Closed The Morning After

[Epifanio Snowsong]

Sorry. Apologetic tendencies and worry is what the bard came back to. His head started to rest upon his knees when he had his hand take up by Aliana. In his angry state he didn’t even dare returning the grasp. He was beginning to shut down. He needed some fresh air. Something to do. Something to keep his mind off of the matter. Though first he wanted to explain it to Aliana. “never say sorry to me. I don’t like apologies. They don’t make anything better. One can say sorry a million times but it will never help the problem.”

Feeling her delicate hand attempt to have him look her in the face, he did such but the anger could still be seen in his eyes. Red, a dark amber red that would be rather intimidating. Only upon seeing Aliana did they noticeably start to calm down. Lighter tones of pink took over the red like a ripple in a puddle while raining.

His emotions still confused. A lot had happened within the past few days. He wasn’t sure of how things would fare. The only thing he could think of was somehow to relax. He needed a smoke at this point. It had gone so long without one. Though he managed to only do such by the euphoria Aliana provided before.

“They said that I’m responsible for you. That if you do anything wrong that we both will face punishment. “

“I don’t know what I should do. What we should do “

“not to long ago some polar bear killed my parents. Killed them. Most morwen prizes them. Most are Kelvic. “

His face construed at that thought. His inner desire was that of a confusing one. Finally slumping his legs down the bard took Aliana in his arms. That was when he once again heard another knock loud and impatient.

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

☾ Title and Date ☽

Aliana listened to the man and nodded understanding. True sorry never truly fixed anything, but there were times that it at least helped the girl's feelings. The dark haired Isur forced herself to stay straight and not back down to his red eyes. She did not want to make the man think he scared her. Gently putting her forehead against his she closed her eyes not saying anything. Sometimes Aliana found it better to say nothing at all than to try and say too much.

“I wish I could take all the pain away,” she said gently, “perhaps it would be best if I left town and went to a different city. I have caused you enough trouble.”

Aliana said gently as her eyes cut to the side. Blushing gently the woman let him pull her into his arms. Leaning against him she growled hearing the impatient loud banging. The Isur had had enough of all these people trying to barge in on the pair. Standing up she stalked over to the door and stood sideways putting her foot in the way so it would not be slung open again. Opening it the woman was met not only by another man in the strange garb from before, but also a young beautiful vantha woman.

“What do you want?” She asked with a growl.

“You,” The man said and instantly grabbed the woman's arm dragging her out of the room.

Aliana yelped and just about tripped over her own feet. The woman watched him drag her off with a smug look before running into the room. The Isur winced at the tightness of the man's grip slowly becoming more and more pissed. She could hear the other woman fawning over Epifanio as if they were lovers for years. A part of Aliana began to doubt what he had said. Pulling back she got the man's attention with a glare.

“I can walk on my own, release my arm this instant,” she said through her teeth not happy at all.

“I will release you when we are back at the Ice Watch barracks,” the leader said before pulling her out the door to the building.

hello
hello
hello
Hello
Hello

[Epifanio Snowsong]

Title and Date

Epifanio already engaged only got worse as the knocks on her door got louder. The added thought of Aliana leaving town after the whole or deal only added to it. His mind was racing, and his adrenaline pumping. The bard could just not have a regular day.

“Was I anything to you? How dare you think just leaving would solve the problem. It would probably make it worse. Your bags are packed already. Maybe that was the intention all along.”

Though Epifanio despite his anger couldn’t let her go. With a force she hadn’t seen from he grabbed ahold of and pull her in roughly… only to give her a hug. “you can’t say stuff like that to me. I have no one here. If you wanted you could even come and see the snowsong hall. Know that I’m telling the truth.”

Suddenly his lover shot up and decided to try and open the door. Moving out of the way from leaning against it the bard stood up and this time made sure to wipe off his hands. It all went so quickly. Once again Alianas room was intruded on and she was grabbed and pulled out of the room. Reaching forward the bard attempted to grab out at her as well. His hand just barely grazed some of her hair only to grasp and tighten on nothing but air as he was tackled.

“Get off me you slut!” he shouted as trying to make his way to the door. In response the woman slapped him in the face and huffed out a breath of stinky air.

“oh Epi, I thought you were dead! Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“I don’t even know you!” he shouted once more before grabbing ahold of both her arms squeezing tightly.
“but you. You were with me the night of the Aurora.”
“I haven’t remembered one of those nights in a long time. You mean nothing to me”
The who’re started to turn red and flustered “you said you would make the stars dance for me!”
Starting to maneuver her back outside the door the bard shoved her outside and slammed the door. Gathering his things in a hurry he went to the hearth and threw water on himself and the fire. In his desperate state he started to climb inside the hearth upwards hugging his gamba case and using his back as leverage while using his legs to awkwardly climb. Luckily the hearth was large enough and the roof wasn’t that far away. Getting to the top the bard used his gamba case to pop off the cover to the chamber and set the case on the roof then climbed out. He was covered in sut and mildly exhausted. He never climbed like that before and it took a lot of his muscles to do such.

It was difficult to make out but he could see two figures waking out not far from the entrance to the building. In a stumble of trying to pull out an arrow the bard list his footing and started to roll down the roof. His gamba case gently sliding faster than him landing in a patch of soft from the wind a couple days before. He however was not so lucky and slid down the roof attempting to scramble to hold onto something . when finally be felt his legs slip from under him he grabbed onto the edge of the building before falling back onto the ground and a few feet from Aliana.

Getting up the bard out of breath, dirty and covered in sut… smiled until he saw the woman from before come out. What the bard did next was another one of his famous acts. “This woman just tried to attack me! She’s delirious and tackled me then slapped me. You see this woman is just jealous of Aliana and roused this whole thing up to try and get rid of her! Who are you going to trust the established city bard who is adored in this city or this two bit slut who can’t find a man to save her life?”

A moments pause led to a huge amount of laughter causing him to release his grip slightly from Aliana, just as he did such the woman charged towards Epifanio with a dagger in hand. The ice watch member turned around just as she yelled out hysterically. His eyes widened with disbelief.

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

☾ Title and Date ☽

Aliana continued to fight against the man's grip wanting to go back to Epifanio. A loud slam caught the woman's ear as she was taken outside. Instant shivers coursed through her body as bare feet came in contact with the cold snow. A considerable crowd had began to form seeing what was happening. Looking around the woman gulped at how many were looking at her with judgmental eyes. She just wanted to crawl under a rock and disappear. The sudden crash in the snow made her yelp and turn around. Eiseen was in a snow drift and soon so was Epifanio. Snickering the woman got a slight giggle out of the sight. Her lover was covered in soot and snow while smiling at them.

“Always a show pony,” Aliana said with a smile.

The woman busting out the door made the girl growl. This chic was getting on Aliana's last nerve. First she accused her of killing Epifanio then had the gal to show up at her home with the head of the ice watch. The woman burst out laughing with everyone else and slipped from the older man's grap. Hurrying over she knelt beside the male vantha ignoring the numbness in her feet; turning his face to her the girl kissed him soot and all. The sudden shout caused Aliana's head to jerk up, moving quickly the girl grabbed the dagger by the blade ignoring the searing pain that started instantly. She forced her midsection to stay strong which made her arm nearly immovable as blood slowly dripped down her arm before dripping off her elbow. The crowd went quiet watching the two women in shock and awe. Soon enough the Ice Watch members grabbed the female Vantha and put her under arrest for assault. Handing the knife to the man Aliana turned back to Epifanio.

“Of course you mean something to me. It was never my intentions to leave; I would love to see where you call home,” Aliana said putting her left hand on his cheek with a smile.

hello
hello
hello
Hello
Hello

[Epifanio Snowsong]

Title and Date

“Now do you believe us?” Epifanio asked the icewatch. Turning to observe Aliana he knew she was injured and couldn’t fend for herself much longer. Or rather he didn’t want her to. Grunting slightly as lifting Aliana up cradling her in his arms he said “Now if you don’t mind I have a real woman to take care of. Try to handle that one, please?” while turning away smiling.

