midnightstar | Shionne and Alphen in Menancia

Alphen would absolutely kick himself for missing that smile. None of hte others were there to see it either. Except a small fluffy ball of feathers up in the corner of the room that is.

Hootle! The sneaky fiend! Well it's not like he was talking, and he couldn't tell Alphen what happened. Her gaze drifted to the crackling thorns that played against his face the longer her hand touched him, and the smile paused as her hand froze, and fingers almost touching his lips. The smile changed to one more bittersweet, and she pulled her hand away from his face.

What was she even thinking.. stealing that fleeing touch was only going to make her want more. She put a hand over her face, taking a breath. She was going to end up waking him up if she kept touching him.

Alphen had missed out on one of the most honest moment anyone could hope to get out of her given their circumstances. Oh well he would just have to subconsciously set things up like that between them.

"mmmmm" he grumbled while his eyes slowly started to crack open.

Oh my, how sneaky!~ subconsciously.

Oshit, she stopped touching him just in time! She quickly pivoted away from him, looking out the window instead - suspiciously quickly? Maybe. She doesn't greet him right away though, needing a second to get her composure back, even though schooling her expression .. still needed some work. There was definitely a lonely look of longing on her face when she finally turned to face him with a practiced, impassive, "Oh, you're up.." She looked away again, "It looks like it's going to rain today." It felt the way she did.

Alphen let out a long yawn and stretched before he idly felt at his cheek that felt strangely...warmer than usual. Not sure why. Maybe Hootle had been sleeping on it before he woke up? Regardless after the yawn and stretch he showed a soft smile back to Shionne.

"Good morning, Shionne." He nodded then looked out the window at the overcast world beyond the glass pane.

"Hmmmm that's a problem. That might make us have to delay leaving." That was mostly for the other people in their party since he likely could march through the rain anyway.

"G..Good morning Alphen." Ignore that slight hitch in her voice she wasn't imagining anything! Nor did she glance at the way he felt his cheek. He... didn't know right? That smile didn't help matters, and she immediately looked back out the window.

"I don't see why it should delay anything. It's just water." It wasn't a problem for him, and Shionne would force herself through any kind of weather except the most extreme. Except she knew they wouldn't be willing to trudge through bad weather. At least the Lords weren't likely to go anywhere anytime soon .. she just had urgency of a different nature.

"Well that's the problem with traveling with a bigger group. We might not mind walking in the rain but the others most likely would." Alphen shook his head.

"Besides are you sure you want to get going bad enough to travel through the downpour until your clothes are pretty much glued to your body?" The curse of being dense about some things was that the filter on his mouth sometimes didn't catch these sort of statements. Because it didn't exist.

... okay he might have a point but did he have to bring that up? Shionne folded her arms and sighed, "...fine, we'll wait for the rain to pass..for now." Normally she wouldn' tcare but her clothes getting -that- wet..well they weren't particularly thick and she didn't(kinda did) want Alphen seeing something he shouldn't. At least she wasn't wearing that white dress anymore though? ".. it'll probably be better for Hootle as well." Not that flying in that rain was an issue when he could ride on the shoulders of all but one of the party members.

Though sitting around waiting for the rain to stop was not ideal... not when they were on a time limit ...and not when every day she lived through made her want to see the next, even when she knew she had to protect the world and people she cared for with her own death. "... Kisara probably prepared breakfast already, so you should go freshen up and get something to eat before it gets cold."

Later he'd suffer a delayed embarassment explosion but for now he could only tilt his head curiously before letting out a wry chuckle at the Hootle comment. She was in some extreme denial if she thought NO ONE noticed how she looked longingly at the baby owl.

"Hm? You're right but what about you?" Since no one loved food as much as Shionne. So her offering to send him off first was a little perplexing.

"I'm fine, I had something earlier." ... more like she's got a snack hidden in her dress she was going to nibble on when he was out of the room. She felt brave about touching him while he slept ~~(wow that sounds bad out of context)~~, but telling him about the real situation - no, she was still wimping out of that.

He doesn't believe her in the slightest. Or more like doesn't believe a quick snack is enough for her bottomless stomach. Still he lets out a sigh as he opts to back out THIS time.

"I can bring you some back after I am done if you like."

It's not, but she was distracted too. No doubt she would have a growling tummy by the time he came back. "That's fine," she sighed, glancing at the window as if she could will the rain the stop. But maybe the rain was giving her an opportunity... "Alphen -" she paused, trailing off. "...never mind."

Again. SHe was doing it again. Almost taking a step forward then taking it back as the potential consequences frightened her. Honestly he wondered did she really expect him to leave or something because of whatever she was keeping from him? Was he that selfish and unreliable?

