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 Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 8:03 pm
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It had started as a suggestion over breakfast, and by the time the the plates had been cleared and all dishes clean, it had evolved into a plan that would fill the whole of their afternoon. A trip to the market, hunting for odds and ends, though most importantly, books. The shelves in the study were woefully empty, even after the mare had unpacked what little she had managed to collect in their time since the fall of the clans. It was a rather pathetic collection compared to the tower library she'd had before their isles had fallen, and it was high time they remedied this.
She'd dressed simply, fitted corset over a pale dress with a shawl draped over thin shoulders. The skirts fell in layers, all soft ruffles and antique lace, with intricate embroidery running up the sides of the bodice. Hair had been pilled up in a loose knot at the back of her head, with curls trailing over her shoulders. Lastly, fur lined boots.
In the market she stayed glued to Soren's side. Arm on his arm, hip casually bumping his leg every so often. The priestess was all smiles as the walked down the street between rows of merchants selling various wares. "Is there anything else you need while we're here, my guardian?" A title, and a pet name.
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Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:20 pm
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Soren was wearing, well, clothing. It was clean, and his normal pelt showed that he obviously paid attention to making sure it was properly groomed. It mattered not though, as the priestess he was escorting deserved to be the star of any attention they might garner.
There was something different about walking with her now. Though they were among horsemen he could not help but let his eyes sweep and linger on the figures around them, constantly assessing for highly unlikely threats, his normal protective instincts turned up a notch now that their bond as priestess and guardian continued to solidify. Her words deserved his full attention though, and he tilted his head to best hear her words over the gentle bustle of the marketplace. "Nothing that I need, but I'm curious to see what books they have to offer."
To be honest he wasn't even sure what they would find. So much had been lost, and so little actually recovered. Still, the fact that there was now a stall fairly devoted to books was a good sign, and if he could find something of quality he was likely to purchase it or trade for it. "Anything in particular I should look for?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 5:21 pm
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If the priestess noticed the extra sweep of candy apple eyes searching through the crowd, she made no comment on it. Soren had always been protective of her, and now that their lives had joined officially that wasn't about to change. It was amusing, in an ironic sort of way, how hard she made it to do his job when they were in the field together. Headstrong, almost reckless, she was a force to be reckoned, and as likely to charge into battle as any ashen warrior. Her poor Guardian had his work cut out for him.
But not here. Away from the bloodshed and chaos of the battlefield she was every bit the demure beauty her packaging hinted at. Polite, almost soft spoken, she belayed a sense of elegance and grace.
She stroked a hand down his arm as he turned those lovely eyes down to her, smiling for him as she nodded. "Books have been rare for so long, it's wonderful to see out histories and stories filling pages once again. A book of blood lines through our clan would be an excellent find. I had one, before. Following our genealogy had been something of a hobby of mine." Something that would be so much harder now.
Her head turned as something in the crowd caught her eye. Not a trinket or any trophy, but a young mare walking through the crowd with a swaddled babe in her arms. Nergui blinked, attention stolen for just a moment, to watch until the other mare disappeared from sight.
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Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:54 pm
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He nodded slightly to acknowledge her, tucking the information away to make sure he kept an eye out for it. Personally he had little interest in his bloodline, his parents told him enough, and he had never really felt the urge to pry further back. However, if it was important to his priestess, she might also be interested in knowing where his own roots were. And unless she found a book he was in, the only way he would know was to actually speak to his mother.
He would keep his eye out for a book.
"I'd be interested in a book about gardening," he confessed before noticing her attention was elsewhere. His eyes tracked her own, finally landing on the mare. It was almost odd to see foals about now, but if he looked here and there they were among the crowd. Mostly those that had been returned to them, but that one had looked young enough to maybe have never experienced the isles in all their glory.
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Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2014 6:54 pm
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It would be nice, she mused as they walked, to have a record of both their family trees. Where they came from, and where they might go.
