Re: [D8, LA] Tending Wounds (Closed)

[Dyana Marsten]

Dyana's disposition when sharing her previous words was hard to see through, for she had just recently shed a mask and bolted it back on with ever more strength. However, seeing Daveth's obvious joy and wonder at his own achievements shed some light on her countenance. Through sorrow, weariness and steadfastness, gentle and genuine appreciation smiled at him.

"
That's wonderful, Daveth. I am very happy for you, that you finally have what you have been looking for. Or that part of it."
She says in a weak voice, and her similarly weak smile falters for a span, her emerald eyes searching him. Considering. It is not as hard to get a reading on her now: indecisiveness, consideration, doubt, pain. Deep through her, she is struggling. With something. Her face hardens, and a slight bulging of her eyes suggests a dark thought flashing through her mind. She closes her eyes, shakes her head, and takes a deep breath. She then looks up at him again, resting a hand on the mattress beside her.

"
Daveth."
Dyana says calmly, "
Will you come and sit beside me for a moment?"

[Daveth Coldbrook]

That sounds serious. I wonder if it's the circumstances, or something I said.

The circumstances.
Something you said.

Well, either way, I suppose it could be good or bad.

Bad.
Bad.

Fantastic.

Daveth nods. "
Of course."
and moves to sit beside her, a sympathetic face not quite concealing a degree of apprehension.

[Dyana Marsten]

Dyana's eyes are locked on Daveth as he walks to her bed and sits himself. If she thought anything of his apprehension, she did not make it visible at all, merely watching with the same weary eyes she had before his arrival.

When he is down, and looking at her, there is a moment of silence. She stays still, weighing perhaps the same doubt as before her request;
a remnant of it. Time stretches lightly, not because it has actually passed long, but for the awkwardness the silence was almost allowing to creep in. Before that happens, though, she moves to him, slowly;
runs her arms around his chest in a soft embrance, and rests her head on his shoulder, with eyes closed.

And just holds him.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth, after a moment for his brain to catch up with what had just happened, gently reaches his arms around Dyana and holds her in return. Not sexually, just reassuring her that there are still good things in the world. He almost opens his mouth to say something, but what could he say? 'It's alright'? 'Things will be better tomorrow'? She deserved better than antique bromides, and would see them for what they were, besides. For all his intelligence, for all his vocabulary, he couldn't come up with words to say what he wanted to. So, he just held her, and hoped it was enough.

[Dyana Marsten]

"
You are a fine man."
Dyana says after a moment more of their embrace, but she now draws back to look at him. The sheets hold loyally in place, covering most of the skin that her present attire does not.

"
I didn't think you were after we first met. Not that I thought ill of you, or much of you for that matter,"
her look is apologethic, "
but at a glance you didn't seem to me more than a boy, lost in this tourney, lost in a grown man's ambitions."
Her head is shaking, and her voice is soft, so soft, like silk gliding on velvet. Her eyes are still a bit red. "
But I was so wrong, you know that? Thinking I knew something, but I knew nothing. Thinking you were trying to fit clothes too big for you, stretching for things too high above your reach. You tried to get close to me and, Seven forgive me, I treated you well, as best I could, but I almost... pitied you then. The poor fool, you know, another one trying for me, me, and you didn't seem half the man the other ones have been. Trying for me... ha, what is this me?"
She chuckles derisively. "
I am not one for hubris, but even this was so foolish. Still, for some reason, I opened myself to you... and you came to me, later, more sure than ever. And I though, how? And I had nothing. I..."
She chuckles some more, then gives a resigned shrug.

Gods, Dyana, you're not even making sense.

"
Look at you now. Barely a week in here, and you have proven me wrong, and you are now heir."


And all you managed to do was... disappoint. To say the least.

"
And, what you know... my sister and Corrine, I love them. And they love me, and they care for me. They really do. And they have helped me immensely. But, I think..."
Her eyes searched his face, searched for a way to put it. "
I think you can understand me better. Better than they can. In the way you... look. You look at me, like you know. And not just because of what I have shared with you. So, just..."
She opens her mouth as if to continue speaking, but no words come out. And she just looks at him, vaguely shaking her head, and blinks.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

A million different responses come to Daveth's mind, all of them valid. A week ago, hells, a day ago, he'd have picked one. Maybe saying that she was probably right at the time, but he's grown into his clothes. Maybe saying that he has but accomplished the first of his seemingly impossible tasks. Maybe saying that you can't know someone in an instant, and he is prone to being underestimated.

None of them fit him. Not today, here, now.

One of his hands reaches up, and gently strokes Dyana's chin to still her motion, and leans in to kiss her. Unlike last time, this is not an unconscious instinct, but a definite choice. Unlike last time, he doesn't meet her eyes with uncertainty as to if she'll accept him, but with confidence and reassurance.

Unlike last time, he doesn't limit himself to a brief peck.

He doesn't lean his body into hers, doesn't push for more than a kiss. Doesn't try and tilt her head up to enter a more dominant position. He just takes all the words he couldn't say before, all the words he could have said just now, and expresses them the only way he can.

(OOC: I may need to edit this, depending on your reaction, but I was on a roll.)

[Dyana Marsten]

A hand rises between them but, unlike last time, it does not interpose. It reaches, for his chest, for his neck, then travels forward and caresses Daveth's nape as she leans into him.

Her other hand is supporting her half-sitting position in the bed. With nothing to support it, the sheets' loyalty slowly falters. Time slows down and speed ups simultaneously, and Dyana's heart begins to race. Her mind races, as well, but it stops, at the same time. There is so much to think about, to consider, to decide, to understand. And then, there is nothing to doubt. She'd always followed her heart, even when the way seemed difficult, or unlikely. Now, it just felt... right. Here was someone she could rely on, and trust, and any thought or word against that must be cast aside.

Because she wants to.

This time, no one is mistaken, or unaware of what they are getting into. This time, they know each other. This time, it is a definite choice.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Eventually, and not without regret, Daveth breaks off the kiss, and withdraws a few inches, slightly out of breath. "
I promised your cousin my intentions were honourable. Were we to continue, I feel we would make myself a liar on that count. And you do need to rest. What words need be said can wait until the morrow."

[Dyana Marsten]

Dyana's breath is a slightly ragged, and one hand rests on his chest. "
Yes, I'm... I am very tired. I don't think I could continue with anything. I'm almost falling asleep."


She does look him in the eye, intensely, before giving him one more small peck and lying down on her bed. "
Go."
She turns to the other side of the mattress, her back to him, and is soon sleeping.

[Daveth Coldbrook]

Daveth carefully gets up. "
Sleep well."
he says quietly to her back.

He walks carefully to the entrance, regaining his breath and carefully eliminating any evidence of their kiss. Before stepping out, he carefully touches his lips, then looks at his fingers, slightly disbelievingly. That ... really just happened.

Just before leaving, he casts one final look back at Dyana, small smile hovering on his face, then turns and leaves.

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