Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Jul 27, 2020 17:01:34 GMT -5
Aoife wasn’t thinking clearly, she wasn’t thinking at all really. She was driving forward on action and reaction. It was liberating. She didn’t stop to think what Cian might be thinking, whether he was enjoying the match or measuring her skills. There would be time to reflect on that later. Right in that moment, Aoife was far too busy trying to either regain or hold onto the upper hand. Her breath was harder to catch now, and she could feel her lungs and muscles begin to burn with each minute that passed. She didn’t know how long this had gone on, how long they had been sparring. But despite the fire that was slowly beginning to spread through her limbs, making the staff heavy in her hands, Aoife wanted to keep going. She was having fun for the first time in months, and on top of that: she wanted to win.
There was a difference between fighting on the training grounds and fighting in battle. During training, they went through the motions, followed the routines, it was more like a dance than a real fight. I n battle however, the will to live instilled something else: instinct and creativity. This was some hybrid of the two, there was no real danger but there was still some risk. And either of them could be walking (or limping) away from this with cracked ribs or new scars should either of their guards drop a little too much.
Her risk paid off, and Aoife was almost surprised his stubbornness had won out. That Cian had kept his grip and ended up in the mud with her. She could have laughed, both from the joy of gaining the upper hand and from the look of him splattered in mud and still holding onto her weapon. But the fall had winded her too, and Aoife blinked away the mud and rain that had splattered into her eyes during the melee. Not wanting to risk losing her grip on the staff to wipe them away properly. But then Cian’s attention shifted and or the first time during their bout, Aoife pulled her eyes from him. She followed Cian’s gaze to the sword lying a few feet away.
In that moment the witch could almost hear his thoughts over the pelting rain.
Eyes met again, briefly. She almost thought that he wasn’t going to chance it. But then Cian let go. Fighting with the mud rather than Aoife as he tried to get up.
She was so close, she almost had him. Planting one end of the staff in the mud, Aoife used it to pull herself semi upright. The height put her at an advantage, but it had lost her a weapon. She lacked the precious seconds it would take to free it from the mud. With no other options, the mystic threw herself at Cian, dropping her shoulder to protect her head from the impact. Though whether that was against the soldier or the ground would depend on how quickly he moved or if he saw her coming.
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Lunari
28
Complicated
Warden Centurion/Guard Elite
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Cian DeGraff on Jul 27, 2020 17:21:12 GMT -5
Everything was instinct now. Although there was no real danger, it was still that adrenaline rush that was pushing him to react. His breathing was labored, almost wheezing still from the previous impact to the ground, but his drumming heart kept him anxious to keep going. Each of them seemed to hold that upper hand for but a few seconds before the other was snagging it away, and he wasn't sure for how much longer he could keep up with her. Not that he was wanting or willing to stop and give in, but her determination was slowly beginning to wear him down.
It was frighteningly admirable. She kept surprising him and he was bound to make another foolish mistake because of it. Maybe he should just admit defeat now.
Still blinking the water from his eyes, Cian was scrambling across the mud, desperately trying to get to his sword. Another small slide, he was just a foot away, then mere inches away...before something slammed against him, bringing him back down immediately. He'd been too absorbed in the rush for that weapon, he hadn't bothered to pay attention to her. Now, she was like a feral cat, weaponless, and still not giving up.
He had been completely taken off guard and rolled a foot or two from the impact. Turning onto his stomach, Cian forced himself onto his hands and knees as his gaze lifted to find her. He was trying to catch his breath, gasping while he attempted to gauge her next movement. And he was grinning. Like an idiot. But he shouldn't be waiting, he should be advancing, he should be attacking. Not gawking or admiring her prowess. He could overpower her with sheer force if he played his cards right...
But maybe he was a little nervous that it wouldn't work. He couldn't stay there idle, either.
So, Cian finally moved as fast as his burning limbs would allow to close the short distance between them. He was prepared to barrel into her, seize a flailing limb, whatever came first. He was too preoccupied with the offense now to be on the defense, and this would either work or he'd have made another idiotic mistake.
