Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 12, 2012 18:57:50 GMT -5
The breeze was refreshing as it brushed his face. He closed his eyes a moment, reopened them to look at the city below him. On the six tier, the view was incredible, especially on this higher point near the houses of healing. He could see the people walking by on those busy streets, black spots against the pale brown of the pavement. He blinked a moment, put a hand before his eyes. The sun was setting down and hit a spot on the wall blinding him. It bathed the white city of red. It almost sounded like a bad omen. And not an inaccurate one at that.
At first, the rumours about what was going on, the terror in the east, was quiet, only a whisper. But lately, they were obviously not simply protecting their borders, they were on the brink of war. And they had no idea when it would fall on their head, and what would happen then. As a guard, Aldamir knew perhaps a bit more than the common folk. Quite a few guards joined the army later on, to help, and the few returning brought terrible stories with them. Orcs. Those evil creatures were roaming almost freely. Sometimes, they were staying on their side of the river for days, even weeks. And then they were attacking, and they often got the men by surprise. Obviously, they were more intelligent than the tales of old depicted them. Or perhaps it was another sort of orcs.
Aldamir looked at the city. It was a peaceful spot, not many people were passing by and nearly none ever bothered talking to those there, as if they too were look for a bit of serenity in this nervous silence. He welcomed it, of course, since he was busy enough with his own train of thoughts. The sixth tier was nowhere near the perimeter he was in charge of. He was usually patrolling down the market place. It was always so crowded, so many faces, so many little quarrels. One thing for sure, you didn’t have the time to get bored. When it wasn’t a merchant arguing another was taking some of his designated spot, it was two people fighting over a product or a woman screaming after a young boy who stole her money. It kept in shape and alert, but he was not working currently and wanted peace for a change.
With his every day attire, he wandered the streets, climbed a tier and then another, not really caring where he was heading. He knew the town by heart now, it wasn’t as if he could get lost. Finally, he arrived there, without much surprise. He loved to sit on the grass, embracing the horizon. It helped him think. And he needed it today.
He was more and more considering joining the army instead of simply being a guard. He knew he was promised to a good career, possibly become captain of the guard someday. But he needed more. He wanted to help this city, his city. And he felt fighting to defend it might be a better way to do so then separate two women fighting over a piece of clothing. He feared telling his parents however. They would all worry, if they were not to be surprised. And they would most likely try to dissuade him, use as an excuse his wound to the head. He touched it and his ear. Hair was slowly growing back and so it was masking the scar but he knew it was there, just like he could always see the one on the ear. His mother was right, it was small, but it was there and he was seeing only that when looking at himself in the mirror. A stupid little accident, and everyone were still talking about it. It was yet another reason why he wanted to fight. He wanted to prove them this blow to the head had not made him an invalid. He could protect the town and its people just like he did before. And even better.
He sighed deeply, his elbows on his knees, no longer feeling the grass, the light breeze or the warm, blinding rays of the sun on his face, his mind taking him far away from here, towards a battlefield where he longed to be. Maybe. Someday.
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Post by Laurë Eledhwen on Jul 12, 2012 20:39:07 GMT -5
Lately, Laure barely got sleep for she was busy distracting herself with her job at the healing house. She rarely bothered to get herself into sleep, not that she cared because whenever she was going to bed, all she saw was nightmares and deaths of the people who were close to her. Lately, she was seeing the city burning and seeing her cousin, her uncle, Arien, Sorsha, all of her family dying in front of her. She saw the orcs who tried, or most likely, managed to kill all of them. She heard them scream, ask them to keep their life but it never work. Then, she felt the fire surrounding her and woke up screaming. That was the main reason of why she never bothered herself to try and sleep more than one hour or two a day. She wouldn’t hurt herself, she wouldn’t see those horrible visions she hoped weren’t part of the future. Of course not, they were safe there, people like the guards were protecting them...protecting the town. Just like her lover used to be, but died. She couldn’t forget of him, of her mother, of her father she never knew of.
At the moment, she had been on a children who was about to die, keeping herself up as much as she could, she made all of the possible efforts to keep the little boy alive but cancer got a better reason of him and took him away. When she saw it was useless to try anymore. She stopped and dropped her hands before closing the kid’s eyes and the sheet above his head. She couldn’t take it. A lot of kids had passed away this month. Did it make her an incompetent healer? She thought she was talented at this, but apparently, she wasn’t talented at keeping people alive. Being tired and unable to think straight at the time, she took the time to go in an empty room and cry for a hour. This was too much for her to bear.