While walking towards his gamba to retrieve it be gently kissed Aliana and threw a portion of his coat over her feet “What were you thinking? She could have seriously hurt you?” regardless he held her very close to himself to try and protect her from the snow and ice. Her feet was his major concern. Kneeling down to the ground he carefully used his knees to support Aliana, a very difficult thing to do, and attempted to pick up his case and sling it around himself. “let’s go get you taken care of. Guess it’s my turn this time.”

Returning to her apartment he noticed that the whore didn’t bother in closing her door. Noticing that everything still seemed in the right place he carried Aliana over to her bed, taking caution as to not allow any blood to get on her sheeting. “Stay right there.” He said with a soft voice. He returned to the door to shut it, and set his gamba near the entrance along with his bow and coat and shirt.

Taking out one of his arrows he stabbed at a section of his sleeves from his shirt and ripped off a section that was long. Walking over to the fire that was just barely still alit he placed some water into the bowl he used for oil earlier and the ripped section of shirt. He had remembered fairy tales where a man did such to his own leg after getting bit by an artic wolf and lived. As the water started to reach boiling he headed towards to door.

“Hey I said don’t move. Trust me.”

And gathered some snow and returned to place it into the bowl to chill out down to tepid. Now finally giving Aliana some attention he grabbed her hand and kissed the backside of it before taking great care in wrapping it up and washing off some of the blood from her arm. “You know. You truly are a difficult one. Aren’t you?”

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

☾ Title and Date ☽

Aliana looked up at the man when he spoke to the Ice Watch members. She stayed quiet figuring it better to let Epifanio handle the men then to try herself. Shivering lightly the woman was beginning to get cold; her eyes widened when the man picked her up. Gripping her hand and placing it against her abdomen the girl smiled gently feeling his jacket go over her cold feet. Pressing the now almost blue appendages against his side, she was sure that it felt like little icicles against him.

“I don't care. I wasn't going to just let her hurt you. I meant it when I said 'you mean something to me',” Aliana said looking at him gently.

The dark haired girl kissed him back when he kissed her. Leaning against him a shiver racked her body causing her to gulp some. Looking up at the door when he walked in a scowl instantly appeared on her face. That petching whore had left her door standing wide open for anyone to have entered. Taking a quick glance at everything the woman did not see anything unusual or missing. Turning her head up at him the Isur kept her hand tightly closed so there wouldn't be blood all over the sheets and floor. Aliana watched him as he told her to stay still. Moving to get up the girl smiled and just sat back when he got onto her.

“My bad,” Aliana said with a smile and curled her legs up under her.

She blushed gently when he kissed the back of her hand and gently cleaned it. With a soft smile the girl let him do as he pleased to her. Through everything here with this man was what meant everything to her.

“Tell me more about you Epi,” Aliana said gently.

hello
hello
hello
Hello
Hello

[Epifanio Snowsong]

Epifanio was completely exhausted and through it all he used to only truly rely on himself. It was different being responsible for someone. Having the feeling of taking care of someone and making sure they are alright. It was all happening too fast but he didn't care. After he was done tending to Aliana he walked over to the fire and started it back up still mostly covered in sut. He didn't like the feeling of being dirty although at this point he didn't even really care.

"mostly I feel alone in this world. My parents died some time back. Murdered by a polar bear. I don't really like talking about it much. Family was everything to me. Since then I've just been working and trying to better myself. I would have the occasional companionship but not a one was interested in staying around. They just wanted to use me I guess. As fleeting as a song used for a moment of entertainment. "

Epifanio turned his back to Aliana and stared at the door to his gamba.

" eisen was all I had. Passed down to me by my father, she means everything to me because it's all I have left. Through her I play my memories and my feelings out. It's just hard to describe. When I really found music in my soul was after they died, and that is when I started to appreciate Rhaus. "

Suddenly the bard had enough of the negative and wanted to change pace a little bit.

