hail of arrows

[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.

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[askthelookout]

"Great!" He smiled brightly, ducking under one of her arms to support her better, and started up the stairs. "Then let's get you to bed. Glass of water and some sleep, and you'll be feeling just fine come morning."

He hoped she would, anyway. If she woke up with a raging hangover, it would be entirely his fault - besides which, he didn't particularly fancy seeing her temper when she was in that state. Ah, well. She'd be near Alain up here, so if the worst came to the worst, he'd wheedle that much nicer friend into seeing to her. The important thing was getting her to bed now.

[apassingafternoon]

"Mmhm." She didn't believe that at all. She would have a terrible, throbbing headache that would leave her in bed for hours, if not the whole day. Thankfully Bert and Alain would be spared anything to do with it and Kaine would only bitch and whine for Nariko, who would inevitably take care of her.

Kaine shifted beside him to try and grab his arm or some part of him, at least now she was doing her best to help him, not hurt! That was improvement.

[askthelookout]

Bert steadied her with an ease that said he'd done this plenty of times before - as indeed he had, usually while drunker than this; Jamie's head for alcohol wasn't as good as Bert's, and he tended to be mostly passed out when they headed back up to the castle - and looked over at her with a little smirk. "Well, at least you ought to learn something from all this. Never trust dashingly handsome rogues who offer you drinks!"

[apassingafternoon]

"Hmm?" Her tone was two octaves lower than it should have been and now her voice was thick with exhaustion. "Nahhhhhh. Nope! Na-ha! Because usually when I'm drunk - and alone and not that I am drunk right now! - rogues are the ones that look at me funny 'n I have to punch them a lot because - yeah. You," She reached up and, of all things, pinched his nose. "You're nice. You're a good guy! It's all good. We're good."

Anything other than the vague memory in her mind was good.

[askthelookout]

He wriggled his nose in response, pulling a face. "I'm not nice. I'm an asshole. Ask anyone." He was joking, obviously. Despite himself, it was really rather nice to be told he was a good guy. He was usually the one telling Roland that; it had been a remarkably long time since anyone had said that to him in so many words. But he wasn't about to say so.

Instead, he just tweaked her nose right back, grinning, and pulled a stupid face, eyes comically wide and tongue sticking out. "When you say look at you funny, you mean like this?" Then, cross-eyed and with his face screwed up in a parody of concentration. "Or this?" One eyebrow raised, lips pursed, squinting slightly. "Maybe this?"

[apassingafternoon]

The nose tweaking made her giggle, unusually light and sweet. "No, No," But all of those option were hilarious and it was very difficult to feel sick when she was so busy being amused. "I mean, like this!"

She gripped him very suddenly, drew her face close to his not because she actually planned on kissing him but because it was the simplest way to get the look on her own face. That almost salacious, downright predatory gleam in her eyes paired with a knowing and rather hungry smirk. It was a sexual look from top to bottom and that Kaine could imitate it so easily despite her lack of experience, and despite her own general embarrassment was really something.

But just as suddenly as she had pulled it off, she broke out into a grin again and let him go so that they could keep walking. On a normal occasion she would have already known that he didn't need the explanation but drunk Kaine was nothing if not moderately helpful, at times!

[askthelookout]

Helpful was one way of putting it. Personally, Cuthbert would have considered that look more helpful if it hadn't just made him mildly uncomfortable in his trousers. Which was absolutely not his fault. It was the alcohol. Definitely and absolutely the alcohol, and nothing more than that. Definitely nothing to do with beautiful women giving him sexual looks. Nope. Alcohol.

Clearing his throat, he grinned back, patting her on the shoulder. "You ought to go and join the theatre," he commented lightly, helping her up onto the first landing. "You feeling alright?"

[apassingafternoon]

Alcohol!

"Fine, fine, fine, fine!" So fine that she had to repeat it multiple times, apparently. If there was any remnant of the Kaine that created a reaction there was no finding it now, she leaned into him a little more and scuffed her boots on the floor as they made it, making yet another 'bluhh' sort of noise. "Also theatre is dumb. And 'm not very funny. Not even a little, actually! And why have we been on the stairs for forever? That's a long time, Bert. When do we come back from the war."