She placed a hand in front of her face to hide her eyes in case someone would be there to barge into her personal bubble but luckily no one did. Her eyes quickly grew red and puffy and she had signs of tiredness. Her face was paler than her natural skin tone was. She wasn’t even hungry enough to eat today and skipped a few meals. When she walked out of the room, she took the opportunity to walk a little, in order to calm her down a little. Hopefully this would do but she knew it wouldn’t, not at this point. She was feeling dizzy though from all the lacks and as she walked down a few corridors that were in a peaceful place, she began to fall, blacking out, another healer she worked with saw her in time and screamed her name running to her. “Laure!”
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Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 12, 2012 21:07:19 GMT -5
Every since she returned, Aldamir heard very little about Laurë. Now that his sister was married and living with Jenssen and his family, they were not seeing as much. And Laurë was a friend of Sorsha, not his. Definitely not his. He noticed the change in her, knew the reasons. Her lover was killed before while their relationship was slowly evolving into something more serious. If healing was a joy first, now it was a way to occupy her mind from those thoughts. Yes, he knew that, he could understand. And if the new Laurë was calmer and so more likely to relate to him, they were not friends. Acquaintance, yes. But he did still not like having to play the messenger between Sorsha, his family and her. He was no pigeon. Their conversations were short but courteous. On one side, he didn’t want to say anything or even show himself in front of her, considering he was a guard like her lost love and it could bring out bad memories, on the other, she was also discreet, knowing how much he hated people poking in his life. At least did she stop complaining on how serious, boring and stuck up he was.
Then again, he heard Sorsha talking of her last time she went home, how worried she was for her friend. She really couldn’t complain anymore about him working all the time and taking himself too seriously, she was doing the same now. He was more concerned and intrigued about this but he again didn’t bother asking her. They were not close enough for him to ask questions like those. Even now that he was so close of her working place, he didn’t bother getting up and see how she was doing, even if that could appease his little sister a bit. And he preferred his sister not to know he was often meditating near the houses of healing, she might force him into seeing more of the half-elf. True that with Sorsha’s fear of death and blood, a hospital was not the best place for her. And Laurë was working mostly with children, and now that Sorsha was a mother, anything that could hurt them, anything related to a child suffering, being sick or worse dying, scared her immensely. But he would still prefer for her to inquire about her friend’s wellbeing on her own and not ask him to do that job as well. He had enough with his own problems at the moment.
He had no idea how close he was of her at the moment, or in what state she was. He even had no idea about all those kids dying. Well, maybe a bit, since there was an epidemic spreading and a lot of people were catching it, especially kids. He was having his back at the healing house, at this place where he spent a few days after the attack, where people were getting better, or even worse. He was turning his back at it all, that until he heard someone screaming a name.
It broke the bubble of thoughts he surrounded himself in even before he understood what name was screamed. He saw a shape fall down. The path she was taking was technically still the hospital, though it was open to the parkland. As everyone else who might have been around, he stood up, looked at the scene. But he stayed in the background. He was no healer and there were enough people here to help. But he couldn’t go back to his thoughts, not yet, not when there was this commotion, reminding him of what really was one of his favourite spot in this town.
He frowned, approached a little but still remained at a good distance. He would only be in the way, there. He felt like he was looking at the scene, as if it was surreal, as if he was looking at someone looking at it. He could barely hear the sounds of the people coming to help, lifting the body that fell down, checking her head, letting her brown hair cascade. It was like a huge ball of cotton all over him muffling the sounds around him. Until he recognized the unconscious figure, then the cotton left his ears and the noise brutally hit them as he walked closer to look at her, at Laurë, surrounded by healers trying to have her regain consciousness, ordering people to gather water, smelling salts or any other thing of the like.
He was much closer now, only a few feet away and could perfectly see her pale figure as someone passed a bottle of salts under her nose to wake her up.
