"You don't look very dead. I've seen dead people, they tend to be a lot more um, ghostly and you look very solid." Coraline said seriously looking at the man. Coraline considered poking the man just to check but decided to keep her hands to herself. It was politer and besides he sort of smelled funny. "Besides I'm not dead. So, you can't be dead."
"Are you sure I'm not just a handsome ghost?" Gwaine won't exactly say no to the possibility that he's somehow survived, but undead warriors are slightly hard to defeat when you're barely more than a mortal man.
He extends his arm out. "Go on. Poke. Let's test out this ghost theory."
"You're too bearded to be a handsome ghost. I think they have rules about shaving when you're dead." Coraline said simply. Coraline put down the glasses she had been collecting before very carefully poking him in the arm. "Definitely not dead. Unless you're a zombie, do you feel like eating my brains?"
"I've had a great many women like this beard," Gwaine says very seriously, giving it a light tug, searching around him for something like flowers or charms or anything to please a young one. "Though, I don't know that any of them were quite so beautiful as you. And beautiful as you are, I've not developed an appetite for your brain. I like to think I'm smart enough as it is."
Not entirely sensible, most of the time, but he's pleased with his intelligence. Most days.
"Were they all a bit daft?" Coraline asked curiously. Coraline thought they must be, beards were okay but a bit gross. You could get food stuck in there like in The Twits. "Well, then you're not a ghost or a zombie. Just a bit silly. And I'm not beautiful, I'm Coraline."
"Well, not all of them were daft, but there were a couple that were..." And he makes the gesture by his head to signify that maybe, maybe once or twice he's bedded a lass of less than suitable sanity in the face of her beauty. "Coraline, pleasure to meet you. I'm Gwaine. Not Zombie-Gwaine or Ghost-Gwaine, but just Gwaine. Possibly dead-Gwaine, I'm not sure on that count yet."
Coraline's mouth twitched into a sort of smile as he made the odd gesture. The smile was natural but it didn't last long before she pursed her lips and tried to stop smiling.
"More like Uncertain-Gwaine, you shouldn't be uncertain though. I mean, you have a heartbeat so that means you can't possibly be dead." Coraline said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I can't get you a proper drink but I could get you a juice or water or something. I'm not allowed near the alcohol not until I'm older."
Coraline's tone of voice made it quite clear that she didn't like that. Not that she particularly wanted to drink, she just really hated being told what to do now that her family was gone.
He presses his linen-clad hand atop his heart and closes his eyes as he feels the beat, taking a moment to smile because it is still beating and that's something in itself. "I do still have a heartbeat, but I've been told by a lovely Princess of a woman that it could mean I'm still dead. Apparently this place does funny things with its dead people."
"And the finest of juice will do me just fine. Have to pace myself and all."
"Oh," Coraline said briefly, thinking of Adam. The pain was enough to make her falter for a moment before she busied herself tidying away the glasses and fetching him a clean glass of juice. "You mean dead in the outside world. Were you doing something brave? And by brave, I mean stupid. The two usually go together. Or... was it something terrible?"
Coraline pulled the glass closer to her, holding it out of reach almost as if she might deny him the drink. "You weren't a villain, were you? Only I'd hate to have to defeat you Gwaine. You seem nice even if you do have a beard."
"I've been called a hero before. I'm pretty sure they didn't etch it into anything, so I can't present you anything but my own word," Gwaine laments, regarding her as he grows very serious. "But Coraline, I promise that bravely stupid as I can be...and trust me, that can be very high on both counts, I'm no villain. Maybe a nuisance. I have been called pesky once or twice."
"Well, good. I'm glad because my knife is in my bag and I doubt a glass of juice would do anything but make you very wet. It's apple, it's very nice." Coraline said placing the glass of juice down infront of him. Coraline sat down near him, watching curiously. "Pesky? That's not too bad. I've been called trouble and annoying and a bother. What did you do to be called pesky?"
Gwaine shifts slightly, just so that his sword will hit the bar and give a good clank. It's not that he fears a young woman, it's just that it's always good to let the people around you know that you're armed. "I do a lot of things to get called pesky. People tire of me very easily."
Coraline looked up before peering curiously at the sound of the clank. It was certainly pretty and made Gwaine much more interesting. A pesky, brave, stupid man with a sword. Oh, no Coraline wasn't curious about it or him at all.
"Why?" Coraline asked, looking curiously at the sword and Gwaine before she realised she was staring. "I never understood how you could get tired of other people."
Coraline was still staring before the questions came tumbling out of her mouth. "When are you from? Or where? Most people don't have swords and that's a really big sword."
"When you drink through a town's supply and cause a ruckus and generally act like I do, people get very tired of you very quickly," he says, tapping his nose just the once. "There's a good bit of advice you should tuck in your pocket."
"I'm from Caerleon. At least, originally. Lately, Camelot, I suppose. That's who'll have me."
"I'll remember that," Coraline said pretending to tuck the advice into her pocket. Coraline's eyes widened as she recognised the name. Not Camelot, though she recognised that as well but the first one. "Caerleon? I've been there, that's near where I lived! Or there's a Caerleon where and when I come from at least. Does that mean- are you a knight? Is that why you have a sword and a beard? Do all knights have beards?"
It was the first time in weeks Coraline had been quite so animated about anything.
"All the handsome and effective knights have beards," Gwaine says knowingly, with an air of great authority and all the dignity that goes along with it. "And I might be a knight, but you'll have to tell me a little more about yourself before I go exchanging information in turn."
Reply
He extends his arm out. "Go on. Poke. Let's test out this ghost theory."
Reply
Reply
Not entirely sensible, most of the time, but he's pleased with his intelligence. Most days.
Reply
Reply
Reply
"More like Uncertain-Gwaine, you shouldn't be uncertain though. I mean, you have a heartbeat so that means you can't possibly be dead." Coraline said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I can't get you a proper drink but I could get you a juice or water or something. I'm not allowed near the alcohol not until I'm older."
Coraline's tone of voice made it quite clear that she didn't like that. Not that she particularly wanted to drink, she just really hated being told what to do now that her family was gone.
Reply
"And the finest of juice will do me just fine. Have to pace myself and all."
Reply
Coraline pulled the glass closer to her, holding it out of reach almost as if she might deny him the drink. "You weren't a villain, were you? Only I'd hate to have to defeat you Gwaine. You seem nice even if you do have a beard."
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
"Why?" Coraline asked, looking curiously at the sword and Gwaine before she realised she was staring. "I never understood how you could get tired of other people."
Coraline was still staring before the questions came tumbling out of her mouth. "When are you from? Or where? Most people don't have swords and that's a really big sword."
Reply
"I'm from Caerleon. At least, originally. Lately, Camelot, I suppose. That's who'll have me."
Reply
It was the first time in weeks Coraline had been quite so animated about anything.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment