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 Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2025 5:33 pm
Quote: Plot: Graham and Charlene happen upon each other by chance and the discussion of children and secrets come up. Will the conversation remain productive? Characters: Graham and Charlene
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Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2025 6:16 pm
 
tab Charlene had been having quite a few days where she'd been enjoying the exterior garden. The flowers were a bit wilder and out of control but that's almost why she liked it. It was a part of the school that wasn't as tamed, like a lot of the students had to be in order for this to work. She sat on the bench that was in the middle of most of them, running her hand softly along the flowers that seemed to stretch out towards the sun and moved even if slightly as it moved across the sky. She often found herself admiring the sun, even if she was from Luna. They were a pair; one helped the other and vice versa. She didn't understand the struggle some people had from the kingdoms but then again, there was a lot she didn't understand. She placed her left hand against her hip where she recalled the sharp pain she had felt from history class, and she frowned softly. That was a wakeup call if anything, she was not pleased by it but at the same time it got the message across. At the least they weren't injured in real life. Although everything she had felt...felt so real. She didn't want to relive that again.
tab She shook her head and pushed the thought of the class away. She turned her head more towards the walking path that led to the pond and as she leaned back on her hands, she let out a soft breath. Bree would have loved it here, sure there was lots of danger, but if there was less, she would be able to explore and meet new people. Charlene had met a couple people who she wasn't sure how she felt about, but for the most part she enjoyed the people she ended up becoming closer with. The little group that first night was quite fun, and the fact that she later saw them multiple times was nice. She had even reconnected with Hasan earlier in the week, and she had only seen him briefly.
tab As she looked off into the distance she blinked softly, realizing that someone was beginning to walk along the path, and she was suddenly curious as that particular path didn't lead anywhere but the pond. How did she know that? She'd walked every bit of this school at this point. She tilted her head slightly and watched him, his hair was white and while he looked familiar, he wasn't the white-haired man she'd spent the other night with, Luka. She didn't move to get up, but she found her blue eyes watching him curiously.
 
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2025 11:44 pm
   ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ betterish
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > exterior gardens ◆◆ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Charlene
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ no one
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ even the damn gloves ◆◆ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴇᴀʀꜱ ➢ shadows in the garden
talking - thought
He took in a breath of fresh air while he contemplated the young woman’s remark with little disagreement to it. “I could not agree more, and we’ve experienced a peculiar kind of air as of late.” It was an unspoken agreement to what specifically was so taxing about their class loads, and it wasn’t math. Both had been for him but for different reasons. Both were but for entirely different reasons. To the offer of joining her, Graham rounded the bench and took a seat on the opposite end. ”Thank you kindly.” Graham crossed one leg over the other and laid his hands down. ”Do you come here often?
He had dived back into his own mind for a moment, and it took the blonde woman introducing herself to realize he too had forgotten his manners. ”That makes two of us. I’m Graham. Nice to meet you too, Miss Charlene.” Whoever this woman was, she was perfectly charming. It was almost disconcerting to have crossed a path with someone who was pleasant right off the bat. Charlene’s words did not come off as forced or overly polite when she said them. She was a lot like this park with its flowers and foliage, the sunshine and the warmth. It came off naturally and that was disarming. He thought to ask what kingdom she originated from but recalled that rule, the one where you can’t reveal that detail. ’It’s not Mars, Alore, Funkazan, or Phronese, that’s for sure.’ It wasn’t pertinent, but he knew he may have to rely on a long one-sided game of process of elimination for this one. What Kingdoms made people like her?
“You are not lying.” Graham tapped the tips of his fingers against his knee and looked at their surroundings, taking in the fall colors and the leaves scattered along the ground. His gaze turned back to her. She also had blue eyes, but hers stood out between well defined waterlines and behind shiny blonde hair that framed her face. She was very pretty. ”I like it better out here than in my own room.”
He turned his head in the direction of where he normally sat and raised a hand to point out to it. ”I usually sit out there and feed the ducks, but I forgot food today. I don’t think I can face them empty handed.” Graham joked with a light grin. Lowering his hand he turned back and looked to Charlene. ”I understand what you may be getting at. I thought coming to Utopia would alleviate a problem or two but it feels like it’s magnified other ones. Even created new ones. And that’s not even mentioning the homesickness.”
The homesickness came and went, but that was what the park was for. He rolled his lips together and exhaled quietly before speaking again. The fact that she used the word chaos to describe her own Kingdom told him she was at the very least aware of her own Kingdom’s affairs. ”I don’t believe a kingdom would be one without any chaos.”
‘Ours seems to thrive on it.’
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 6:59 pm
tab Charlene had noticed that the man she'd caught a glimpse of out of the corner of her eye began to come closer. She pushed her hair behind one ear and smiled over at him as he walked up to her, her blue eyes closing as she nodded her head. " Yes, the fresh air is always such a welcome relief especially after a stressful class load today." she saw no need in expanding on what she meant, surely he'd be able to recall the history class, even if she didn't know how he fared. She shook her head as he asked if she was waiting for someone, shifting to the far side of the bench before she smiled up to him. " I am not, you're more than welcome to join me." she offered, wanting to make sure that he wasn't thinking that she was moving away from him.
tab As she let her hands rest back on her lap she made a mental note of the man. He looked familiar but not so much so that she'd know who he was. Probably just from around the school. " Oh, dear. How rude of me. My name is Charlene. It's a pleasure to meet you." she introduced herself after a moment, giving him a chance to do the same before she gently brushed her left hand against one of the flowers. " I find it nice our here because it's peaceful without...all the chaos that is within the school, and our own kingdoms." she knew one thing, he wasn't from Luna. And if he was? Well, someone had some explaining to do. She'd been to plenty of social gatherings and hadn't seen him once. And she knew she'd remember a face like his if she'd met him before.
tab She had to fight to keep her expression together for a moment, the thought of the "chaos" she mentioned making the invisible wound from the battlefield she'd found herself on ache. That was something she'd be reliving for a while, and she wasn't happy about that.
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Posted: Sat Feb 22, 2025 4:34 pm
ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ betterish
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > exterior gardens ◆◆ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Charlene
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ no one
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ even the damn gloves ◆◆ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴇᴀʀꜱ ➢ shadows in the garden
talking - thought
He took in a breath of fresh air while he contemplated the young woman’s remark with little disagreement to it. “I could not agree more, and we’ve experienced a peculiar kind of air as of late.” It was an unspoken agreement to what specifically was so taxing about their class loads, and it wasn’t math. Both had been for him but for different reasons. To the offer of joining her, Graham rounded the bench and took a seat on the opposite end. ”Thank you kindly.” Graham crossed one leg over the other and laid his hands down. ”Do you come here often?
He had dived back into his own mind for a moment, and it took the blonde woman introducing herself to realize he too had forgotten his manners. ”That makes two of us. I’m Graham. Nice to meet you too, Miss Charlene.” Whoever this woman was, she was perfectly charming. It was almost disconcerting to have crossed a path with someone who was pleasant right off the bat. Charlene’s words did not come off as forced or overly polite when she said them. She was a lot like this park with its flowers and foliage, the sunshine and the warmth. It came off naturally and that was disarming. He thought to ask what kingdom she originated from but recalled that rule, the one where you can’t reveal that detail. ’It’s not Mars, Alore, Funkazan, or Phronese, that’s for sure.’ It wasn’t pertinent, but he knew he may have to rely on a long one-sided game of process of elimination for this one and leave without knowing. What Kingdoms made people like her?
“You are not lying.” Graham tapped the tips of his fingers against his knee and looked at their surroundings, taking in the fall colors and the leaves scattered along the ground. His gaze turned back to her. She also had blue eyes, but hers stood out between well defined waterlines and behind shiny blonde hair that framed her face. She was very pretty. ”I like it better out here than in my own room.”
He turned his head in the direction of where he normally sat and raised a hand to point out to it. ”I usually sit out there and feed the ducks, but I forgot food today. I don’t think I can face them empty handed.” Graham joked with a light grin. Lowering his hand he turned back and looked to Charlene. ”I understand what you may be getting at. I thought coming to Utopia would alleviate a problem or two but it feels like it’s magnified other ones. Even created new ones. And that’s not even mentioning the homesickness.”
The homesickness came and went, but that was what the park was for. He rolled his lips together and exhaled quietly before speaking again. The fact that she used the word chaos to describe her own Kingdom told him she was at the very least aware of her own Kingdom’s affairs. ”I don’t believe a kingdom would be one without any chaos.”
‘Ours seems to thrive on it.’
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2025 7:28 pm
tab The air had been particularly strange lately. If not because of the classes they had, just the mixing of different kingdoms. She herself found it both fascinating and curious how things played out sometimes, especially with seating in different classes. If you knew where one person was from, you could have figured out the others. She felt a little odd sitting next to Lady Alkmene, but that was both because of the height difference and the fact that she was nervous around the other woman. She was no stranger to the look of disappointment she got often. She glanced over to him as he sat down, his question reaching her ears. She smiled softly before she answered this time. " Fresh air does me good. Being cooped up in the school is...well, a lot sometimes." she replied before she shifted her eyes just slightly towards the flowers behind her back. " That and it's just so beautiful out here." she wanted to admit too that she had been telling Bree about the flowers but since the last encounter she had, the worry that another stranger might be judging her if not for a moment made her bite her tongue.
tab His introduction was enough to pull her back and she looked back over to him, smiling in return. " A pleasure to meet you, Graham. I still find myself surprised because of the amount of students, I often don't know the faces I meet." she had rarely had such one-on-one conversations though that she knew he would be remembered from now on. And it didn't hurt that he was one of the more attractive men she'd seen around, although if she was being honest everyone was their own flavor of attractive, even the women. When he pointed to where he usually sat, she leaned forward slightly so she was able to see just past him, her hair slid off her shoulder in front of her before she hummed, her smile taking an amused and almost teasing tone to it. " Yes, we can't be offending the ducks. Perhaps they would come find you elsewhere and tell you how they feel." she couldn't help the soft laugh that left her before she sat up again. She pushed her hair back and nodded her head at his remarks about the problems that were being made or made worse.
tab " That's very true. Things that people didn't think could happen...I'm sure are as we speak. Things that cause events to happen." her words could lean towards good or bad, as she had found herself close with quite a few people, and having found out where a few of them were from even if by accident or obvious powers that came into play. She couldn't help but wonder where Graham was from but she still knew it was not a question that was allowed to be asked. " Chaos is something that I imagine every kingdom has, whether they choose to admit it or not." she was also aware it depended on your status, what you'd done in the past few years...she shifted her legs so they folded under the bench and she exhaled out her nose softly. She also knew there was a divide between royals and nobility, even if it was a narrower difference than that with peasants or common folk. She tightened her hands for a moment before she glanced back over to him. This was far too tense a topic for where they were sitting. " So, how often do you find yourself feeling the ducks? Perhaps I'll join you one day."
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2025 4:11 pm
ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ eased
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > exterior gardens ◆◆ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Charlene
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Price kiddos
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ even the damn gloves ◆◆ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴇᴀʀꜱ ➢ shadows in the garden
talking - thought
”Is this the type of thing you have at home? Scenery like this, I mean.” He pointed a finger out and moved it in a circular motion toward the flowers, trees and general ambiance. It wasn’t intended to be a question to learn of Charlene’s origin and did not know the geography of every single kingdom. He hadn’t even been to all of them. No, it was more of a question to get to know the woman who allowed him to share her bench. ”It does not get to look this nice until the end of summer.” Fall and winters crept up quickly from that point in Shahiti, so while he liked the cold he tried to get the most out of the warmer seasons when they came around. Her words on one of the several determinants that come with being in Utopia had him shifting his sights toward her. ”If you don’t mind me saying, you look like you carry being held captive well.” Graham joked lightly. ”Is there anything you are missing, if it’s not too revealing, Miss Charlene?” For a blip of a second he considered initiating a desires check on her but sometimes he got more than he bargained for. That, and he had just met her. It wouldn’t be the first time he did it on a complete stranger but he was certain this blonde woman of sophistication wasn’t carrying any enemy secrets or looking to cripple a military operation.
His head nodded and he watched a flying insect amongst a cluster of blossoms. ”It is around a hundred I figured. All under one building.” He agreed. Even if it was a lower number compared to some other institutions, it still felt like a lot when everyone was in one room. Graham decided to not think further about the potential dangers of such a situation. A soft chuckle bubbled up to the surface and he couldn’t stop from letting it out. The mental picture of Charlene’s joke he knew was impossible but still one he found some wholesome humor in. Ducks, talking and having opinions, like they were people.
Her politely placed words hit a nail, at least in regard to the circumstances for Shahiti. A private missive to him from their king had him demanding confirmation of the contents of that message, which he expected any day now. What was to follow left him trying to consider all scenarios that could play out in the aftermath, from quiet agreement for all parties involved to straight up bloodshed. Certainly not a topic that would impact Charlene, at least not for now if her path were to cross with Shahiti in the future. Then again he did not know if she was close with any of the Price children. ”I hope for your sake nothing unravels for you and your kingdom anytime soon, ma’am. If I happen to see you out here more, I might get worried.”