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Post by Laurë Eledhwen on Jul 12, 2012 21:37:58 GMT -5
Laure had no feel of the contact of the people that were around her, she didn’t know what was going on; the voices she heard were fading away in the distances and she was having visions, hearing the screams once again, seeing the healing houses setting on fire, children were crying and people were running in and out in order to save them while she was there, unable to move, forced to watch it all. She tried to move her feet, to run inside and help everyone. She heard people asking for her to help, if she could do this and that. She tried to walk but her feet were locked to the ground. She even tried to take off her boots but nothing worked. She saw a kid, who was sitting up in their bed, watching her, calling for her help. She tried to reach out for them but as soon as she did, the roof fell on them, on her. She screamed once again but no one was able to work. “No....NO!” She said trying to fight everything, feeling the warmth surrounding her body and the pain. She tried fighting it off until she gained back to her senses and heard the people who were calling for her name trying to wake her up.
Her forehead was sweating until a stinky smell of salt hit her. Her heart was beating faster and she slowly gained her senses back. She was still into her dream though, or more like her vision of seeing the hospital in fire. She quickly opened her eyes saying “No!” only to be blinded by the light of the sun. A few healers seemed to sigh of relief and she tried to remember what happened. She glanced at her arms to see if she was burnt or anything and tried to sit up but was stopped from doing so by healers who were checking up on her. At first, she really thought that the house was in fire but seeing that it was still the daylight and that everybody was around her and not saving children, she relaxed, only a little. The kids...they were safe. Or at least, the one who were in the house and not about to die.
She closed her eyes for a few moments, letting the healers do their jobs and check on her. They asked her questions and she answered to them. She couldn’t pull off the memories out of her brain. The fire, it was always there and she had to admit, she was scared of it ever since she had been found into the house where her mother was killed, back into her home town...that didn’t exactly exist anymore. They ordered her to have the day off, normally, she would have objected but she restrained herself from doing so considering the fact that she had fainted. They finally let her sit up, being too busy with the healers, she didn’t notice Aldamir’s presence. Her head was killing her, she was still being dizzy and so, she grabbed a glass of water as a few healers told her to sit down for a while. She nodded and they helped her to stand up to drag her to a chair nearby. She didn’t like feeling weak, but right now, she just couldn’t take it.
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Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 12, 2012 21:54:10 GMT -5
As everyone else watching the scene, Aldamir startled as he heard her scream. She probably had no idea that she did so but as the salts had their effect and woke her, she screamed ‘no’ for everyone to hear. He didn’t wonder why she was saying that. He wasn’t seeing too many people collapsing but in the same time, he had seen enough to figure it was something in her mind that had her say that, clearly not something people did. After all, they tried to save her, she was depressed but not suicidal. At least, was he thinking so. But he knew so little of Laurë. And his sister was constantly worried for her since she returned and took this job at the house of healing. For once, could his little obnoxious sister have seen something before he did?
She tried to get up, was stopped by the people around her. He had no idea what caused her to faint. But now he was starting to wonder if she was not letting herself die. She was pale, very pale, and had bags under her eyes. Saying she was not healthy was an understatement. Was it on purpose or accidental? Now, that was the big question and if a part of him wanted to know, a voice in his head kept telling him to leave, to return to his spot, the sun, his thoughts and to leave her with her problems. He tried to help before, long ago, when she was feeling down, all he got was the burden to carry her problems with him. He had enough of his own right now, he was not feeling chivalrous enough to take hers as well. He felt like he would drown in them otherwise.
After a moment, they let her sit up, she drank a bit of water. Apparently, she was... well maybe not fine but recuperating. He turned around, offering three quarters of his figure to anyone from the hospital though his gaze was back at the sun and its rays bleeding on the city, tinting it with a colour it made it almost look like it was on fire. He sighed in silence, took a deep breath. He wanted to go back to his contemplation, but the magic of the moment was spoiled. It would be time for him to return home. Laurë was fine, someone was there looking at her, asking if she wanted to eat anything, if she needed anything more. He heard it, he took notice of it, but it was as if it was happening some time else, or far away from him. it no longer affected him. He wouldn’t be able to help anyway.
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Post by Laurë Eledhwen on Jul 12, 2012 22:14:50 GMT -5
Laure nodded weakly at any offers that the healer was giving her. More water, food even which she took only a small bite off, they asked her if she wanted to rest into one of the beds that were into the healing house but she refused to. No, not after the nightmare she had had...or could it really be called a nightmare considering it happened during day time? She didn’t know anymore, not that she minded it at this point. She was still obviously troubled by it. She wanted to tell to the man to leave her alone and to let her be, before, perhaps she would have done so but now she thought it was rude and restrained herself from doing so. She accepted the second glass of water and once the healer finally accepted to leave her alone, she sighed of relief.