For as rapidly as she spoke Kaine edged closer to exhaustion, though whether that would be colored by another burst of emotion or not had yet to be seen. For now her legs began to shake and she occasionally bowed in towards him, and huffed every time it happened as if she was irritated with her own body.

[askthelookout]

"Forever's a long time, but we're only halfway up. So I guess we've got another forever to go." Bert stuck out his lower lip, blowing his hair out of his face, and started up the next set of stairs. He was careful to support her when she started to shake, checking his grip around her waist so he knew he could catch her if she actually fell, but that didn't mean he wasn't still concerned by that.

Crap. He was going to have to sit with her and make sure she got to sleep all right, wasn't he? Or maybe he could just leave her with a bucket and warn Alain.

[apassingafternoon]

He wasn't! But it wasn't as if she would be able to tell him that, she was just trying to remember how to make her legs work. They kept wobbling, and while Kaine didn't actually fall she stumbled, suddenly bowing down a bit and clinging onto him with an interesting woop! sound.

"No, oh noooo! No, no, no, I fell! I'm down, leave me behind! Goodbye friend, I am hopeless!" Not really, she just felt like she couldn't walk to save her own life.

[askthelookout]

Bert laughed good-naturedly, patting her on the head. "It's alright, fair maiden. You're in the hands of a gunslinger now, and I swear on my father's face that I shall not leave you!" And he struck a dramatic pose, as much as he could while also supporting her full weight. "Come on, arms around my neck, that's right. Do I have to carry you again, or are you going to stop puling and limp along with me?"

All right, so he might have momentarily forgotten that he wasn't talking to one of the boys in his tet. Maybe, very briefly. Ah, well. Blame it on the wine.

[apassingafternoon]

"I think," She Raised one hand, one finger pointed to the sky. "that you have to carry me the rest of the way for I am weak and currently unfixable!" What that really meant was that Kaine was tired and didn't trust her own body to move anymore. Her vision was spotty and every time she blinked, she was sorely tempted to just keep her eyes shut and lay on the floor again.

But the idea of being held, even platonically? She could exert some effort for that.

[askthelookout]

"Weak is right," Bert grumbled, rolling his eyes, and sighed. "Okay. Arms round my shoulders. I'll piggy-back you the rest of the way, and you, sai Kaine, will owe me a hell of a big thank-you later."

Letting go of her, he turned and crouched down so she could get on his back easily. He figured that piggy-backing was a lot less likely to send all the blood rushing to her head, and she might actually make it the rest of the way without passing out.

[apassingafternoon]

"This is so not how you carry a lady. But then I don't see any ladies around here!" Because she sure as fuck wasn't one. Her own brain couldn't decide how she wanted to speak or move or even function. Still, Kaine flopped over him awkwardly and then figured out how to put her arms around his neck and her legs somewhat around his hips. She tucked her head into his neck and hummed lowly, squeezed in some form of a reverse hug.

"So nice." And she either meant him, the ride, or how he smelled. But neither of them would ever know which it was. Probably for the best.

[askthelookout]

He laughed, hooking his arms under her legs, and straightened up. "No ladies, and clearly no gentlemen either," he quipped, taking a moment to catch his balance with her weight pulling back on him, and started on up the stairs. "Ah, well. Everyone who ever tried to teach me etiquette knows I'm a hopeless case. At least I can have fun being an ass." He lowered his voice, mock-conspiratorial. "Unlike certain other asses who shall remain nameless. Let's call them R."

Chuckling, he headed on up the stairs, bowed under her weight, and down a corridor to the left, finding his way with complete surety.

[apassingafternoon]

She laughed against his neck at that, and even though she couldn't get the words out for as much as she wanted to, it would have been to tell him that it was better this way. No ladies and clearly no gentlemen. So there was no hope of lingering closer to what he had already empathetically shut down, and Kaine would return to normal. That was a good, so good that it wrapped back around to being the littlest bit sad.

Her thoughts swirled around in her head as he lead them to ... Wherever they were going? She couldn't remember, but she trusted Bert to take her somewhere nice, or at least comfortable. Not that he was uncomfortable - no, not in the least. Kaine adjusted her grip a little but when she laid her head on the back of his shoulder her eyes closed instantly, an indulgent, grateful little sigh following it.

