[PRP] Falling (Marut & Raniero)

[Epine de Rose]

"You will do," he said with a tone of such finality that he seemed to have disregarded everything he had said previously. All the blows he had landed, the anger he had caused - they'd all been deliberate and she had proven him wrong in regards to her temper. She had control of it and was disciplined enough to hold it in check no matter how brutal the blows became. She hadn't lashed out and while she had much to learn when it came to this particular family line she had stood tall against every last one of his jibes. Really he had said enough to make the majority of mares burst into tears and retreat.

"Granted the true test will come at a later date," he mused more so to himself than anything. Tilting his head to the side, his smile remained cold but was less sly. The cool glint in his eyes never seemed to diminish but then again, some were just like that. "If you are even capable of bearing his children and producing a child that will be fit for this line," lifting a brow, he drifted away from the mare, placing distance between himself and her. Yet in doing so he also revealed the way towards the hidden trails that moved beyond the groves and towards his chosen home.

"I have heard much of you Marut and as a father I doubt you, I do not trust you with my family line but you possess a bite and a certain level of defiance that indicates that even in your impure state there is potential..." He shrugged loosely, drifting towards another area of the forest with little consideration for how she may receive his words. "Do not disappoint me - the pride of my son lays firmly on your shoulders..."  

[Sayuri_Nitta]

Father?

Spirits, if she'd been even one smallest bit as cheeky as she was with Raniero, or laughed, or lashed out she could have ruined it all. Her legs shook under her, she felt weak as a new born filly, and she could have fallen there and then after he had left her.

'Do?' she echoed in a quiet voice, her head having dropped in relief after he went. This had all been some sort of twisted test? If it had been, obviously she had passed for now. She looked up, catching sight of a trail that lead off in a direction behind where he had stood.

'Raniero..' she said his name, trying to shake off the wobbly feelings from her encounter with his father. Marut let out a few long breaths, and then clipped off, pushing onwards on still slightly wobbly legs, but determined to find him.  

[Epine de Rose]

Ran had always been one to trust his father with his life. He had never been steered wrong, had been guided by expert hands and moulded into the creature he was today by the older stallion. Over the course of the years he had grown to love, respect and admire his father for a variety of reasons. Granted, like Paramekia, Raniero was often subject to a great deal of misunderstanding through his opinions and views upon certain things but that simply brought them closer together. Thus it had been with little hesitation that Ran had entrusted this issue to his father as well - Paramekia hadn't provided him with details but had ensured him that if the mare was worth her salt then he would know.

Puffing out his cheeks briefly, the soquili soon released a deep sigh and rolled his shoulders. Wandering idly through the small meadow, he had long since drifted into his own thoughts. He had been ordered to stay at home, he didn't necessarily have to remain in the same area as his mother or brother, but he had not been permitted to wander about either. He could see the reasoning behind it, but given that it hindered his research quite a bit, the scholarly stallion had become more and more agitated about being cooped up.

He was not his brother, he hated to be idle.

With a soft snort, he came to a halt to once again inspect the river nearby. It was more of a stream, not quite deep enough to gain the title of a river and yet it was one that had always seemed much bigger when he was a child. Meh, he hadn't been in this place for years and if he was honest he wasn't in the slightest bit surprised it hadn't changed either. But argh, how long could a damn test take?

He knew his father was thorough, but this was simply ridiculous!

It was just as well he had more pride than to slink towards his mother and murmur 'can I go yet?' into her ear like a newborn foal...  

[Sayuri_Nitta]

'Raniero?' Marut started calling his name again as she moved further down the trail that had been hidden from her. She could smell him again, his scent, and his father's was heavy around here. It was home..

'Raniero are you here?'
Please be here, she thought to herself as she wandered along, worried that she would bump into another member of his family and not him. Her ears picked up the sound of running water, and she moved towards it, planning on using it as a focal point in her search.  

[Epine de Rose]

There was no one worse than Paramekia within Ran's family. Or at least, this was as much as the family could reassure another of unless the spirits decided to return his uncle and Grandfather to life. Given that this was highly unlikely though, almost impossible infact; Paramekia was the last in that particular line of turmoil and bitter disputes. Ran's brother was considerably more amiable and the influence of his mother had made sure that even his father had become significantly less abrupt. Ah - the fact of the matter was that Marut had encountered a deliberately insulting stallion for the purpose of confirming or denying her suitability as his potential consort. Granted he hadn't exactly been terribly considerate towards the mare and nor had he been remotely flirtacious with her but that hadn't meant he hadn't considered her either.