Staring down at her hands and at the ground, Laure wasn’t sure of what she was supposed to do now; she had nightmares, had trouble to sleep, she couldn’t even eat, she wasn’t hungry; all she could do was to drink water and then again, she was sick of drinking the second glass. She placed it next to her onto the bench and looked around the house, just to make sure that everything was fine. You could never be too cautious; maybe she wasn’t far from the truth but from what she could see, everything was fine, even Aldamir was around...wait what?
She blinked staring at him for a moment. Oh great, he had seen the scene. She was ashamed of it; she never liked people to see her like that and knowing that Sorsha worried for her, it made her feel worse. She allowed one last tear to fall down her cheeks until she whipped it off and stood up slowly. She had to be able to walk if she wanted to go back to her uncle’s place. It was only now that she realized that perhaps; there were more than one person who worried for her...why was it taking her so long to get things like that? It made her feel dumb. She slowly but surely made his way to him. She didn’t know what she would tell him but she knew that she would need someone to help her home. “Hey...” she began to say, her voice breaking slightly. She caught herself up. She didn’t want to impose herself on him. “Would you mind to walk me home?” she asked.
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Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 13, 2012 21:29:40 GMT -5
Aldamir was ignoring the scene behind them. People took care of someone, someone he knew yes, but he wouldn’t be of any use. And besides, she was alright now, apparently. if not, he was still of no use compared to all those healers around who knew how to take care of her. What could he do really, except stand here next to her, something he was already doing. He made a step and then another towards the patch of grass where he used to be, slowly, in no hurry. Before, even if his thinking was a bit grim, he enjoyed it, this moment of solitude after spending so many times with tons of people, either at home or during his work. He had never truly been alone indeed and it was the reason why he welcomed it here. But his thoughts had been disrupted. Whatever he could do to return to them, it wouldn’t be the same. He had almost convinced that he could tell them, that they would react well. Now, he would have to go through the whole process, imagine their shock faces, their refusals and attempts to convince him otherwise. He would see the face of his mother decomposed, cry, his father fearing to lose him.
He did not notice that Laurë saw him, or even recognized him. He wouldn’t believe, since she wasn’t seeing that much of him, and why would he be there, in her mind? After all, he didn’t come to talk to her, or give her something or a message from his sister, or his family. He was a bit tired to play the messenger but they all knew he was not the kind to say no to them and were sometimes taking advantage of it.
It was the reason why he startled lightly as he turned his head towards her. He didn’t realize she walked his way, but there she was before him. She looked weak, drained. He had no idea what caused her to faint earlier, but she obviously was not in a good state. Even her voice was soft, quite a change from a girl who always used to be loud. He had the feeling she could just faint in his arms at any time. He waited for her to talk once she called him out and frowned as she asked if he could walk her home. It wasn’t the first time he did so but usually he was forced by his parents, or Sorsha. She never asked it from him directly, claiming she was strong enough to do it on her own. But she clearly was not right now.
He nodded in response but felt like saying something first. “You sure you can make it?” he asked after a moment, staring at her. She looked so frail and it was a sight he never saw from her, it actually worried him. He had no idea what put her in that state but it was a shame.
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Post by Laurë Eledhwen on Jul 15, 2012 19:27:36 GMT -5
Laure knew that normally, she wouldn’t have let him or anyone walk her home, claiming that she was strong, but that was before she went to her journey to find herself. She found out that it was okay to show weaknesses at times, that her own body had limits both mentally and physically and right now, she was at the top of hers in both cases. She couldn’t do much anymore, she had killed another child, leaving them to death, she was having terrible night mares that kept her awake and on top of that, she was feeling dizzier than ever. Was that what people called overworking? She didn’t know and she had to admit that she didn’t care at this point.
She smiled weakly at him as he asked her if she could make it. “I think I can live and endure a walk home.” She said before looking down once again. She didn’t like to show this side of hers to people; she had to be strong and independent, she didn’t have her parents anymore to support her even if she had her uncle, she still felt as if she was being an intruder to his life. It was time for her to look for a home though...knowing the man, when he’ll see her...he might just force her to stay there to make sure to keep an eye on her. She restrained herself from sighing at the thought; he really didn’t have to care that much for her anymore, she was already screwed, she didn’t even know what she was doing there except for killing people.
