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 Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 8:39 pm
Ever since the incident with creeper unnamed Fiona was a bit on edge, keeping pretty much every angle around her open so she could tell if there was someone following her. She wasn't afraid of him but she was still paranoid he was around and she just couldn't see him. It was hard work and was wearing on her.
This had her acting like somewhat of a crazy person checking behind her every so often and jumping at loud noises. It was frustrating, annoying, and she knew she could not take much more of this before she went completely off her rocker. She moved toward the stairs and sat down with her back against the wall and sat in the shadows.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to relax for the first time in a little while. The sun was shining and the day was quiet. She barely even noticed as people passed her. They were out in the open and they were not him.
"God, I'm losing my mind!" she murmured feverishly.
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 8:50 pm
He nearly bumped into her, partly because he’d been terrible, reading some of his notes while he walked. And there she was, tucked into the shadows against the wall, and nearly, though fortunately not quite, underfoot.
“Pardon me.” He said hastily, stumbling to correct his balance and trying to be sure that in doing so he didn’t do something awful like… step on her or worse, grab her.
“Er… Are you alright?” He asked hesitantly. There was only one woman he felt even remotely comfortable around, and that was from, if nothing else, long exposure. He couldn’t help but catch the murmur; he’d been too close not to. Never mind that she looked spooked as well.
He glanced around cautiously, wondering if someone was showering the area for her, a teacher perhaps that she might have upset, but he saw no one.
He knew better than to involve himself with troubles of people who he didn’t know, he truly did… but somehow lending an ear seemed, right.
“Do you need…help?” He asked carefully. His pose was guarded; arms close, clasping the bundle of papers to his chest like an ink strewn shield.
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:31 pm
When someone took and interest Fiona looked up. She wasn't expecting anyone around her to stop and looked up when she did. This guy wasn't him, either, but she was grateful for that. He didn't look like the stalker type but she couldn't be sure by looks alone if creeper unnamed was any example. She looked up and smiled.
"I don't need any help. Unless you can stop stalkers I'm about as fine as can be."
She stood up and brushed herself off, looking around quickly for her stalker and not seeing him. She blushed when she realized that, she did it automatically now, without even thinking. Stranger what she did in her life.
"It's nice of you to offer, really. I'm Fiona." She extended her hand. "You are?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:38 pm
Stalker… why did that give him an uneasy feeling? Silly really, he’d warned the only person he might have worried about…against stalking. How many socially awkward people could there be? “Bran” he replied with a small nod, glancing at her hand and then seemed to remember he was supposed to shake it. He hesitated a moment and then took it, shook it like you would another gentleman’s hand and let it go again. “Well, I’ve…never tried stopping someone who was actually stalking someone else, but perhaps I could… help you discourage that kind of behavior? Perhaps I could speak to him… or…her, them?” He danced around the word unsure how to be the least offensive.
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 10:00 pm
"It's a him."
It was nice to get an offer of help even if she didn't know the guy. First off he talked to her and introduced himself, that was new, unusual, and a good start. Then he stuck around to continue to offer help and didn't appear to be lurking in bushes. Solid A+ effort for him in the non-creepy category.
"He's tall, kind of lanky. Kinda shaggy brown hair, green eyes. I don't really know his name."
She didn't think it was Bran's problem but it was nice of him to take it on and with how jumpy he was it would be nice to have back up. It was obvious her method was not working and was doing potential harm to herself. She smiled and shrugged.
"Maybe you can figure out who he is?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 10:14 pm
The expression on Bran’s face went from interested, to…. guardedly interested, to, something really not unlike unpleasant realization. “Ermmm.” He said after a long moment. “About… yay much taller than I?” he said and held up a hand. “Gaunt face…” His hand dropped back down as he watched her face for signs that he was adding to the description. “Ah…mmm…” he hesitated. “…Eeeyes, I think I can help with …him.” He looked rather like he’d just drawn back into himself slightly, shoulders hunched face guarded, eyes not quite seeing –you- but certainly thoughtful, if a little put out. “If it’s…who I think it is, then I can….at least say he didn’t mean any –harm- by it.” Decidedly cranky tone, no way around it, and now he was scouring the bushes too as though he might be able to pick out the man where you had not.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:51 pm
"That's him!"
Fiona paused, though, as he was able to describe her stalker so well. She raised her eyes to his and looked suspicious. Whether he meant any harm by it was irrelevant. She was still affected by it and still didn't want him hanging around.
"You don't know that creeper, do you?"
That prospect wasn't very settling. She didn't know what he could do to help her with this situation but she willing to accept help from any source she could get it from. She didn't know who he was or where he was but this guy was ready to step in.
