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 Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:13 pm
For just under a minute, Brenley was certain he had lost the ability to speak. It was actually a minor comfort, the thought that he would no longer be able to stick his foot in his mouth ever again, but his disability didn't last. No matter how much what she had said frustrated and hurt him, he didn't have it in him to walk away without trying to explain, as bad of an idea as that might have been.
"I..." He swallowed. It appeared his voice hadn't been as ready to return as he had thought. "I know that you didn't ask for this. When I left the auditorium and saw you just... wandering out here after the party... I thought something might be wrong. You don't really walk around aimlessly by yourself a lot." A faint smile accompanied his nervous laugh, but then Bren swallowed again and both were gone. He took a deep breath, wishing he had stayed mute. Now that the words had begun, it seemed they had no intention of stopping.
"Those other reapers were fine, perfectly nice and all that, but... I can't make friends in one night. I might consider them friends someday, but right now..." He sighed. "I came to talk to you because you're my friend. I like you. I like you... more than I should sometimes. I stayed because wanted you to be happy and I thought I could... help." He failed to mention the cruel pleasure he'd initially felt when he'd seen her alone, knowing that it meant she and Lock weren't...
Brenley's stomach flip-flopped, sending a flush from his chest, up the back of his neck, and into his cheeks. The boil dropped his arms to his sides, suddenly more than warm enough to do without their added heat. "I'm sorry if I helped to ruin your night, but you haven't ruined mine." He looked up to where she was perched, catching sight of the sparkle of her eyes, but he could only manage to do so for a moment before he was back to staring at the ground.
"I am, however, very embarrassed right now, so..." He gestured over his shoulder, back the way they had come, then turned and hurried off in that direction as quickly as he could without breaking into a run.
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:47 pm
There was a long silence. At first Brenley's escape went unmolested, Piper spending an inordinate amount of time processing his words. Was that an admission she'd just stumbled upon, or a backhanded way of saying he shouldn't like her? Or maybe simple kindness was just really, really hard to grasp at the moment because she had been pretty sure the night wasn't going to deliver her any. Maybe there was no ulterior motive. Maybe Brenley sucked at explaining himself. Maybe she sucked at understanding.
Or maybe she should stop thinking, which wasn't her forte, and start acting, which was. Either way, she became very aware, for a few moments, of her heartbeat and the way each pulse chased the chill away just a little more. It gave her an idea.
Blind impulse was a familiar friend to the mage. One moment she was cold against a tree, the next she was landing awkwardly on the ground and briskly following after him. Piper knew she was going to be hurting for her words in the morning, but there was only one way she knew how to mitigate things, only one way she wouldn't feel awkward about initiating and which she felt could help them both.
"Oy." Piper hastily dabbed at her eyes with one hand while the other snapped and summoned a fiery cardinal; the creature chirped and soared from her palm to intercept Brenley. "Oy. You can't just say stuff like that and walk away," she called, sounding a little more like her old self. "Uh-uh, no sir. I'm the drama queen around here. You wanna help? You got nerves, I got nerves, tonight sucks anyway." Her lips curved into a mischievous smile, pushing down the confusing emotions behind a mask again. "How's about we have a spar to get it all out huh?"
Smerdle violence is always the answer
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 1:26 pm
Confident that he had effectively sidestepped any further discomfort for the time being, Brenley turned his thoughts inward where he continued to ponder what had happened, rather than enjoy his respite from awkwardness. He had been so terrified that Piper would grow irritated enough to terminate their friendship that he had allowed her to walk all over him rather than fight back, but in the end, he had thrown all of his restraint to the wolves and given her any number of reasons to feel animosity toward him. His blathering confession had been mortifying even in short-range hindsight, and now he was walking away instead of trying to explain himself. It would be best if he stayed out of her sight for a time, surely. His absence would encourage her to forget all about tonight, and then—
Brenley jumped in surprise as Piper's flaming cardinal darted into view, turning sharply in her direction when he heard her call out the second time. He mumbled a soft, "What?" though that wasn't even close to the first question he had, and blinked at her stupidly, glad that his flush had faded. She wanted him to fight her?
"Here?"
Prior to spending time battling odd, foggy creatures in the name of the goddess of Longing, Bren would have insisted that he wasn't a fighter. Now, he wasn't so sure. He hadn't summoned his own weapons in months, but he could recall the skill his other self had displayed with guns and swords so clearly that he wondered what he might accomplish now if he made the effort.
With one last nervous swallow, Bren nodded. "Yeah. Okay." She was still speaking to him, and from the look on her face, he could only assume that going through with this would make her happy, which had been his goal all along. Standing up straighter, he tentatively smiled back. "I'm ready whenever you are."
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Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:01 pm
She almost stopped to consider that Brenley might not have like fighting. Almost. Then she remembered that this was about her needs and that silly thought went away. Piper snickered. "Not here, dumbdumb," she replied as she walked, angling towards the gym with a purposeful swagger to her hips. Better to pretend that almost meltdown didn't happen, better to push away the odd emotions for later, better to pretend she was still in charge. "Gnomes'll, like, interrupt and stuff. Gym's where it's at, so hurry up. I want it to be just you and me." The cardinal chirped helpfully and lingered with the sorcerer to light the way--not that it's close proximity was necessary, it wasn't pitch black. But it still tried to sit on Brenley's shoulder anyway, almost as if to try and keep him warm; the fire it was composed of wouldn't set anything alight (this time). If ever asked if her summons acted out subconscious impulses, she would deny the hell out of it. Smerdle i shall call this a fin post on my end and will go start the battle!
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