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 Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 6:47 am
Hvergelmir had been doing a great lot of good for Mont Blonc. Not only for the guidance and advice she bestowed on the knight, but for her similar position in the span of the war - not the exactly same role, no, but the place of a knight who was not meant for combat. She'd done so much to help him, to encourage him, to not push, but nudge him along on his path.
Auguste had not been the nudge; he'd been the gentle pull from the other side that'd begun to help him sort out just what place he held in the team, whether he realized it or not. Thrymr, too, he knew had been struggling. So it only stood to reason that Hvergelmir came to mind, two halves of his whole to finding some kind of clarity, some degree of peace of mind.
He'd asked Hvergelmir first, sent her a note telling her a bit about the senshi of Southern Lights. Not too much, of course. It was up to Thrymr to speak for himself; he didn't want to take that away from him (especially as someone who was barely capable of making words in the first place). But he did say his friend was someone in need of some guidance and asked her, in his polite, roundabout way if it would be alright to meet with Thrymr.
Only then had he suggested to Auguste that it would be nice to meet his new friend, find some friendly places that weren't part of the immediate team. And so there they went, and before they left he'd pressed a cup of warm cocoa into Thrymr's hands. "She gave me cider last time; I kind of want to repay the favor," he'd told his friend with a knowing smile. He was, himself, carrying two cups, a bag of marshmallows dangling from between his fingers (so they wouldn't melt before she got to them), and then they were off to go meet her in the park.
He hoped this went well - he hoped this had been a good idea - but then, he still always doubted himself.
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:56 am
Thrymr did not know the woman of whom Mont Blonc had told him about; but from the kind tone of his voice he suspected that she was a good woman, a helpful woman who had done much for Mont Blonc. And while, generally speaking, the squire was almost universally kindhearted, he'd made a good indication that this would be good for him.
She'd guided Mont Blonc in the right direction, perhaps she could do the same for Thrymr as well.
He accepted the hot cocoa without hesitation, holding it between his palms and padding alongside the knight. Thrymr wasn't exactly nervous, but he was uncertain as to how things would turn out, wondering if he would be making a good impression upon such an apparently wonderful knight.
"Are you sure it's all right that I come along?" he asked, glancing up at Mont Blonc as they started into the park, the air around them cool and dark. "I really don't want to impose, or anything."
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Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:08 am
Two bright spots of energy approached Hvergelmir at once -- a squire and a sailor soldier. It was an early evening compared to her usual schedule, but in this case, she'd been expecting the visitors and scheduled something off-calendar. They were awaited. In truth, Hvergelmir tried to avoid her usual place in the park when she was meeting with someone on her own side. There was already enough risk of overlap between Negaverse agents who might come to visit her on any given evening -- adding another knight or sailor soldier into the mix presented a new element of danger. It was important to maintain the atmosphere of a safe space even without appointments or doors or walls -- and Hvergelmir put effort into maintaining the illusion that somehow she could control whether or not another agent was already going to be there when one of them came knocking. She preferred not to make her life harder. So, an earlier night it was -- and not too bad, for that. She and Jenna had wrapped up their studies for the evening, and Jenna had volunteered to spend the night doing their laundry in the basement. That left things free for Hvergelmir to be here, meeting with two of Saturn's finest. "Monty," she greeted him warmly on approach, offering a hug. "So good to see you. You're looking well!" She put out a hand in Thrymr's direction. "Won't you introduce me to your friend?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 6:09 pm
Mont Blonc couldn't help but smile at Thrymr's question, a soft laugh bubbling from his lips, warm and good-natured. To be honest, he'd expected his friend to ask somewhere down the line - because again, if their positions had been reversed, he knew enough to know he would've asked the very same thing. "I promise you, it's fine, " he said soothingly. "It's no imposition at all. She's very excited to meet you. Really. You'll like her."
Then, there she was in her beautiful dress and shawl, all colors and glitter and a welcoming smile that set his heart at ease. They'd met enough times that he was finally getting comfortable around her, relaxed - enough not to stiffen at the hug, although he still blushed terribly, especially since his own was so awkward with the cups and the bag of marshmallows.
"T-thank you Hver - " And yes, they'd reached the point of nicknames. It quietly delighted him; as someone who'd never really had many friends at all growing up, to increase his circle was thrilling in ways he couldn't begin to put into words. "You too - sorry for the lackluster hug, but - " He held one of the cups out to her with a rather triumphant (although still, at the same time, still shy) smile. "I'd hate to spill cocoa on that lovely dress."