"How do you know him? Why does he do this?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:07 pm
He sighed, shifting from foot to foot. “He… a friend, He dosen’t…He’s spent most of his life –training- rather than dealing with people…at all. I… really think he’s one of the few people that… well what I’m saying is he, He’s not sure how to approach you. I don’t think he talks to many people besides me and that means he has no idea how to break the ice.” He shifted from foot to foot again and folded his arms over his chest, guarding himself in a round about way. “You’re honestly the only person I can remember him taking an interest in. He thinks you’re pretty, I… told him to talk to you, like he’d talk to me, I…” He sighed and then glanced back towards you. “Summary would be ‘He’s being an idiot, he has no idea how to behave around people and he makes me look like a social butterfly.”
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:36 pm
"He's a friend of yours?"
Fiona hadn't been very sheltered in her life. She knew what it was like to be around people but she was just shy. She felt a little bad for him knowing the limitations of his childhood but that didn't make her apprehension go away. She hadn't ever had the urge to stalk anyone despite not having many friends.
"He's talked to you about me?"
That wasn't exactly heartening. Of course, she managed to hear one thing and tried not to look interested overly much.
"He said I'm pretty?"
She sighed.
"He did talk to me, kind of. It just got really creepy when he said he didn't even notice he was stalking me. It's just creepy."
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:45 pm
“Specifically he thought there was something wrong with him at first.” Admitted Bran. “Because he wanted to keep looking at you…and you made his ‘stomach feel funny’.”
He groaned softly at the mention of stalking again.
“Was he… god damn it I told him not to…” he made an exasperated growl sound and curled his fingers into claws for a moment before letting them lapse to his sides.
“He does that…it’s my fault…it’s…we train that way. Well, he trains, I try and anticpate where he’ll show up anddd… normally he scares the pants off me as soon as I let my guard down. He’s just…better at hiding and hunting than he is at…PEOPLE.” He waved his hands and let them drop again.
“He’s an idiot.” He reiterated. “He is my friend, but he is, an idiot. I will talk to him. I’ll… ask him to wait till you talk to him, and not to” he rolled his eyes heavenward. “God, I will ask him not to follow you.”
“But yes, he said you’re pretty, or beautiful, or something like that.” He shook his head dismissing that part as less important than the ‘stalking’.
“I’ll talk to him.” He repeated. “A lot.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:01 am
"I don't know if he still is. I mean, I haven't seen him."
But if he was everything Bran seemed to say he was the point was for her not to see him so her paranoia wasn't entirely unjustified. That was nice to know because for the last week she'd felt like a crazy person being stalked by unseen forces. The fact that she might actually be so made her feel marginally better, but not much.
She blushed when Bran explained how she made him feel.
"He seemed sweet when I actually got to talk to him. Kind of helpless, you know? The funny thing is that I tried to find him after we first met but I guess he was so busy following me that he didn't give me a chance to find him then it just got too weird and I told him to leave me alone..."
At least with Bran's explanation she understood him a bit better and imagined a painfully sheltered boy. It seemed to match up to what she knew so far be it for her to doubt what was said. Still, one part was nagging at her still.
"What the heck are you guys training at that stalking is one of the prerequisites?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:43 pm
“I…just… perhaps it’s more entertaining when you’re part of it.” He said, “I mean we are…KNIGHTS, well we’re training to be knights, you never know.” He sighed and glanced away again. “If you asked him to leave you alone, he probably has. He can be polite to a fault, I mean…not always but I’d bet he hasn’t come near you since.” He tilted his head at you. “Do… you want me to tell him to seek you out again? Or are you ok with things as they stand?”
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:21 am
"Since when do knights stalk people? That doesn't seem honorable."
At Bran's question, though, it raised an interesting thought. Did she want to try again? Was knowing more about him enough to make her want to try to get to know more about him or was it enough to close that door and not open it again now that things were back to normal, somewhat? She wasn't sure.
"I don't know. Maybe, I guess, if he can talk to me like a person and not like I'm some deer he's hunting."
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:26 pm
“Knights are honorable, but it doesn’t mean the people we might have to defend against will be.” Bran shrugged away the question. “If nothing else…we know what to look for, we will be alert.”
He took a breath and made a small hmm sound.
“I will speak to him. I’ll try and persuade him to behave in a more… normally civilized manner.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:07 am
Fiona disagreed with his sentiments but stayed quiet. She'd always be forthright in her mannerisms and would be honorable in all of her conduct. It was true some opponents would be less than that but if she bowed to their level she'd lower herself to their standards and for a knight to be less than a knight was just...unthinkable. But she wasn't about to insult Bran by calling him wrong to his face. To each their own.
"That's likely a good idea," she agreed. "I realize he's a bit shy but there are limits to what understanding will allow."
She'd been a bit enchanted by his shyness, at first, until he admitted openly to the stalking. That put a damper on things for her but there was something to be said for a nice guy who genuinely didn't seem to notice how handsome he was. And she could only assume he was innocent as he appeared and there she was wrong and not wrong.
"Anyway, you don't have to get in the middle if you don't want to, Bran. I kind of hoped he'd buck up on his own without prompting. I should go. It was nice to meet you."
Fiona gave him a smile and then turned to leave.
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