Evening Stroll [Keann]

[Arien]

Aria wandered in the streets of Mineas Tirith watching people chatting and closing their shops. She was done for the day and needed to take a break from confectioning clothes. She needed to breath some fresh air and the best way to do that was by taking a walk, of course.

A small smile appeared onto the brunette’s lips as she watched some kids playing in the street. It was late but not enough for the people to go back home to sleep. Seeing families together, made her wonder about how her’s was doing. They hadn’t come to pay her a visit yet so far. Maybe she should take some vacations and go there…then again, she was alone to take care of the shop; which made her think about hiring an assistant. It would be useful, but she knew it had to be someone she trusted and not some stranger that might steal her stuff. It would piss her off and she would kick him or her out of her shop.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she stretched her arms and continued her walk. She wondered about how her friend Gilwen was doing; she was probably busy with chores in the castle. This girl really was a hard worker. Hard work was one of the qualities she respected the most.

She looked up at the sky as the sun was slowly setting while wrapping her arms around herself but suddenly bumped into someone. She blinked. “I’m sorry…” she said softly while looking down to see who it was.

[Keann]

Keann let out a sigh as he finished the delicate work he was doing on a ring. People didn't seem to realize how hard it was to carve small leaves all over a silver ring. Or any other material-made ring for that matter. The ring was not entirely done, he still had to make the flower on top and place a jewel on it. It was of course a request, an order from some rich man. Keann had already chosen the stone to put in the center, a small beautiful diamond. But this would have to wait for tomorrow, or at least until he ate. He took nothing since early in the morning and his stomach was now showing its discontentment. He had to eat.

Leaving his work on the table, Keann left his workshop and entered the part of the store the clients were seeing. He replaced a thing or two, closed the curtains to show he was closed then headed out. His home was above his shop but he never had food, he had to get meat and vegetables out on the market or an inn if he was arriving too late for the market. He had only herbs and spices in his kitchen. It wasn't all that weird since if he was to keep the food in his house it would most likely be spoiled.

Has he went outside, Keann closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Not so far from his shop there was a bakery and at every moment of the day or the night you could smell the delicious aroma of fresh, warm bread. Keann always loved that smell, it made him think of a nice cozy home and a delicious meal. Whenever he had a bad or nerve-wracking day he could always go out of his shop to have a scent of the bread and he was feeling better.

Keann turned his back at the street the time of closing the shop properly when he felt someone bumping on him. Being caught by surprise, he fell on the ground. Though it wasn't that hard to push him to the ground, he was perhaps tall but not heavy, far from that. Hopefully, it didn't hurt. Anyway even if he had been injured he wouldn't have talked about it, he wasn't the kind to talk in public, even if the public was one person. The only time he was feeling comfortable was when he was selling or talking of his jewels or when buying stuff at the market. There he could haggle for hours without feeling bad at all. It became natural.

Keann looked up at the one who bumped into him. He thought hearing a 'sorry' but he didn't manage to find out who was the lady - for it was a woman's voice that he was sure -who made him fall to the ground. As he looked up he saw brown hair, a full mouth, brown eyes.... eyes he saw already before. Arien. He knew her for she was a dressmaker and a few clients were sometimes ordering a jewel matching their new clothes, clothes not finished sometimes which caused the two of them to run from a place to another to see what the other one did to match. "It's fine" he said in a whisper, getting up. He dusted off his clothes as he stood in front of the girl.

[Arien]

A large smile formed onto Arien’s lips, noticing that the one she had bumped into was no one but Keann. He was a good boy really, she liked it, though sometimes a bit too nice and naïve. Not that she minded it much though, if she happened to be there and saw people abusing of his niceness and naivety she would go strait towards them and make them stop do stupid things like that. People would usually listen to her, not wanting her to kick their ass; a thing she was good at, but not many people knew about it-only the few who had witness and endured it.

However, a small hint of worry appeared into her eyes, hoping that she hadn’t bump into him that harshly. The last thing she wanted was to hurt someone as nice as him. He would always manage to make her smile, no matter what and keep her motivated on her work, just as she would do with him. She guessed that it’s what you needed, when you were the only one working for your shop, 25h/24, creating dresses for her customers. She loved to do that though, even if sometimes she thought it would end up killing her. Then again, the day hadn’t arrived yet so there were no points in worrying about such thing right now and then.

