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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jan 16, 2010 21:42:45 GMT -5
Phoenix probably would have screamed right back at her if she had screamed at him, he wasn't afraid to admit it. He had gone away somewhere that kept him and his sanity safe from the annoying, terrible reality of what had happened, and he would happily flee there again if need be, no matter what she wanted. He didn't find any shame in that.
But she was right, none of that mattered right now. He smirked at her. "A nap. Yeah. By 'nap' I hope you mean 'sleep for a hundred years'." he mumbled, sighing sleepily and releasing her to put his hand in hers and turn to Layla, a questioning look in his eyes. The girl smiled at him expectantly, and nodded to him.
"Don't be stupid Red, of course your room is the same as it always was. It's still yours, ain't it? The trinkets you had left are still hidden though, sorry, so it's lookin' kinda bare." she apologised, and Phoenix waved her off, leading them towards the stairs. There would always be more trinkets. As much of a pack rat as he was, these last few months; indeed, even the last few weeks had taught him that there were slightly more important things in life than the treasures he could steal from all the most important places. Hell, people were the real treasures, sometimes. This wouldn't stop him from his 'treasure-hunting', naturally, but it was nice, sometimes, to put things into perspective. He trailed off up the stairs and hid a yawn behind his hand, suddenly really looking forward to a bed. Not a hammock. A real BED.
The thief's eyes lit up, all of a sudden, as they walked into his room. Layla was right, the trinkets were still gone and it looked bare and empty and not lived in, but... it was like coming home. It even smelled the same, the thief clicking the door shut behind him and letting go of Rory's hand and surveying the place. He sighed contently, and closed his eyes for a second. "Never thought I'd actually be comin' back here." he admitted with a light shrug. He chuckled to himself, and glanced over his shoulder at her.
"Listen to me, bein' such a sap." he reached up to tug the black band out of his hair, releasing the plait and causing his hair to tumble around his shoulders. Then he unlaced his boots, shrugged out of his waist-coat, tugged his shirt over his head and promptly clambered beneath the covers of the bed, shuffling up to give her room and offering her a tired, but at least genuine, smile.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jan 17, 2010 12:29:59 GMT -5
"A hundred years? Seems like a little much, but, if that's what you want then, yes, we can sleep for that long." The smile that accompanied this was easier and more genuine than it had been earlier, her tone lighter. She seemed happier already, as though some of the weight that had been resting on her shoulders had already lifted. It was strange, really, just how much her happiness depended on Phoenix. When he was down, she was down, and she was happy when he was.
She had no complaints as his hand slipped into hers, Rory pausing for a moment to pick up her bag and put it over her shoulder before turning to follow him up the stairs. This did feel like coming home, the feeling getting stronger and stronger as they got to the top of the stairs and turned down the corridor towards his room. It was like coming to the end of a long journey and, even with all the danger that was waiting for them in Cressa, it felt safe. This was silly, she had hardly spent any time here, but...she couldn't explain it. This was probably as close to a home as she was ever going to get.
"It's alright. It is nice to be here." She murmured to him, dropping her bag down to leave it by the door. She only realised just how tired she was now that she was back in his room. too tired to mess about changing into her nightdress anyway. She could sleep in her clothes, just this once. It wouldn't hurt. She hung the cloak on the back of the door after taking it off, removing her boots and standing them next to her bag before moving to clamber into bed with Phoenix and curl up. They hadn't slept in the same bed since...well...Handel, they hadn't been so close since then. If he hadn't shown signs that he was him again, she probably wouldn't have got into bed with him. "Night, Phoenix." She murmured, closing her eye.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Jan 20, 2010 22:10:53 GMT -5
"It is nice, isn't it?" he smiled to her sleepily, sighing contently as she clambered into the bed with him. He had been hoping that she would, and stupid as it had sounded. The time in Handel had made him used to waking up with her next to him, and as they were travelling back to Cressa, he'd more than noticed the hole she left when she hadn't been there. "Night, Rory." he mumbled, looking around the suddenly so very familiar room, feeling a pang of loss mixed in with tranquility, like everything was where it was meant to be, except for one, misplaced thing, before he let his eyes close, and then he was dead to the world.
The thief had been tired for so long, it was unsurprising that he slept straight through the afternoon, and all night as well. For the first time since he'd heard the news of Miles's death, he wasn't plagued by nightmares every time he closed his eyes. Seeing his grave in person, and giving his condolences had put some kind of concrete reality in his mind. What had happened today had been good for him, even if it had been the most difficult thing he had ever done. Phoenix was still a long way off being alright, but he would survive, he thought. As morning got into full swing, he finally seemed ready to wake up. While he had been asleep, the thief had, quite unintentionally, slipped his arms around Rory, looking incredibly comfortable where he was curled up.
His eyes slowly opened as he heard one of the rare patrons of the inn go wandering down the corridor, and he sighed softly. He wasn't even aware that he was embracing Rory, he didn't even know where he was at first. Then he took in the bedroom, and the lack of trinkets, and memories of the day before flooded his hazy mind. He pressed his eyes closed again, feeling the ache that came with the knowledge that Miles wasn't there anymore, but it wasn't unbearable, as it had been for so long. But his mouth was still dry. And he still needed a glass of rum. That would be another long process of recovery, he could see it coming.
All of a sudden, Phoenix realised that his head was resting gently on Rory's shoulder, and he shifted ever so slightly. "Mm... mornin'." he muttered in a quiet voice.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jan 24, 2010 18:32:02 GMT -5
Rory was surprisingly comfortable curled up with Phoenix, even after everything that had happened. It was too easy to forgive him now that he was starting to come around and act like himself again. How could she stay annoyed with him when everything that he had done had been an attempt to deal with his grief? It was impossible, not that she minded, it took too much energy being mad at him. She just wanted everything to go back to how it had been before, she just wanted Phoenix to go back to how he had been before, if that was even possible. They said that grief changed people, she just had to hope that the change in Phoenix wouldn't be permanent.
The Princess surprised herself with just how long she slept. Like Phoenix, she slept right through the afternoon, and night, as well as a good part of the morning too. She had been exhausted, both mentally and physically, and being back at the inn meant that she could really rest. Phoenix had finally shown her that he wasn't lost forever, and she felt safe at the inn. It wasn't until Phoenix started to stir that she herself began to come around. She didn't seem to mind that he was embracing her, nor did she mind his head resting on her shoulder. In fact, her head was resting on top of his, Rory curled up with the theif. She was comfortable, far too comfortable to move. She was actually planning on pretending to go back to sleep until he spoke.
"Morning." She murmured back to him, her own tone sleepy, Rory shifting just a little to glance down at Phoenix, sighing before speaking again. "I guess we should probably get up. What time is it?"
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Feb 11, 2010 11:35:43 GMT -5
He smiled a little as he realised that she was awake again, shifting ever so slightly to turn and look out of the window, parting the curtains and making an annoyed noise as a spear of light hit him in the face. "It's prob'ly about mid morning." he mumbled to her, rubbing his eyes and somewhat reluctantly shifting from where his head was resting on her shoulder, letting the curtain drop as he rested back against the pillows again. "Yeah, we should get up soon... later. We should get up later." he shook his head as he changed his mind, closing his eyes for a few moments more and sighing contently. It felt like the longest time since he had actually woken up and felt as though he'd gotten some sleep. Usually he just woke up because the sun was up.
Phoenix didn't seem as though he was planning on moving anywhere any time soon, though he looked up a little as there was a soft tap at the door to his bedroom, and Layla looked in at them. She smirked a little. She'd missed seeing him in the room, and she wasn't surprised in the slightest that he was with Rory. "Mornin', lazy bum." she ruffled up her short hair, moving into the room and setting a small flask at the end of the bed, along with a parcel. "Breakfast for you guys. I figured you wouldn't be wanting to get up yet. Oh, here." she also held out a small glass of whiskey to Phoenix, who shuffled to sit up, taking it and downing it in one. That was better. For now, anyway.
"Awh, Layla. Decided to take care of me at last?" he grinned up at her, glancing down at Rory and running his fingers through his hair. The girl snorted, moving back towards the door.
"Just this once, Red. Don't get used to it." she told him.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Feb 13, 2010 12:02:34 GMT -5
Rory was reluctant to move, she could have happily laid there with him all morning. It had been a long while since they had woken up together, she had actually missed it. Travelling home she hadn't even shared a room with Phoenix, or had a room next to him. It had been better to get a room at the otherside of the inn. It did feel almost..strange. She shouldn't let herself get carried away. The last week had knocked her confidence in Phoenix a little. No, that wasn't fair, not quite knocked her confidence in him, but put into question just how he felt about her. Rory was pretty sure that she had made it clear how she felt, and Phoenix had spent the last week making it pretty clear that he didn't want her. It stung, of course it did, but there was nothing she could do about it. She still wanted to be his friend, she'd be around to look after him as long as he wanted her around. She shielded her eyes as he moved the curtain, shifting to curl up as he moved away from her. "Soon, but not right now." She agreed with him, closing her eyes again. She looked brighter now that she had had a good nights sleep, and now that Phoenix was starting to come around. The dark around her eyes was already fading, though she did still seem withdrawn, the light still hadn't returned to her eyes. The Princess glanced around as Layla opened the door, a faint blush flooding her cheeks as she shuffled to sit up; it wasn't exactly decent to be caught in bed with the thief, she didn't want her to think the wrong thing. Then again, she was still fully dressed, which was obvious when she sat up, her dress slightly creased. "Thanks, Layla." She smiled to her as she passed them the tray, watching Phoneix as he downed his drink, a flicker of concern moving over her features. Layla would know how to make him better, right?
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Feb 22, 2010 7:04:53 GMT -5
"Don't mention it." Layla assured her with a light smile. "You guys come downstairs when you're good 'n' ready, 'kay? Business is slow lately, as you've noticed. Not like you'll be interruptin' anythin'." she shrugged to them, watching the concern in Rory's eyes with a faint, reassuring smile. After everything he'd been putting away each day for the last God knows how long, it would probably kill Phoenix to cut him off the drink completely. Little by little, she'd whittle it down. He'd be fine, in the end, she was sure of it. Phoenix was too worried about becoming his father to keep drinking that heavily. She gave them one last smile before disappearing, clicking the door shut behind her.
Phoenix had set his empty glass on the windowsill by the time Layla moved away, the thief sat up properly and stretching as he looked to the end of the bed. He knew what was in the flask, and a bright smile lit up his face. Chicory! At last! He leant forward to take the flask and the little parcel, settling back in the bed and parting the curtains fully now, to let the sunlight inside. "Breakfast in bed. Can't complain, eh Rory?" he smiled to her lightly, unscrewing the top of the flask and pulling the string on the parcel to open it. The strong scent of chicory soon filled the air, Phoenix filling the little cup. Once more, he offered it to her. "You sure you don't wanna try some?" he smirked.
The parcel showed them an array of bread and cold meat, and there was even a smaller parcel with a little fruit in it, as far as the thief could tell. He wasn't going to ask where Layla had gotten this from. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know, actually. "Well, waste not want not. Help yourself." he smiled to her brightly.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Feb 22, 2010 18:22:13 GMT -5
Rory busied herself with smoothing the creases out of her dress, doing her best to try and not look guilty. She caught Layla's smile, giving her a small one back in response, unable to hide her worry. Layla may have seen something like this before, but Rory hadn't and she was scared for Phoenix. She trusted the inn keeper with this one, but she couldn't help but worry. The thief may be showing huge signs of improvement, but, after the week that she'd had, she just kept expecting him to go sliding back down into the depression again. She didn't want to get her hopes up too high incase the Phoenix that she knew didn't come back. Since when was she so pessimistic? She didn't know, she didn't like it, but she could see nothing but darkness in the future right now.
She brushed off her thoughts as Layla left, turning to watch Phoenix with the chicory, wrinkling her nose up at the smell. "Just smelling it is enough to wake me up, but thank you." She smiled to him faintly. If she drank that stuff she probably wouldn't sleep for a week. She would stick with real food, even though she hadn't had much of an appetite at the moment. She ate because she needed to, and right now, she needed to. Her stomach felt empty, but that was her own fault for sleeping so long.
"Thanks." She murmured to him as he opened up the first parcel, taking a little to eat, making sure to leave enough for him. "How're you feeling today, Phoenix?" She asked him quietly, her gaze flickering up to his face, a smile ghosting over her features. "You look better."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Feb 25, 2010 9:44:48 GMT -5
Phoenix would have been an idiot not to notice her concern, and when she asked him how he was feeling, he offered her a faint, but at least genuine, smile. Without a word, he moved to put his hand over hers, glancing out of the window for a few moments. "I feel lighter." he told her truthfully. "...Yeah. I feel lighter, a lot better. I think yesterday, seein' it for myself..." he slipped his hand into hers now without noticing, frowning ever so slightly. "...I think it helped. It didn't make it hurt any less, but I got to say goodbye..." he drifted off for a moment or so as he thought, eventually realising his silence and glancing across at her again, sipping his chicory. "Before, it was just... it was almost like it wasn't real." It seemed like, for the first time since it had happened, Phoenix felt like talking about it.
"I was just in a dream, y'know?" he shrugged, "There was always that weird, fucked up hope that maybe I'd get here and he'd still be alive, there'd be some kinda mistake..." he shook his head sadly. "But deep down I knew it was true. I did some stupid things on the way here, and I'm sorry. I just did what I had t'do to get by." he ran his fingers through his hair. He suddenly really didn't want to let go of her hand. It felt nice. "But now I've seen it... I think I'll be okay. Eventually. I hope so. The guilt won't go away. But there's nothin' I can really do about that." he mumbled.
Phoenix wasn't particularly hungry, but he knew that he'd be better off eating than not, especially with the lack of attention he'd been paying to his well-being lately. He still had no intention of letting go of her, however, finishing his chicory and setting that down on the windowsill next to the empty whiskey glass. He didn't even notice he was holding her hand as he picked at what was in the parcel, the sunlight spilling through the window and playing off his hair, lighting up the entire room. "I wonder how long it will take for the Knights to realise I'm back." he commented after a while. He sounded surprisingly nonchalant.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Feb 25, 2010 15:09:38 GMT -5
The Princess couldn't hide the relief in her eyes when he started to speak, when he told her that he was feeling lighter. She had been waiting to hear those words since they got back here, been waiting for him to open up and talk to her rather than shutting her out. She smiled as he put his hand into hers, linking her fingers with his, feeling far more comfortable in his presence than she had for days. He was still recovering, she knew that, she knew not to rush him, that he needed to take his time to start feeling better. Accepting what had happened was a huge improvement, from here things could only get better, right?
"I know what you mean. Being so far away, it would be hard for things to feel real until you were home, until you could see it for yourself." She murmured in agreement, giving his hand a small squeeze. "It'll hurt less with time, you just have to take everything one day at a time." She glanced away from him as he apologised for how he had acted on the journey back to Cressa, nodding a little in acceptance, deciding to just brush that all into the past. It had happened now, it was gone, it was better to just move on from it all. "I know you were hurting, I just wish that you had let me help. But, it's alright, it doesn't matter anymore. Everything is forgiven, let's just move on, okay?" She asked, glancing up at him to smile weakly. She couldn't deny that how Phoenix had acted had hurt, especially after how things seemed to have been heading in Handel. She had obviously read the situation all wrong, she wouldn't be doing that again.
She glanced up at him at his mention of the White Knights, rubbing at the back of her head with her free hand. "They already know that you are back." She murmured, her voice only quite, her tone carefully casual and off hand, as though she had only remarked on the weather or something mundane. She hadn't mentioned her little run in with the Knights yesterday, she figured that it would probably be best if Phoenix didn't know the details of what had happened. "There's nothing to worry about though, really, I don't think that they will be bothering us, at least for a little while."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 9, 2010 12:52:47 GMT -5
"I wanted to let you help, I just... I couldn't, Rory. I was in a really bad place, I couldn't let you help." he shook his head to her apologetically. Phoenix had been drinking and fucking away his existence until they had gotten back to Cressa, he wasn't ashamed to admit it. It was the only way he could cope, and he hadn't planned, not for even a second, to get Rory involved with that. She should be able to see that it didn't mean anything, surely. He was hurting, he had been broken, he was just trying to get by. "But no, you're right. Let's move on from there." he agreed, nodding to her and sighing deeply before conjuring up a light smile, as if to say that he was going to make a new start, and try to put this behind him. Not all of it, of course, he would cherish Miles's memories forever.
Luckily, Phoenix had finished eating and drinking by the time she told him about the Knights, so he didn't really have anything to choke on. His grip on her hand tightened however, and he went right back to looking horrified and unstable. His eyes grew sharp and calculating; he was already deciding how best to escape undetected, how to cover his tracks to protect Layla so that she didn't have any more trouble from the Knights, how to keep Rory hidden while she was with him and where they could possibly go next. The part about her telling him there was nothing to worry about seemed to go completely over his head, and he was shaking a little as he let his hand slip from hers so he could move from the bed.
"Maybe... maybe if we leave again today, we'll be able to get through the guards. They didn't ask us any questions last time, they'll hopefully do the same t'day... we could go to Ecritetre, the borders around there aren't nearly as bad as in Marmosia, there's no mountains to get through and s'not a militaristic place. Yeah, that sounds good." he nodded, already searching around for his bag. "C'mon Rory. They're not comin' after us again." he muttered.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 9, 2010 16:26:08 GMT -5
Phoenix may have only been doing what he had to in order to cope, but that didn't make it any easier for Rory. It hadn't made the sting of rejection any easier to deal with, hadn't made helplessly watching him tumble down into ruin any easier. It didn't make forgiving him any easier either. His best friend had died, she understood that, she would be a fool to think that he would just have been able to carry on like normal after that, but to push away help? To do everything he could to distance them, to make her watch as he wrecked himself? Phoenix had been grieving, but he had made her suffer at the same time as he did. He refused all help, intent on the downward spiral that he had set himself upon. She would have helped him, if he had let her, she would have been able to cope with the drinking and the womanizing if only he had let her help him, but instead he had made her feel unwanted, as though she were a burden that he was fed up of carrying. It was selfish of her, she knew that, but she couldn't help that it hurt, that it still hurt, that she was just expecting him to leave her now that he was back and carry on with his life. But, she had chosen to forgive him, she needed to push thoughts like that out of her mind or she would drive herself mad with them.
His reaction to her news was worse than she had expected. He'd not listened, he'd not heard everything that she had said. He had just heard that the Knights knew that they were back and started panicking. "Phoenix, wait, slow down." She murmured as she rose to her feet, moving so that she was stood in front of him, her hands resting on his shoulders to stop him in his path, to make sure that she had his attention. "They won't come back here, not for a while at least." She assured him, sounding strangely confident about that, not even the slightest glimmer of doubt in her eyes. "They knew that we are back, but I really don't think that they will be coming back here. We still probably shouldn't stay too long, but we don't have to leave right now. You can make sure that everything is sorted out and that you have seen everyone before we leave again."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 9, 2010 18:45:15 GMT -5
He looked panicky and on edge as she put her hands on his shoulders. At least the grief was gone from his eyes, his thoughts were completely on how he was going to get them out of this mess. Although he was forced to look at her, to listen to her, since she wouldn't let him do anything else. He blinked a few times, breathing deeply as he fought his emotions back into check, stopped himself from rushing around and making silly mistakes in his panic. Phoenix's eyes narrowed as she sounded so confident that the Knights wouldn't be back, at least not for a while. He shook his head dubiously. He'd dealt with the Knights. They didn't just... stop. Never. If they knew he was there, then he was as good as dead if they didn't leave. Now.
"But how do you know, Rory? You can't know that, you can't. If they know we're back... we have to leave and we have to do it soon." he told her in a strained voice, shaking his head. She sounded so sure of herself, and he desperately wanted to believe her, but it was impossible. "I wanna see everyone before I leave. I wanna look at everythin' and get things together, but we don't have time, Rory. I don't wanna see the Knights get to you, like they got to Layla." he reached out to rest his hand on her cheek for a moment, absently playing with a lock of her hair before he let his hand drop, and his gaze dropped to the ground. "I don't know what to do."
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 9, 2010 18:55:53 GMT -5
The Princess gave him a reassuring smile as he looked at her. Okay, mentioning that hadn't been the best of ideas, she hadn't meant to panic so much, he was meant to believe her and be happy that he had enough time to do everything that he wanted to. She was going to have to explain to him, wasn't she? Tell him what she'd done so that he would calm down, but then he would know how much of a bad person she was! Oh, she should never have brought this up in the first place, she should have left it with the Knights looming over them as a constant threat rather than have him panicking like this.
"They're not going to get me." She assured him lightly, smiling as his hand touched to her cheek, which was no doubt left brushed with pink as his hand moved away to play with a strand of her hair. He was worried about them doing what they had done to Layla, about them cutting her hair off? She really shouldn't have brought this up, he didn't need the worry right now on top of everything else.
"I know because I sort of...bumped into them yesterday." She admitted, her hands falling away from his shoulders as she looked at him, a guilty look creeping into her eyes as she rubbed the back of her head. "In the alley, they wouldn't let me past...so I suppose that I sort of blinded them." Her voice was only quiet, Rory sounding ashamed to tell him this, looking worried as she glanced up at him, almost as though she thought that he would be mad at her. "They won't be able to see, at least not for a week or so, some maybe longer depending on if they looked away or not...I didn't know what else to do, I wanted to make them leave us alone so...I'm a terrible person..."
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Mar 9, 2010 19:16:28 GMT -5
He was about to ask her just how she knew that the Knights weren't going to come and get her when she started talking, Phoenix abruptly falling silent. His mouth was still half open in a question that would never be asked, and he looked absolutely dumbstruck. She... she had run into the Knights? Rory had... but that meant they'd have almost...
His fists clenched automatically, but luckily he managed to listen to everything she was saying to him. She'd blinded them. They'd be useless, for at least a week. But... no, that gave them time. He couldn't resist a light smile as she said she was a terrible person, Phoenix thinking nothing of quite suddenly pulling her into a hug. slinging his arms loosely around her and leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "No, you're not..." he assured her. "Don't you dare feel guilty, Rory, not even for a second, okay?" he murmured, his voice quiet and low. "If you knew... if you just knew some of the stuff that those people had done, you'd... no. Nevermind. It's better you don't know." he shook his head, absently stroking her hair without thinking now.
"But thank you." he added, resting his head on top of hers. "I am so glad you're okay. They could've... it doesn't bear thinkin' 'bout." he mumbled. "But this means we don't have to leave yet?" he let her go now to look down at her, tilting his head. The tension just seemed to drain out of him after that, the thief closing his eyes for a moment or two. "Thank God." he shook his head. "You're sure they're not going to come back?" he asked.
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