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 Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 2:45 pm
 Gyllene knew that by going to the sparring sands it would likely become rather obvious that she was being rather obvious about her reasons for being there. It wasn't because she was waiting to heal anyone who needed tending to. However, that was the excuse she would give if anyone approached her, in all honesty, because Gyllene wasn't quite ready to admit to herself that she was really quite fond of Captain Ru, let alone anyone else. She knew many females who stopped by the sands to ogle the males that sparred there. Gyllene had never thought that she'd become one of them, though. Not until she'd met Ru, anyway. His dark fur was impossible to overlook, and her attention went directly to him. Gods, but he was so handsome, it made her feel like a bumbling little youth pining after her crush. Which she absolutely was.
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 6:33 pm
 "Gyllene!" Ru called, balancing briefly on his hind legs to look over his opponent's shoulder and make sure she had seen him. She, herself, was difficult to miss, having that brilliant golden coat that almost seemed to shimmer and those arresting amethyst eyes.
"Give me a minute to finish up here."
He didn't actually need a minute. In about half that time he had trounced his opponent pretty thoroughly and made his way over to Gyllene. He was grinning broadly, well-pleased with himself for being able to follow through on his boast and dispatching a sparring partner in under a minute. Maybe he wouldn't embarrass himself in his upcoming fight against Njal.
"So. What brings you to the sands?" he asked. "Looking for business?"
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 6:40 pm
Part of her was glad she'd been spotted, and another part of her was mildly miffed that she'd been seen so soon. Gyllene had wanted to lust after him in secret, and for much longer than it took for him to soundly beat his sparring partner. Now she had to come up with a reason for coming to the sands, and it took her an awkward second to remember what her planned response was.
His eyes looked greener than normal. And he wasn't even panting after his spar. Gods. It wasn't fair that one lion should be so fantastically built. He smelled nice, too, which wasn't fair, either.
"Business?" She sounded a little dazed as she watched his muscles shift beneath that sleek black pelt of his.
Oh, right. Business.
"Yes, business."
Or something.
"Practicing for your upcoming challenge?"
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 6:56 pm
"Difficult question?" he teased, still grinning as he eased into the group of lions milling around the sands, watching the fights. Were there more of them today than there usually were, or was that just because there were more lions in the pride now than there had been when he left on his quest?
His grin diminished somewhat when Gyllene mentioned his upcoming challenge and his tone was downright grim when he replied, "Something like that. Come on. Let's go somewhere we can talk, hm?"
He didn't really want to discuss that challenge. There wasn't much to say about it. He would win or he would lose, depending on the gods' wishes and his own skills in battle. Even if he did want to talk about it, he didn't want to do it with everyone listening in. Actually, there wasn't a whole lot he wanted to say with everyone listening in on any subject.
"I won't take you too far from your potential patrons, I promise."
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 7:06 pm
Gyllene was very sensitive to the tones that Ru used, now more than ever. She wouldn't bring up the challenge again, not when he sounded so ... bleak. She wondered if he was worried, and then mentally chastised herself for wondering such a foolish thing. Of course he probably was worried. Or at the very least he was trying not to think too much about the entire thing, and Gyllene couldn't blame him for that. It was a scary thing, and she didn't really like thinking about it either. If Njal won, he could kill Ru.
That thought got Gyllene's stomach to turning, and she merely dipped her head and nodded.
"Of course."
Yes, Captain Ru, she would allow you to ravish her. Gods, if only that was the direction that the conversation would turn to. If only.
"Lead the way. I'll follow you."
Ahh, if only. Perhaps someday the Gods would smile on her.
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 7:20 pm
Ru snorted softly at her phrasing, briefly wondering what she would do if he led her away from the stronghold, to a private place he and Kazul used to go to when they wanted to be intimate. The place was the ruins of a pride that had long since been conquered by the Stormborn. No one lived in that place, even though it had been made suitable for habitation by the previous pride. It was said to have evil spirits. Ru had been there on many occasions, at many different times of the day and night, and not once had he been bothered by spirits.
He didn't do that though. Gyllene was not Kazul, and if he ever went down that road with her, he would do things differently. At least, that was his intention. Whether he'd actually be able to change his basic self enough to do things differently was another matter.
"It's good to see you," he said to make conversation. It didn't occur to him that she might have been angry with him, or avoiding him, or avoiding him because she was angry with him. That wasn't the sort of thing he picked up on. He definitely wasn't that kind of guy.
"I was hoping I'd see you before the challenge. I thought I might ask if you'd be there. You know, to patch me up if Njal gets lucky."
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 10:33 am
"It's good to see you, too. I've missed you," she continued before really realizing what she'd said, and Gyllene immediately kept talking in hopes that he wouldn't pick up on those three words that had escaped her lips without her permission. It was embarrassing, and Gyllene hated feeling embarrassed - most especially in front of Ru. "I don't think.. I probably won't. I know it's an important thing, but I'd be a nervous wreck if I came." She wanted to be there. She really did. If she wasn't so emotionally invested in ... whatever this relationship was, she would have gone without hesitation. But the thought of Ru losing the challenge and then finding himself a thrall or dead or exiled or dead or worse (dead), well, Gyllene didn't have it in her to watch it happen. Gyllene lowered her voice. "But I won't be far away if things go awry for you, Ru. I promise you that. I'd never let anyone else tend to your wounds." She spoke a little fervently, but it was his fault. She was utterly distracted by his scent, his voice, his everything. Whatever. She'd already made a fool of herself earlier.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 1:49 pm
"You don't have to come," he assured her. "I'll just have to make sure not to get hurt, right?"
Ru smiled, apparently reading nothing untoward into her vehemence. He did think, though, that she might not have a choice about other people tending his injuries if she wasn't going to be there. He didn't say any of that, though. He didn't go in much for reminding people of things they clearly didn't want to think about, particularly if the reminder was likely to cause distress.
He shook his head and rolled his shoulders in that way he did which was equivalent to a shrug. They were talking about the challenge, even though they'd agreed not to. Time for a new subject. Except, of course, all that came to mind were random facts about the pride's history, which were interesting, but not really the makings of a conversation.
"Do you ever spar on the sands, or do you keep to mending people?"
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 3:24 pm
"You'd better," was all that Gyllene said, managing to keep every little hint of desperation out of her voice. Nicely done.
"I keep to mending people." Gyllene cast him an interested look. "I've never had anyone teach me to fight - I can hold my own when I need to, but I don't know all the dirty tricks and methods that come into play in a real spar." There was a beauty to all of it, and Gyllene found it all quite fascinating.
"You should teach me to spar," she continued with an almost impish smile. This was nice. This was better than sitting around and fretting about the impending challenge that Ru would be taking part in. "I think it'd be fun. Don't you?"
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 4:01 pm
"I wasn't born in the pride, you know," Ru remarked. "My mother came from a pride where females of a certain rank didn't cultivate any skills except being polite, pretty, and clever, and it was expected that males would protect them."
Maybe part of the reason why he objected on such a basic level to Njal's attitudes toward female capability was some sort of reaction to the time he'd spent with his mother. He didn't give it much thought. It was a waste of time to worry about that kind of thing.
"My mother was an absolutely awful huntress. Totally useless. It's a wonder we didn't starve. She was grateful when my sisters and I were old enough that she could leave us and return to her pride."
He'd had a point when he brought up his mother. It was past time for him to get back to it, he decided. "Anyway, I could teach you to spar, if you want, but it's different from actual fighting. Sparring's almost more about learning to take a hit and keep going than it is about perfecting technique. I don't think I'd feel comfortable hitting you as often as it would take to get you good at sparring."
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 4:51 pm
"I'm polite, pretty and clever," Gyllene grinned. "But I like to think I can take care of myself if I need to."
She hadn't really been thinking about taking hits. She'd been thinking about being close to Ru. Very close. Maybe with his paws on her, showing her how to swing at an opponent. That certainly was a thought. A distracting one at that.
