Just a short one!
Ickle entry: ROMANCE!! Another entry where no previous knowledge is required to tell me if it sucks or not XD Unfortunate people may remember the night I came into Maelfroth complaining that romance is hard.
Anyway, I need envelopes and a bun tin...
She found him sitting down by the edge of the bridge, looking at the dark water as it wove and eddied under the ancient stones. She sat down next to him, no longer afraid. She reached out and gently touched his arm. He flinched a little, but let it stay.
“What’s the matter?” Warda asked.
It took a while for Utaba to respond. He failed to start several times, so Warda moved a little closer, and concentrated on being a comfort, not a nagging curiosity. Finally, slowly, he spoke.
“Iba-tab’s right. I’m scared. But it’s not of being told off. I know I’ve done all I could to try to bring Vistara back. I’ve always been so devoted. Never ... never impolite, let alone blasphemous! And now, here I am, moments away from what I’ve worked for, for cycles on cycles, and...” he trailed off.
“And?”
Utaba put his hand on Warda’s and turned to look at her. He looked so lost and so young and so beautiful that the young woman remembered she was one and had to concentrate on staying sat at a distance.
“And now I’ve found a reason not to want to leave this place. I don’t even know if anything can come of it. It’s why I went back to concentrating on guarding Samatra the day after you opened the temple. I’ve been trying to stop caring about you. Both of you. But then, when I saw Ibakafir laying on his charm ... I know he’s had partners. I think he may even have married before, but he picks people up like he picks a hunt or a cloak. He can leave things behind, a trail of destruction!”
“Shh,” said Warda, again trying to wrap him in some magical blanket to calm his troubled mind. As he turned his body to face hers, she moved so they sat with legs touching, held hands leaning on the foundations of the bridge.
“Warda-ten,” he said, brushing her cheek gently with his hand, “we could be about to change the world forever. I don’t know what Vistara even glimpsing at the world could do to me, let alone if she came back, let alone where I’d be supposed to go. It could destroy me, or it could make me forget everything I’ve done here. And yet I don’t want to face that and have you never know that I care about you.”
He looked horribly guilty. Warda felt like something warm and beautiful was swirling around inside her, struggling to get out. In fact, she worried a little about an outburst of power, like opening the Temple in the Desert but with nowhere to go. Then she realised that actually, she didn’t care.
“Don’t look like that,” she said, “if you hadn’t told me, I’m not sure anyone else would.”
“You can’t think like that,” he said, “someone will, and you know I couldn’t ... we ... well, you know even if we both survive tomorrow it - life would be quite hard...”
Warda shook her head gently, “no matter what happens tomorrow, my life probably won’t ever be easy. But I hated my life before, and I always tried to resign myself to it, and I couldn’t. Now I can’t imagine not trying to do whatever we have to do. Whatever happens, at least we’ll have tried.”
“I still don’t like the Depths of Forever plan, but it’s the only one we seem to have. It seems a bit of a merry chase to come back to where we started, but she does love patterns, we know that.” Utaba looked into Warda’s eyes again and put his hand around her waist, “I’ll come with you, of course I will, and I may reserve the right to get you out of there if it gets really dangerous, but as long as I know something is what you want to do, I won’t stop you.”
Warda decided to try something. She concentrated on how grateful she was, and on something that she wanted.
Utaba smiled, thought about complimenting her, and then he just kissed her.
Anyway, I need envelopes and a bun tin...
She found him sitting down by the edge of the bridge, looking at the dark water as it wove and eddied under the ancient stones. She sat down next to him, no longer afraid. She reached out and gently touched his arm. He flinched a little, but let it stay.
“What’s the matter?” Warda asked.
It took a while for Utaba to respond. He failed to start several times, so Warda moved a little closer, and concentrated on being a comfort, not a nagging curiosity. Finally, slowly, he spoke.
“Iba-tab’s right. I’m scared. But it’s not of being told off. I know I’ve done all I could to try to bring Vistara back. I’ve always been so devoted. Never ... never impolite, let alone blasphemous! And now, here I am, moments away from what I’ve worked for, for cycles on cycles, and...” he trailed off.
“And?”
Utaba put his hand on Warda’s and turned to look at her. He looked so lost and so young and so beautiful that the young woman remembered she was one and had to concentrate on staying sat at a distance.
“And now I’ve found a reason not to want to leave this place. I don’t even know if anything can come of it. It’s why I went back to concentrating on guarding Samatra the day after you opened the temple. I’ve been trying to stop caring about you. Both of you. But then, when I saw Ibakafir laying on his charm ... I know he’s had partners. I think he may even have married before, but he picks people up like he picks a hunt or a cloak. He can leave things behind, a trail of destruction!”
“Shh,” said Warda, again trying to wrap him in some magical blanket to calm his troubled mind. As he turned his body to face hers, she moved so they sat with legs touching, held hands leaning on the foundations of the bridge.
“Warda-ten,” he said, brushing her cheek gently with his hand, “we could be about to change the world forever. I don’t know what Vistara even glimpsing at the world could do to me, let alone if she came back, let alone where I’d be supposed to go. It could destroy me, or it could make me forget everything I’ve done here. And yet I don’t want to face that and have you never know that I care about you.”
He looked horribly guilty. Warda felt like something warm and beautiful was swirling around inside her, struggling to get out. In fact, she worried a little about an outburst of power, like opening the Temple in the Desert but with nowhere to go. Then she realised that actually, she didn’t care.
“Don’t look like that,” she said, “if you hadn’t told me, I’m not sure anyone else would.”
“You can’t think like that,” he said, “someone will, and you know I couldn’t ... we ... well, you know even if we both survive tomorrow it - life would be quite hard...”
Warda shook her head gently, “no matter what happens tomorrow, my life probably won’t ever be easy. But I hated my life before, and I always tried to resign myself to it, and I couldn’t. Now I can’t imagine not trying to do whatever we have to do. Whatever happens, at least we’ll have tried.”
“I still don’t like the Depths of Forever plan, but it’s the only one we seem to have. It seems a bit of a merry chase to come back to where we started, but she does love patterns, we know that.” Utaba looked into Warda’s eyes again and put his hand around her waist, “I’ll come with you, of course I will, and I may reserve the right to get you out of there if it gets really dangerous, but as long as I know something is what you want to do, I won’t stop you.”
Warda decided to try something. She concentrated on how grateful she was, and on something that she wanted.
Utaba smiled, thought about complimenting her, and then he just kissed her.