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Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Jul 28, 2020 4:17:35 GMT -5
Everything burned. Her limbs as she forced them to keep moving, to keep fighting. Her lungs as she desperate pulled in breath. Even her back where she had thrown herself down into the mud. The cool rain did little to soothe the heat that each and every cell of her being radiated. Tomorrow, pale skin would be mottled with fresh bruises and limbs that burned now would ache for days following. Both issues would be easily solved with time and rest, perhaps a hot bath. But Aoife was not considering the later, her mind was solely in the now.
It took less that a heartbeat for the woman to recover from their collision, rocking back onto her knees. There was little point attempting to wipe away the mud and rain from her face. It wasted time. And her efforts would have been fruitless. So she blinked away the worst of it, gaze levelling on the man across from her.
Cian DeGraff was grinnning.
Blood that was already burning rose to boiling then. For a moment, Aoife forgot that this was a friendly spar. This was supposed to have been training. But something had risen in her and consumed all rational thought. It was what had made her so deadly on the battlefield, what had kept her alive, what had consumed her teenage years and driven her forward. Usually she loved that idiotic grin on him, the genuine nature of it and the warmth it gave her. Right now though, right now she wanted nothing more than to wipe it from his lips. He thought he had the upper hand, and Aoife couldn’t let him keep it for long.
The sword was just out of her reach, fingertips away. Not that the witch was able to reach for it as Cian launched himself towards her. On her knees, mud slick beneath her, Aoife didn’t have the time to get onto her feet or even out of his way. All she could do was brace herself and hope there was some way to use Cian’s momentum against him. Grappling, she was at a massive disadvantage. Cian had height, weight, and strength on his side. And if she didn’t think fast enough, wasn’t clever enough, in the next milliseconds then he would have her pinned and it would all be over.
She didn’t think.
He was too close, and she couldn't get enough force behind her limbs to knock the air from him or dislodge him. Again, instinct took over as she tried to slip away from him. The mud was slick, but she didn’t know if it was too little too late to escape.
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Lunari
28
Complicated
Warden Centurion/Guard Elite
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Cian DeGraff on Jul 30, 2020 9:38:20 GMT -5
If he had taken a moment to think, he may have wondered how a simple spar had turned into this frantic dash and melee. He'd been too preoccupied with the millions of other thoughts suddenly flooding his mind to care, but he knew it was determination. It was radiating off of her, challenging him, and he was answering it like a moth to a flame. He blindly followed and kept doing so and needing to. Aoife was strong and quick, despite not serving for a short while, and she was relentless.
Right now, Cian didn't know how to stop. And maybe he simply didn't want to.
He also didn't know what to expect in those few seconds before collision. A part of him wondered if this was it, if he'd manage to win by sheer force alone, from dumb simple luck, or if she'd figure out a way to get out of it. Cian was anticipating it but was also not preventing it. He just kept pushing until there was possibly no end in sight.
Then, Warden and Mystic collided.
Upon impact, something clicked. It wasn't the soldier part of his brain this time which may have been the mistake. His arm had wrapped around behind her, hand curling into her wet hair to cushion her head from the abrupt drop. Knuckles scraped against mud and gritty dirt while his opposite forearm slammed hard against the earth on the other side of her, keeping himself from crushing her.
And everything suddenly stopped. It may only last a few seconds, but it was the moment Cian truly realized the pouring rain; still soaking him through and threatening to chill him to the bone. Everything felt heavy, everything was loud despite no one else being around. Maybe it was his adrenaline-pumping heart pounding in his ears and the rasping breath in his lungs, or the now distant rolling of thunder above. Bright eyes turned down to look at her and there should have been triumph on his face. Instead, there was this expression of dumb amazement gracing his muddied features.
And the man stupidly let his guard down.
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Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Jul 30, 2020 17:07:06 GMT -5
The ground was cold and slick, the rain had long soaked her clothes to the skin but Aoife hadn’t (and still didn’t) notice. The woman was too focused on the fight at hand. But then Cian’s hand was in her hair, protecting her head and neck from the worst of the impact. A rm slamming hard beside her, taking the force of his weight so the mystic wasn’t pinned. Neither of them saw the irony. The realisation dawned on her slowly: He had held back.
What?