Nevertheless while Ran had studied the behaviour of soquili his entire life he was still one who was aware of the questionable nature of certain half breeds. He may have been polite and otherwise considerate, he may have met with her parents upon request but this hadn't meant that he would have automatically accepted her as more than a friend. She had doubted his father when he had informed her than Ran was as prejudice as he was and while it was not to such extremes...Raniero was certainly one who understood the importance of pure blood too. However, he had long since grown accustomed to meeting those Soquili whose sole excuse was that one couldn't argue with the heart. He hadn't quite grasped the concept until recently and while he could argue with his heart all day, guided by logic and sensibilities, it was a pain in the blood a** to do it every damn second.

He had other things to do.

So, he had found himself in a very unlikely predicament. Aware that he was attracted to one of impure blood he had subjected himself to his father's scrutiny and placed his trust in him. While his father was more intend on a pureline than anyone else, his mother had done wonders to rein in his prejudices and now it was more a question of suitability. She was part Kalona, there was no denying such things and her temperament was questionable to the parent. Ran knew that she had been amiable to him but then again he had never pushed her to her limits had he?

"Oi," another of his sighs and he shook his head. If his father had deemed her inappropriate then logic would simply have to duke it out with his heart until such times as he 'grew out of it'. There were plenty of mares available and emotions were not always the guiding force in a relationship anyway. That was how his father had done it and it had worked out pretty well so far. Then again, what if he had approved of her, then what did the stallion do? He had dealt with plenty of mares in his time and courted them with sufficient ease to satisfy his own ends but the feelings had been one sided. How was he meant to deal with such things when they weren't.

He'd definitely shot himself in the foot with this one.

Alas he wasn't permitted much more time to himself as his ears swivelled. The familiar voice touched the tips and no sooner had he caught wind of her existence than his head lifted and his brow arched. It wasn't by chance that she had found that trail, his father kept it closely watched and hidden so...

She hadn't...

"Have you not learnt anything while in my presence?" he enquired softly, albeit as calm as he could mustre as he recovered from the shock of another being permitted into his birthplace. "Rhetorical questions are a waste of breath and are often quite dangerous."  

[Sayuri_Nitta]

Such relief flooded through her when she heard Raniero's voice that she felt positively giddy. She smiled, shyly though when she did catch sight of him;
'I wasn't sure, and I didn't think I could face meeting anyone else quite like your father.' she confessed, standing before him, wondering now how she was to say all she meant to. She'd been eloquent enough to his father, but she'd had to defend herself on all counts, and had said much more than she had planned on.

'It's good to see you.' Marut decided on pleasantries at first, till she worked up the courage to say what she had come all this way for.  

[Epine de Rose]

It hadn't been that long since they had parted ways, he had left her and her mother so that she could converse with her and if he was entirely honest, he hadn't anticipated that she would return quite so quickly. When it came to mares they were often indecisive and often spent a suitable about of time musing over irrelevant details. It was ironic as he should have been thankful she'd arrived so soon (as he was bored) but at the same time left him with no doubt in his mind that she was a mare who knew exactly what she wanted... Sort of. For the time being she seemed to have made up her mind at the very least as she had chosen to pursue him relatively quickly following his departure.

Nevertheless as she made reference to his father he did arch a brow. His father was certainly a force to be reckoned with but he had rarely heard one speak of their unwillingness to encounter him again. Frankly when it came down to things it was unlikely for her to have a choice, since he would be watching her like a hawk from this point forward... Such was Raniero's assumption and he was genuinely fairly accurate when it came to his own family members and their behaviour.

"My father is certainly an acquired taste," he offered at last in an attempt to soften a comment that could otherwise be deemed insulting. That being said after a few moments he did bow his head in greeting and offer a have smile. Having observed her behaviour from the moment she had appeared, he could already detect a shift. She wasn't behaving normally, wasn't her mischevious self (from what he could gather) and was dodging round subjects which was really...not something he enjoyed doing.

Small talk.

She should've known he hated it.

"I only left a few hours ago, Marut," he pointed out smoothly and shook his head. Dismissing the idle chit chat, he gave a roll of his shoulders and settled into a more comfortable position. "I trust you are feeling much better now that you have recovered from your unrest?"  

[Sayuri_Nitta]

It was hard for her to speak well of his father after everything he'd said to her. But she would refrain from speaking much more of him out of respect for Raniero's feelings if nothing else.

'I'm sorry but he insulted me and my family. As a test.. I won't speak of it further though..' she explained, not wanting to turn this into an argument. After all she knew that she had difficult family members, but Raniero had yet to meet them.

'And yet it feels like longer.' she replied. How, how did she bring the subject up? He did it partly for her, but she could have just replied that she felt ill, and continue to be evasive. She let out a breath.

'What do you feel for me Raniero? I have to..I have to know.'  

[Epine de Rose]

So that was the issue... Marut had been insulted and yet she failed to realise that his father could have been so much crueller. He clucked his tongue lightly in disapproval, evidently not entirely impressed by her complaint. He was fairly certain there would be those in her family who would not hold their tongues, who would behave in questionnable ways and as such, to merely be insulted? One might have said Paramekia was being pre-emptive in his assault given that there were those in the world who could be far more brutal than he had been.

...Whether Marut liked it or not, she was of impure blood and that was an issue. Even to Raniero it was an issue that had stood out so much that he placed his trust entirely upon his father's shoulders. Had it been a wind, a unicorn or anything less violent than a kalona then he would have made judgement himself - it was just as well he knew nothing of her brothers or things could have been very different.

"You must be aware that tests and trials are common place within my life, Marut. If you dislike them, then as a friend you need not concern yourself with them further," he pointed out calmly. Lowering his brow, he shifted his weight from one hoof to the other and continued to observe her quietly. He only looked even remotely taken aback when she enquired to his feelings, where shock should have been evident on his face he was eerily calm despite the subject involved.

"You query me in relation to how I regard you on an emotional level," he rephrased her question to save her from rewording it to be more specific. "I can safely answer that I recognise you as female and I see potential within you to be something more than a competitive tomboy," he sighed softly and shook his head as he mused over the question a little more. "But you are young and I am wary of that. Why is it that you desire to know?"

He already suspected he knew the answer but alas...  

[Sayuri_Nitta]

'I understood your father's reasons behind what he was doing, it doesn't mean I have to like what he said.' Marut replied. This wasn't how this meeting had played out in her head, but she hadn't expected the barrier that was his father. She let out another long breath again.

'I suppose as a friend I wouldn't have to, but you were the reason I kept my tongue in my head, and didn't answer back in a way that would give offence.'

His answer wasn't one she supposed was generally given when that question was asked, but this was Raniero, and she was getting used to his interesting answers that lead to more questions.

'When I found out about what had happened between you and my father I was jealous. It was silly, I realise now but after you left me I had to think why I was jealous. A lengthy conversation with my mother made me realise what was wrong. I have feelings for you, far beyond friendship. That's why I wanted to know what you feel for me.'  

[Epine de Rose]

The stallion closed his eyes and released a soft sigh at such a declaration. To most stallions it would have been a dream come true to have a mare take the plunge and confess to their love first. It left them with little more than to agree, to echo those sentiments and embrace the mare in a long hug that was reminiscent of something from a tale of romance. Unfortunately for Ran this was not the case - while he appreciated such sentiments and his father may have permitted the mare to find him again, he was still plagued with the issue of her youth and that sudden realisation that she had the ability to feel such things towards a stallion.

She was young after all, she'd been a tomboy her entire life and had thrived on competition. There were few who had treated her as a female (as she should have been) and so, she'd never had the chance to realise. Then in a twist of fate she had found him, even dressed as a female he had spoken to her and addressed her in manners appropriate for what she was. He was not an athlete and had zero interest in sports - he never even humoured the concept of that amount of exercise. To him, there was a risk that she had simply blossomed and he was the first crush.

He didn't play her games - so what if she became bored...?

Another sigh escaped through his parted lips and soon his eyes opened to resemble amber slits. He was quietly considering the best method of addressing her confession. While he had been in relationships with mares before they had been fleeting and for pleasure alone, to permit one to get close to him was a little more complex. Arranged matings were far easier as both mare and stallion understood their duties but when it came to love... Urgh, how many of those relationships had he seen come crashing down around his head!

"First loves are often fleeting, Marut." He pointed out softly, returning his gaze to the mare who seemed to have become considerably more uncomfortable. Her fairy tale confession was not turning out exactly as one might have anticipated. "What if you grow bored and desire someone more like you?" He asked gently, with a much greater level of warmth than was normal for him.  

[Sayuri_Nitta]

How would he respond? She wasn't sure that it would be anything romantic, and being so new to this all she might be glad of that because it might make her giggle and dismiss this all as a silly notion again. Or..it might be nice to hear something sweet, a reply that confirmed that she'd given her heart to the right stallion.

'Well, that might be, I'm sure you'd be aware of that more than I would, you know more than I do.' she replied, edging closer to Raniero, colouring a little, her heart beating swiftly.

