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 Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:34 am
Marut wondered what was taking Raniero so long to answer, usually he found questions easy to reply to. The tiniest inkling that she had was sprouting and growing wings into a full fledged 'oh spirits please tell me he didn't..'
She knew exactly how her Grandfather was because Neve had told her about his antics, just in case she ever bumped into him without her mother around. Neve had warned Marut about his tendency to call everyone female 'Chica', and that he'd chat her up unless she immediately addressed him as 'Grandad'.
'You didn't meet him how you looked the first time I met did you?' she managed to say, her voice straining to sound casual, as though it didn't matter that her grandad might very well have chatted up someone she had undetermined feelings for.
'How he looked?' Neve echoed Marut, a puzzled look upon her face as she saw the expression on her daughter's change quite a lot.
'What am I missing?'
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:43 am
This really wasn't how he had envisioned meeting anyone's parents would go, then again he hadn't accounted for the possibility that said parents were related to the very stallion that had attempted to seduce him. However, when Marut finally seemed to cotton on to the dreaded truth of the issue his amber gaze did slide towards her albeit shrouded gaze and his brow raised as though he was inferring that he sincerely hoped her question was rhetorical. When she had met him the first time he had sad that he had been studying in this type of manner for quite some time - while it was a nightmare in itself it was indeed true that her assumptions were correct and he had been subject to Guilian's undivided attention. That being said, it was probably for the better that he informed Neve of this before her daughter had the opportunity to blurt it out in her ever articulate manner...
"I am a scholar, a researcher by nature M'lady," he began at last, slowly as he gathered his thoughts and composure to address Marut's mother properly. "However on many occasions my methods of acquiring information have been noted to be questionable or strange by those who are not in a similar mindset to my own," he didn't hesitate so much as pause, shifting his weight and he found the most appropriate wording - now was not the time to be vague. "In recent months I have been noted to take on the appearance of a mare to further my studies, given that females are generally speaking less...suspicious."
Now for the terrible revelation that the spirits had been waiting for...
"Unfortunately I had not accounted for the possibility that there were some males who were decidedly more insistant than others - though in your...father's defence," he tilted his head to the side and then slowly shook it. "He was really quite good humoured about the entire thing when he found out I was male?"
There was really no way for him to save face in this one but as was customary for him he maintained an otherwise unreadable expression and his voice remained steady. He could look completely serious and confess to the most stupid things all at the same time, he'd certainly done enough of them to have mastered the technique.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:52 am
Marut returned his look with a rather pained and forced smile. She knew that he'd done the whole masquerade thing for his research, and that it was likely that stallions other than that musical one might fall for the disguise..and back then it had been really funny. What had changed? She sucked in a breath, preferring to let her mother answer him.
Neve wasn't entirely sure how to answer after Raniero had finished his explanation. It certainly went a long way towards explaining his expression and stuttering at finding out who her father, and Marut's grandfather was. She probably would be embarrassed as well to be meeting family of someone who had chatted you up when you were disguised as another gender..which was strange enough but Marut had obviously known and accepted this and she wasn't about to lay into him about that.
Besides which..a traitorous smile tugged at her mouth, and realised she was finding it hard not to laugh at the image of Guilian finding out that the 'Chica' he had been pursuing was in fact a male.
'Well Raniero, you know more of our family than you probably should, but I imagine it was a helpful experiment.' she coughed, desperately trying not to laugh, for Marut's sake more than anything.
'My father has a good sense of humour, I think you were lucky it was him that had tried it on.' she turned her head feeling a chuckle trying to escape. She turned it into another cough.
'Excuse me..'
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:01 am
Raniero did have the decency to sympathise with Marut at the very least, but one had to note that it would have been worse if he had met Guilian again in her company without prior warning. He had never intended to confess to this, hadn't even known they were related until this fated encounter and so hadn't expected to stun her into a stupor as seemed to be the case. Admittedly every family had their oddballs and insanely embarassing tales but for a mare who thrived on competition and the simple things in life, he was fairly certain this came as a bit of a shock. Looking towards a more positive aspect of the situation at least it gave her prior warning into the behaviour of some families members...?
"You can laugh if you see fit," Raniero pointed calmly, taking note of the various snerks that appeared to be dominating the mare's breaths. His father had already laughed a rather great deal at the entire situation and the critters who tended to his appearance, equally so. The fact of the matter was that Raniero often found himself in unusual situations and was aware that the majority of individuals found them funny. Polite as it may have been not to laugh (or so they may have been told), he found it more appropriate for them to express themselves.
"It was most certainly a memorable encounter, if nothing else - though it explains much regarding some of your family's interests," he mused after a few moments before flitting another glance to the faltering Marut. "I cannot say they necessarily conform to the standards of others..."
Oddly enough, with that little confession off his chest he seemed to be relaxing all the more. Evidently Marut had picked up his tension - the poor mare!
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:11 am
Marut wanted to walk away, just to have time to process all this. But she couldn't. She was glued to the floor because of her naivete, and because she didn't have the experience to process what she had begun to feel for Raniero. Besides, he wasn't the easiest stallion to fall for, and would twig something was up immediately if she did excuse herself from the gathering...she would have to talk properly and privately to her mother when the visit was over, she had a feeling that Neve would be happy to help sort out her daughter's feelings for her.
'No, no one else is quite like Grandad.'
'Oh I wish I'd been there.' Neve giggled, but not letting herself go too much as she could sense Marut's discomfort with the subject.
'Guilian is the only proper lothario that I or Marut is related to by blood, at least as far as I am aware. Our family is a sprawling one, he's gotten children on 3 seperate mares, so there could be another like him out there somewhere.' she grinned.
'I'm sure though that his prolific ways will come as no shock to you, you've experienced him first hand as it were.'
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:17 am
Now this was more real and more bearable - though Marut was trying to come to terms with a variety of issues, Raniero was now comfortable around the mother. Neve was definitely Guilian's daughter both in appearance and good humour. She had been informed that her grandfather had been tricked briefly and found it entertaining as opposed to insulting - it was a good quality to have and for all Raniero's bizarre ways this was most certainly something he approved of an appreciated. He had found Guilian to be a fascinating subject once he had 'settled down' and realised the truth, now that his daughter was relaxing he found her equally as interesting. Unfortunately for him, it was not an appropriate time to study this...
Marut's stupor hadn't been lost on him from the instant it happened and it was becoming more and more apparent that she was less than content. While the immediate revelation had been a shock something else appeared to be irritating her. Granted he had long since grown aware of the fact that in closed and 'cosy' situations she became unsettled but he had assumed that was a late blossoming of hormones for the most part. For a mare to encounter another in such close quarters and to not be brawling with them as may be customary for her did cause other aspects of her personality (and instincts to cut in).
"I cannot say many things come as a shock to me, a surprise within the immediate second they are revealed but quickly adapted to," he replied softly to Neve's description of her father though he continued to gaze at Marut. There was one thing he had always been taught and that was not to point out when a creature looked uncomfortable - but how often did he follow protocol?
"Are you all right, Marut?" He enquired calmly, "You look as though you have seen a ghost."
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:27 am
Neve found herself liking Raniero; approving of him even. The dressing up as a mare for research thing was a little odd, though seen in an outside light very humorous, but as he spoke she took the time to look properly at her daughter.
'Marut?' she moved to her daughter's side, giving her a nudge.
Marut seemed to snap out of her thoughts, and answered her mother and Raniero with an automatic;
'I'm fine.'
'That's nice dear, but I didn't ask that, Raniero did.' Neve looked searchingly at Marut. Well it was inevitable that hormones and emotional feelings for another that she wasn't related to would catch up with her little tomboy but they seemed to have arrived in conjunction with the object's rather unusual confession.
'Go and see if Maharet is okay would you please? Just a quick check, and then you come back.'
As Marut moved out of earshot, Neve looked back at Raniero and let out a breath.
'Well. You are an intelligent enough stallion. What do you think that was about?'
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:43 am
The question wasn't rhetorical and the address was direct. The mother had systematically removed her daughter from the picture in order to terrorise the male. Well, not quite but to any other stallion it could have been seen that way. For Raniero it was somewhat different and he should have seen such a thing coming the moment Marut's mother started to glance her way every few moments to gauge her reactions to whatever words Raniero happened to spout from his own mouth. And now the time had arrived - that time when the mare wanted to know if Raniero was really as smart and observant as he gave off the appearance of being.
He'd already told Marut what was wrong with her before! For goodness sake he had blatantly pointed out that her hormones had crept up and battered her senseless. He couldn't have been anymore plain about it and now the fates were expecting him to reiterate all this to her mother? Apparently so and it was just as well he was so articulate and capable of expressing himself without a semblance of embrassment or discomfort regarding such topics. He would be matter of fact as always...
"Your question could receive a number of responses though I have been told I talk to much," he pointed out calmly, referring to the times when Marut had often told him that a one word answer would have sufficed instead of an entire paragraph. "First and foremost she is in a state of shock at the revelation that her grandfather has been quite so forward with a friend," he could note that any mare would find this a tad embrassing, though her reaction was extreme.
"However given the severity of his response and the obvious stupor she has been lulled into it is clear that other issues are loading on to such a revelation..." He released a sigh and adjusted his weight to his other hoof, continuing to gaze at Neve as he spoke. "She is accustom to males who humour her with competition, who accept her challenges and fail to recognise the fact that she is a mare. I am not one of those males," he pointed out plainly, as if this wasn't already an obvious fact.