“You’re alright righ? I hope I didn’t hurt you…” she said softly, lowering her gaze a few moments before staring back up at him. He was so tall, but she didn’t mind it, like if she cared about how tall were people. She smiled once again at the man who was standing in front of her pausing a few moments, hoping that she hadn’t disturb him in anything he was doing. It would make her feel bad somehow. She started playing with her hands debating on what she should talk to him about, heh, better go without formalities, they happened to be good friends; or at least, that’s what she thought they were at the moment.

[Keann]

Keann noticed Arien's smile before anything else. The girl always seemed so serious, working and all. And she was hot-headed, not letting anyone bother her. So her smiles, especially one as big as this one, were rare and precious to Keann. He was like that, unable to see someone in pain. And she had so many work, had he knew how to make dresses he would have helped her. How many times he proposed her to get the dresses she made and bring them to her clients. Even if they were at the opposite direction of her shop, even if he had a lot of work to do. Sometimes, finding out she didn't eat busy working, he was giving her his food and that even if he didn't eat as well. He was doing that to a lot of people but she was the only one who seemed glad and honored of his kindness. The others simply were saying thanks and going to something else.

As he heard her ask if she hurt him in anyway Keann seemed surprised. yeah, probably you'd think that when you were a small woman and you managed to make a tall guy like him fall to the ground. But tall didn't mean strong and Keann wasn't that good at keeping his ground. He knew of course he had to reassured her about the fact she didn't hurt him. So he put on his face a gentle smile before saying: "No d-don't worry for me, I'm f-f-fine." He cursed himself for stuttering. perhaps she wouldn't believe him because of this but it wasn't his fault if he was not good at talking to people. And even if he knew her, she was no exception. He was always stuttering every now and then.

Soon he felt embarrassed of the silence. She was there, playing with her hands, and he was there, saying nothing, swaying from one foot to the other. He tried to find something to say but couldn't find anything. Talking of job? No, not really. Of his life? Certainly not! "You-you're done with your work?" he asked after being unable of finding a nice topic.

[Arien]

"No d-don't worry for me, I'm f-f-fine” A smirk formed onto Arien’s lips as she heard Kaenn stuttering, but didn’t remain onto her lips for long. He was just such a cute man, she didn’t see how people dared to abuse of him at times. He was lucky to have her around or she doubted highly he wouldn’t get in trouble because of his too kind heart. People weren’t all nice in the world they were living right now. If only they could live in a more peaceful world… oh well, it’s not like if they weren’t fine here either. She smiled up again at Kaenn, assuring him that he didn’t need to be so shy around her.

“Good, or else, I would’ve blamed myself for harming such a sweet man.” she mused with a soft giggle. Don’t get her wrong, she wasn’t flirting, in fact, she was the last person you would find flirting with a boy. Oh, sure, there were some who tried to have a chance with her but some either were asses or perverted, or both at the same time. Besides, if she was flirting, it was subconscious to her at the right moment. Though, there were this something more with Kaenn than those other men she just couldn’t put a finger on so far. But she didn’t bother herself much with that, figuring out she’d find it some one day or an other.

She didn’t mind the silence there was between the two of them; it wasn’t an heavy one but she could tell that Kaenn was, which made her somewhat sad about it and frowned a little, until he started up a new topic. "You-you're done with your work?" She smiled at his question. “Do you think I would be there if I was working?” She asked him back with an other small giggle. It was weird to see her laugh that much, but she couldn’t help it whenever she was around Kaenn. It was as if he brought a softer side to her.

[Keann]

“Good, or else, I would’ve blamed myself for harming such a sweet man.” Keann blushed deeply at it. She didn't say a nice man, or a good man. She said a sweet man. And it was, for him, a far bigger compliment than if she just said a good man. He wasn't used to compliments, except some about his art and when they were, he felt they were in love with the jewel and not the talent he had. Besides, she didn't complimented him right now on his talent but on his personality. And that was what made him blush, the idea someone could like him for who he was.

“Do you think I would be there if I was working?” she told him after his lame question. He looked down at his shoes, having a somewhat embarrassed smile. He even managed to let out a soft chuckle out of his lips. "I meant, you're completely done for the day, you won't have to go back to do some extra work?" he asked. But the damage was already there, he felt stupid for the question. Of course, like she said, how could she be here if she wasn't done? She'd be at her shop, knitting or cutting fabric or whatever else she was doing, he was not the expert in dress making.