She blinked as he spoke, drawing her gaze away from the crowd the mare had disappeared into to look up at her guardian with a bright smile. "We'll look for one. I shouldn't think it that, at least, would be terribly difficult to find." Or at least she hoped not. Though the mare was still not terribly gracious when it came to where that particular hobby came from, that did not mean she couldn't see how important it was to her guardian. "We could start one, you know." Again she trailed the tips of her fingers along the stallion's arm, following the contour of his bicep. "A little garden."
Maybe they could even have a little apple tree.
Her attention lifted from the wander of ashen fingers along his arm as they neared a stall with books and scrolls. It looked promising, and she tipped her head in that direction with a soft smile.
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Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 4:57 pm
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He nodded along, a small smile starting as she said we, and staying in place at the idea itself. It would be nice to have it on their own, and he wondered how well potted plants could do in their quarters. He had thought about it before, and was plenty of access to the outside. Plus between the two of them they could probably remember to take care of it all.
The nod of her head shifted his attention to the booth, and he began to move toward it with purpose now. He couldn't resist reaching out and running a finger down a new spine, the leather still hard and the text along it clearly stamped. It was sad in it's own way. None of the supple, well worn leather he would have liked to see, the actual feel of history in the book itself, not simply the words on the page. Still, it was what they had to work with, and they could put their own years into the books.
There was also not quite enough in the booth for his taste, there were actually empty shelves and books clearly displayed where he would have preferred to see scrolls filling in the gaps, but there was enough to make a start."Happy hunting my priestess," he murmured before pressing a quick kiss to her hair and picking up a book to get a closer look at it.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:00 am
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It hit like an almost agonizing shock when Nergui took in the plethora of newly bound books. Yes, they were important. yes, they were an excellent sign that life was returning in full to their clans, but still she mourned the old leather and the age yellowed pages she had come to love in her years growing up. Few had survived the fall of the islands, and fewer still had had chance, or desire, to grab what shreds of history they could grab before their world had been very nearly destroyed. Nergui herself had had one on her person, only one, and it was a precious thing.
The book in question was an old tome on various aspects of Trance. She still read it, from time to time, though could likely recite the contents by memory.
She almost didn't notice as Soren lay a kiss against her temple, and blinked up at him, startled, before an easy smile tugged at her lips. Dark fingers brushed his arm as he moved to pick up a book, and she was off down the shelves, hunting.
With luck on the mare's side, she actually managed to find something incredibly worth while. It was a ledger, the title on new leather was pressed gold leaf, and it looked as though it hadn't been opened since it's completion. Licking her lips, Nergui opened it, mismatched eyes lighting up as she scanned the page. It was records, names, approximate dates of birth, and more precises dates of death(for those that were indeed dead). The names belonged to members of the Death clan. It showed linage, occupation, important details on physical descriptions.
A truly fantastic find.
She flipped through the pages until she found her family name, then a finger slid along the page until she came to her sister, her mother and father, her.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2014 7:01 pm
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Soren set down the book soon enough, it had much more to do with Famine and alchemy than he had interest in. And then it was off to the next one. He could have kissed the books with easy titles that practically told their tale in a single line, meaning he could glean through them faster. And sometimes merely the name of the author helped to separate those that would be so obviously about other clans and not topics he necessary cared for.
But he still picked up a few by other clans. A war mare had written about a long ago battle he had heard of but had relatively limited knowledge of. Someone of Conquest had published a bare bones history of the clans, major events given sparse descriptions. However it seemed fairly complete in the events listed, and there was a decent index of sources: living horsemen and currently available books and scrolls both. Then he stumbled across another historical book that more closely detailed Death involvements at several key battles, and that too was tucked under his arm.
As far as gardening went he found a scroll, a short read but it seemed to move past the basics even he knew. He looked up, eyes sweeping the booth to land on Neru, and he slowly began working his way toward her, eyes still sweeping the shelves as he absentmindedly added another book to the mismatched stack simply because he recognized the author's name. There was a memory of another private library, and a collection of tomes by this author that he had enjoyed. Who knew what they had written about now, but he was sure it was worthwhile.