[askthelookout]

"Don't fall asleep on me, now," Bert warned with a little laugh, twisting his head to look up at her. "I'm not a bed. At least, I don't think I am."

The bed wasn't far, though. He had to shift her weight on his back to unlatch the door, and he did so a little unsteadily, his arms and hips starting to ache a little. She didn't actually weigh all that much less than him, after all. So he was quite relieved to let them into the dark little guest room, squinting in the dimness.

"You're gonna have to get down so I can light the fire," he said rather apologetically, moving deftly towards the unmade bed to sit down on it and let her off. It wasn't cold, but it was rather gloomy sitting here in the dark.

[apassingafternoon]

It was already a bit too late for that judging by the giggle that was pressed into his shirt. "You're a bed. Best bed."

But they were still heading towards another one, which accounted for the quick shift in movement, which she observed with nothing but a, "Ha-hoh-hummmm?" And squeezed him again. If she understood what he was saying then Kaine really was an amazing actress. He sat and she registered blankets, and crawled onto it, pressing her face into something that didn't ind.

"Berrrrttttt!" But she didn't like the whole 'being separated' part, so her arm flailed a little wildly as the rest of her remained on the bed. He could at least hold her hand!

[askthelookout]

He couldn't, really. Not while he was using both hands to build up a fire and light it. Luckily, he'd made fires under much worse conditions, so it was only a couple of minutes before he straightened up, wiping his hands on his jeans and looking down at the merry little blaze he'd managed to get started in the fireplace. By its light, it was a whole lot easier to find his way back over to the bed, flopping down on it. "I owe you a hug, right?"

[apassingafternoon]

She squinted and blinked at the growing light, geared up to complain some more ... But he joined the bed just in time. She had thought he would say goodbye and then leave her entirely but this was much better!

"Yep!" Her arms spread, expecting but patient, and also slightly misdirected since she was already lying down and facing him, and would not put herself through the effort of sitting up. He would just have to figure it out, or kind of guide her into the easiest position. She'd follow simply enough.

[askthelookout]

"I try to be a man of my word," Bert said gravely, and leant over to hug her - rather awkwardly, since he didn't feel like it would be particularly appropriate to climb into bed with her. Still, it was a hug, and that was what he'd promised. Anyway he didn't exactly mind. In the absence of someone else's bed to crawl into, this was a pretty good way to round off an evening, all things considered.

[apassingafternoon]

Her motor skills left quite a bit to be desired but she knew how to hug! All it took was squeezing her arms around his neck a little. Yet, after all of this it couldn't really be that easy, could it? When he pulled away Kaine didn't let go easily, no, instead she did her best to catch his lips and this kiss was nothing like their first one. That had been gentle and unassuming. This? Well, Kaine wasn't a horny drunk by any means but she knew how to put her all into a kiss. She let her hand mess up his hair a little and she grinned by the end of it.

"You said I owed you!" And now she didn't because that was one hell of a kiss and it was worth at least a few bucks.

[askthelookout]

Bert made a herculean effort not to return the kiss, and mostly succeeded. Even so, when she let him go, his colour was high, and it took him a moment to find his tongue.

"Not... exactly what I meant, but alright." He laughed, a little higher than usual, and pulled away, turning his back on her so she wouldn't see the effect that had had on him. "Sleep well, alright, Kaine? I'll see you tomorrow."

When, hopefully, they would both be sober enough not to assail his self-control that way again. It was far too tempting to let her kiss him all she wanted. The only thing that made it easier was knowing that she was hideously drunk, and doing anything with her now would be even less ethical than if she was sober.

[apassingafternoon]

"Okay!" Her arm flopped again in a lazy, uncoordinated wave. She was happy and light, but it didn't really matter if it was from their kiss or not, she liked the feeling of it enough to become docile and squirm around in bed until she found the blanket and yanked it over herself. Just a nap, a little one, and then she would get back up and ... And maybe ...

Her thoughts trailed off as she fell asleep near instantly. Tomorrow would be waiting with an utterly shitty hangover but that wasn't todays problem. What really counted was that for the first time in weeks Kaine slept with a big grin on her face.