Then, he blushed harder, although his delight shone vibrantly in his eyes. Yes, Mont Blonc loved having more friends; he also loved the idea of his friends becoming friends with each other, too. "This is Thrymr, senshi of the southern lights. He's part of my team with Aegir. Thrymr, this is Hvergelmir, knight of Cosmos, and she is, um, delightful." Even if he'd already told them both each other's names before, it wasn't a proper introduction without names and titles after all.
(And he managed to say it all without stuttering much, which was really something of an accomplishment. Maybe he'd never stop blushing but he'd really love it if he could stop tripping over his words so much.)
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Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:48 pm
To be honest, Thrymr - and Auguste - had asked similar questions to nearly every new social situation he was put in. Is this all right? Are you sure it's okay for me to do this, to meet them, to do anything at all that might inconvenience anyone at all? A habit that he sorely needed to break, it was simply ingrained within Thrymr's mind that it was only too polite to ask, in case the answer was something along the lines of no, you don't belong here after all.
(And inevitably, he believed they would - but now was not this time.)
The closer he got to meeting the knight, the more curious Thrymr became - and when she finally came into sight, he felt his jaw drop.
The first word that came to mind was beautiful, for obvious reasons. Hvergelmir was wonderfully, elegantly impressive, her shimmering dress with its gold fastenings and ornamentation giving her a very regal appearance. The draped shawl only added to this, giving Thrymr the impression of someone extremely confident and well-put together, his eyes wide as he stared.
Mont Blonc received a hug in greeting, and Hvergelmir's voice was just as as pretty as her appearance. Thrymr stood there transfixed, at least until he heard his own name, and then he stepped forward, his cheeks flushed with a sort of excited pleasure.
"It's wonderful to meet you," Thrymr said. "You are lovely."
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:10 am
Hvergelmir took to the cocoa with a delighted oh! and a gleeful reach outward for the cup with both hands. "I have," she confided, "the worst sweet tooth. You're going to spoil me rotten, Monty, thank you." She took a sip, letting the warm chocolate swirl around and over her tongue before swallowing. "Ahhh," she grinned, pronouncing her verdict: "Divine. You are an angel of chocolate." To Thrymr, she smiled and held out her hand. "It's so nice to meet you, Thrymr," she repeated back the pronunciation, trying to fix it in her mind. "Monty's told me a good bit about you -- but it's much better to meet someone in person. I'd love it if you'd tell me about yourself." At Thrymr's comment that she was lovely, she answered with a merry laugh. "I beg your pardon, Captain Irony," she countered. "Look at you. If you need a mirror to see what lovely looks like, I'll find you one."
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:27 am
The squire radiated pure, unfiltered happiness when he saw how delighted Hver was with his offering. He was so pleased he actually stopped hunching for a minute, his face glowing not with shame but with joy. "I d-don't know about angel, " he said, a hint of sheepishness in his voice, but no less delighted. "But it was no trouble. A-and I did bring these, " and he held up the bag of puffy little white marshmallows. "If you want some. It's not really cocoa season with them, right?" He stole a glance at Thrymr, sparing his friend a soft smile, "You too. Would you like any?"
Personally, he was a sucker for them - letting them melt, drinking them up, adding some more until the cocoa got cool enough that it was still warm but not enough to break them down and this was turning into quite a mental tangent. Focus Mont Blonc.
Really though, from there he was content to plop a few of the marshmallows in his cocoa and watch with a smile on his face, because this was just the kind of thing he'd been waiting and hoping for.
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:42 am
It was already becoming rapidly apparent that Hvergelmir was exactly how the others had described her. The affectionate note to Mont Blonc's voice when he'd first come to Thrymr with the idea of introducing them had been a fond one, and it was easy to see why. Hvergelmir presented herself with a grace and an elegance that added to an already kind countenance, and Thrymr found himself utterly in awe rather quickly. Mont Blonc as well was radiating happiness, which he could see out of the corner of his eye.
Thrymr smiled as she turned the compliment around, his ears and cheeks pinking. "You're very kind," he said, and then glanced at the bag of marshmallows that Mont Blonc was holding out towards him, reaching out and accepting a few of them to drop into his own cup of hot cocoa.
He considered what Hvergelmir had said, and the smile on Thrymr's face grew a little softer, a little shier, unused to the sort of attention that was being presented towards him. He took a sip of his drink, basking in the heat of it, and let it warm him from the inside out.