Her expression darkened, brows furrowing as grey eyes snapped to his face. Blinking away the rain dripping from Cian’s features onto hers, Aoife looked up at him with a mixture of confusion and frustration. So many thoughts and feelings raced through her mind in that moment, most of them too quickly to really consider. Despite her heart still hammering, her breath still coming in ragged gasps from their melee, and the adrenaline searing through her bloodstream: the moment seemed to freeze as she looked up at Cian DeGraff .
He had her pinned, he could have won this. But he had held back. Amazement in his eyes rather than the triumph that could have been.
And Aoife didn’t know how to feel. First, she was angry, mostly she was angry. Angry that he had held back, that he had stopped himself. She wasn’t a child she didn’t need protecting. Secondly, she felt underestimated, and considered using that break in his guard to throw him, to turn the tables of their fight once again. Soldiers that underestimated their enemy found themselves dead in the mud, and perhaps the DeGraff needed reminding of that. Thirdly, thirdly was an emotion she could not quite place, but it was the one that stilled her. The one that ate away the precious seconds she would have needed to slip out from under him.
Aoife wasn’t sure how long they had laid there, it felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than seconds. The sound of the rain softened and faded, drowned by heavy breaths as they both tried to recover from the tussle. She broke the spell first, ”What?” Aoife said at last, echoing her first thought and shattering the silence that had passed between them since Cian had first initiated the sparring match. But still, she did not move to get out from under him. ”You had that, you could have won.” She pointed out, as though it was the simplest and most obvious fact in the world.
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Lunari
28
Complicated
Warden Centurion/Guard Elite
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Cian DeGraff on Jul 30, 2020 17:20:44 GMT -5
What, indeed.
Maybe he remembered last minute that he wasn't trying to kill her (not that the thought ever occurred before) and didn't find a need to bruise her anymore than he probably already had. More than she had certainly bruised him. It had just been a strange instinct that kicked in at the last second...and she was glaring at him for it?
If she had voiced her thoughts, he would have been embarrassed to admit that he hadn't held back once. Not until the last few seconds of this spar that came to a very abrupt end. He didn't react this way because he thought she was some fragile thing, not after she had managed to disarm him and come so close to bringing him down more than once. He softened the blow because, well...he didn't even know why. And it was almost alarming.
In truth, Cian wondered what she was like on the field of battle. He could only imagine that she was this ruthless and precise soldier that let nothing stand in her way. Even a grinning fool like himself that had relished the challenge more than he should have. Those eyes of hers were looking at him now and it made him realize the predicament they were in a bit more slowly than she clearly had.
Although his attention had been on her, his gaze hadn't been really clear until now; focusing on her more, his body tensed, and the rain was suddenly a blaring nuisance against him. She was warm underneath him, such a contrast to the pelting drops of water along his back, the remnants of a winter that was finally subsiding. He was trying to breathe. He was trying to come to his senses. She probably should have thrown him and jostled his mind loose.
'What?'
Having stopped for however long it had been, Cian was beginning to feel the aches in his muscles, the soreness he was certainly going to feel tomorrow. But Aoife Lee Frye had his undivided attention once again, and he was trying to discern whether her words were silently berating him for being an idiot or not. He wouldn't have argued either way.
"Well-" he began to try and explain before amusement replaced the confusion in his eyes and he actually dared to grin at her again. "I think…technically I have." Brow lifted in questionable challenge. She was the one on her back, after all.
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Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Jul 30, 2020 17:25:05 GMT -5
His body sheltered her from the worst of the rain, so Aoife was able to look up at him somewhat clearly. As the seconds trickled by, the mystic felt her blood begin to cool somewhat. She felt her muscles begin to relax as aches set in, for a moment the wet mud on which she lay felt comfortable as all the energy then had burned caught up and threatened to overwhelm her. The woman hadn’t realised how exhausted she was until they had stopped, until she had caught her breath. It could have been anything, she could have been getting older, she could have been out of practice, or it could have just been that intense. Or some combination thereof, Aoife didn’t know and didn’t bother to think about it. She simply lay there and rested, grey eyes blinking up at Cian DeGraff .
He was a capable soldier, that much was clear. And Aoife didn’t know if he had been going easy on her throughout the whole melee or if it had just been in those final breaths. It had been a long time since she had crossed swords with someone who had proved such a challenge. She would pay for it in aches and bruises, but Aoife believed it was worth every single one. The thrill their sparring and brought to her, the excitement that still thrummed in her blood in the aftermath… it was dizzying.
If she had known the training she had planned would be this intense, she would have come armed with more than just her staff. A dagger perhaps, strapped to her leg, had one been there she could have reached for it. He had the upper hand now, that much was true, but if she had a weapon… her hands were still free after all. It would have been the quickest way to wipe that grin off his face. Her nose scrunched a little, the fog of battle clearing and no longer engaged in the melee: she had time to think. And so, Aoife weighed up her options, whether to try and struggle free, try to throw him, or try to slip out from under him.
”Fine.” She said after another ageless pause, her features finally softening. As much as her pride willed her to rise to that challenge, as much as she wanted to throw him off, Aoife wasn’t sure she could. Her limbs were screaming for rest, for chance a chance to knit back together the muscles she had pushed (probably a little too far) today. ”Are you going to let me up then?”
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Lunari
28
Complicated
Warden Centurion/Guard Elite
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Cian DeGraff on Aug 1, 2020 1:09:02 GMT -5
With every moment he didn't move, the more he could feel the fire in his limbs. The excitement of the fight was slowly beginning to die down, and he half regretted it. He'd claim it was because he didn't want to feel the ache that was going to make him sluggish, but somewhere- buried deep at the back of his mind- he knew it was something else. Or partially so. No, it was the confusion, it was the thrill of it all, and that came to a screeching halt.
Cian wanted to ask her why she stayed away from the military, why she hadn't returned yet. Did she even want to? If the way she moved was any indication, she belonged here. She belonged out in combat. Maybe she wanted to come back and something was keeping her from doing so. But she had to have felt the rush just like he did, the familiar and comfortable weight of a weapon in hand, the way the heavy desire of a fight nearly consumed during the heat of it all. It was addicting. Everything about this had been. It was dizzying. It was maddening and it still kept his heart drumming against his chest.
It was possibly just seconds that passed by, but it felt as though time had slowed for him. He was suspended in that moment even as she uttered that single word. Cian had heard her, although he didn't say anything in return to acknowledge it. This was because the hardness from her features had dissipated, and let's face it, it was difficult not to admire a lovely woman when she was soaked from the rain. Even if she was covered in mud. Sue him.
'Are you going to let me up then?'
Blues finally blinked, and fortunately, his face was already flushed from the heat of the fight to conceal the awkwardness on his own features. "Yes. Right." Lazily, he just rolled off to the side onto his back, splattering mud all over again while he struggled to keep his eyes open against the downpour. This was a mistake, because now he would be too tired (even lazy) to get up.
"It's a shame..." he began to say, groaning in discomfort as he finally forced himself to at least sit up. "That you left the military." That was a compliment, if she couldn't gather. Eyes looked sidelong at her, a hint of a grin beginning to find its way back to his lips.
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Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Aug 1, 2020 7:11:10 GMT -5
Slowly, and with great difficulty, Aoife sat upright. Abdominal muscles protesting as she forced them to work one more time. Her head still spinning. Whether that was the adrenaline or something else, she didn’t know. But she blinked a few times to clear her vision before looking back over at Cian DeGraff still laying there in the mud. For the first time since she had arrived at the training grounds, Aoife felt the chill begin to seep through her skin. Had it always been raining this much? It didn’t matter, she was too exhausted to even crawl under shelter. No, sitting here would do for now. She was already wet and she was already cold. It couldn’t get worse.
It’s a shame…
A warm smile crept to her lips at that. This had, after all, been the one thing she had ever been good at. The one thing that came as naturally to her as breathing. She had enjoyed it so much that the witch wasn’t even annoyed she had lost (not that it Cian could count it as a win in her eyes but she wouldn’t argue the point unless he brought it up). "Perhaps..." She said softly, there wasn't much to say about that. The mystic couldn't dismiss it, couldn't say she was happier outside of the military. After all, it had been her life, almost all of it. But she could not quite bring herself to agree either. It had been so much more than a shame her leaving. The whole incident had been a disaster of sorts, one that she hadn't had the strength to weather. So, Aoife just shrugged despite aching of her shoulders. "Though, with soldiers such as yourself I would say its doing just fine without me." It was as close to a compliment as she would ever probably give. Cian had more than impressed her on the training ground, but the woman would rather drown herself in the mud than tell him so openly.