"Nor do I make a secret of the fact that I recognise her as a mare first and foremost, yet I accept she is inclined towards her competitive sports. One can only assume that this recognition has jump started something within her," he rolled his shoulders, opting to leave out the rain and the forest for a time when mother and daughter would be able to converse. That was something he need not divulge, it was something Marut would have to explain herself.
"It is hard to ignore the fact that you are not the same gender as another when they do not treat you as though they are your best friend and rival..."
Now if Marut had been here, she probably would have told him that a simple 'hormones' response would have sufficed, but she had already been dismissed!
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:54 am
Neve's question had been partly rhetorical; she could tell that the revelation about Raniero and Guilian had been the thing that had thrown Marut for a loop because she'd been fine up until that moment. She listened to Raniero with a faint smile on her lips; certainly like his words didn't he? But Marut had obviously encountered this same thing, and still liked him, so she listened, waiting to be able to respond.
'If you were just a friend that might be true. In her mind I don't think she considers you that way. Or deep down she doesn't at any rate.' Neve replied.
'My daughter is beautiful, and when it comes to activities of a sporting nature very talented. Of course I am biased. But what she isn't is emotionally connected, nor does she think she is attractive.' she chuckled quietly.
'Oh I can tell, but you have your own merits, and Marut appreciates them. She's never actually bought any of her friends to see me before.' she added meaningfully.
'I want for her to be happy, and I don't want her to think there is a possibility of something with a male that doesn't, or won't feel the same way.'
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:08 pm
So it had been a subconcious attempt to translate her own feelings? As events unfolded it certainly seemed perfectly plausible that dragging him all this way to meet her mother had been a test in its own right. That being said he had not anticipated that the mare would leave him with her mother, and nor had he been ready for the corner in which she so expertly backed him in to. He had responded to her question in what he deemed an ample way and as a consequence he had landed right into the middle of her trap - she hadn't even batted an eyelid. Granted all mothers wanted to protected their children and he could appreciate this, but what he didn't appreciate was having his hand forced (in a manner of speaking).
"I have never denied that your daughter has beauty within her, nor have I doubted her physical prowess," Raniero assured the mare, ensuring his voice remained level but not dead pan for that would have been deemed insulting and potentially disastrous. He wasn't one to seem rude and he most certainly didn't want to offend - but there was one thing he always stuck by and that was that he wouldn't make empty promises either. He had been raised better than to offer things he just couldn't keep...
"She is perhaps too modest for her own good and exceptionally naive, but that gives me all the more reason not to harm her," he pointed out coolly. It was an immediate knee-jerk reaction, intended to defend himself against the heap that her mother may place him in. If he had been one of those sorts he would have long since attempted to twist, bend and corrupt the mare to what he had wanted. However instead he had simply admired from a distance, noted she was remarkably attractive in her own right and had controlled himself to perfection - and he could keep doing that.
"It has never been my way to promise things that I cannot guarantee will happen, rest assured it has never been my intention to harming your daughter," he added, making a mental note that the majority of this issue had been brought on BY the mare and her insistance that he follow her. It was partially his fault for agreeing, but he had an unusual fondness for her and despite his better judgement hadn't denied her. That in mind there was a chance he could very well have harmed her indirectly, but if he had been blunt just how much of the relationship would have been severed - all of it?
He was partial to the mare and her company and having dealt with her insistant presence frequently as of late he wasn't sure if he could adapt to not having the snerking in his ear. Urgh - no wonder he'd tried to keep mares and mere subjects, it was suitably less complex.
"Is that what you wished to hear or am I missing something?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:25 pm
Marut hadn't exactly left him with her mother, if she had the choice (or had know that this would be the conversation that happened when she had been sent off to check on Maharet), she most certainly wouldn't have gone.
Her sister was fine, had calmed right down but still didn't want to meet Raniero, so Marut was making her slow way back. What was her problem? Why did it matter that her Grandfather had chatted up Raniero, her friend? She paused...he was just a friend right? A small insistent voice in the back of her head kept chiming in, saying that this was the thing that her mother said would happen. One day. And she would know when it happened.
Neve listened to Raniero talk on about Marut. He not only thought she was attractive and athletic but cared enough about her state of mind to be kind to her. This sounded better and better.
'I'm glad to hear it. Though I may have teased my daughter sometimes about how her appearance would scare away stallions, I've always known that she would one day realise feelings for someone, and find that connection. I think if she has developed those for you, you are worth receiving them.' Neve smiled slyly.
'I approve of you Raniero.' she glanced over her shoulder, seeing Marut was almost to them again.