Graham sat up straight and threw his elbows behind him to stretch out his upper body muscles and spine, then leaned forward and rested in that position. Both feet were on the ground now and he rested his forearms over his knees. The tension in his shoulders was less than before and before he had stretched, and he had a theory as to why. Something to do with his bench partner being a distraction from the thoughts that looped in his mind during the walk there. He combed a hand through the tresses of white hair that fell loose, then looked Charlene’s way as asked about him and his park activities. Graham squinted his eyes as he thought about it for a moment. ”At least twice a week, I’d gander. Usually toward the end of it but I’m not consistent. Sometimes I come on a whim when I need it. You’re more than welcome to join if you want to.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 7:07 pm
  
Charlene had found herself enjoying Grahams' company even if it was a little surprising to see someone else in the back of the school willing to sit and talk. She looked out towards the flowers, his hand movement catching the corner of her eye before she closed her eyes and smiled. " Most of the time the weather is usually pretty nice, night time can be cool so some of the flowers close up." she was aware and careful of her words, leaning forward to look down at one before she exhaled softly. " Like these, they close up at night and turn towards the sun as the day goes on." she sat back up, her eyes leaving the white petals of the Daisy as she glanced over to Graham. She hummed softly and tilted her head a little. " Must be pretty cold there then. All this nice weather must either be something you enjoy, or a little much." she attempted a gentle tease before she looked back down to her lap. The cycles of Luna varied where one lived if she was honest, but there was a lot of flowers that bloomed a night as well and followed the moon as it moved as well. She didn't know if that information would be too much though, as there were a few of her favorites that were only commonly found in Luna.
As he mentioned her being a good captive she too laughed softly and leaned her head slightly into her hand. " Oh why thank you! It's not like I've been a captive all my life anyway." she replied before she even thought about it. Her eyes opened a moment after and she shook her head. " Ah, I mean..." she trailed off and forced herself to look away from him. Shoot. She should know better than to just let herself answer like that. There was a reason she was careful with her words. His next question even further made her falter. There was something she missed; but she didn't know if this was the right time. As she thought to herself about it, she was distracted for but a moment with his estimation of how many students were here. Even that was a lot! His laugh made her pause before she looked over at him and she blinked before she turned away and her hand gently placed over her mouth. She couldn't help the light flush over her cheeks as she made herself swallow the feeling that it had given her. She closed her eyes before sitting upright again and her hand dropped gently to her lap. She shook her head as he spoke of being worried of her. " My family always tells me I'm outside more than I am in, so perhaps it should be if you don't see me." she politely pointed out before she again glanced over to him at the sight of movement and watching him stretch and then lean forward onto his legs made her quickly look back to the flowers. She hadn't expected her bench-mate to be quite so...attractive.
She instead decided to focus on his words. The thought of going with him to the pond and feeding the ducks was nice, he was someone she was able to talk to naturally and it was almost like they were on the same wavelength. " Hm. Well perhaps we'll have to set a weekly time to go, plan it so the ducks have some sort of stability." she knew she'd eventually have to circle back to the question about if she missed anything because if he wasn't comfortable with the idea of her being a mother. She looked straight ahead and took a breath in. " Aside from missing my home itself? I miss my daughter." she knew a child was a big deal especially for others here at the school. She had been lucky once, but Hasan also had one of his own even if he wouldn't outright admit it was him that he was talking about. She didn't look back over to him yet as she smiled affectionately. " She's off to school herself though, so even if I was back home she wouldn't be there. So this was the best time for me to come here and represent my people." she spoke softly, fondly even. She glanced over to him out of the corner of her eye, worry beginning to form in her stomach but she didn't voice it yet.
WHO WITH: Graham
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FEELING: Curious, Worried
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WHERE AT: Back Gardens
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WEARING: Hair back in loose, decorated braid. Long Blue gown with a shawl.
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OUT of CHARACTER: ...
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2025 5:38 pm
ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ nervous, attraction
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > exterior gardens ◆◆ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Charlene
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Xena, Violetta
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ even the damn gloves ◆◆ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴇᴀʀꜱ ➢ shadows in the garden
talking - thought
Graham listened to Charlene as she described the scenery of her home kingdom, her voice the dominant layer of sound over the chips and chirps of the local avian population. There wasn’t much he could discern from the description as far as kingdom identification went but by this point he was caring less and less about that particular guessing game. There were a few out there that fit that description, kingdoms that didn’t rely on lined winter wardrobes or seasonal preparedness duties for six months like Shahiti. For a second he wondered further on how places like Mars handled extreme heat but then the blonde said something more that he had never really took notice of. How the flowers moved in the direction of the sun. He looked at them then turned his head slightly to look back to her with raised eyebrows. ”I’ve never noticed that about the flowers.” He knew that now and he would have to pay closer attention to the flowers. Graham huffed a short laugh to her teasing. ”I enjoy both. The colds are comfortable, but when it’s like this it’s nice and there’s new things to look at.” The warmth of a fire regardless of his manner of dress was cozy and that mixed with the weather created a feeling that couldn’t simply be replicated for him. And if it ever got to be too warm, stepping outside usually did the trick. He wondered what the upcoming months would look like at Utopia.
Her words had him peering at her and he wondered if it was just sarcasm or if there was some truth behind them. The way she reacted to herself had him determining her feelings were in relation to his latter guess. Graham remained quiet and observed her, wanting to give her space and a moment to sort through whatever might have been racing in her head. Perhaps she meant it in the way in which they were born? Royalty, nobility. Sure, anyone could walk away from it if they chose - he couldn’t count the number of times he considered living a hermit life in a Shahitian cave watching over sea turtles - but usually there was something always keeping them there. Obligations, quality of life, fame, family… captivity. Most noticeable, she said that of her own volition, though likely accidental. Unless his abilities had a mind of their own, he didn’t do anything himself to get that out of her. ”I apologize if it was too forward a question.” Graham said with a nod in her direction.
“If that’s the case, then,” He started and turned his body to be more toward Charlene’s direction. ”Where would I find you in the school if I missed you a few times in a row? To check in, in that instance.” Her private quarters was his first thought, but the reason not to was in the very name of it. Private. And it wasn’t a habit of his to just jaunt over to many women’s rooms on a whim. Xena was one thing, and maybe Violetta though not nearly as often.