"Do you think it's something I ought to learn? I really hadn't thought about being hit and pushing through it. Some of the males - and females - in this pride are rather large. My father was a beast of a lion, but I take after my mother, I think." She shrugged. "What with all the reavers in the pride, I never thought to start sparring on the sands. I've spent all of my life focusing on healing. That's why I'm the best at what I do."
She was beginning to sound a little too proud, but her talents were worth being proud about.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 5:30 pm
"I have no doubt of it. You are, from what I can tell, everything a freeborn lioness ought to be." His expression and the way his green eyes flashed as he said this indicated that he was thinking of more than just a statement of the obvious. Then Ru remembered that in a few days' time he might well be dead and he shrugged. This wasn't the time to start anything like that.
"Healing's what you're good at, and frankly there are a lot fewer healers in the pride than there are warriors. If we ever reach the point where you have to take up arms, we will be in a sorry state indeed."
Too late he realized that she might interpret his assessment as a rejection, but he wasn't really sure how to repair that bit of potential damage to their relationship. If it couldn't weather that, maybe it wasn't worth pursuing anyway. One of the things he had found incredibly frustrating about Kazul was the way she found stupid, tiny things to interpret as rejections or slights and would brood on them for days and weeks.
He blinked hard to remind himself not to think those thoughts. First of all, she was dead and he should not think ill of her. Second, it was a really bad idea to think about former loves in the presence of someone you were presently interested in.
"How about you teach me to swim sometime, instead? I've never really gotten the hang of it, and I tend to sink like a stone."
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 9:14 am
Gyllene could barely stop herself from preening at the compliment. He thought her to be everything a freeborn lioness should aspire to be, and that was something she would think about when she was alone again. Coming from Ru, it was a massive compliment, and the nervous giggle she gave was proof that she wasn't quite sure how to handle it. So she let it go, and instead focused on the rest of what he said. If he was worried she might take his words as rejection, he needn't have. "True. I don't think we're in any danger of running out of capable fighters any time soon, though. There are so many new litters popping up here and there, and it seems that more and more lions are flocking to the pride every day." Gyllene was old blood, but she didn't really think that being an outlander was a bad thing. Many of the outlanders who joined the pride were very capable fighters with a warrior's spirit, and to Gyllene that was all that mattered. Ru himself was of outlander blood, and Gyllene was certain he'd been crafted by the Gods themselves. "I'd be happy to teach you how to swim! That actually sounds much more fun than sparring. To me, at least." She shot him a grin, looking utterly content with the conversation and the company he provided.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 12:04 pm
"I don't particularly envy the lawspeakers or the priestesses. Things must be very busy for them." As an afterthought he added, "You, too, I would guess. Or are healers not usually brought in to assist with births in this pride?"
Truly, he didn't much care whether healers were or were not involved in the birthing process, but since he knew Gyllene was a healer he felt that he ought to at least ask. He would rather know how she felt about the influx of outlanders, but since that still seemed to be a touchy subject for a number of people in the pride he didn't mention it.
"I'm not sure it sounds like fun," Ru muttered, thinking of how he usually sank like a stone, and how much he disliked getting water in his ears, and all the other aspects of swimming he didn't care for. "But if anyone can make it fun, it would probably be you."
He glanced over his shoulder toward the sands. "I hope you don't mind that I can't give you a definite time for us to hold these lessons at the moment, but things are a little undefined at the moment."
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:58 pm
"Yes," Gyllene nodded. "We are usually brought in just to make sure all goes well. Thankfully births in the pride are almost always uneventful."
Gyllene wasn't certain she'd want to be a healer if it meant she had to constantly deal with an influx of labors gone awry, or sickly cubs. She was a firm believer in the fact that the cubs and youth of the pride were innocents, and were molded by those around them. A cub was the direct reflection of its parents.
She almost giggled at his mutter, but what he said next nearly set her teeth on edge. Gyllene didn't want to think about the challenge. She didn't want to think about the consequences of the challenge, either, should things go terribly wrong.
"I understand." Her voice nearly broke, but she quickly cleared her throat. "You have to win. You know that, right?"
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