" but now I've got you! " in a sudden moment he got close to Aliana and held out his dirty hands in front of him and reminded her that he was dirty.

" I even climbed through a petching hearth to get to you! And I'm going to get you! "

Smiling massively he charged to Aliana and started to playfully tickle her. He wasn't sure if she was ticklish but he did try, first going for just above her hips. The tickle would surely result in friendly rough housing if she attempted to avoid it and while laughing he spoke out to her in vantha.

"I love you. "

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

☾ Title and Date ☽

The dark haired beauty smiled watching him as he tended the fire. She gently touched her hand making a note in her mind of how hard it would be to work the forge till it healed. Aliana had not experienced the pain of losing her entire family to something that seemed vital to their culture. Glancing out the wind some to a pair of ice watch walking by, she wondered just how much he had come to hate them. Turning to look back at the man when his voice suddenly lifted, she giggled seeing his hands. Moving back some the woman squealed when he pinned her down and started trying to tickle her. Though with how ticklish she was it was not a hard success at all. Playfully pushing on him the girl caught her breath as the man stopped and spoke to her in his native tongue again.

“Will you teach me to speak like you?” Aliana asked gently looking up to him, “I want to understand you and be able to talk to you just as you do me.”

The girl had began to yearn for the knowledge that eluded her. Not only would it make talking to Epifanio easier, it would also enable her to speak with her customers as well. Discussing prices with such a high language barrier was proving to be more difficult than it first seemed. She would either need Epi to follow her around as a translator or learn. Since the man worked at night it was not a good idea to have him getting up early only to pull a late night working himself.

hello
hello
hello
Hello
Hello

[Epifanio Snowsong]

The bard began to blush as she instantly requested to learn what he was saying finally. Just at the moment that seemed the most intimate. Deep down be knew what he said was true because he didn't even have to think about it. It just came out of him instantly like a sweet melody played on his strings. Sitting up and having an intent look on his face the man instantly got serious. His eyes once again went to hues of pink and butterflies started to flap around in his guts.

For the first time he started to stutter and then spoke in common.

"i can teach you."

His face went into his hands as he scratched his nose for a moment and went back to looking at Aliana.

"I'll start with what I said earlier. Your first words to learn."

He sung the phrase I love you once more, prolonging the syllables and talking more slowly than normal for vantha song speech. Then said it again normally and asked her to repeat it with a smile on his face. He knew though that of he made her say it without her knowing the true meaning of it first it wouldn't be true for her... Shyke he wasnt even sure how she would react. But a bard is as a bard does.

Now speaking in common the man looked at her in her eyes and said the words once more. "I love you."

After a brief pause to allow her to understand what it all meant and him trucking her into saying it back to him he braced himself to be hit while smiling and wincing at the same time.

"I meant what I said. I truly did. Though I know tricking you into saying it in vantha was bad... I knew no other way. I wanted you to know."

The man was eager to hear her response and scared at the same time. Those words that he never spoke but to relatives which were long gone meant more to him than life itself. It was the bridge between him and his soul. Saying such to someone and meaning it is a big thing for him. As of he was now bound by his words as if it was spell.

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

☾ Title and Date ☽

Aliana sat up watching the man as he got serious. Smiling the woman was excited to learn from him knowing that he would not make fun of her lack of knowledge. Nodding the girl listened to the elongated words mouthing them as he spoke. The Isur had no idea what she was saying or even if it was right. Taking a deep breath she spoke the words a little faster making it sound better than previously.

“I lo...love y..you,” Aliana said in a broken painful sounding Vani.

Looking up at him when he spoke in common the woman blushed. She didn't know he had fallen in love with her of all people. A part of her mind chastised her for thinking so foolish. Breathing deeply the dark haired woman made the man wonder about if she was going to hurt him. With a smile the girl got close turning his head up.

“I love you,” Aliana said in Isur as well.

Aliana kissed the man gently. She was never good at showing her emotions so at the moment a contentedness washed over the woman.

hello
hello
hello
Hello
Hello