He was now once again silent with her. He tried not to make her see he was starving but he knew his jaws were tight trying to control his stomach. Soon it would probably make some noise. And Keann would be once again embarrassed. He wasn't taught to show your needs like this in front of people. But he couldn't help it, he knew he couldn't stay here for too long before making noise from his stomach or faint from hunger. And that bakery was not helping at all...

[Arien]

Arien smiled noticing that he was blushing after she had complimented him. He was so cute; she just didn’t understand how people could possibly abuse of his niceness. Not everyone was nice in this world, and she was aware pretty much of that fact. If everyone would be nice, there wouldn’t have been any war and her dad wouldn’t have died on the battle field. She looked down at the thought, for a few seconds before chasing them away and gave an other smile to Keann, not wanting him to worry about her. It wasn’t that much of a big deal anyways, besides, she didn’t want to annoy him with any kind of her problems. She thought he was already doing too much for her.

Her smile grew bigger as she heard him laugh this making her heart ease a little. He always had that kind of effect on her somehow. He always knew how to soften her, even if she was known to be a tough woman who didn’t let people step on her. "I meant, you're completely done for the day, you won't have to go back to do some extra work?" She shook her head at his question. For once, she could take a break from her work, and it would be nice if she could take it with someone she could trust and enjoy her time extra time with. “I’m completely done with my work, surprising eh? Besides, I need to relax too or else, you might end up worrying over me for not taking decent time for myself and sleep and I don’t think I’d like to see that happen.” she replied with a smile.

She paused once again thinking that it would be nice for them to eat together but then again, wouldn’t it be weird to a woman like her to invite him? After all, wasn’t it boys who were supposed to propose such things? Heh, like if she cared about it right now. She only wanted to spend a good time with a friend. That’s all, nothing more. Hearing noises coming from Keann’s stomach made her giggle once again, it did confirm to her that he was hungry. “Why don’t we eat dinner together?” she proposed happily, hiding any sing of possible sadness.

[Keann]

Keann blushed once again as she said this relaxing time was good to prevent him from worrying. She sure knew him well. But, when you think about it for a moment, he did told her a few times she should take a break for a while, rest more, eat better and so on. He was right after all, she could get herself sick for working too hard. And as one of her few friends he didn't want that from happening. Yes, keann should probably listen to his own advice and take more breaks as well but he was better for giving advice than follow them.

He felt a little pathetic as she giggled because of his stomach. He placed a hand on it, ordering it mentally to calm down. He raised his head quickly when she proposed to eat together. That was a first. Not eating together, he did brought her sometimes food at her shop and they ate there but it wasn't the same kind of thing what she was proposing. She meant finding an inn and eat there... or could she mean cooking? He had no idea if she was a good cook at all. For himself, he wasn't the worst but still he never thought he was that good. Why else would he spend his well-earned money at an inn?

"Ea-eating, w-with you?" he said stuttering out of surprise. He didn't seem to realize just yet the comment and even more the stuttering could make her feel like he didn't want at all but couldn't find a nice way to say no. Yet, it was the opposite, he found it a pleasant idea, he just had no idea if he could be of pleasant company. Still, understanding she was waiting for an answer, he gave her, unable to stop stuttering though. "S-su-sure." he told her. "But I have to return to my shop later, I haven't finished yet" he added.

[Arien]

Arien smiled, and waited patiently for one of her best and closest friends to answer her at the proposition she had just did to Keann. They hadn’t taken the time to eat together recently and she missed that. It was mostly because either one of them was stuck with work, needing to work on what the people had ordered them to make in a certain delay. She rested her hands onto her hips, scanning the area that was around them for a bit before turning her attention back to her friend. They’d just have to figure out what and where they’d like to eat. She wasn’t in the mood to cook at the right moment, due to the fact that she had worked hard all day and wanted to relax for once, catching up with a good friend.

"Ea-eating, w-with you?" Her smile grew bigger, used to Keann’s stuttering. Some could find that annoying, but she didn’t. Besides, he seemed to be stuttering around her most of the time, or even more but it didn’t bother her. That was how he was and she wouldn’t want him to change-except maybe to have a bit more self confidence when it came to chat with people while he wasn’t working or anything, that would be nice. Maybe she could help him to open up some more and be more of a man; might be fun to do so. She nodded at his question, and waited for him to give her an answer.