"There isn't much to tell," he admitted truthfully, forgetting what Andrew had told him about negating compliments. "I awoke a few months ago, after finding Aegir and Methone transforming, and they welcomed me onto their team, and...well, here I am."
He trailed off rather awkwardly, wishing he had more to say, more accomplishments he could give.
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Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 4:41 pm
There were times when Hvergelmir was capable of comporting herself in a properly ladylike fashion. She was on her best behavior with proper grownups, and when people set standards of manners that she could rise to: she felt more like an adult when other people were doing likewise. This, however -- confronted with a big bag of mini-marshmallows -- was not one of those times. Hvergelmir took a grand swig of her hot cocoa, risking burning the roof of her mouth if it hadn't cooled enough, and afterwards she'd created enough room at the top of the cup that she was able to take a truly decadent handful of marshmallows from the bag and pile them into her drink. She sipped it with marshmallows poking at her lip and a feeling of barely-contained glee. "And here you are," she agreed with Thrymr, with a bit more cheer than the anti-climactic way he'd said it. "Surrounded by good friends. And looking for where you can fit in, I take it?" She asked this with no particular note of concern, like it was the most normal thing in the world. But then: "Don't worry -- I'd imagine that's about the most normal thing in the world. I don't think most of us grew up preparing to take our place in a world war. Life's led us down very strange roads, hasn't it?" She cast a fond look back over at Mont Blanc for a minute. They'd had a similar conversation themselves, before -- him wondering why he hadn't been naturally gifted with martial prowess and military cunning, when the truth was that life didn't raise most people to need those things. "Will you tell me a little bit about yourself? Your normal life. What life's been like for you, what you enjoy doing. Let's just get to know each other a little better." She smiled again. "I like meeting new people. Helps me expand my network."
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 9:39 am
Mont Blonc fixed both of his friends with warm smiles as they took the marshmallows - especially Hvergelmir with so much gusto, which frankly was the way he preferred to drink it too, tucked beneath a tree whose leaves were rapidly changing with a good book and a scarf around his neck. He sipped quietly at his drink, watching with his ever-expressive yellow eyes as the two spoke back and forth.
Honestly, Hvergelmir's reflection of 'here you are' was much more the way that the squire himself would have said it. Especially now that he'd gotten to know him more, Thrymr's arrival was no lackluster thing for him. He made a note to maybe tell him that later - he didn't want to interrupt the flow between the duo now, content to stand by the sidelines and Hvergelmir work her natural charm the way she'd done for him, there for support if needed. But he thought that Thrymr should hear it from him at some point: Yes, we are all happy you are here. Who didn't feel better hearing something like that? - he knew he did.
The squire blushed, but smiled back as she regarded him, nodding slowly along. Finding a place in the heart of a war long before their time was, in fact, not easy - especially for people like them, because he knew Thrymr in many ways thought and felt as Mont Blonc did. Not exactly the same, but similar, yes. All the more reason he knew how struggling to find a place in all of this must ache.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:52 am
His face flushed a little at her question that was not really a question. Hvergelmir had apparently seen straight through him, unless Mont Blonc had told her of what Thrymr was struggling with, and he wrapped his hands more securely around the mug of cocoa, letting the heat of it warm his fingers.
"A little bit, yes," he admitted, rather shyly, still quite in awe of her in general. "It's not...quite been what I expected, and I haven't yet figured out where exactly I...belong."
Rather an understatement, but he didn't want to sound pathetic. Thrymr cast a glance over at Mont Blonc, shifting from one foot to the other and lifted his mug to take a sip, wrinkling his nose happily at the taste of the cocoa as he considered Hvergelmir's request.
"I..." Thrymr started, and then stopped, a little flustered. "I moved here a few months ago, from France. I tried living on my own for a bit, but it didn't work out well, but - but I found Methone unexpectedly, and she invited me to move in with her. I awakened a little bit after that, and I've had a few, um...a few outings so far, patrols. I had one on my own, I ran into a senshi - or not a senshi, I'm not...I'm not actually certain."
Thrymr looked slightly distressed. "I wasn't...I mean, I tried fighting, but I just...I wasn't good, I'm not...very strong, I used to dance a lot, I still do, but it's not been helpful, really, in learning that sort of thing. And there are already so many wonderful people on my team, I'm so very grateful to them."