When he drew close to the mare he noticed that she had a book open, looking through it. "Let me know if you want me to hold anything for you," he murmured, fully prepared to just browse the books near her so she could take her time.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:12 pm
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That deep voice pulled her attention up, and she smiled at him, brightly, before holding the book up to show him what she'd found. "Look." She was pointing to her own name, and the little descriptive blurb beside it. "A spectacular find. Bastion is here too, and Pavlushka." She turned a few pages, the tip of her finger sliding along the page as she searched. "And..." It stopped just beneath one, and she tapped it, grinning. "You."
Along with the description of his appearance--which she did not think did him justice, but she was perhaps a little bias--it also listed his job role, and there were two names, in smaller print, below that listing the priestess that had been under his care.
"It's very thorough. I'm shocked, but delighted as well." The book was held out to him so he could look at it as well, or just add it to the small pile he already had forming in his arms. "I see you've had some luck."
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:12 pm
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His eyes followed her finger, and he could see her name spelled out, a bit of information beside it. As curious as he was to see what someone else had deemed important for their book, she was already moving onto the next point, her excitement almost palpable.
It was indeed a find, and he accepted the book, glancing at the entry about him. Soren purposefully avoided the names above his own, they were practically meaningless, but it was interesting to hear how he was described. What others deemed important. There at the end was the most important part, two names carefully added, a tiny mark next to one that he was sure noted that she was dead. The most important person of his past, and the most important one of his present. And future. It would be interesting to look through, to read about others he knew and had known, though he doubted he would read it cover to cover without skimming over entries.
The book was added to his stack without really thinking about it, and he nodded. "History mostly, the scroll has some gardening advice. For the most part I've just been giving the selection a fairly quick glance." Because if he really looked his stack would easily have tripled in short order. "Is there anything else I can help you look for?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:17 pm
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Nergui leaned in against his side as he read over the entry on himself, excited and, and watched his face, small hands wrapped around his arm. And if he were to glance her way, he'd see that familiar look in those mismatched eyes. That fierce adoration, the obvious love and affection for the stallion beside her.
As the book was added to the stack she stepped back, though kept her hand on his own, a soft weight, as she gave the selection of books a thoughtful scan. "Nothing specifically, though I am always eager to read any sort of record of our history. I miss the tower library."
She glanced at his stack, at the titles on the bindings, the scroll. Glad he had found so many. Given time, their small collection would grow, and they would have their own small library. The priestess was eager for the future, for everything it could hold. They had their tower, their home. She had him, Bastion, Lushka. It wasn't the home they had lost, but it was as close to perfect as they had been in so long.
"Is there anything you're looking for, my guardian?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 7:13 pm
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"Maybe author's I recognize," he mused, knowing he didn't have anything that he was desperate to buy that they hadn't already found. Plus, every time they came back to the stand there were likely to be new offerings, he knew of several that were in the editing process, and maybe he just needed to talk to the authors to get them directly from them as soon as they were available.
Then a book caught his eye, and he couldn't resist reaching out for it. The author's name was easily recognizable, and he showed her the cover. The Mare and the Mustang. One of a series of ridiculous romance novels, that somehow had managed to keep up production despite the fall of the isles.
"We could see if the scenes in here are physically possible," he suggested. It was half a joke, but he then again, he was always willing to try out those sorts of things.
And he wasn't about to admit that he'd already skimmed the majority of the novels at least once.
Beejoux I just went for the silly route~
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Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 9:56 pm
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"We could probably even improve a few things," he murmured as she leaned up against him, looping his free arm around her waist. Her question made the corner's of his lips twitch up, but he decided to be completely honest with her. "Only if there's nothing else to read," he admitted. It had happened a few times, normally only once or twice a decade or so, but he had read more than a couple in his time. If it would amuse her to know that, it would be worth it to share the information.
He glanced at the books they had selected, and tried not to sigh. It was a pitiful offering, but he didn't want to just buy whatever books and scrolls were available. If they were adding to their personal library it should be worthwhile books (or trash that would lead to worthwhile activities), and they had gleaned out several. There was plenty more that didn't apply to them, but at least this was a start and would help to make the shelves less bare. He murmured his assent then reluctantly pulled away from her and went to go pay, mind torn between contemplating temporary decorative shelf markers and the scenes he hoped to act out when they got back to the room.
Either way with the two of them, he knew everything would turn out.
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