“I promise I won’t faint on you.” She felt like adding. If he was around, she had had the feeling that he had seen the scene. She felt like crying again but she managed to choke back her tears in order to prevent this. She didn’t want to be a weight to Aldamir; she had probably been one the countless times he was forced to walk her home, or had to deal with her in general. He didn’t need to see her cry once again.
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Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 19, 2012 7:55:38 GMT -5
Aldamir refrained to tell her she actually looked like she’d faint on anybody, at any second. She was pale, her figure looked frailer than ever, the bags under her eyes did nothing to help and on top of that, he watched her faint just a few minutes ago, which resulted in her having to leave the hospital to rest. She sure looked like she had very little sleep in a while. He wondered also when the last time she had a decent meal was.
But Aldamir also knew he couldn’t ask her that, or argue with her. She was the most stubborn person he had ever met! And he doubted the fact she was not in a good shape changed her attitude at all. He knew he couldn’t tell her to eat something first, even though it might be a good idea. And then he realized what he should say. “Your uncle will surely worry for you if you come home like this. Perhaps you should eat, get some more strength before?” he told her. He knew the only thing she hated more than people giving her advices was people worrying for her. He thought by saying this she might consider feeding herself a little. And, even if he would not admit, he wondered what put her in that state.
He looked at their location, quickly mapped out the city to find the nearest inn where they could eat something and it would not be too crowded. Aldamir knew a lot of spots like those, perhaps only a little less than his brother, but Rabryn preferred more crowded ones, with girls and beers and men to drink with. Aldamir was more a quiet and calm person who liked a quiet and calm place. He made a path in his mind to one of those places, calculating quickly how long it would take them and whether or not it would make the walk to her home longer. “I know a place not too far.” he mentioned with a shrug. It was her choice after all, if she wanted to head straight back home or not. Though he had the feeling if he was doing nothing to help her, he’d hear from it for the rest of his life.
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Post by Laurë Eledhwen on Jul 21, 2012 20:57:13 GMT -5
Laure stared at Aldamir as she was waiting for any kind of answer. She wasn’t sure about if he’d be in the mood to walk her home considering the countless times he had been forced to do so. She knew he wasn’t happy about this, just as much as she wasn’t happy about it as well. She started thinking about why she disliked him so much...after all, he never did anything wrong to her. Sure they would argue over things but did he ever do anything to piss her off? Not that she recalled. She began feeling bad about it and sighed, thinking that she owed him an apology for being so harsh on him the past years.
She paused however when he talked of her uncle. He was right; he would be even more worried if he saw her pale because she didn’t get food. She assumed that she could make efforts before facing the man. Geez, how many times had she gotten him worried about her? She stopped thinking for a few moments and fixed her shoes feeling tiredness taking over her but soon returned to the real world and looked at Aldamir. “It’s not too far?” She asked him but he soon confirmed her.
Going there would probably not be a big deal after all. Hopefully; she didn’t want to faint on him- her uncle didn’t need to see her unconscious. She nodded at Aldamir. “I have had him worried enough about me.” She agreed. It would be nice to catch up with him-they didn’t get to talk much ever since the time she had come back home, which is quite a while to say the least.
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Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 21, 2012 21:26:18 GMT -5
Aldamir waited patiently for her answer. He had always been good at this, to wait. As a guard, it was what he was doing the most, scouting the area he was watching over, waiting for something to happen. Perhaps it was because he was growing tired of it that he wanted to join the army, he couldn’t tell. He sometimes felt like he had done really little other than that, waiting over his sister while she was at the market, his brother when he was taking all of the room or when he was busy shining his armour when they should have been going already, waiting on Ellhandra and his family to get used to each other - which had not that good an outcome. He played chess, which forced you to think a lot, and wait for the other one’s move. Yes, his life was made out of waits.
Laurë looked at her shoes and he felt like perhaps he gave her some remorse about her uncle. In a way, he felt bad about it, but she needed to be shaken a little, so she’d understand once and for all that she was not the only one in the world, that her problems were not the only ones that mattered and that people could care and worry about her and deserved some of her attention in exchange of theirs.