Graham thought about her suggestion, carving out a time to feed the ducks together. Not one he would have thought of himself at least not right away but he couldn’t find a reason to say no. Charlene was one of the more friendlier faces at the Academy and had been a pleasure to converse with so far. ”We can do that. It will be good for everyone. The ducks I doubt will complain.”
Then, she dropped a word he didn’t expect. ’daughter.’ As in, this radiant woman at some point created a tiny replica version of herself and they were out there in the world doing whatever young girls did at whatever her age was. Graham’s bottom lip, needless to say, fell from the top and his gaze was put on Charlene with astonishment. A plethora of thoughts stole his focus, some questions beginning to burn brighter than others in his mind, all while he blinked softly. People had children all the time. The expectation of siring heirs was as common as oxygen in every kingdom and his was no different. She continued and he focused on her words to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Charlene spoke not with fear or regret, nor resentment. No, her words were factual given their circumstances but they came from her with a tenderness. Graham took in a breath then exhaled as he had to mentally reckon with how his perception of her changed so profoundly, and what that stirred in him on a personal level.
He put his hands together while keeping his attention on Charlene and started to turn the ring on his thumb between his other thumb and his index finger. She said she was away for school, so it gave him an idea of around what age her daughter would have been. ”How old is she?” It was one of many questions he had and he wasn’t about to pepper her in them all at once.
”Miss Charlene… Do you enjoy being a parent?” Graham paused, but then quickly elaborated before he somehow gave her the wrong idea about why he was asking. Though in doing that, he got an uncomfortable feeling in his chest for just being curious about the subject. ”I mean that with genuine interest and no ill intention, I assure you.” He looked right back at Charlene and watched her with a worry of his own. He was already afraid his question may have already had a negative impact he didn’t mean for.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2025 8:07 pm
 
Charlene didn't miss his surprise and she smiled a little wider as she nodded her head. She hummed and sat a little more upright, closing her eyes for a moment as she enjoyed the sun on her skin. " It's funny what you notice when you're looking for things to focus on besides your own thoughts." she murmured softly before opening her eyes again. There would be no harm in mentioning it, right? It wasn't like she was giving away exactly where she came from. " Did you know some flowers follow the moon too?" it was a simple question, her eyes sparkling with curiosity though. Not a lot of people knew that, or if they did, they didn't tell her that did. It was a fun little fact she could pull out if she thought of it. She had spent a lot of time in her gardens that the servants dutifully took care of. Her favorite of all ironically being the Moon Flower. The white petals were just gorgeous, and they were soft as well! She couldn't admit that to him though, because there were very few places it was found, and Luna was mostly it. His apology about his question made her pause though before she shook her head. " Oh, no you are quite alright. I am usually more schooled in my responses; you got a lucky slip of the tongue." she only half-teased him with that comment, as she knew it wasn't a fully positive slip, but it was one that not many got.
She tilted her head slightly as he angled himself a little more towards her and asked his question. She hummed, actually having to think about it for a moment. She could mention where she went to send her nightly correspondences to Bree, but she knew he probably wouldn't be looking for her at night, if he was, well that would make her think something else was afoot. " During the day if not in classes, usually out here or perhaps the front gardens. Anywhere I can get some quiet and enjoy the beauty of nature." she tapped her finger to her lips as she looked at him before opting to tell him about the alternative, he seemed genuine enough and like he wouldn't take advantage of such information. " Alternatively, I'm often out in the back field over there. Where the bench is, but only at night." she also was aware this could get her in given away with where she was from but again, there was something about him that just made her feel like she could trust him. She smiled at the thought of the ducks being bothered about her presence but she knew they too probably wouldn't mind. " They may even enjoy it, seeing as they often wander up farther sometimes. Perhaps they are bored." she could picture Bree feeding the ducks and telling her the very same thing.
Even as she spoke of her beloved little girl, she could feel his eyes on her. When she finally dared look over to him, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. He was either extremely guarded or being careful about his words. Either way she could feel the anxiety rising in her chest the longer she waited for his response. When he let out a breath and finally spoke up again she felt some of that anxiety leaving. Thats all he was asking? She shifted her posture slightly before answering him. " She's five. Just started her own primary school." she added the extra bit of information as she felt it was pertinent to at the least what she had said before. His next question initially sent her mind into a spiral before he quickly clarified. The fact that she now could read the worry on his expression made her own relax slightly. He was worried. Which led her to believe that he legitimately had no ill intentions with his words. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. " As silly as this will sound, I appreciate the clarification." she knew that it wasn't uncommon to have children, but for someone to be unwed with children, that was a different story. In particular in Luna. " I do. I greatly enjoy being a mother. It doesn't come without its challenges both within raising her and how others view me, but it's all worth it in the end." At the end of the day her daughter was her number one priority and this idea of peace was something she wanted to work towards for her, and she herself was beginning to really enjoy the idea. " Feel free to ask more, if you so wish." she politely offered, her hands resting on her lap now, back to being relaxed as she smiled at him. Sure, the idea of talking about it sometimes was nerve-wracking but so far, he had seemed curious and that was it. So long as that remained, she saw no problem answering questions.
WHO WITH: Graham
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FEELING: Relieved, Curious
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WHERE AT: Back Garden, view of path.
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WEARING: Hair back in loose, decorated braid. Long Blue gown with a shawl.
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OUT of CHARACTER: ...
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 3:59 pm
ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ nervous, playful
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > exterior gardens
ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Charlene
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Xena, Fio, Price kids
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ even the damn gloves
talking - thought
Charlene spoke truth with her words. He couldn’t count how many times he sat at the duck pond looking for something out there to steal the attention. The billed creatures were one solution. Some days he was lucky to have the company of a sweet feline that would go after the fish or approach him for scritches and that was always great entertainment. The factoid about the sunflowers and the moon was a bit ironic and Graham shook his head in response. Another thing for him to keep an eye out for though it felt being in a location with sunflowers under a full moon would require a very specific situation. There was a quiet laugh to her next statement which was amusing in that of itself as she was talking about coached responses. His was instead a more natural one. It wasn’t lost on the Shahiti Duke that this encounter was beginning to have more of them from his end, leading him to consider stepping back before he said something on a more personal level. The woman was disarming and was able to lull him into a place where he was okay with that. There were only a handful of people he felt that comfortable around nowadays. Even then, there was one in particular person that stood out. He pressed his lips together at that thought of her then gave her a nod, with a teasing grin. “Nice to know I have that effect on you.” Graham waved his hand in her direction
He couldn’t remember if he had really been in the front gardens. Maybe a time or two. This part of the property was more attractive with how naturally pieced together everything looked. It made sense why Charlene had said it would be more worrisome if she were found to be inside, barring inclement weather or some kind of debilitating injury. All of the places she mentioned were outdoors. He turned his head to look for the back field, blue eyes stopping once he caught sight of the outline of another bench in the distance. Graham lingered on how she specified that she went there at night. ”Is that where you take your dates, or is it just for the view?” He asked with a playful tone. He could imagine with it being a mostly undisturbed field with an unobstructed view that there would be the appeal of fireflies or a more scenic view of the sky. What she did with it was her business. If he was going to be spending any time in the future with this young woman, it was going to be feeding the ducks like they were discussing. ”I’d be bored as a duck, but then again I know what it’s like to be a human.”
He did not realize that his shoulder muscles tensed until he felt the relief from them relaxing. Graham knew his questions were more on the intrusive side of conversation but it wasn’t often he came across a woman who shared such an intimate detail despite all the repercussions that could follow if the wrong person found out. Her daughter was slightly older than he expected but still a small child. ”What’s her name?” Graham realized that was probably the first question he should have asked if anything so that he could refer to her by that instead of “child” or something improper. He had used such crude language about his niece and nephews before but usually out of love for them and out of spite for his brother. He had just met Charlene and doubted she would appreciate him calling her daughter a crotch goblin.
”I appreciate that you do. I was worried it would come across as a threat.” That was not the type of business he liked to involve himself in. Graham was relieved to hear she understood.
His gaze kept on Charlene as she provided an answer to his question, and it wasn’t disappointing in the least. To her, the trade off was nothing compared to the joy it brought her. It wasn’t the first time he heard similar sentiments uttered but those had been unsolicited remarks or ones made in passing. The way Charlene put it was not lip service, and unless she was a master of deception, Graham believed she meant every word. He couldn’t help but to exhale while holding back a laugh behind the twitch of his lips. This was odd territory for him and he didn’t want to poke a hole in this exploratory vessel of a discussion by making her think he was laughing at her. ”What about it do you find challenging? I can’t imagine she’s too much of a handful if you’re her mother."
She encouraged him to ask her more, and for a moment he let part of his attention wander to the sounds of nature around them. He crossed his arms over his chest as he sat upright. There were other questions but he wasn’t sure he would find purchase in the answers. Graham wasn’t sure he even knew what answers he was seeking. His sights shifted to a point ahead of them, out in distance. A tree, a patch of tall grass. It was something to focus on so that he could ignore the knot forming in his stomach. ”Do you get scared?”
There was a nervous twitch of his lip again as he thought more on Charlene’s generosity on the subject matter. ”I don’t mean to burden you with so many questions, so you can tell me to stop if it’s too much trouble. This isn’t a subject I feel I can talk about so freely. ” It felt wrong to say, but he felt like it reflected his feelings accurately. He had his reasons for avoiding it when broached, but it left a bad taste in his mouth at how trivial the subject was treated sometimes.
OOC: omg I am so sorry this got so long.
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2025 7:39 pm
Charlene didn't realize how much she had actually gotten comfortable with him, and that was before the discussion of Bree. Now even when she was brought up it wasn't as bad as she had originally anticipated. She allowed her shoulders to relax forward some as she looked down at her lap. He was appreciative of her being honest? That was a new one for her. She let out a soft, almost breathy laugh before she shook her head. " You know, I'm finding myself surprised at how often I'm beginning to feel comfortable with people. It's almost like..." she paused, her chest tightening slightly before she raised a hand up and placed her closed hand over her chest. She knew that she shouldn't expose too much but she felt at the least it needed to be said. " It's almost like my home court was too strict with me, and I adjusted to thinking everyone would be disappointed or upset with me over every little mistake." the thought made her stomach turn so she pushed it away and closed her eyes softly. No, don't think about the Luna courts. She was here, in this moment, and needed to focus on that. Taking an even breath, she opened her eyes and lifted her head, smiling over at Graham again. " Please, do not mind me. Such thoughts don't belong here in this moment." she knew that even she excused herself for the words she'd already spoken they were out there. She could only hope that he would be able to excuse her blunder, and as it had shown so far, he likely would.
When he joked with her though she blinked, registering it in her mind before she laughed again, although this time it was less of a forced one and more genuine. " So far, just to talk with my girl. Although, I have had one date you might say, that started there." she could feel her cheeks flushing slightly, but she pushed the thoughts aside. She appreciated his attempts to keep the conversation light. She smiled as he mentioned the ducks again and shook her head, letting her hands rest back on her lap. " Yes, I think knowing what one can experience as a human would hinder any sort of other existence. Such as we don't know what it's like to be another creature, they don't know what it's like to be us." the thought hadn't needed to be elaborated on but it was a curious one, and the fact that it popped into her head made her wish to share it.
He finally began to get back to the questions about her daughter. Finally asking the one that she had always expected from people. " Bree. Well, her full name is Bridget, but the alternative is easier for her to say." she explained, before she just shook her head reassuring him, she hadn't thought of him as a threat. Certainly, someone who wanted to be a threat wouldn't be so forward with her, and she got feelings about people, she had a feeling he was just curious. As she answered him, she felt herself relaxing further and by the time she was done she had soft smile on her lips. She looked over at the flowers, his brief laugh made her heart skip a beat, but she managed to keep it from showing on her face this time. Progress. She glanced back over to him before she pressed a single finger against her cheek and hummed as she thought. Well, a lot was challenging, but how much could be exposed without it being considered too much. " That depends on how you're asking. In regard to raising her, or how things have changed because of the fact that she was born?" she asked him a question in return, her blue eyes glancing over to him as she lowered her hand before she opened her mouth again to answer. She'd give him both, as she didn't mind talking about it with people who were understanding and kind about the matter. " In regard to raising her, I'm getting to see all my own little quirks as my mother might call them. Except embodied in a miniature, reckless version of myself. I began to understand how people would get annoyed with me asking a million questions as a child." she placed her closed fist over the edge of her lips as she laughed softly. " That and lack of sense for danger. I had forgotten how innocent children see the world." she knew it might have sounded silly, but she genuinely had after the war and everything that had been going on in her life. She was only a child for a little bit before being forced to grow up.
Now onto the probably more serious part of her answer. She lowered her hand and took a breath in before she glanced over to him. " As for how things changed, well, people's opinions changed drastically. I was suddenly not worthy of speaking with certain people, and I know there's a handful of people here who would look down on me due to the circumstances of her conception and birth." He had been honest with her, so she wanted to afford him that same courtesy. He then asked another question that made her pause. Of course she got scared. She leaned forward slightly and allowed her elbows to rest on her knees, her gaze drifting towards one of the blue flowers on the ground. " Of course I do." she began, her voice soft but she certainly wasn't offended. " Anyone would have been, if in my situation. Nineteen, single and not even engaged, finding yourself pregnant without knowing who the father could be." she sighed softly, closing her eyes as she tightened her hands slightly. " Then to be further told that you're ruining the family reputation. Parents trying to convince you to give birth to her but say she's your sister so people don't have to know what happened." again, she got a strange sense that it sounded worse now that she'd said these things out loud, much like it did with Hasan. She exhaled, trying to calm herself before she opened her eyes and looked back over to him, her expression not masked behind her usual calm smile, but it showed her worry. " Sorry if that wasn't what you intended for, and please, it's almost a relief to have someone who's willing to listen." she knew he didn't mean any ill intent, and his questions seemed different than Hasan's where he was looking for parenting advice above all else. Graham seemed to hold an actual interest in parenthood, but something told her that he was not a father. She said no more, allowing the weight of the words she'd dropped on him to settle and see what he had to say about it.
WHO WITH: Graham
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FEELING: Worry, Relief
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WHERE AT: Back Garden, view of path.
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WEARING: Hair back in loose, decorated braid. Long Blue gown with a shawl.
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OUT of CHARACTER: That's okay you get long right back lol
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Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2025 6:10 pm
   ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ sympathetic, contemplative, pissed
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "This went deep... and that's okay."
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Park Bench
ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Charlene
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Chiara, Xena
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ eh, forget them gloves
talking - thought
Graham listened as the yellow haired woman revealed more than she wanted to. Not that there was anything wrong with her words and their meaning. She obviously missed her daughter, but being there and not in her home court sounded like an improvement in that respect. It had him wondering what hers was like, and how it compared to Shahiti. Perhaps Charlene would survive in Shahiti. She was surviving her own court as an unwed mother, after all. As rough as it sounded based on what she had confessed. He didn’t know what her kingdom was, so he could not be certain. Better than Chiara might have, or anyone from Alore for that matter, given the arduous history between their two kingdoms. He loved his home and had pride in it despite its challenges, but Graham did not like to think too hard on the prognoses of outsiders he cared about like that, not with the current state of affairs. He looked back at her and returned her smile with a small one of his own. “They’re your thoughts. They belong here as much as mine.” Graham mulled over her words for a second more. He admittedly had not ventured far beyond his typical social circle yet, but he liked some of what he experienced so far. ”With all due respect, your home court is missing out on you if they’re only focused on these… ‘mistakes’ of yours. Usually, they have no room to make judgements.” he exhaled, tired of how court politics could be cruel and hypocritical at times. So far, Charlene was pleasant company and an unexpected beam of light against the dimmed, annoyed mood he had upon coming out there.
An eyebrow raised slightly as she mentioned talking to Bree. Was the child there with them, and he just never saw her? No, he remembered. Charlene said she started school where they were from. Unless she meant letter writing. No other possibilities came to mind, there weren’t any. No devices that could convert sound into signals and then back into sound that would allow for two people to communicate from far away, nope. ”... she writes letters back to you?” Nevermind that he had no idea what a five year old could do in terms of letter writing. He guessed a nanny transcribed the letter on her behalf. Seeing Charlene’s face take on some color at her words on a date, he couldn’t help but tilt his head and grin. He hit the nail on the head on that one. ”Lady Charlene you minx, going on dates. It must have gone well.” Graham said teasingly and looked back in the direction they were previously talking about. ”Well enough for another, you think?” There was a nod of his head to her thoughts on one species knowing and not knowing how another species lives. As hard as it could get sometimes, he still had to agree with her, most experiences wouldn’t hold a flame to the ones they had as humans.
Bree, he found, was a cute nickname and fitting for a child. Fitting as an adult too when among those familiar to her. Most kids had nicknames for similar reasons, himself included. He thought about how Xenia coined Ducky for him many years ago. Perhaps childish, but not one he was even slightly tired of. Not when it came from her. Little did he know when he asked about her challenges being a mother, it would be weightier than he meant for it to be. Charlene countered his question with one of her own at first and Graham glanced back at her. The intention of his question reflected the former thought in her own. He put his hands together and shifted slightly in his spot. Listening to her, his eyes pulsed more open for a second as he imagined the kind of child she described. She didn’t sugar coat it, didn’t jump right to making statements that would ring hollow or be overly agreeable. She sounded honest and he was grateful for that. It was endearing how she described mothering a child like Bree because for all the challenges she mentioned, she laughed and he couldn’t help but to give a small smile at that. ”You sound very involved in Little Lady Bree’s life. I imagine she’s a happy child.” He knew, and that she had to have known too, that not all parents were like that.
If. If he ever got to the point of siring an heir of his own, Graham hoped it picked up on the mother’s traits. By personal and first hand accounts, he was a disobedient and reckless little s**t growing up.
That second half to her response was of no surprise to Graham. His jaw tightened listening to her. It was callous and unjustified the way she was treated, but it the typical negative consequence that those in Charlene’s shoes suffered. If anything, the fact she was so open about it was more surprising to him. Graham’s lips made a flat line of frustration thinking about it, frustrated for her and her daughter, and he shook his head. ”It’s a ******** up way to be treated… pardon my language. For the both of you, I mean.” He apologized. It was likely he was in the party of unpopular opinion when it came to unwed mothers, but he had a number of those with no plans of stopping at this rate. With blue eyes fixed on her, his next choice of words were low and soft. ”I’m sorry that you were betrayed like that, Lady Charlene.” That last part of her statement, the part about the circumstances, had him blinking. It would be her story to tell no matter how curious he got about it.
He did not have to ask. Charlene’s reaction to his question was enough of an answer on its own, even if it wasn’t the direction he intended. Graham leaned his upper body forward and toward hers as she shifted, concern and even a little dread creeping up his throat about where she was going with her words. She had been young, single, and pregnant with the child of a cowardly scoundrel. Her parents guilted her, and that part was probably what incensed him the most. That, the lack of presence by her father, and the shift in treatment. Over a child. It was something Graham never had to imagine happening to him, but it had him wondering if he ever left a bed partner with similar circumstances. Quickly he crawled out of that mental rabbit hole before delving too deep. He turned and inched a little closer to her. Charlene was an open book with him when he only requested a peek at her parenting experience and opinion, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable. ”Are things still like this for you, Lady Charlene?” Graham looked back to her as he scanned her face with a solemn expression. ”Has Bree… has she been able to avoid being treated like that? I’m sure you’ve done you best to shield her but the idea of her being treated poorly for things out of her control…” It wasn’t him questioning her parenting skills, but instead a question of those who cared for Bree in Charlene’s absence. It felt silly of him, being worried about a woman he just barely met and a child he didn’t even know. Did that stop him? No.
