apassingafternoon: (so silent no violence)
[personal profile] apassingafternoon
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.

Date: 2015-02-20 09:02 pm (UTC)
askthelookout: (Caught off-guard)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
He was quiet for a moment. When he did speak again, it was thoughtful: "I guess maybe that's why. Here, we..." He shrugged, lapsing into silence for another moment before continuing. "They're our fathers, and our fathers' fathers. Arthur Eld, and all his knights. All the gunslingers of our past. Maybe that's a shadow we want to keep with us."

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."

Date: 2015-02-20 09:43 pm (UTC)
askthelookout: (Watching from the shadows)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
If he'd been Alain, he would have known what to do with that silence. If he'd been Roland, it would probably have passed him by entirely. Unfortunately, Cuthbert was neither of those people, and so he saw that he'd upset her, without having any idea how to help. He settled for touching her arm, feeling profoundly clumsy, and giving her a sympathetic kind of smile. "You alright?"

Date: 2015-02-20 10:34 pm (UTC)
askthelookout: (Lonesome inside)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
"Hey." He stopped, taking her arm, and frowned deeply at her. "You're allowed to be emotional. One of the perks of being a woman, as I understand it. But, look, alright... I'm not Roland, I can't say this the way he does, but I'll try." He took a deep breath, letting go of her sleeve. "We're all shaped by them. That's what it means to remember the face of your father. As long as you do what's right by those who loved you, do your best to make them proud, they're always a part of you and what you do. You're still shaped by them. You don't have to know them to be shaped by them."

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."

Date: 2015-02-20 10:57 pm (UTC)
askthelookout: (Firelit evening)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
"You underestimate Roland's ability to explain," Cuthbert said gravely, but there was laughter dancing in his eyes again. "And his ability to get so wrapped up in honour and ka and the face of his father that he forgets little things like eating and sleeping. If you want care and kindness, he's not your man. If you want an hour-long lecture about how it's all meant to be, well..." He tilted his hand to and fro, laughing. "If he'd ever opened his mouth in philosophy lessons, I think he would have been Vannay's favourite. Come on, you owe me a cheese and chicken paneen."

Because when in doubt, the best thing to do was to distract.

Date: 2015-02-21 12:39 am (UTC)
askthelookout: (Catching the sunlight)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
"Pah-nee-nee," Cuthbert repeated with exaggerated care, and snorted. "Better?" He, of course, had no trouble finding the kitchens - not only had he lived here his whole life, but, as he'd mentioned, they had been a favourite haunt of his as a child. He still rather liked them, in a nostalgic kind of way that had nothing to do with food and everything to do with childhood. He breathed in deeply as they approached, smelling the spices and freshly-baked bread. It smelled like home.

Date: 2015-02-21 02:32 am (UTC)
askthelookout: (Firelit evening)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
"Yes, sai," Cuthbert said with exaggerated meekness, and hunkered down by the door with a grin, waving to one of the cooks. "Hile, Anis. Smells like miracles and magic in here."

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.
askthelookout: (A dangerous smile)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
Cuthbert bit back his amusement. It was cruel to find that funny, and he knew it. It wasn't even as if he'd set out to flirt, exactly - it was just very hard to resist teasing Anis, when she made it so easy. He'd made the mistake of forgetting who he was with, in part because they'd fallen into conversation so easily for a while there. So he did have the decency to feel bad.

At the same time, though, it was funny, and he couldn't quite hide the little twitch of a smile.

:D

Date: 2015-02-21 03:43 am (UTC)
askthelookout: (A bright new day)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
Bert looked down at the plate, smiling and very carefully not acknowledging the daggers Anis was staring at Kaine's back. "Looks plenty good to me," he observed, with a little shrug, and wiped his hands on his jeans before digging in. And that was a pretty appropriate term for it, given the gusto with which he ate. Halfway through, he stopped, looking a little guilty, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "...I should probably have checked. Are we sharing this?"
askthelookout: (Well what can I say)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
"That is delicious," Cuthbert called over, after a minute or two. He'd slowed down, and was starting on the potatoes now, with every sign of enjoyment. Picking up his plate, he got to his feet and sauntered over to her, leaning up against one of the heavy wooden tables to watch her cooking. "You need to teach me how to make these. I mean, I guess there's not much chance I'll be able to, given that I only cook on the trail, but still..."

He wasn't lying, either, although he might have been playing it up a bit. He'd caught that smirk, all right. He might not be Roland, but he was no slouch when it came to observation, either. It would have been lying to say that it didn't make him a little smug in turn, to have that effect. Besides, it was nice to see her happy. He'd got the impression that it didn't happen nearly as often as it should.

Anis, unsurprisingly, didn't seem to agree. With an audible "Hmph!", she went back to kneading the dough for the evening's bread, perhaps rather more violently than was strictly necessary.

Date: 2015-02-21 04:43 am (UTC)
askthelookout: (Firelit evening)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
Cuthbert watched, chewing on the last couple of mouthfuls of his own panini, and smiled. "Could work on the road, I guess. If bread and cheese were things we actually saw past the first couple days out of Gilead..." He was teasing, really. "But you need to show me the herbs and such. Really. This is amazing. Ah-muuz-ing."

And by is, he presumably meant was, since he'd just polished off the last of his sandwich. Licking his fingers, he put his plate to one side and smiled. "Do you want a cup of wine or something, while we're down here?"
askthelookout: (A bright new day)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
"Cheese doesn't keep well on the road. Smells too strong, you get rats in your pack if your not careful." Cuthbert looked back over his shoulder, levering himself away from the table to go and fetch a couple of pewter cups from one of the cupboards. "And bread... waybread's alright, but you stay away from home more than a couple days, real bread starts to go stale pretty soon. We live on jerky and whatever we find along the way, mostly."

He ducked into a storeroom, clearly knowing his way around every bit as well as the people who actually worked here, and came out with three cups of wine balanced in his hands. One, he put down in front of Anis with a little half-smile. "Tell Molly I'm sorry for taking her wine, and I'll drop her off another bottle tomorrow, alright? Also, if you'd stop glaring at sai Kaine like you'd like to set her on fire, I'd say thankya."

Blowing her a slightly sardonic kiss, he turned back to Kaine, handing her one of the glasses. "Too mean?"

Date: 2015-02-21 05:45 am (UTC)
askthelookout: (Catching the sunlight)
From: [personal profile] askthelookout
Cuthbert half-smiled, a little ruefully, and raised his cup to her. "I'm sure," he agreed, taking a sip. "And for your information, it's not terrible. You get used to it pretty quickly. The terrible bit's the blisters and saddle sores when you're on a long sortie. That, and those nights when every time you lie down, new rocks appear to poke you in the back." He pulled a face, just as if he really minded things like that. Honestly, he'd never found that part nearly as difficult as he'd found it coming back to soft mattresses and pillows after a journey. "Although I guess you know that one, from that fairytale quest of yours."

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