His voice was a mixture of clear affection and warmth, Thrymr sipping his cocoa again.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 8:57 am
Hvergelmir nodded along, marshmallows starting to melt into a hint of a moustache on her upper lip. "I see. So you've had a lot of upheaval lately in life, not just in becoming a sailor soldier. It seems to me that you've weathered a lot -- and making new friends in a strange place, especially a whole group of them, in such a short time -- that's no small feat! So now we just need to think about what you're good at." She smiled in a knowing way, a way that said, ' Now watch this. This is where the magic happens.' Then, very deliberately, turned her smile on Mont Blanc. "Sometimes," she said, "our friends can see us better than we see ourselves. We only look in the proverbial mirror a few moments each day -- but our friends spend the whole time observing us, seeing us from the outside. Monty," Hvergelmir addressed him -- because doing this would be good for him too, she thought, would show him how much help he could be to other people by caring about them, "tell me what Thrymr's good at."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 5:07 am
The spotlight being drawn to him abruptly made Mont Blonc blush deeply and sputter into his cocoa a little, and some trace of marshmallow got flicked up onto his nose. He made to wipe his face, but it lingered there, white, frothy, sticky, and above all else persistent. "Wh-what he's - oh, y-yes, I can do that - " he mumbled out quickly as he licked traces of marshmallow off his lips and cleared his throat, trying to pluck the right words to use.
"I-it's hard, because - because he's quite good at, uhm, many things, " he admitted, fidgeting and shifting his weight idly from one foot to the other and then back again. "For instance, he's a, um, delightful hugger - which sounds probably very lame when I say it, but really, Thrymr gives delightful hugs, and - " Don't think so much Lorne, just say it.
He took a deep breath; his cheeks would never ceased their burning. "He's very kind. Considerate. Thoughtful. He's very easy to talk to, I, uhm - I'm not very good at that sometimes, talking, but he makes it easier. I feel very comfortable telling him things, and he knows a few things about me now that I've never told anyone, and - and he's very - did I say kind already? - because he is, he's intensely kind and wonderful and soft, and he's seen some of the worst of me - " Archer. His eyes darkened a bit at the thought, but he carried right along. "- and still somehow keeps seeing the best. He's something of a poet, too, seeing things that I would've never thought of. We're a lot alike in some ways, I think, and it's been... it's been really nice getting to know him and having him around and all."
He trailed off, toying with his cup of cocoa, and added a little hurriedly, "Also he's going to teach me to dance which is really very kind of him - he's very kind. - I think I've said that already... " and then he really did trail off with a sheepish smile at the both of them, sipping too harshly at his cocoa and scalding his tongue with a mumbled sound of displeasure.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:55 pm
Hvergelmir was not quite what Thrymr had expected. For one thing, the marshmallow mustache made him smile a little, even if he was still too much in awe of her to do much more than stammer awkwardly. It was like being introduced to Colin all over again, that same sense of fluttering amazement that such a lovely person could even exist.
He had not thought she would ask Mont Blonc, however. Thrymr's mouth opened and shut rather abruptly, and the more that words fell from his friend's lips, the deeper the flush painted across his cheeks became. He shifted from one foot to the other, feeling a mixture of delight that he was thought of in such a clearly regarded way, and a painful awareness that he did not quite measure up to the standards being spoken.
But his stomach still twisted, and his heart seemed to grow three sizes in his chest as he stared at Mont Blonc, Thrymr unable to do more than just stand there stupidly. The sense of amazement grew, not just extended to Hvergelmir, but Mont Blonc as well.
"Do you really think all of that?" Thrymr blurted, unable to stop it from coming out, and he blushed furiously, his finger still clutched around the cup of hot cocoa. "Really? You - you think all of that, about - about...me?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:06 am
Hvergelmir smiled. Their interaction was sweet -- both of them blushing and stammering, overcome with how much they clearly cared about and admired each other. This had certainly been a good idea for Mont Blanc's sake, if nothing else. He needed to know his attention and care weren't bumbling or unwelcome. He needed to see how good a healthy, nurturing relationship could be for both parties involved. "It sounds like you're good with people," she said to Thrymr. "Thoughtful and conscientious. And there's a little more, there, too. Monty, you said Thrymr's like a poet, in that he sees things you didn't think of. That's really good -- can you tell me a little more about that?" Her gaze returned to Thrymr. "For you, a different question. Can you tell me some things you think you're just okay at, but you wish you could do better?"
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