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 Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:07 am
Soibhan slumped at the look on his face, the weariness she saw throughout his entire body. It was only then that she remembered, that they were hear because of their mother's illness. In that moment, she felt completely and utterly the a**. Gently pushing wee Tod away, she threw her irritation aside and went to Rob, her sudden movement sending Comghan flapping irritably to the ground, where he hopped around Tod with a curious glare. If nothing else, she was still his friend and wanted to make the look in his eyes go away, her own pride be damned. Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him tight. "Rob, I'm sorry. I...I'm a right fool. " She'd had no right to drop all of this on him given what he must be going through. Her own selfishness had once again blinded her to the trials of others and she started to wonder how often she did this. But right now, it didn't much matter. "Yer ma...I...Is their anythin' I can do?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 4:01 pm
His patience for all of this was fraying: being on land, watching his mother cough and burn with fever every day without ever knowing why, pretending to be the only sane one in the family because everyone else seemed to have forgotten how. Ollie put on a brave face, but his good cheer masked a pointed refusal to acknowledge the very real issues that faced them. Their father was back on the Amaranta preparing for her next voyage - presumably with the assumption that they would be two men short - and paying little attention to his wife's well-being. And Tod being... well. Tod. There were moments when he was alone that Rob wondered how one person was supposed to stay in control of all this, but that same stubbornness that had infuriated Soibhan demanded that he not throw up his hands. Because somebody had to care about it all. Somebody had to worry.
He wasn't used to relying on anyone apart from Ollie, but there was a deep and satisfying comfort in Soibhan's hug. His arms went around her and held her tight, wanted to hold her there always, as if having her in his embrace was all the reassurance he needed to forget, however temporarily, about all the other worries that plagued him during the day. "Ah, you're no fool, lassie, you were jus' tryin' to help," he said, breathing her in once again. So different was she from the scents that he associated with his home and his family, so reminiscent of a simpler time when the extent of his concerns was which drink he would down first at the local tavern.
He felt silent for a short while, as if trying to capture this moment for a later time when he might need to draw on it again for comfort, and watched as Tod strode boldly up to the hawk and stuck his nose unceremoniously into the bird's face, snuffling the hawk's crown and inhaling Comghan's scent. The wings seemed to fascinate the fawn as well, and he craned his neck to try and nibble at the feathers.
Finally, Rob seemed to accept that Tod would flirt with danger regardless of what he might do. The prospect of leaving this warm hug was infinitely less appealing than staying where he was, so for once, he allowed himself to simply stay. "They don't know what's wrong with her," he answered. "The doctors. An' I can't tell if she's gettin' better. If y'knew a witch-doctor, maybe," he added. Had it been Ollie, the comment would have been accompanied by a wry and humorless smile, but this was Rob, and he didn't seem to believe in wasting smiles, real or otherwise, on anything less than truly worthwhile. "Otherwise... S'ppose it's up to... time."
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Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 5:36 am
She thought about it and realized she had only, to her knowledge, met one hedge witch; Faelan, at the Masque. But she had no idea where the woman was. If he was serious, however, she trusted in her ability to find one post haste. "I can find one. A hedge witch I mean. Either Rajani knows one or I can search for one in Palisade or Oldcastle." Staying in his arms seemed like the only course of action she wanted to carry out, but the embrace wouldn't last forever. She wouldn't be the first to pull away this time however. "People have survived the flu...An' if yer anythin' like yer mum, then she's gotta be a fighter." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Comghan regarded the fawn with curiosity, hopping this way and that as Tod followed him about. If the fawn got too close, he'd get a smack from one of the massive wings, though that didn't seem to deter him for long. The hawk's crown of feathers was already in disarray, sticking up here and there out of place thanks to the little guardian's curiosity.
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:40 am
There was a time, before Taxes had come into their lives, when Rob would have scoffed and insisted he had been joking. He didn't place much stock in magic then, and perhaps still didn't as much as he ought, accepting that young Tod was a spiritual entity but remaining somewhat skeptical about the powers that be. But these were dire times.
"S'worth a try, maybe..." he said slowly. When it came down to it, he was out of ideas and willing to take as many shots in the dark as necessary. Somewhere inside him was an adamant refusal to think that his mother would not pull through. The sooner she did, though, he less he would worry. "She'll be a'right," he said, determined. She was a fighter.
He felt the warmth of her lips against his cheek and reflexively tightened his arms around her. It occurred to him briefly how easy it would be for him to turn his head, ask her to kiss all his fears and worries away... how simple, now that she was already in his arms and he in hers. He would have liked to, but something told him that the moment had passed. Somehow it always did with them. But as much as they kept missing their windows of opportunity, they always seemed to return and that in itself was something of a comfort.
Tod, meanwhile, seemed to delight in this game of chase-the-hawk and followed Comghan with gleeful eagerness, unruffled by the smacks he earned himself. No doubt he would soon learn to fashion yet another game out of dodging the bird's powerful wings, and no doubt if he kept it up he would find a way to irritate poor Comghan enough to elicit a real response.
Rob sighed and wondered, not for the first time, how Tod had gotten to have such piss-poor timing. Tilting Soibhan's head up to kiss her forehead, he let himself fall from their warm embrace and went to his Guardian, wrapping his arms around Tod's barrel and bodily lifting him away from the hawk.
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:12 am
Rob was a master of convincing, but it seemed to work only on himself. She frowned as he pulled away and went to his young guardian. Comghan took the opportunity to hop over to her and she knelt with an extension of her arm, letting him climb up it to her shoulder. Settling his weight evenly, she turned to the sailor she kept finding herself so drawn to and wondered what happened now. "I'll find a hedge witch, Rob. Can't hur'," she said, putting her hands up as she couldn't quite shrug with the hefty bird perched as he was. She wanted to help him for so many reasons, but the two strongest were at war with each other. No parent should be taken before their time, but... she also wanted to see him smile again. It was selfish of her, but she couldn't deny the truth. Going to him, she leaned over a squirming Tod and touched her lips lightly to Rob's, stealing a kiss before he could tell her no. "I'll keep in touch," she said softly, her eyes searching his. Then she stepped back, but she didn't turn away yet. She didn't want to risk him thinking she was running away again.
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Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 2:02 pm
He nodded his agreement as Tod flailed earnestly in his grasp, doing his darndest to get free. "Can't hurt," he echoed and tucked the wriggling fawn up against his side. Sometimes Rob wondered what would happen when Tod grew big enough that hoisting him off the ground was no longer an option. The fawn was young still, but burly for his age and growing all the time. It wouldn't be long before he got too heavy or too strong.
He let her steal her kiss, was more than happy to let her do it, and said nothing when she backed away. It was a comfort to know she would be back, to know there were still things tying them together.
It wasn't until he heard McGifford's husky voice rasping, "'Ey, laddie, where's tha' brother o' yorn? Someb'dy's go' ter sell me fish," that he moved again, reaching for the bucket with one hand and holding onto Tod with the other. "Better go," Rob said at last. And if it was regrettable that he ought to leave, he didn't much show it. Because this time, at least, neither of them was running.
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Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:01 am
Soibhan watched him go with a small frown, feeling somewhat pained. She had a headache from the rapid fire mood shifts both of them had gone through, but more than anything, she felt a longing. To hold him, to kiss him, to comfort him, especially now, as he was watching his mother deteriorate. Though this meeting hadn't gone as she'd planned, far from it really, she felt...better...about it than she had any of their other recent exchanges. At least this time, they were parting reluctantly and, as far as she could tell, without anger. FIN
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