The way she finally talked, he understood she agreed on his idea and he nodded. He walked next to her so that he could hold her should she lose her strength on the way. He gave a brief nod to one of the guard they passed by and had her walk through a bunch of streets as they entered deep into the city. The place he had found a few years ago. His father had once brought him there, with Balder as it was one of the rare places the frail boy could go to. The meals were mostly made of vegetables and fruits, the only meat being fish they got directly from the southern towns of Gondor. And unlike many pubs and other restaurants, you didn’t have people playing cards or dice, drinking or half-naked girls sitting on your knees for no other reason but to steal your purse.
He entered and walked to a table, ordering water since he doubted she could hold alcohol in her state. Once seated, he waved his hand towards a blackboard where the tenant wrote the menu for the day. “Pick whatever you want.” he just said as he placed himself comfortable, making sure his ear and side of his head with the scars were facing a wall, not wanting people to stare in their direction because of it. Sure his hair was growing back, hiding it, but you could still notice it, and his ear would always be apparent. He was still not used to it, the stares were still affecting him. When a waitress arrived he ordered for himself and waited for Laurë to pick something.
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Post by Laurë Eledhwen on Jul 23, 2012 7:11:32 GMT -5
When Laurë started to walk along with Aldamir, she took her time, walking slowly by his side. She wasn’t used to have him this close to her but she knew that it was to prevent her from falling. She wasn’t at the top of her shape and it was obvious to anyone who had seen her faint. She had always felt alone, even when she was with her friends and family but the past events slowly made her open her eyes and realize that some actually cared for her unlike her father who abandoned her and she had no ideas of and the death of her mother and her lover. Keann was there for her, and Arien as well as Sorsha and her family, even Aldamir was there for her at some points if he wanted, he could’ve let her there and get walked back by one of his body guard friends but back then, she was too mad at her own mother for having her to go there, even if it was for her wellbeing, she didn’t understand much that concept.
She didn’t hold a conversation with Aldamir as they walked, knowing that he wasn’t bothered by silence. They arrived at the pub he told her about; she recognized the place but she never walked in it before. Actually, it was rare Laurë would walk in any kind of pubs knowing the reputation some had. It was nice to see that Aldamir found one of quality for once. If she was to find one with parties and drunk people, she’d most likely end up having a headache.
Laurë turned around as he gestured to the black board and read the menu. Honestly, she wasn’t hungry but for Aldamir’s sake and since he made efforts to be with her company, she’d make efforts on her own and pick a meal. When the waitress arrived she decided to order a plate of fruits and cheese. It wasn’t anything fancy but it was better than eating nothing. She looked back at him once she was done ordering while thinking about what she could say to him. She had a lot on her mind and wasn’t sure how to formulate it.
She presumed that thanking him first would be a good start… “Thank you, Aldamir…for walking me while you could have been doing something else.” She said playing with her hands. Sitting down had made her feel more tired than she had been but she could deal with it until she’d be at her Uncle’s place. She didn’t want to go disturb Keann and Arien knowing they were at work.
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Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 23, 2012 20:56:21 GMT -5
Aldamir watched her as she sat down. She looked even frailer than before, if that was possible, so small, so pale, with the big black bags under her eyes. She didn’t order much to eat, only fruits and cheese but he said nothing. It was still something as she was so thin soon he’d see right through her. He knew his plate would take longer, as he asked for fish with a salad. Oh well, he’d wander around town, his parents would not worry and mind much that he didn’t come to have dinner with them. He was often training and eating with the other guards even when he was not on duty. It was his life after all, and he was taking it very seriously. Not like they feared he was starving himself or anything.
He remained silent as he waited for their meals to be prepared. In the meantime, they had water and he was sipping at his glass when she finally talked to him, thanking him for everything he had been doing to her. Well at least she understood he had other things than to walk all of his sister’s friends back home. Though now it just so happened he didn’t care, having nothing to do. “I am not on duty today, you’re not really taking any of my time I planned to use on something else.” he felt like saying. It was the truth, well partially. He had been pretty busy before she collapsed, he was lost in his thoughts. It was quite hard for him to make up his mind. He felt like he could do so much more to this city and in the same time, knew he would be confronted to the refusal of his family should they know of his plan.
He sighed heavily, staring at the liquid in his glass as if it could give him the answer. After a moment, he finally lifted up his head to stare at her. “You mind explaining why you collapsed like this? And why you look like you haven’t eaten or slept in days.” he asked. He didn’t mind her not willing to tell her though and to avoid her from feeling forced, he placed his elbows on the table nonchalantly, sighing and looking at the room before going back at her. “I suggest you watch out, because if Sorsha is to see you like this...” he said, trailing off, knowing Laurë knew very well what would happen if his sister was to see her friend like this. And he’d suffer from it too if she was to find out he saw it and did nothing to help.