”Don’t apologize, it’s fine. Really. You went through a lot to have her and keep her.” He felt that if Charlene endured that kind of trial, she would approach any future ones with the same kind of fear and persevere. It felt wrong to question that of her now. Nevermind that she didn’t deserve to bear these kinds of weights in the first place. ”You trusted me with a lot now, and that’s not always easy… thank you for that. I know we just met but if you’re willing, I’ll keep listening when you need it.”
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OOC: lol Meanwhile, somewhere in Utopia, a Duke of Phronese suddenly feels uneasy, as if something big were over the horizon…
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2025 8:01 pm
Charlene had been pleasantly surprised over who she had met almost every time she opened up to someone. So far, she hadn't found anyone who held a distain towards her just because of her views and stance on the idea of pretending her child was any less than that. Despite the fact of how she came to be, she was still her little star in all accounts no matter what people might say. She was a little more surprised when not only did he excuse her slip of the tongue but actually encouraged her. Her eyes widened slightly at the thought, was he truly not bothered by her speaking this way about her home? Perhaps she had been basing her thoughts off people from Luna, and not from other kingdoms. A quiet, almost disbelieving laugh left her as she looked down and listened to his next words. Missing out on her, that was something she hadn't thought about before. She felt her heart tighten slightly though as she thought about what she was keeping back from others, what was there aside from her perfect daughter model? Learning everything she needed to, and even remaining diligent even after she made the biggest mistake of her life. Her hands tightened slightly on her lap before she breathed out and she looked out over towards the flowers again as she chewed the inside of her lip. " My kingdom is no different. My parents keep to their own....so a lot of the antics of the courts are out of my sight but things do certainly have ways of spreading." she knew the hard way how dangerous rumors could be, and how damaging they could be.
The young woman realized how odd that statement could have sounded from someone who had no knowledge of her court or her powers. She glanced over towards him, the confusion that flickered in his expression making her breathe out a soft laugh. " We have the same powers. That allows us to talk, even without being near one another." she hoped that she explained it enough to clear up confusion without outright giving herself away. Sure, sometimes the messages back was sometimes filled with spelling errors, but she had been getting better, and the child was only five after all. " Not knowing what I was going to be exposed to here at the school was deterrent enough to send her to her own school, that keeps her happy and secure at the same time." she knew that the happy child enjoyed the company of others and she would not have done well with the discretion that was required of them here. Well, to be fair, she was proving not to be so good at it either. Speaking of discretion, she felt her cheeks heating up again as he teased her. Had she been so obvious? She looked to the side as she pushed her hair behind her ear. " Considering...it was the second date I'd ever been on, I think it went quite well." not to mention where she and Luka had ended up. That part she wasn't going to share, although something made her wonder if he was able to put the pieces together. " And I do think a second date would be quite fun, he did, after all promise to make something for me. S'mores I believe he called them, although I've never had them myself." there was that little part of her that almost looked forward to the more that could happen, but she knew better than to get her hopes up for something like that again. It very well could have all been a fluke.
As she spoke of raising her daughter, she couldn't help but picture the little girl who loved to run around, despite being in nice dresses. Climbing up trees and getting stuck, needing to be rescued either by her mother or her grandfather. She had sticks in her hair a lot, no sense of danger when she ran around, and Charlene had begun dressing her in outfits that had a bit more padding around her legs for that reason in particular. Things that she had thought foolish when her parents suggested it but later ate her words, realizing that despite all the judgement that did love their grandchild. She wasn't going to try and act like her child was perfect, she was just that, a child! Exploring the world and making her own way. She had been kept out of the courts for a reason, and while it was initially to keep her out of harm's way when it came to rumors or vicious noblemen and women, Charlene began to appreciate the fact that she didn't have to grow up as fast as she had, she was able to actually enjoy being a child for once in her life. In her own way, Charlene was living through her, like the night before they separated to go to their schools, her daughter wanted to sleep with her one last time and the way she looked up at her with those big blue eyes.... well, it could make anyone melt. Of course she allowed it. " I try to be, I was almost forced to become more adult far sooner than I should have, so I want her to have a true childhood as long as it's possible for her. She deserves better." she knew that deep down she probably was a little selfish for that, and it might not serve her daughter as well in the future, but she was giving her the best chance now, and that meant letting her be herself and not stifling that light that was growing inside her.
The shift in his expression made her shoulders tense slightly. Had she misjudged the situation? Perhaps he was going to tell her that it was the correct way for them to react to her? She knew it was selfish to not want to hide her daughter's presence from the world, but she wouldn't have done it any other way. No matter what people said, no matter what judgement she got in terms of how she should have done it, or the more frustrating comment she got more often. This is how I'd do it. Although when he did speak, she inhaled sharply, her expression giving away that she very much expected another response. Wait, he was apologizing for his language? Even further he apologized for the actions of others. She didn't know what she was expecting but surely, it was not that. She blinked for a moment, her eyes searching his for any signs of deception or ill-intent and she saw none. All she saw was genuine feelings and a man who actually looked past her situation and to the people involved in it. ' Get yourself together, you need to say something!' she told herself, before she cleared her throat and shook her head, her fingers pressing gently against her lips as she allowed a more genuine smile to tug at her lips. " You have no reason to apologize.... Lord Graham. Certainly, I appreciate it but I have a feeling even if we were both from the same kingdom you would be the one out of the crowds who did not treat us as we were." she knew that some of the nobles might have a different opinion but it was also hard to speak up in the courts sometimes, she knew that much herself.