"S-su-sure." She grinned at him and clapped her hands together happily. “Great!” she mused. “But I have to return to my shop later, I haven't finished yet"She nodded understanding him, after all, she would’ve done the same thing if she hadn’t finish one of her creations. “Works with me, how about we go to the inn down the street? People say it’s a nice place to eat at!” she proposed taking his hand and dragging him along with her, not bothering herself with how he’d react if she did so. Anyways, it wasn’t the first time she would do that.

[Keann]

Keann looked down, blushing bright red as she clapped her hands. Could she be that happy? Probably, but still the idea he could make someone happy this much was hard for him to take. He didn't want her to feel he was embarrassed because of her but he was. He never felt eating with himself was that fun and so he was amazed she could show him the opposite.

Keann knew Arien wouldn't be mad for him ditching her afterward to do some work. She, among all, should know what it was. How many times she had been found working out late. So he didn't really bother himself raising his gaze. In fact, he was kicking the ground at the moment when she talked of the inn. Before he could say or do anything, he felt her taking his hand and drag him around the city. He emitted only a soft gasp being pulled around like this. He nearly fell down at first but soon got back his balance and walked down the street with his friend.

Considering she was the one who held his hand, he didn't do anything about it yet. He opened the door of the inn and let her in. But as he joined her he realized their hands were still entwined. He let out a surprised gasp, taking his hand away quickly, turning his head to the side so she wouldn't see the blush on his cheeks. "I-I-I'll go buy us drinks." he said, quickly motioning toward the bar. Some ladies were serving at the table but it was usually easier to order your beer immediately instead of waiting for it to come with your meal. Especially since the girls could sometimes bring you the wrong beverage, having so many people yelling 'beer!' at the same time.

[Arien]

Arien didn’t notice his blush, like most of the time whenever she was talking to him. Sure, she knew that he was stuttering more whenever she was around him, but she didn’t think that she was the cause of this. Who knows, maybe he was just shy like that. He needed to open up some more to the others, if only people knew how nice he was, without daring to abuse of it, of course. She smiled, as she continued leading the way towards the nearest inn she had found a few days ago.

It looked like a nice spot where they could eat. She had seen it a few days ago and she had been willing to get there and grab a bite. However, she didn’t like being alone when she went out eating or doing anything else. It was far much more entertaining to be hanging out with people than being alone, by herself. She knew that very well; she missed it not to have her family living with her anymore since they were to her old village. Sure they did come once in a while to pay her a visit but it wasn’t the same. Arien was an easy girl to socialize with; she wasn’t the one who would judge people on their appearance like some would do. She thought it was lame to do so. Even if she was working where appearance did count somehow, she wasn’t the one to ignore others because of their lack of money or anything; the proof of it was that she befriended with Gilwen, a nice girl who walked at the castle.

She smiled thinking about her. They should hang out more often, but she knew that her work kept her busy. Arien understood; work kept her busy as well. She opened the door once they arrived in the inn and smiled at Keann. Once he pulled his hand away quickly, she blinked, not getting why he had done so, but didn’t question him about that. Anyways, he would talk to her if there were something wrong…"I-I-I'll go buy us drinks." She nodded at him, deciding she would go get a table for the two of them. “I’ll go get a table…” she mused before looking around and quickly spotting one. She smirked and headed towards it, sitting and waiting for her friend to come back to her.

[Keann]

Keann barely heard Arien saying she'd get them a table. He hurried to the bar in a sigh. He didn't mean to act like this but the warmth of her hand in his had made him uncomfortable for some reason. Perhaps it was because he was more used to the metal on his hands and not the flesh. Yeah, that was certainly the reason. After all, it's not like she was flirting with him, thinking he was her great love and he didn't feel the same. It wasn't a question of feelings, not at all. He was simply unused to human contact. It had to be.

Arrived at the bar he realized he had no idea what she'd take. Was she the kind to drink wine with her meal? Probably not, it seemed to high-class while she was more a down to earth person. He decided to order two beers. Everyone was drinking beer, even more than water. Besides, that would have been odd to order a pint of milk or so he thought.

He turned around while waiting for the drinks to be prepared, trying to spot her. She wasn't at the entrance anymore. A scan of the room made him see her at an empty table. He nodded for himself before paying for the beers. He left with those in hands to the table where she was. He placed the two beers on the table when someone bumped into him from behind, making him knock over the table. He quickly grabbed the pints, sighing seeing none was spilled. He didn't want everyone looking at him for an incident. Still he blushed softly, apologizing to the guy when he was supposed to be the one doing so. Keann preferred to avoid fight. He sat in front of Arien and handed her her beer waiting for someone to come and take their order.