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Lunari
28
Complicated
Warden Centurion/Guard Elite
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Cian DeGraff on Aug 1, 2020 18:15:11 GMT -5
The smile was slowly beginning to grow despite the rain and the cold. Honestly, he was already forgetting about it and the fact that he looked like a muddy mess. He was forgetting a lot of things, he realized, when she began to smile. It was such a beautifully stark contrast to her expression just moments ago, and the very strange thing was...he almost didn't know which he preferred.
Was that weird? Yes, that was probably weird.
Chuckling quietly at himself, he ran a hand through matted curls that would certainly be caked in mud once dry. Maybe he should just sit there for awhile longer and let the rain handle it, but they should probably not stay out for very long, either. Although spring had technically sprung, the chill was not completely gone from the air. Or maybe he was simply recognizing the absence of her warmth.
His gaze shifted ahead of him as she answered, listening as the droplets of rain continued to fill the puddles, splashing softly against mud and the thatched roofs in its soft, hypnotic symphony. Chin tilted upwards as he heard the rolling of thunder above but there was no lightning strike. Yet, at least. It was when she was paying him some form of compliment did that blue gaze lazily looked back to her with an expression on his face that was questioning how much she was joking.
"Aye, I'm sure," he said in light sarcasm. "I let my guard down more than I should." It wasn't something he was proud of admitting, but sometimes he got too hyper focused on something, even when he knew he shouldn't. Cian blamed it on Cara's absence, that drive to do right by her memory...but he wondered if that would ever fill the hole in his heart that was left behind. And he knew it wasn't really an excuse.
To keep his mind from drifting to those dark thoughts that came along with remembering his sister, he forced a light smirk onto his face as he shrugged a shoulder. "Then again, I did get the drop on you..." Oh yes, he did win this match. Like he said, he had dropped his guard and she wasted those few precious seconds without doing anything about it.
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Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Aug 2, 2020 13:30:43 GMT -5
This seemed to be developing into a habit, the two of them getting into ridiculous situations. Though whether Aoife dragged him into them or Cian dragged her was up for debate. Either way, they must have looked a sight: sitting soaked and exhausted in the rain, caked in mud, and smiling at each other as though they hadn’t even noticed any of it. If Aoife paused to think about it, she would have probably laughed at the absurdity of it all. But she didn’t, like Cian the woman didn’t seem to notice or care about the downpour.
That was until the thunder coaxed her back to her senses, breaking whatever spell had passed so suddenly between the two of them. Grey eyes found the clouds above, noticing the weather did not seem to show any sign of passing soon- so their options were to stay were they were and continue to get soaked, possibly catching a chill in the process. Or to seek shelter. But still, Aoife was not quite ready to part with the soldier just yet- so there she sat, in the cold and the mud, blinking away the rain and relying on the burning in her limbs to keep her warm for now.
Head canted to the side, Aoife raised a brow in silent questioning- daring the soldier to voice the questions written into his expression. ”You did…” The mystic agreed, eyes darting back to Cian as the easy smile slid somewhat. She could joke about how easily she could have killed him in that moment, how it was a bad habit in a soldier, but for some reason Aoife held her tongue back from its teasing. At least for a moment, before curiosity overwhelmed her: ”…why?”
I did get the drop on you
She was easily goaded. All it took was one sentence from Cian. One sentence and the concern faded from her features in the blink of an eye. ”Congratulations soldier.” Aoife said with all the snark she could muster (though she couldn’t quite keep the grin from creeping onto her lips). ”You managed- barely, I should add- to get the drop on a civilian, you must be so proud.”
