hail of arrows
Feb. 18th, 2015 12:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
To graduate from utter silence to the constant roar of Gilead was something else. Though she had been here for over a week now, and would stay for much longer, Kaine was not used to the constant noise. Even at night it felt as if she could hear every shuffle of bodies in sheets and night clothes, every fuck whether positive or not, and all those conversations that were never suited for daylight. It all made sleeping outside difficult, but even lying beside Nariko didn't make it any easier to deal with the walls all around her. They were suffocating. At night and in the day, they threatened to drive Kaine out of her mind.
So she took to wandering around because there wasn't fuck else to do around here, not for her.
Which might have explained catching sight of him towards an edge, around a corner. The specifics weren't relevant, that Kaine saw Bert and spun on her worn down heel and followed him was relevant. It should have also been worrying for her, this unnatural and constant fascination that was tempered by the occasional bout of good sense felt odd. It was a ... Not a problem, but not exactly good. Crushes on men that you hardly knew, that hid the way Cuthbert did, that never let her finish talking the way Cuthbert did couldn't end well.
She followed anyway, and not with any real ounce of subtlety or control. Eventually one of them would have to say something and in her own way she knew he might take that responsibility first. So she followed, and even if Kaine happened to be wrong he was pretty interesting to stare at anyway. Maybe it was the hair.
So she took to wandering around because there wasn't fuck else to do around here, not for her.
Which might have explained catching sight of him towards an edge, around a corner. The specifics weren't relevant, that Kaine saw Bert and spun on her worn down heel and followed him was relevant. It should have also been worrying for her, this unnatural and constant fascination that was tempered by the occasional bout of good sense felt odd. It was a ... Not a problem, but not exactly good. Crushes on men that you hardly knew, that hid the way Cuthbert did, that never let her finish talking the way Cuthbert did couldn't end well.
She followed anyway, and not with any real ounce of subtlety or control. Eventually one of them would have to say something and in her own way she knew he might take that responsibility first. So she followed, and even if Kaine happened to be wrong he was pretty interesting to stare at anyway. Maybe it was the hair.
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Date: 2015-02-19 10:52 pm (UTC)Smirking, he leaned over and punched her very lightly on the arm. "Either we're both important, or neither of us are. Either way, it sounds like we've both had it easier than the people we're following, so let's be maybe-heroes together, hey?"
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Date: 2015-02-19 11:15 pm (UTC)"I guess those are fair terms." And she didn't think they were logical, not in the least. But if it helped him understand why she saw him a certain way, Kaine would push her own self-doubt aside. "Both important maybe-heroes together, then."
It sounded so ... Ridiculous, so why did she keep smiling?
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Date: 2015-02-19 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-19 11:43 pm (UTC)"One time I went to make breakfast for Nariko and I, I got halfway through it and Travis, the cook, chased me out with a knife!" She looked oddly proud of this story, but added: "Of course I kicked his ass and then we had something of a cook off. My eggs were better. That's a much better, personal story!"
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Date: 2015-02-20 12:07 am (UTC)A personal story for a personal story. That was fair, right?
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Date: 2015-02-20 01:20 am (UTC)Yes, a story for a story and, yet speaking easily came to her now. She had worried about what she might say or do, but it came out of her so easily. Looking at her with Bert no one could guess that she was genuinely shy with most everyone else that wasn't Nariko.
"I missed my parents all the time and that was a funny thing, missing people you don't remember correctly. When I was little I would cry over it and my grandma, she was so awkward with it. By the time I was eight she'd start clopping me with her damn cane, 'the soil doesn't need your stupid ass tears!' that's what she'd always say. I'd get so mad at her, I could never understand why she would say that. It made me think she was never upset at losing them."
Of course that wasn't true, not at all. She was grown now, and she understood that her grandmother had probably never felt their loss as deeply as she did when Kaine hadn't been able to restrain her emotions. "I wonder if we would have gotten along at that age."
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Date: 2015-02-20 03:48 pm (UTC)He laughed, sticking his hands in his pockets, and started up the hill towards the main building. "Didn't teach me my lesson, though. By the time we got our guns, I'm pretty sure Cort had given up on beating any kind of sense into me."
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Date: 2015-02-20 07:54 pm (UTC)"This is what they call easy communication, isn't it?" She looked up at him briefly, head tilted curiously. "Usually when I talk to people I'm thinking about punching them in the face. Unless it's Nariko." That was a whole different set of thoughts that played in her head while her friend spoke or ordered her around, or cried about something. "It's very easy with you."
And she wasn't thinking of punching him, either.
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Date: 2015-02-20 08:19 pm (UTC)That wasn't to say he wasn't glad to hear it. Part of him wanted to refute what she'd said about him only learning lessons when he felt like it, though. That dark, sullen part of him wanted to take her aside and explain that there were some lessons you couldn't help learning, lessons that drove their way deep into you and wove into your life, lessons he had learnt the hard way. That if he chose not to learn other lessons, it was only because the weight of the hard lessons was enough already, and sometimes the best way to move on was to refuse to do what was expected.
Part of him wanted to say that. But part of him thought she might know already, and if she didn't... well, then it was better for it to stay that way.
