Open To Anyone For Anything RP Post

[questionablewit]

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[grumpycatanthir]

Aaaaaaand of course she goes back to that.

He clears his throat awkwardly.

"I... meant exactly that. You... I find you fair." He says. "Strong of spirit and will and... er. It... it was a compliment."

[takesnoshit]

Of course she does. Did he think all these questions were idle, to no purpose? Haleth does nothing without purpose. Nothing.

She looks at him with consideration. "I...also find you fair," she says after a few long moments, blushing faintly as she says it. "And have great respect for your knowledge and ability. You lead your people well, and have dealt most generously with me and mine, beyond anything I could have hoped for."

Haleth was very impressed by the fact that he personally tended her injured when there was no one else to do it. That was something she would never have anticipated. In truth the seed of her attraction was planted there, and took root quickly, little though she acknowledged it.

She blushes more deeply at that thought, and turns back to the meal. "And yet it does not sound as though following this path further would be wise. Particularly not for you, and I am reluctant to cause you harm or distress. That would be a poor repayment indeed for all you have done for my people." She hesitates, and more quietly adds, "Or all you have done for me."

Evening after evening spent tutoring her, building her shaky skill at the language, advising her who among his kin to trust and how to approach them...knowledge beyond price, to Haleth.

[grumpycatanthir]

Well no. But he was hoping for more time...

He blushes again at the compliment.

"Thank you. I confess that you have been by far the most agreeable of all the people I have had to work with, which went a long way into allowing me to be generous. And yes, I include my family in that."

HE LOVES HIS BROTHERS BUT THEY ARE DICKS.

He winces, looking away.

"I... would not disagree with your assessment." He says halting. "Little though I like it. It is true that we have been foretold Doom and I would... not entangle you with us for that reason alone. But there is no distress that you could bring me that... would not be worth the joy you would bring in turn."

His brothers are dicks and she'd probably just tell them so. Except Mags. She'd like Mags.

[takesnoshit]

But time is short, as he pointed out himself, and sorter still for her. Even with this extended journey they will part company soon, and Haleth dislikes unresolved things. Her mouth quirks up a little in amusement. "I do not think any have ever before called me agreeable. Not even those who loved me best."

She leans back against a rock, eyeing him with that measuring look, one she wears when gathering information before judging her course. She wears it often, but it has not until now been so pointedly direct at him rather than information he has imarpted to her. "Yet you are immortal, and I am not. Any joy we might have would still be fleeting, by your standards. That would not trouble me, but if it would then bind you permanently from other future possibilities, that would be unjust of me." She frowns a little. "And I do not know this Doom of which you speak. What is it?"

Mags is flattered!

[grumpycatanthir]

"They did not understand the value of brevity." He retorts, lips quirking up in a small smile, which drops as she speaks.

"I know. But because a thing is fleeting is it any less precious?"

He sighs. "It was prophesied over us in warning, when we left Aman - that to evil ends would all things turn that began well, that we would be betrayed and disposssed, that we would lose all that we fought for and know no reprieve, and that our very prayers would go unanswered."

He is a master craftsman. She respects that.

[takesnoshit]

She chuckles, bowing her head in acknowledgement and agreement at this sally with a smile on her face.

The smile fades as she considers the question of fleeting things, and vanishes as he pronounces his Doom. She sits upright, frowning. "That is no small curse. Can there be no escape from it, no reparations made?"

Curufin just said OI plz to not give me a Curufin muse

[grumpycatanthir]

"If they will not even hear our prayers, what reparation can be made?" He points out.

"We will fight it until the end, but the end is already foretold. It might be in five years, or ten, or a hundred, but there is no way this war will end well. In truth, there was no way it could."

They are after all, fighting a Vala.

Bwahahahaha. But yes she'd respect him too.

[takesnoshit]

"I see." She considers all this, looking out into the dark. "I will think on it," she says finally. "How is your stew?"

lolololol

[grumpycatanthir]

He blinks at her, nonplussed, and then looks down.

"It is fine." He says and automatically takes another mouthful.

Sorry, Caranthir. Feel free to not end the conversation.

[takesnoshit]

"Good." She takes another few bites of her own, looking idly up at the night sky. That is apparently all the questions she had for now.

lol XD

[grumpycatanthir]

He stares at her, and then at his stew, and goes back to eating it (it is, after all, good stew, and it would be a sad thing to waste).

"Is... that all you wanted to know?" He says hesitantly, after a while.

[takesnoshit]

Haleth considers this--does appear to actually be considering it. "It is all I would know for now, I think," she says after a moment. "No doubt I will have more questions later, but you have given me much to consider." Her glance at him is sudden and direct. "Was there anything you would know of me, then?"

Honestly she'd been assuming that if there was anything he was wondering, he would simply ask, as she does. But he seems disconcerted.

[grumpycatanthir]

He pauses, considering.

(This is a crossroads, he knows. He could say no, and nothing will happen, and Haleth will be safe. But. He is a son of Feanor. Recklessness is in the blood)

"I would know only one thing." He says slowly. "If there was no Doom between us... no duty. What ... would your answer be, should I bring suit."