At his question about if she was still treated as poorly, she breathed out and looked away from him again for a moment. She certainly had but she did her best to keep the focus on herself, and not on the innocent one in this situation. After all, Charlene had been the one who had decided to go to the pub that night and should have known better, not Bree. She shifted her hand, so her thumb pressed her lips in, and she looked back up to the man next to her. He seemed like he genuinely cared, and despite the fact that she was surprised by almost every reaction he had, they were more measured in comparison to the chocolate man that she had met the night of the explosion. " For me? Yeah, unfortunately things haven't gotten much better. Here things have been, but the courts back home have continued to treat me like I made a fatal mistake." and perhaps she had, if not for her reputation. She didn't care about a childish reputation though, and she knew that she'd rather have a happy family above the opinions of strangers any day. " As far as I know, she has been spared. My parents have never said anything to her, nor in front of her. Most people have the decency to keep the darker side of the world from a child who shines so brightly in it. It's sometimes nice to have that hint of light in the darkness." she looked back over to him and smiled sheepishly, her hand leaving her lips as she rubbed the back of her neck. " At the least I have the solace of knowing if most of the heat is on me, they will leave her be." that didn't make her feel much better, but it was something. Even some of her harshest critics had folded in front of the little girl, perhaps that was the nature of man, protecting the innocent. She knew that not everyone was like that, but she had the blessing of knowing the systems before she had to introduce Bree to it all.
Part of her didn't quite understand why she had opened so much to him, but she was glad she had. Between his reactions and his actual, genuinely comforting words she felt like the knot in her chest was a little less than it was at the beginning of the conversation. Which was rare, for her. She smiled appreciatively, letting her hand drop down to her lap again and she wrapped her hand up in her other one gently. " I appreciate that...I really do. Perhaps I shall take you up on that another time as well, Lord Graham." she let her shoulders relax slightly, perhaps this school wasn't going to be a bad idea, she already found herself allies that didn't seem to mind her situation. Perhaps she would leave this stronger than she arrived. At the very least, she hoped so.
WHO WITH: Graham
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FEELING: Relief
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WHERE AT: Back Garden, view of path.
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WEARING: Hair back in loose, decorated braid. Long Blue gown with a shawl.
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OUT of CHARACTER: She ran away from me, I'm sorry lol.
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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2025 9:55 pm
ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ sympathetic, contemplative, embarrassed
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "Shut up you idiot"
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Park Bench
ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Charlene
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ none
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ eh, forget them gloves
talking - thought
Graham contemplated, in the not so distant future or when their time in Utopia was over, inviting Charlene to his duchy in Shahiti. Achlys was less than half a days’ ride by carriage from the royal palace, provided there were no rockslides or other delaying mishaps. With the idea came a wary feeling. He had only met the young woman but already found himself entertaining extending her a friendly invite. She was pleasant enough and forgivingly kind to his extremely personal line of questioning. He shelved the idea for another day. In the meantime, he leaned back into the bench and blue eyes gazed over her. She laughed and he picked up on the familiar way it came out.
“Spreading and lingering.” The urge to roll his eyes was held back and he gave an understanding nod as brought up the never-ending machine known as court antics. ”A lot of courts are like that give or take. Yours sounds as ruthless as mine can be. Wasn’t always that way… but then again I’m not fourteen anymore and a lot has changed since then.” Graham could only imagine the consequences of the kinds of rumors that weighed on her. Painful and hard to dispel. ”It… may be good that you were not more exposed.” Her and her parents’ avoidances of court had to have been at least a contributing factor to why she was so pleasant.
His curiosity eased when she said her and her daughter had the same power. ”So then it’s a communicative power? That is a useful one to have with your kid.” He’d seen a similar instance before within his own family, between the Shahitian dutchess and her son. He had doubts Charlene’s was as life-threatening as theirs literally could get. There were no flaws in her reasoning to keep her daughter in their kingdom, not that she was looking for the approval of a childless man she just met. With the things that had happened at Utopia so far, paired with the kinds of people that could potentially harm her, it was the only reasonable choice. ”Wise move, mom.” He said with an injection of calm cheer.
Graham blinked with a little surprise on his features. Her, only on her second date? It wasn’t unheard of… just surprising. There was a radiance about the woman and it wasn’t limited to the look of her skin. Based on what he had learned about this blonde peer of his, he could guess her lack of romantic endeavors were similar to the reasons she didn’t partake in court. Whoever the lucky guy was, he had her swooning. ”Sounds like it set itself up. Smores are good, make for a fun time.” They were messy and sticky and not his favorite for those reasons, but he wasn’t about to spoil her excitement for the treat or for a potential second wholesome-a** date for that matter. Graham couldn’t help but to feel a twinge of envy for hers having that particular element to it.
He gave Charlene a look back to the one of surprise she made, and he wondered what was going through her mind to cause it. He observed, paying little attention to the silence that fell between them. Graham was no angel himself but he stood by his words. There was a time and place for cruelty, but her circumstances at any point in time were not it. By her account, she was barely an adult when she was with child. When it came to her saying he’d be an odd one out in her court it was his turn to make a face. One of disbelief. Surely it wasn’t that bad. He fully integrated with court dealings in his late teens, and he had the gossip of what happened with his first betrothal hanging over him right from the get go. It did get better over time, at least until new rumors or ‘scandals’ crept up about him for a moment or two before everything returned to normal. ”Birds of a feather we would be if I were, then.”
He gandered the answer to his question before she even spoke it with the way she looked away and waited. She was not being treated any better, even after five years. It had him wondering again about her station. Surely someone facing time as a ruler would not have as much of a negative experience, nor have parents distancing themselves from court itself. At least, that was his theory. He shook his head when she confirmed his suspicion. When it came to Bree, it was somewhat better. Somewhat. He knew it wouldn’t last long. ”At least they’ve shown that decency.” It was still somewhat bewildering that Charlene had been as open with him as she had, when she could have been short. Or decline his question outright. The thought of spreading these intimate details of her past were not even a blip in his mind, but were it to blow through someone else’s ears, it could possibly spell disaster for her there. He returned to her a matching smile with the hope that in the future they could see Charlene for her kindness and sacrifice, and not the invisible scarlet letter that was placed on her.
”I don’t have any of my own, but I’d be a liar if I said the want isn’t there.” Graham looked out to the nature that was out there right in front of him, quietly took in a breath, then exhaled. Gods, this felt embarrassing to say aloud. Usually he lied through his teeth about his desire for children and did it with little to no guilt. He couldn’t say whether or not Charlene’s perspective and experiences eased all of the dread he felt, but it put a little light in the darkness where that desire lived. For now, unless a former lover came out of the woodwork with a shadow-baby in arm claiming it was his, he was safe when it came to the subject. Being single at his age and position, plus the lack of word from his brother regarding marriage arrangements for the past two years had him believing he was on borrowed time. Gods knew he didn’t want to think about that either, but marriage and childbearing often went hand in hand. His glance flicked around with unease before he turned his head and looked back to Charlene. ”I worry about what could happen after they’re born. Not just about losing them, there’s a lot that can happen to them besides that. It’s everything that can go wrong that gets to me.”
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OOC:
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