all to dislike you..." he spread his hands in what he hoped was an explanitory gesture.
"I can't form an opinion of someone utterly after seeing them for just a few minutes, to do so would be to judge unfairly, and thats not a good thing, I feel at any rate... so," he shrugged once, "That would be why I do not seem to dislike you, because I don't... do you dislike me?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:32 am
"Well, those aren't that sharp..." Junius said, his eyes flicking over the armguards briefly. "I guess people think speaking to me is just like walking into a gorse bush; you're going to get scratched." The Dryad sighed. "I don't know why, but they do. And I still don't get why you seem to think so differently from everyone else." He shook his head in a dazed kind of confusion.
"O-of course I don't dislike you!" Junius cried, looking horrified. "That would be mean. I don't even know you!" He babbled, nearly incoherently. It was clear that he didn't understand that that was perhaps the message the other was attempting to get over to himself.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:44 am
"Well, you see, if you don't dislike me, then why should I dislike you..? Its the very same reason... do you see that..?" He smiled at the other once again, it actually reached eyes to some degree. "We seem to be on the same page here, but just reading different lines.." he looked up at the sky, and then up at the hill once again. "Its still sunny for now, but I'm not sure how much longer for, do you fancy coming up to sit in the sun with me for a while maybe?" he gestured to where he had been sitting before, "Seeing as we both seem unable to form an opinion without getting to know one another, how about we see how we feel after a little conversation? Hmm?" He smiled again before stepping a little way away from the dryad and looking over his shoulder, "Do you think thats a good idea?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:06 pm
Junius blushed in embarassment as he was seemingly proven wrong. "I... guess..." He mumbled shyly, the look of confusion never entirely vanishing from his features. He looked up to Caerwin in even more confusion as the other suggested that he come sit with him in the sun. "I couldn't!" He cried, looking more than a little scandalized at the suggestion. Sitting with someone and talking with them was just plain abnormal!
"I can really just leave if I'm annoying you." He continued, his words rushed. "You don't have to lie or anything. I get it, really..." His comprehension on the subject of someone actually wishing to converse with him about anything was immensely low.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:12 pm
Cae paused again, his expression very slightly incredulous for a moment before he just smiled and walked back down towards the dryad. "You are really not annoying me Junius, honestly, and I am most certainly not lying.." the kind smile was back on his lips now. "I simply think it would be pleasant to enjoy what may very well be the last of the summer sunshine before it vanishes too fully into autumn with some companny rather than utterly on my own... don't you think that would be nice..?" He held out a hand to the other, "Come on, keep me companny? I'll swear on anything you chose to believe that I would enjoy your company far more than I wolud enjoy having more time to myself just now..."
He wasn't entirely sure what he could say to further assure this skittish seeming fellow that he was sincere in his entreaties for companny, but it had to be worth another try. His most recent acquaintance had evidently not had a very good time of it in the past... a shame, really, as he did seem a very nice young fellow!
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:24 pm
Junius blinked, his mind in a swirl of confusion as he took the stranger's hand. "...Okay." He finally agreed. This was only because Caerwin seemed strangely sincere. He walked the small distance up the hill to reach the other, staring at the grass with a rather shamefaced expression as he did so. Still, even staring at the ground didn't stop him from missing the prominent bump in the hill.
The Dryad let loose a small scream as he fell backwards, barely registering what was happening as his very own plant of choice sliced through his skin as he fell down the too-steep incline of the hill. He finally managed to stop himself, but not before damage had been done. He pulled himself into a sitting position, looking immensely embarassed about his fall. Instead of worrying about the myriad of cuts, scratches and bruises he had he was worried about the fact that he'd just been idiotically clumsy. And, of course, this made him want to cry.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:39 pm
He'd literally just let go of his companions hand to settle down on the grass when the tussock had caught the other unaware's. Before Caerwen could react at all the dryadd had gone tumbling down the hill, but of course as soon as he did manage to react he was most certainly too late to do anything but scamper down the hill after him trying not to trip over himself. Once he did manage to reach the other he crouched down beside him, a worried look on his face, "Junius? Are you okay..?" he queried, the same emotion showing through in his voice, "That was quite a fall you had there, are you hurt..?" he shifted onto his knee's and once again held a hand out to the other, "Here, let me help you up... lets get out of the gorse bushes and back up to the clear ground and we'll look you over, okay? Make sure you're all right.." he smiled very slightly, shifting his hand a little, "Come on, it'll be okay.."
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