[Arien]

Arien waited patiently for her friend to come back. She scanned the area, looking for someone she knew; maybe they had done with their works as well. She would often meet up someone at this kind of place, it was pretty enjoyable to socialize here and there. Her mind then drifted off to her good friend Gilwen. She wondered about what was the girl doing where she was, and hoped they treated her well. Sure she was a servant, kind of slave like, but that didn’t mean they weren’t humans. If she’d only hear once about someone bad threatening the girl she would get pissed, clearly pissed.

She blinked however, coming back from the zoning she had been doing a few moments ago and spotted Keann who was coming back with two chops of beers. She smiled at this, good thing he didn’t get her something too fancy; she would feel bad somehow, if he would’ve done so. She placed her elbows onto the table and her hands onto her chin, smiling sweetly while waiting for her good friend that was nothing more than a friend…

She was happy when he arrived but blinked as this other man bumped into Keann, without apologizing. She glared at him, of course and stood up just in case Keann would drop the chops of beer and just in case he would trip over the table, which she would make him stop from doing so. “Are you alright?” she asked slightly worried, but glaring at the other one by the corner of her eyes, how rude, he didn’t even apologize! She didn’t understand why Keann just apologize, while it was to the other person to do so! If she didn’t know him that well, she would’ve made the boy apologize for him, but she had manners-maybe she would when they’d get out of this place, she didn’t want to make a scene in such a place. “You didn’t have to apologize…” she stated out once the other man was gone. She helped Keann up and gave him a reassuring smile, hoping he wasn’t hurt.

[Keann]

Keann said nothing as Arien asked him if he was alright. That would simply make him stutter in an attempt of saying he was. And Keann hated to stutter, especially in front of her. He knew her for a while now, why did he have to be stressed enough to stutter and look for his words in her company? She never teased him or anything. Sure at first she was a little... on the defensive, but she changed of attitude by now. He had absolutely no reason to be nervous in front of her. Or so he tried to convince himself.

He heard her say he had no reason to apologize. He looked down. "Oh, y-you're right... sorry." he said apologizing yet again. For it was another of his main personality trait: over-apologizing and such. He couldn't help it. Keann never liked violence and he felt lowering his head and saying he was sorry was just the best way to avoid a fight. This attitude gave him a couple of problems in the past, people enjoying taking advantage of him, or pushing him to the ground for it was so easy to do. Still, Keann never changed that aspect of his personality.

Now in front of her, no one caring about them anymore, Keann felt a little better. He never liked to be the center of attention, except perhaps when he was working and selling his stuff to women. But he wasn't now and so being a wallflower was good enough for him. He took his pint and drank a sip of beer, taking a quick look at the tavern where they were, in search of a waitress or something to take their order. In the end a girl arrived with grilled, crusty potatoes and bread before asking them what they,d like. He forgot the potatoes were the owner's specialties. Prepared with his personal mix of herbs. Keann asked only for chicken, on a low voice which made him have to repeat at least three times before the lady actually understood.

[Arien]

Right, she would have to work hard to make him gain some guts. Why was he apologizing himself for something he didn’t do? He was hopeless at times but she still liked hanging out with him he was a real sweet heart. She chuckled though thinking that she could change a little that aspect of him. She wanted him to be more like all those men who stood up for themselves and weren’t scared to socialize with others. Then again, she wouldn’t want Keann to turn into some kind of rude brat who only thought about…reproduction.

“You’re a good man Keann, one of the better I’ve seen in my opinion, but at times too good for people who don’t deserve it. You should stand for yourself once in a while.” She said wanting him to get more courage to do that. The day she’d see him doing that she’d probably end up giving him a big hug. She smirked at the thought, wondering about how he’d react to that since he seemed to still be uneasy when he stood by herself.

Soon enough, the waitress arrived to take their orders. Good, she began to be hungry. What to order though? Hummm, she felt like eating pork so that’s what she order along with fresh vegetables. That would be a good plate, she took it the other day and it was delicious. A sweat drop appeared in the back of her head at the amount of times he had to repeat his order. She shook her head a little. “You know you can speak louder than that right? You’re not talking to mice.” She said jokingly once the waitress was gone to give their orders to the cook.