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Lunari
28
Complicated
Warden Centurion/Guard Elite
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Cian DeGraff on Aug 3, 2020 20:03:22 GMT -5
Sitting there wasn't very ideal, he'd admit. It was probably stupid in all honesty, but now that he had stopped moving, all the adrenaline was gone and he knew it was going to be agonizing to have to get up. Still, although it had finally become spring, the rain was still cold and it was soaking through his clothes to the bone. His attention drifted towards the barracks, at the closest overhang...but, again, that required getting up. Cian almost just fell back into the mud he was all of a sudden that lazy.
'You did...' He did. And this last time had been awkwardly more obvious than any other times. The only difference today was that it wasn't a life or death situation, even if there was a small part of him that thought Aoife would violently wipe that smirk from his face at one point. Maybe she still would. He hung his head low for a moment, hearing that one worded question that followed, and Cian struggled with how to answer. If he even should. It wasn't as though it was a secret, but it would sound like an excuse...and he didn't want it to be an excuse. It shouldn't be an excuse.
So he had moved on to teasing instead, and she clung to it, taking the bait immediately. Aoife Lee Frye , in many ways, was not a predictable woman. Except for this. He couldn't wipe that smirk from his face because he knew how to get a little under her skin, and it was beginning to feel like an old pastime. The snark did not go missed (neither was the slowly creeping grin) and it caused a short burst of laughter to spill forth. "A civilian? Hardly." That, also, was a compliment, even if it was used to argue her point. Fingers curled into the mud to tiredly flick a little of it in her direction. "Seeing as how capable you are and how oblivious I am, perhaps we should switch places. The Kingsguard has never suited me." It was nothing but a cover as he figured the military wouldn't be as active when there wasn't a war. He needed a position that kept him moving in order to fulfill the duties of a Warden.
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Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Aug 4, 2020 11:21:16 GMT -5
They had been in the rain long enough, and it wouldn’t do either of them any good to catch a chill. Aoife stood, slowly and with more effort than she would care to admit. She really was out of practice, though Cian’s ability certainly was partly to blame, but it had not been so long ago when she was capable of marching for weeks with little rest- and now a quick sparring match had turned her limbs to lead and her blood to fire. Reaching to the sky, the woman stretched out her back and arms but knew it would do her no good- she would ache tomorrow no matter how much she stretched out her tired muscles. Her stretch done, Aoife glanced down and realised just how covered she had managed to end up. Hands planted on her hips, Aoife let her gaze lazily wander from the soldier in the mud to the staff that rested a few feet away. The latter lay ignored for the moment, a few more minutes in the rain wouldn’t cause any lasting harm- and besides, she was curious to know what was passing through Cian DeGraff ’s mind in that moment as his head hung low.
Her curiosity was to remain unsated for now, and grey eyes rolled in their sockets as a smirk took his lips once again. For some reason she didn’t hate how easily the solider could slip past her guard, she didn’t mind just how quickly he had learned to push her buttons, or even hate the way that smirk brought a fluttering to her chest- she would go through all that and more to keep a smile on his face and brightness behind those blue eyes. What Aoife hated was that she didn’t know why she felt that way.
”Well I’m no solider.” Not anymore. Aoife pointed out, canting her head as he suggested they switch places. ”And what makes you think you’re cut out to be a lady of leisure Mr DeGraff? It isn’t all grand parties and pretty gowns you know.” It was easily to mock the absurdity of it, to joke about just how different her life was now to what it had been a year ago. ”Besides, you’re not that poor a soldier.”
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Lunari
28
Complicated
Warden Centurion/Guard Elite
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Cian DeGraff on Aug 6, 2020 13:14:31 GMT -5
He wasn't really sure how else to say it or explain it without sounding like a bumbling fool...but if that was after being out of practice for weeks, he was almost afraid to know what she was like when she was back in the saddle of things. She might just skewer him. And he might just be tempted to see it...because he was a bumbling fool.
Eyes trailed her momentarily as she stood and stretched, reminding him that he should do the very same. And yet, he remained seated with a million things rushing back through his mind. His sword lay somewhere nearby, and he was aware that he should retrieve it before the rain buried it in mud, but he was strangely comfortable right there despite the chill that was slowly seeping in.