ALphen shook his head with a sigh and left the room after that. Whether it was the absence or the fact that he had chosen to give her time again, the room felt a little colder without hi there.

It did feel colder. Colder and lonelier. She pulled a blanket up around her body, shivering into it slightly. It's not the first time she felt lonely, hearing the laughter and chatter of other people around her - but with this group she felt it more keenly. Especially Alphen.. she was sure he was getting tired of her distance - who wouldn't in his shoes? She was really doing herself no favors at this point - though what other alternative did she have? Trust was not something she gave easily. Especially over something so vital.

Yet even with all of that he wouldn't leave her. He couldn't even imagine not seeing her face in the morning. He was dense but he wasn't stupid. Alphen already was becoming aware how big of a part in his life Shionne had become. For a plethora of reasons she would no doubt deny.

Meal time was a slightly awkward affair but eventually it managed some semblance of normalcy. SO not long after he would be bringing a tray of a few dishes just for a certain perpetually hungry rifle user.

When he made his way back into the room with the food, Shionna was curled up under her blanket, hugging her knees with her head resting atop them, facing away from the door. She wouldn't have even glanced up to his arrival if her stomach hadn't growled at the smell of the delicious meal. "..." Well that was just embarrassing. "Oh... Alphen. Thank you." Part of her wanted to ask if he noticed her having touched him.. part of her wanted to touch him again, but she didn't dare.

There was a faint smile of pride at having predicted this development and if anything her stomach growling was more close to how he liked their interactions to go. AT least then she didn't look as if she had the weight of the world crushing her.

"No worries. It's only normal I'd make plans given how long we've traveled."

Shionne picked up the plate, staring at it for a second before she had to fight a small smile, "I guess it is a bit of a routine, isn't it?" She shifted the blanket enough so that she could enjoy her meal, trying not to look in his direction TOO much.

"It is but I don't mind it." Shionne being betrayed by her stomach whenever she tried to refuse extra food was actually one of her cute aspects as far as Alphen was concerned. Still all he wished was to have Shionne alive and well and if possible, happy as well.

Shionne started to take a few bites out of her food to eat, just to hush up her stomach - though it was so good that moments later she realized that her plate was almost empty. Alphen was still there too. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then back at her plate, studying the fork in her hands.

"You don't have to stay here watching me, you know.." As much as she loved his company, she didn't want him to get attached. ~~too late~~

He was already plenty attached as well he just didn't realize it.

"I was watching you?" He said as if pretending he had been staring off into the distance for some reason. At a different future. Wait what was up with that house....and why did the person opening the door bear strikingly familiar pink hair... He quickly shook his head at that.

She eyed him suspiciously - it had certainly felt like he had his eyes on her but...maybe she was imagining things. Why would he be watching her so much? .... maybe she was the one watching him. She didn't want him to come to that conclusion though, so she glanced away. ".. Never mind." She really needed to figure out how she was going to deal with him, not to mention the others. She couldn't keep putting it off - he might figure it out on his own eventually.

"..I suppose.. having a roof over your head is a bit better than taking shelter under trees or in a cave during the rain." She relented on her earlier grumpy comment about wanting to travel through the rain still. She glanced at her hands, absently brushing them together - though she found her thoughts wandering to the feel of Alphen's cheek, and his peaceful sleeping face, a slow smile returning to her face.

He certainly didn't mind Shionne watching him. While their time together was not the longest, Alphen found himself instinctively comfortable around her even though they by all rights should be at each other's throats from a racial perspective. Not even her initial arrogance had managed to get under his skin. The one time was when Zephyr had died and that one instance the topic of him being a slave came up. But even then he found himself able to cool off in time and apologize in the end. Almost as if he feared pushing her away more than anything else. All of this thinking was going to give him a headache but he realized how important these thoughts were so he would not just ignore them.

"Yeah. Might not be as bad for the two of us but can't say the same about the others." Says the pair who had sneezed up quite the storm back during their trek through the snowlands.

Shionne still insisted she wasn't sneezing -- although when they kept doing it, she had to reluctantly admit that yes, she had sneezed. The shame of it all.

But Alphen - it was the strangest thing, the way she found herself seeking out his company -- even if she did occasionally ruin it by backing away from anything remotely similar to friendship.

Maybe it was less that she didn't want him to get close to her, and more accurately.. she didn't want to get too close to him. Except that was already... "So what are you going to do while we're waiting the rain out?" She asked instead, shying away from the thought of being too friendly with him.

Now there was a question he had not considered in the past. He hummed thoughtfully as he looked through the options he could think of at a glance...

"Hmmmmm. I guess I could do some maintenance on my sword and armor while chatting with you." Since they were in the same room and all. Of course if he was to do maintenance on his armor that meant he'd have to take it off. How Shionne would feel about that was not something he even considered.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject