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 Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:11 pm
Fiona had no idea she'd been spotted. She was new to the area and didn't really speak to anyone. Shyness was a failing of hers, being introverted around really anyone else and even worse in crowds. She was content to walk the halls invisible, or so she thought, but being noticed had not yet come to her attention.
Just now she was sitting on the stairs outside with her back against the stone rails with a book resting on her knees. Reading was almost as important to her as breathing.There was nothing like tales of romance and heroism to make her feel like she was not quite so alone.
It was warm and comfortable and, best of all, she was alone though she had a good view of the space around her. She was absorbed into her book, tucking a lock of emerald hair behind her ear and smiling at the paragraph she read. She was at a good part in her book.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:30 pm
There she was again.
He saw her from across a short distance, and immediately felt his instincts kick into drive. He moved to hide, slipping into the shadows and watching her from behind a corner. No one could see him, but he also remembered that this was exactly what he was not supposed to be doing.
No stalking her.
She was reading something, and he thought he could maybe ask her about that. It seemed like the kind of topic Bran told him to look for. Things she liked. But what if she did not like to read and had to, and he annoyed her by asking? He did not want to anger her. He moved from the shadows when he decided to talk to her, then turned right back around and disappeared into them again when the doubt set in.
He had no idea what he was doing.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:52 pm
At first she didn't notice when someone stumbled upon her, so wrapped up in her book as she was. She had to pause, a smiled on her lips as she digested what she read. This was a new book and the hero was in quite a predicament but he was stalwart and brave. She liked him a lot and imagined someone like that in her life, willing to brave untold dangers to come to her aid.
Someone who could speak to her.
She noticed him as she leaned her head back, only catching a glimpse of him as she disappeared behind the corner of the building. She shifted on the step and looked after him but he didn't appear again. She puzzled for a second about it but eventually shrugged and went back to her thoughts, looking up into the sky. Perhaps he was just passing by. Whatever it was he was gone now.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:56 pm
Talfrid leaned back against the wall.
Why was it so hard just to say hello to someone? Usually it was because he didn't actually want to say hello to anyone. Talking was a waste of time, though he did have friends that were exempt from that rule.
But this was different. He wanted to know her, he wanted to speak with her. He'd never felt such a drive before, and he had never in his life experienced such uncertainty. What was stopping him? She was just another person, even if she was a beautiful woman.
He took a breath and moved to peek out from behind the safety of the wall again. He watched her quietly for a moment, thinking about his next plan of action. If he just walked up to her he might not startle her, since she was not reading now. He hesitated. It was taking him too long.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:09 pm
She slowly became aware again of being watched. It was an odd sensation to feel a pair of eyes on her and knowing that he would not make himself openly known. She pretended not to notice as she thought about it. Why was he hiding like that? Who was he? She'd never seen him before so it was strange that he seemed not only to have noticed her but to be taking an active interest.
She went back to reading her book, flipping it open on her lap again and bending over to read the words. Her hair fell forward again, shading her face a little. Every so often she peeked at him from behind her bangs wondering just what he was doing as she pretended to read her book. Really, she wanted a chance to get to know him, who he was and perhaps why he was there.
She couldn't say hello to him, of course. What if he was, well, not all there? Imagine how terrible that could be! Fiona sighed softly and lost herself in her thoughts.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:15 pm
Talfrid watched her for a long moment, swallowing hard.
He just had to do it.
He moved toward her, closing some of the distance between them. He was so focused that he did not see another person until he was running into one of them, and when he ran into someone he did so with gusto. He knocked the smaller man off his feet and onto the ground.
The man let out a startled yelp and Talfrid quickly moved to help him up, though the man was swatting at him and yelling that he had done quite enough already, thank you.
Talfrid stared at the man, then at the ground, and tried his best to pretend like he was not there. This was a scene, and he hated being in the middle of a scene. Much less the cause of one. It went against everything he knew. Why was he acting like such an idiot?
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:26 pm
Fiona's heart skipped a beat when he came out into the open long enough for her to get a good look at him at long last. He was handsome. How had she never seen him before, out an about? It seemed like such a silly and unlikely thing not to notice an attractive man in her radar. Just because she liked being invisible didn't mean she didn't like to look. On the contrary. She liked to dream above everything else.
When he crashed into someone else she finally brought her head up and looked, acknowledging what she'd known all along that he was there and that yes, he was watching her. A smile graced her lips and she fought back a giggle, gathering herself up. He looked mortified. She liked it. It was cute on him.
Standing, she moved to walk to the other side of the building and away from people. If he was clever he could move back the way he came and meet her on the other side. And, if not, they would both move on with their days. She was still curious about him and now he was affixed in her memory and would be spotted if they were near one another.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:33 pm
Talfrid finished getting the man to his feet and shoving him off when he looked up and saw that she had gone. He looked distressed, glancing around, but spotted her walking off down a nearby path.
At least he was clever.
He moved down back the way he had come, hurrying so he could catch up to her and maybe see where she was going. But that was what he was told not to do, he was not supposed to treat her like a target. He was not supposed to hunt her: he was supposed to get to know her.
He was failing what should have been a very simple task rather profoundly.
He skidded to a stop when he emerged on the other side of the building too fast, and very nearly crashed right into her. The last thing he needed was to knock down another person, least of all the woman that had captured his attention. He stared at her, eyes wide.
He forgot words.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:42 pm
Fiona was walking toward the gardens and a favorite arbor that was there among them covered in dangling purple flowers that grew on vines. She wasn't thinking about it, though, her mind on him and the mystery at and. She was wondering if he'd come and what would happen if he did. Would he lurk some more?
Rather than finding it creepy, which was good fortune for him, she wasn't sure what to make of it. Shyness they seemed to have in common but for different reasons.
"Oh!"
She skidded to a halt when she nearly ran into him, or had him run into her. Her book when flying and landed on the grass a foot or two away from them. She looked at him, biting her lip nervously before her eyes darted to the book. She moved to retrieve it, kneeling rather than bending in a skirt.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:51 pm
Talfrid stared at her, and then moved to collect the book she had dropped.
"Let me," he said at last, proving that he did, at least, know how to speak. He picked the book up quickly, offering it to her with a look of apology on his face. He was not winning any points, he felt, though he did not realize she was at least amused by him.
"Forgive me, I did not mean to... to startle you," he managed, though he felt exhausted after speaking so much to a stranger. The only people he knew how to speak to were Bran and Daphne. Maybe a few others, but he was not exactly a social butterfly.
"Ah..."
He took a breath, shuffling awkwardly and trying to remember the advise his friend had given him.
"Do... do you like books?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 11:03 pm
She took the book from him when he offered it, looking down as their hands touched, even briefly. Fiona's heart was fluttering wildly, and she looked away, her shyness taking over in an instant. She lost words and blushed though she closed her eyes and cursed herself for that.
"I, ah, I..."
She could talk to teachers, friends, family. Why should he be any different. She wanted to be coy like other girls and flirt like the women in her books, able to capture attention with playful words and gestures. Not like this, not stumbling to draw a complete sentence. It would be a miracle to convince him she could read at all with her complete ineptitude of the English language.
"I do, like them." She paused. "I'm not a rabbit. I'm not sure I like being hunted like one. Why watch me from the shadows?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 11:47 pm
Talfrid watched her and felt that same feeling he had when he first laid eyes on her. Like his stomach was suddenly pulling in two different ways, and the resulting recoil as it snapped into place made everything tip upside down.
He looked chagrined when she mentioned his stalking her.
"I did not mean... it... it is a habit... I..." he fumbled, wishing he had gone with Zion's suggestion and just let him talk to her instead, and see if he could make it easier for Talfrid to do so.
Talfrid was making a right mess of it.
"Forgive me." He bowed and tried to excuse himself, scooting backwards and averting his eyes. It relieved the strange floppiness of his stomach, but not by much.
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 11:58 pm
It was nice to think she wasn't the only one capable of bumbling. Though she knew he'd been watching her she didn't hold it against him. She couldn't, if he was anything like her. Fiona shifted a bit where she stood and hugged her book, pressing it close to her belly. Her eyes lifted to meet his for a few seconds.
"Wait!"
She reached out and caught his hand before he could leave. He couldn't just run away after everything, could he? But maybe he needed to for the same sense of self preservation that told her she needed to drop his hand as soon as she possibly could and not to pick it up again. It sent a thrill down her spine. She smiled, nervously. At least she wasn't repulsed by him. That was something, wasn't it?
Fi let him go and took her own step back allowing him to do as he liked gracefully letting him out of whatever turmoil he was going through. Clearly he was uncomfortable at the moment and she didn't want to make it worse. Maybe someday he'd have the courage to tell her his name or even make it to introductions.
"It was nice, not quite meeting you. I guess I'll see you around."
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