Head tilted back so that his gaze could find her again while she spoke, eyes blinking and squinting against the rain that pelted onto his face. Amusement flickered across his features before he was feigning annoyance. "Not all pretty gowns? Well then...I'm out." How could he so easily go from soldier-mode to joking in a span of, what, a minute? The grin remained, and although his entire body protested, he tiredly climbed up to his feet before looking back to her. Her compliment (at least, he thought it was) made that smirk widen just a little more before it was slowly disappearing.
Cian refrained from sighing, letting his eyes drop to the mud at his feet while he ran fingers back through his hair again. It did little to keep the droplets from annoyingly running down his face. He wanted to tell her. He didn't know why he wanted to, but he did. Maybe because she had asked before and he denied her that answer. Or maybe he thought it would help. "Sometimes, I let my guard down because...I get the intentions of the heart and mind mixed. At the king's party-" He paused, a hand absently rubbing at the shoulder the arrow had grazed, the wound long since healed. "I can't explain...how hard it was for me to not lose myself, to not forget why I was truly there." No, none of this was making any sense. She didn't know him or his loss, so she was probably going to stand there completely confused if he didn't try and elaborate.
Now his hand ran down his face and he finally sighed. "My sister was killed a few years ago during a Mystic attack. So, when they're involved in anything, I just-" Cian didn't finish the sentence, but it was clear that he tended to forget his place. Vengeance was all he ever wanted.
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Pyxis
27
Increasingly complicated
Ex-soldier
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Post by Aoife Lee Frye on Aug 6, 2020 17:17:22 GMT -5
The rain was almost refreshing against her tired muscles, still burning from the exertion. And thought the shower had quickly become a downpour, then a torrent: Aoife didn’t step into the dry just yet. Instead she stood there, letting the rain wash away some of the mud and filth, grey eyes reluctantly pulled themselves away from Cian DeGraff as she looked around for her staff. Eventually, the mystic spotted it. Like her, it was mostly covered in the thick slop that had covered the sparring ground. Again, she decided it could wait for now- at least the woman knew where to find it later. She returned her gaze to the solider sitting there, eyes following a droplet of water as it curved from the mass of curls and down the side of his face before disappearing beneath his collar. It was oddly hypnotising, watching the raindrops trace his features as he looked up at her- squinting against the rain.
It took the soldier’s voice to snap her mind back from its wandering, bringing the entire world rather than just the rain on his face into focus. Aoife cleared her throat, the colour in her cheeks rising as she realised just how distracted she had become by something so small. Maybe it wasn’t just Cian who had trouble keeping his guard up these days. ”Looks as though you’re stuck in the kingsguard then. Don’t say I didn’t offer.” She shrugged at that, not even attempting to hide her amusement.
Amusement shifted to concern within a heartbeat, and the mystic’s eyes did not lift from Cian as his fell to the ground. She knew that look. Over the last year she had worn that expression so many times. She had worn it whenever anyone had asked her how she was, or what had happened. She had worn it when the ache in her chest had grown so heavy that she wasn’t sure she could carry it anymore. And she had worn it when she wanted to say something but just could not grasp the words to do so. Now she saw it on Cian and lost the words herself. Aoife sighed before he did.
”I don’t understand,” And she didn’t, all the jokes about letting the rogue mystics through when he was supposed to be on guard duty aside, from Aoife’s perspective Cian had done exactly as he should have done: he had helped people. Aoife and Rosemary included, and she would never be able to thank the solider enough for the latter. ”Cian, you did all you could at the king’s party.”
My sister was killed a few years ago during a Mystic attack.
She had never been particularly good at keeping a straight face, and ninety percent of the time Aoife wore her thoughts on her features- plain as day. When it came to mystics, Aoife managed to keep her expression blank. Though it helped that, right now, she didn’t know what she was feeling. He had opened up to her, told her what was on his mind (and what Aoife guessed had been on his mind at the beach those weeks ago), but the woman couldn’t reciprocate. The woman could not tell him about Alasdair, about how she had lost him, and about how they had that in common- losing someone they loved to a mystic. She wanted vengeance, but more than that Aoife wanted answers.
It took all the strength she had to keep her brows from furrowing, to keep her eyes from darkening. ”I’m sorry for your loss.” Aoife said at last, voice cracking a little no matter how much she fought to keep it level.
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