[Action]

[halgitamilf]

[Things have been tense at the Liberation Lodge lately. As such, Svala is making herself extremely available for talks, knowing it was better to make an invitation than a mandatory RSVP.

Plus her garden needed weeding something fierce.So she's on her knees in the dirt around House 32, the knees of her (only pair of) pants already dirty and grass-

Comments

[vermified]

[Speaking of tense. Within the hour Edward heads outside, his initial goal being the smithy to sharpen his sword; he pauses when he notices her, hesitating briefly, then moving to stand closeby.]

My lady, do you need any help?

[halgitamilf]

I would appreciate assistance, yes.

[She moves aside so he can kneel next to her.]

[vermified]

[...Bleh, now he has to garden 8|

He nods, though, and first removes his gloves, followed by his sword, burying it into the ground, before he finally kneels beside her.]

What can I do?

/gives up trying to paraphrase it

[halgitamilf]

[He better not have stabbed her flower bed with that.]

Do you see this specific plant? [She shows him one of the weeds that commonly plagued her garden.] Please pull these.

was her flower bed quivering as he thrust it in

[vermified]

[Nooooo Nana, of course he knows better than that. He has no death wish right now.

He studies the plant for a moment - he doesn't want to accidentally rip out a flower or something - and goes about removing the weeds, working silently. It's dirty and messy but once you get into the groove, it's kind of soothing, really.]

i hate you so much

[halgitamilf]

[They work in silence for a bit and Svala can feel his crazy vibes chilling out from all the way over here.

But not chill enough. So maybe she needs to give him another push. She debates being gentle with it and then decides to save that patience for her son. Sigmund wouldn't talk unless she wheedled it out of him.]

What has happened?

you love me and you know it

[vermified]

[Edward's hand pauses on a weed, fingers clenching around it briefly before he works on unwinding the tension that single sentence built up in him. Not that he wasn't tense before, but... tension on top of tension on top of tension, that was Edward on a normal day. Today's worse. This week is worse. He's quiet for a while, pondering not answering. But it was Svala, and Svala always knew, one way or another.

Finally he responds, doing his best to keep his voice level, carefully avoiding her gaze.]

Lord Sigmund does not want me.

[And it's okay, it's okay, it's okay.]

i do. i do love you. ENDLESSLY

[halgitamilf]

[That's a peculiar thing to say, and not really what she was expecting. She'd been looking more in the area of "Lord Sigmund is upset with me," or "work at the smithy" has not been well; things that could be repaired with a few words of wisdom and some elbow grease.

Not...that.]

I sincerely doubt that is the case, Edward.

which is good because I LOVE YOOOOUUUU

[vermified]

[Edward just shakes his head, tearing free another weed with what could be considered to be a little too much enthusiasm.]

He said nothing would change. He has other matters to attend to, so it's fine.

[It's fine, it's fine. He's fine, everything's fine.

The important thing is that Lord Sigmund is satisfied.]

/GIGGLES

[halgitamilf]

[Oh geez, she thought he meant like- COMPLETELY didn't want Ed. Like around. At all.

...of course that means he's speaking romantically, which means Sigmund knows now and he turned Edward down, which is probably only slightly less crushing than if he'd told Edward that his services were no longer required. Oh geez.]

...I see. How did he discover the truth about your feelings?

[vermified]

[Edward really doesn't want to talk about it. At all. He's hoping that being brief and blunt will prevent a long discussion, though his optimism is rather lacking; that's not usually how it works with Svala.]

We were talking about Capell, and he... misunderstood my intentions. I had to explain myself.

[halgitamilf]

Ah.

[Leave it to Sigmund to realize something put in the vaguest of terms after having the raw evidence right in front of his face for years.

Svala can count the moments she's been truly speechless and still have fingers left over. This is one of them. Instead of searching for something to say she reaches over to rest her hand atop Edward's. I understand.

Rejection is a hurtful thing.]

[vermified]

[The hand on his makes him go still, gaze frozen on the soil. He's never sure if her touch is meant to be kind, or innocent, or that strange, searching power she has, and he fears it sometimes. His pain is private, and he'll deal with it, as he deals with everything. Or not deal with it, since it equates to the same thing with him most of half the time.

...It's nice to have that comfort, though. And his hands totally aren't shaking at all.]

[halgitamilf]

[That really only made him tense up some more, so she doesn't drag it out and just pats his hand before moving back to her gardening.]

I humbly request you allow me to examine your lunaglyphs every so often, Edward.

[Because he was complaining about them hurting a while ago and this stress is not going to help with that at all.]

[vermified]

[He's grateful for both the touch and the withdrawal, politely returning to his work. He's careful not to react too strongly to the mention of his glyphs, swallowing slightly.]

...If you wish. I was able to forge a moon drop, though, so... it's been better than before.

[If his hands weren't dirty he'd probably have fiddled with the charm around his neck. He's been doing that a lot lately.]

[halgitamilf]

I am pleased to hear it. [But you're not off the hook. She won't make you talk about Sigmund or do anything like cry or whatever, but she will make sure you aren't pushing yourself too hard. Because she can, that's why.]