'What I do know is that the more I come to know you, the more I feel for you. You make me smile, I think about you more than anyone I've met - you're all I've thought about lately actually. I could never get bored of you Raniero..I can put a name to every single feeling that I have for you. I love you.' she confessed.

'I just have to know, do you feel the same thing for me?' she pressed, anxious to know his emotions on the subject. She'd gone through a great deal to get to this point, and didn't know what she would do if pushed her away now. Not after saying that.  

[Epine de Rose]

"This is...complete and utter role reversal," Raniero replied in what could well be one of the most unromantic declarations of history. He hadn't meant this to be intential of course, but the mare had confessed her feelings with such passion and feeling... What made it worse was that said mare had confessed first and in doing so had completely sweapt away the traditional role of a male in any type of love story. From a traditional stand point it should have been Ran who had spoken at such lengths and with such colourful language - but up until this point the stallion had done nothing more than pose questions in an attempt to gauge her interest.

Needless to say her declaration was enough to push the doubts out of his mind and he cleared his throat. So, what was he to do now? Here, stood before him, was a mare who loved him and was more than content to deal with his behaviour. She would endure his cross dressing, she was already accustomed to his long winded musings and was (apparently) fully prepared to accept that he would not be partaking in any sparring, hiking or other form of physical competition anytime soon. She was content with this...?

She was.

"I cannot deny that I do," he replied at last, a sigh escaping his lips as he raised his eyes heavenwards. Evidently, there came a time in everyone's life when they had to let another in. One was never sure of when that would happen, but they should never miss that opportunity either. So...he would have to become accustomed to the fact that while he studied she would spar near by but selective hearing ran in his bloodline - he'd be fine.

"Though I must ask..." he raised a brow and returned his gaze to the anxious mare. "What have you been using my imaginary self for, exactly?"  

[Sayuri_Nitta]

'Maybe so, but when I met you, you were dressed like a mare.' Marut gave a slightly impish smile, relaxing as his first words weren't ones of complete and utter indignation.

'There hasn't been much of our relationship that was normal..and I've loved every moment of it, even when you were being your honest and plain speaking self.'

She edged further forward, waiting for him to say more and was soon rewarded in the proper and much more pleasant way than his previous words when she asked of his feelings.

'Raniero..' she said his name, and not alot more else at first, wondering how to cross her last bridge and show proper affection that wasn't words. Nose to nose? Go stand by him? It was all a little much right now, just knowing that he felt for her in return gave her a happier feeling than winning any race or sparring contest ever had.

'For?' she answered, looking faintly curious as to his proper meaning but guessing that he was meaning something intimate.
'I just thought of you..you were on mind alot.' she smiled, and stepped closer still.  

[Epine de Rose]

"Point," Ran admitted as the mare reminded him that their first meeting had been far from conventional. She went on to remind him that nothing about their friendship had been normal either. He hadn't courted her like a normal stallion, he hadn't sparred with her as she was accustomed to. There had been no flirtation - all in all it had merely been a series of very peculiar encounters that had culminated in a particular mare finally blossoming into a proper adult. She'd been a little late in comparison to the rest of the mares in the world but he couldn't fault her for that... It wasn't as if the males of this bloody place had done anything to attempt to educate her.

...Then again that was a bad thing for a stallion who was so well educated. Most would have thought this would be a good thing, he could teach her whatever he wanted, but from a practical stand point this generally meant he had to explain everything and that was bad. Really, he couldn't envision the mare keeping a straight face as he explained the technicalities of mating, child birth and any number of subjects to her. There was no denying that he had a habit of answering things in a dry voice, a dry voice that could often been mistaken for humour and usually was. If he didn't have the poor mare in stitches after explaining at least one of these subjects he'd be surprised.

Although if he had to do the 'when a stallion and a mare love each other very much' talk, he would deck her personally. Thankfully he had more faith in her mother than that.

"Though you did not answer my question to a sufficient level," he arched a brow, referring to her vague remarks regarding what she had been using him for in her mind. It did make him terribly curious, though her thoughts could technically have been completely harmless...perhaps idle daydreams where he was supposed to act in an over-the-top romantic fashion that really didn't suit him at all. "You should know by now how dissatisfied I become..." he rolled his eyes at the manner in which she crept towards him.

She was hardly stealthy, her approach almost comical to him and with an internal sigh he began to saunter towards the uncertain mare. He could at least take the lead in this and placed his forehead against her own. "When people do not answer my questions properly, Marut."