[takesnoshit]

It is a moot question, for the situation he describes is not as things are, and shall not be. She should refuse to answer it on those grounds. Such hypothetical musings are pointless.

But she thinks on it, taking stock of her own inclinations for several minutes, staring into the fire. That alone, if he but knew it, is evidence of her heart.

"Had we only ourselves to consider," she says finally, "I would be...strongly inclined towards it, except in that I am still mortal and you are not. I cannot believe that liaisons between two such as we would be wise. And I very much dislike the idea of you spending Ages alone and grieving after my inevitable death, whenever that might come, without even the freedom to seek for a new partner."

She grimaces a little, her glance flitting to him and then back. "It is an irony. If a more temporary partnership were possible, I would have fewer qualms, even if such a liaison were less than I wanted. But I do not hunt for sport, and I would not leave a creature bound in a cage with no prospect of freedom. I have no wish to ensnare you."

[grumpycatanthir]

"I honestly do not care that you are mortal." Caranthir says bluntly.

"But for duty and doom, I would court you formally, and even now, if you wished it. Besides. I doubt I will live that long, anyway."

He shrugs. "We are fighting a Vala, Haleth. We are going to lose, eventually."

[takesnoshit]

Haleth raises an eyebrow. "You are already so certain? After a few mere weeks?"

[grumpycatanthir]

He meets her eyes and nods.

"I am." He says quietly, and waits.

[takesnoshit]

"Why?"

Her gaze is steady, unblinking.

[grumpycatanthir]

He takes his time to answer her truthfully, because she deserves that.

"Because I thought when I met you that you were strong, and fierce, and loved your people. Because I find you fair, and your mind and mine work alike, that we might understand each other well. Because I find competence and practicality, as it turns out, extremely attractive when paired with a strong spirit and loyalty to one's people."

[takesnoshit]

She nods again, slowly. "Those are good reasons." Not likely to change, or to be mistaken. And matching her own opinions of him. It occurs to her that they are both unique in some ways, and that their uniqueness matches. They are both leaders to their people; that creates a bond, but also a distance, between leader and those led. For that reason as well as their shared inclinations of how to approach difficulties, they can understand each other in a way that most others will not. They are more equal than she first imagined, that day (it seems long ago, now) when he rode to her people's rescue.

But although Caranthir has called himself precipitous, Haleth is not. And moreover..."But duty does still lie between us, yours to your people and mine to mine. While I do not fear your Doom for myself, I can not risk it entangling the Haladin in its clutches." She shakes her head slowly. "I can not see a future in this. Perhaps years from now when my nephew is old enough to lead in my place, if we both still live and feel as we now do. But I cannot wed you, and you have said you cannot do less. Therefore this conversation should end here, and the subject not be brought up again."

[grumpycatanthir]

He is quiet, and cannot hide the hurt that flashes briefly across his face before he folds it away.

"Your reasoning is sound." He says quietly. "I... understand, little though I like it. But Haleth, you also underestimate my stubborness. Your duties, at the moment, as you say rightly, weigh too heavy. But I can wait - I am quite willing to do so. And... I am... willing to wed you by my people's laws, but not by yours, if that will make things... easier."

Of course, if she has to marry someone else, that's a different story, but he doesn't think she's mentioned anything like that.

[takesnoshit]

Haleth sees the hurt in his face, and is sorry to have pained him; for all that she is sure of the wisdom of her words, her own regret too is there in her eyes. There is a further flash of emotion when he says he is willing to wait--sweet, tempting, dangerous thought.

But her face suddenly hardens, and she looks away. "I will never marry." The words are rough, the determination in them adamantine. It is clear this is no sudden decision, but something long-standing. "Haldan will be my heir, for it is most unlikely I will bear children. But even if that were not so, I will not marry."

There is a moment of silence, in which she breathes a little harder than seems warranted, staring into the fire and not seeing it. Her return to herself is almost as abrupt as her sudden distraction; she closes her eyes, then shakes her head, glancing at Caranthir. "...my apologies. That harshness was not intended for you."

[grumpycatanthir]

He bites back the instinctively lash of hurt, the need to say cruel words, tamping down his temper to consider what he saw in her face, instead.

"Forgiven. Will you tell me why?"

[takesnoshit]

She shrugs a little. "Any man I married would have, or at least might seek, the leadership of the Haladin. And that I will not give."

For one of the rare times in her life, she hesitates, then continues more slowly. "That is not the whole story nor the only reason. Nor is it a thing that would apply to you, an irony I could never have foreseen when first I made my choice, years ago. But the rest of the story should wait for another night, I think. We have already given each other much to think on."

[grumpycatanthir]

"That first you will never have to worry about with me." Caranthir feels the need to point out.

He pauses. "Very well. I will not push you for more answers, at this time. But if you ever wish to speak, I will listen." He hesitates briefly, and then bows to her, a polite tip of the head.

"But for tonight I will leave you to your rest, for I have caused much disruption already, I see."

And he needs to lick his own wounds a little, a silly as that is.