Instead, smiling, he shook his head. "As for the crypt... there's been a city here since the time of the Eld. He's down there himself, somewhere, although we never found him before we got caught. We've had to put our dead somewhere - wouldn't it be more surprising if we didn't?"
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Date: 2015-02-20 08:46 pm (UTC)It was clear that she had never really thought about it, but what he said made sense. You had dead people, you had to do something with them, after all. "I guess it's just that …" This was one of the few topics that she had trouble speaking on, and she was never one to speak without thinking ahead of time. As a result a full moment passed before everything clicked the way it should.
"You know, that family - Nariko's - they've got this belief that things that die don't ever really go away. You do certain things, they stay and it's a negative effect, you do other things, they stay and it can be good. But I think the longer you have things like that near the harder it is to move away. Hard to get out from underneath a shadow when it's always underneath you."
But even now she wasn't entirely sure that it made sense, or maybe it was too emotional a though, but it was all she could come up with.
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Date: 2015-02-20 09:02 pm (UTC)For a moment, he looked pensive, as if he was mulling it over, and then he pulled a face. "Well, I don't know. I leave ghosts and beliefs to Roland and Alain. All I know is, there's been plenty of times since my father died that I've been glad to have him near. And sometimes I've found myself down there, when I've been in need of his guidance."
He shrugged one shoulder, looking rather embarrassed. He didn't make a habit of talking about things like that. More people knew about how he took flowers to his mother's grave, and even that was awkward enough. Telling anyone outside his tet about his trips into the crypt... well, if they were swapping personal stories, that definitely qualified.
"I guess when we move away, we like having something to come back to."
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Date: 2015-02-20 09:32 pm (UTC)"That makes sense." But she almost wished that it didn't.
In any case it hadn't dawned on her that he had told her such an intensely personal fact, but even if she did realize it Kaine wouldn't have known what to say in response. She didn't have anything of that caliber but, hey, at least she could make great sandwiches.
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Date: 2015-02-20 09:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-20 10:09 pm (UTC)It was something she lacked. "Even though they're gone you're still shaped by them a little. It's nice." For them. For people who had shadows to walk in and grow from. But what exactly did that mean for anyone without that legacy? "... Apologies." She tried to smile, and it only faltered gently. "Or, as you would say, 'cry pardon', I'm just being emotional."
Which was hardly like her, but she would think over that issue later on.
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Date: 2015-02-20 10:34 pm (UTC)He wrinkled his nose, looking profoundly frustrated with himself. "Told you I couldn't explain it like Ro'. Took me until a couple of years ago even to figure out that forgetting the face of your father wasn't just some bullshit catechism."
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Date: 2015-02-20 10:46 pm (UTC)"... But you're probably right. It's still difficult to imagine. I didn't know anything about my parents, or my grandmother, not really. But maybe it's the sort of thing you figure out with time anyway." She looked off to one side, scraping her heel along the ground, a nervous habit of hers. "Something you learn to figure out when you're given a little help."
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Date: 2015-02-20 10:57 pm (UTC)Because when in doubt, the best thing to do was to distract.
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Date: 2015-02-21 12:32 am (UTC)"'Panini'," She repeated without any real weight, the hint of a grin in her voice as they came that much closer to the kitchen. She still had little idea of where it was so she was more than grateful for Cuthbert leading the way.
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Date: 2015-02-21 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-21 01:13 am (UTC)"Okay ..." She looked around, thought to herself, and then got to work, idly throwing behind her shoulder: "Sit somewhere! This doesn't take long! Or at least it shouldn't."
Her push-bread thing needed electricity which, of course, her home had but not so much here. Well, she could figure it out.
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Date: 2015-02-21 02:32 am (UTC)Anis, a young woman of about his age, blushed openly and obviously, much to Bert's apparent amusement. Smirking, he settled back against the wall, draping his hands over his knees, and watched Kaine with some interest. He wasn't much of a cook himself - he could skin a rabbit and roast a bird if it came to it, but not much beyond that - so he was genuinely interested.
jealous Kaine gives me life and I don't feel bad about it
Date: 2015-02-21 02:45 am (UTC)A kitchen was kitchen, you only needed the pattern. Besides, cooking was ... A relief. It wasn't exactly easy and she wouldn't claim to be particularly amazing, but it was a fun hobby that she could lose herself in without any trouble.
That didn't mean Anis didn't get a look or two. What was so great about her, anyway?
i thought that might be the case. which is why i did that. so glad i was right. :p
Date: 2015-02-21 03:02 am (UTC)At the same time, though, it was funny, and he couldn't quite hide the little twitch of a smile.
Best idea :P!!!
Date: 2015-02-21 03:18 am (UTC)"... This isn't going to be as good as usual." But the chicken was fresh, all the herbs she had wanted were here, and the cheese wasn't made this morning but within acceptable bounds. Kaine handed him the meal on what she assumed was a plate that wouldn't be used anytime soon. Chicken and herb cheese panini on large pieces of folded bread without the marks she preferred to see, but there were gently crisped potato slices. She even made it look somewhat pretty. "But here."
So maybe he could manage to not look at Anis? Just an idea.
:D
Date: 2015-02-21 03:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:that is the best closing sentence to a tag i have seen in a long time :p
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