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Post by Laurë Eledhwen on Jul 28, 2012 21:26:26 GMT -5
Laure looked down still as she was done speaking, unsure about what to expect from Aldamir. She had changed compared to how she used to be but she could still feel some awkwardness and maybe a bit of tension between them. It was still weird to be alone with him and to try and have a normal conversation. She nodded once he reassured her, at least, she wasn’t interrupting anything but he could have used his time to do something else, something of his liking perhaps. She was feeling like a burden lately but she knew that people would worry about her if she stayed away from them so she was making efforts, as much as she could.
She was startled however when Aldamir questioned her. How could she explain him how she felt? She wasn’t sure about if he’d even understand what she would tell him; that is, if she would ever tell him anything. He was right about Sorsha though...she didn’t want to worry her friend but she couldn’t help it; she felt so...helpless. She sighed thinking that maybe, he could help to make Sorsha understand what she was going through...she was never really good about expressing herself. “I feel...useless.” she admitted, refusing to look up at him. “Kids keep dying because of that plague. How would you feel watching all of them dying knowing you couldn’t do anything?” She started playing with her hands as she tried hard not to break down once again.
“I haven’t slept much lately...I’ve been having nightmares. I just –“ she chocked as she tried to hold back her tears but failed and whipped a few away. “I keep seeing mother and...him dying, I don’t want to be alone.”
“I don’t want my cousin, my uncle, Sorsha or anyone else to die.” Maybe it was just her freaking out about this but she still realized that life was short and that people tended to disappear from the earth when they were around her.
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Aldamir
Man
Guard
To be perfect in every way[Mo0:0]
Posts: 98
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Post by Aldamir on Jul 29, 2012 10:49:37 GMT -5
Aldamir was not expecting her to answer him when he questioned her about her latest behaviour. After all, they had never been very close. In fact, they kind of got on each other’s nerves. Even if she calmed down ever since her years out of the capital, the old resentment was still there, making things awkward between them. Perhaps she apologized for it, but he could still hear her criticize him and mock him for being ‘too serious’. And if she polished herself a bit, she was still quite independent while being as helpless as his little sister. But she was not his sister and so he was sterner with her than he was with Sorsha.
He frowned, staring at her when she called herself useless. A doctor, useless? And with the plague! But it was precisely the problem, the epidemic that was killing children. He stood straighter on his chair when she questioned him, feeling like she was saying this as if he had no idea what it meant to not be able to save someone. And that thought upset him. “And what do you know of finding a woman with her throat slit thinking only a few minutes ago you patrolled there and saw nothing? Or have her mother accusing you of doing nothing because you can’t catch who did it and that when you did he ends up free for lack of evidences? You want to see her in the eyes when you tell her the guy who killed her daughter for a bit of money is free to do that again?” he replied, a bit more on the defensive than he meant to.
But it annoyed him. Even if the kids were to die, she was doing everything she could and most people were more likely to thank you to have tried than accuse you to have failed. When the health of people was going down, they knew the healers were doing everything they could. When their safety was in danger however, it was time to blame the guards to prefer playing dices and drinking wine than to patrol. “Children are weaker than adults, they are more subject to diseases and die when it’s too cold or too hot. It’s a tragedy, but you’re not the first healer losing some. And you won’t be the last.” he pointed out.
She explained she had been having nightmares, that she kept seeing those close to her die, especially those she more or less witnessed dying. “No one wants that to happen.” he said when she nearly cried on him that she feared her family and loved ones remaining to die as well. “And it’s my job to prevent that. You always say I love my job too much, for once you should be happy of it.” he added. He stopped talking as the plates were brought to them and their cups refilled. In this town it was indeed the job of the guards to protect the people, to make sure everything was in order. Outside, it was the soldiers’. And since the threat was more and more coming from the outside, Aldamir wondered if he should not put his talent there. He was a fair fighter. Sure, he never killed really, but he doubted he’d completely lose it. Not for orcs. He took his knife and fork and cut small pieces of the fish before eating it. He figured he said everything there was to say. He was not her friend and he never really knew how to take her, so it was the best he could say.
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