'Take care of my daughter.' the winged mare gave a cheeky wink.
'Well then, now that I've met Raniero, I'm going to make myself scarce, I promised a friend I would see her today.' Neve said, acting as if nothing had transpired as Marut rejoined them.
'It was a pleasure.' she nodded to the stallion, and took her leave.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:37 pm
He knew that smile! He'd seen it before while studying and had long since translated it. It was at times like these when he considered his research to be both a gift and a curse, he could catch exactly what she meant but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. As naive as Marut may have been her mother wasn't and as a consequence had loaded more responsibility upon him than he was willing to accept (sort of). Surely it wasn't his duty to protect her daughter? He was a scholar who spent most of his time documenting the acitivities of others - not a knight who would shriek a war cry and tackle the next unsuspecting male that so much as came near her.
...No, he suspected she could do that herself.
Granted a small part of him was unsurprised that the mare had approved of him, he had been on his best behaviour after all. Nevertheless the prospect of having to deal with a filly who was blossoming into a grown mare as the hours progressed really wasn't something he had signed up for. He was neither her father or her mate, as far as his traditional upbringing was concerned he really shouldn't have to deal with this type of thing unless he was one of those two things - this was her parents' issue!
He released a small sigh though as the older mare drifted away, there was no denying that he was decidedly more mature in terms of age than Marut was - there was definitely an age difference there. With that came different levels of understanding but to make a male completely aware of his own desires tend to a mare only just coming to terms with her own was a form of subtle TORTURE!
...He would have preferred to withdraw his previous statement about Neve and re-position her in the category he had firmly set in place for things he believed were related to the devil.
"Urgh," he heaved another sigh as he mused over the rather loaded words he had been left with and only afforded a nod at Neve as she disappeared, flicking his gaze back towards Marut as she approached. Still in a stupor, pace still slow - this really was not one of his specialties and he wasn't entirely sure he was willing to accept it. After all, young mares had a habit of developing crushes and then finding their proper knight - it was hardly considerate of Neve to expect him to be the crush that got thrown aside now, was it?
"Feeling better?" he enquired, pursing his lips as he adjusted his weight from one side to the other.
Wait until his father heard about this one...
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:55 pm
It was true; Marut didn't need a knight in shining armour that way, but she did need one for her heart. She smiled, seeming frailer than ever before, but also with new awareness. She was aware that something within had shifted, and it was making standing by Raniero strangely awkward. It bought her back to when they sheltered from the rain, only this time she didn't have to ask what it was that was making her feel strange. She knew.
'I'm okay. I'm sorry I left you with my mother. Did you have much to talk about?' she swished her tail, trying not to stare, but feeling that if she looked away too much that would show she was still uncomfortable. She wanted to be comfortable..and she wanted to pursue this new awareness, to see where it would wind up.
Marut was wary and not all at the same time.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:04 pm
Raniero was hardly a knight in shining armour of any sort. He was renowned for his dark sense of humour and lack of tact, Marut was only of only a select few who had been subject to any type of consideration! More often than not, Raniero was more than content to raise a brow at another individual and talk to them as if they were an inch high, so to believe that he could protect her heart would seem utterly ridiculous to some. Granted he could probably piss the creature off enough for it to never step within a mile of him again, but generally speaking mares went for the softer and more diplomatic type - he didn't really conform to that.
...He didn't conform to much really.
"Rest assured your mother was more than capable of keeping me entertained," he reassured her calmly, refraining from informing her of exactly what issues had been addressed. He was good at being vague, so many had told him before and now seemed to be one of those times when it was required. The ability to reassure and to speak at length without saying very much at all - the spirits only knew he couldn't afford to say something 'cold' while the mare was still in this stupor of realisation...as much of an oxymoron as that was.
That being said, he had already come to a few conclusions himself and simply couldn't accept the care of a mare who was so innocent. It wasn't fair on him, though he could sympathise with her struggles to come to terms with changing feelings and those raging hormones. Had it been something else then things would have been different but he just wasn't a hopeless romantic...and he was fairly certain that his father wasn't referring to this when he had made his request.
"She is a very hospitable mare and most lively, I can see where you received your spark."
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:13 pm
'Oh?' Marut hoped her mother hadn't bought up any cringeworthy stories, like the time when she was a very young filly, had found a muddy pond and had sat in it claiming she were a frog! That would be the sort of thing Neve might have said.
'Nothing about when I was younger or anything like that?' she prodded, thinking that she'd never live half of it down if Raniero knew, and that bothered her as well. How was she to act around him? Be just herself? She worried that if she did that then nothing would change and she wouldn't see if these feelings were more than emotional heartburn.
'Thanks, I'll be sure to tell my mother, she always likes a compliment.' she smiled again, one that was less wobbly.
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