A Meandering Stroll (Closed)

by **Jaelyn Baroth** on May 12th, 2011, 6:05 pm

Season of Spring, Day 82, 511 AV

Jaelyn was having a hard time focusing on her training today, a fact that Raynard had noticed when he caught her on the side of her head with a training sword, and so her patron had sent her to try and calm down and refocus.

At first Jaelyn had tried wandering the Stone Gardens, as she had done in the past to calm herself and focus, but it had only gotten worse there. Her mind was filled with thoughts of young men, and it was getting very frustrating that she couldn't silence the thoughts like she normally did.

Dimitri, Markus, Kendall, Tolby... For several seasons she had managed to keep any young man from occupying her thoughts, but now she was not only struggling with one, but four! It certainly didn't help either that her Mother wanted her to find someone to be happy with, and had even assumed that Jokor was someone like that!

No, she had to calm down. She had to focus on her training and preparation for her Quest. Taking a slow look around she was surprised to find that she had wandered into Winthrop Alley, a place in Syliras she rarely visited. In fact, the last time she had been here was with Jokor when she had first met him, buying him clothes so he could get rid of those dirty rags he had showed up in.

Walking the short distance to An Elegant Weave she thought about going in and browsing around, but before her thoughts could go any further she caught sight of one of the dresses on display in the window. It was an elegant light blue ballgown with white embellishments of lace decorating it and giving it a feeling of a brilliant sky speckled with light little clouds. She couldn't help but stop and look at the beautiful dress. What would it be like to wear such a thing?...

by **Jocelyn** on May 12th, 2011, 6:23 pm

"Wouldn't it be amazing to wear that to a ball?" Jocelyn had a smile on her face as she spoke, noticing Jaelyn stop next to her. She was glad to see she was not the only one who couldn’t resist stopping to admire the gorgeous gown. She looked down at her own attire, dusting off her green skirt slightly with her free hand. He right hand was wrapped around the strap of her backpack, which looked to half full and smelt off sweet, freshly baked products. Her Isurian-craft blade was at her side as always though there was little else that stood out about the brunette.

“Could you imagine turning up to a great ball in this,” Jocelyn’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she imagined it herself. “A handsome young man to escort you in. Then to move about the floor led by him so freely. How wonderful.” She swayed slightly, her imagination getting the better of her as her charming companion whisked her around the floor.

“I wish I could afford something so beautiful.”

by **Dimitri** on May 12th, 2011, 6:33 pm

Dimitri was a mess of bruises as he walked the streets, limping slightly. As he neared closer and closer to his quest, his training regimen from his mother grew more brutal. She seemed to use their training time to just beat up on him. And she was a vicious fighter, even though it was just a wooden sword. His ribs were on fire, his arms and legs striped with pain. But she was his mother, and it was always training. He had to suck it up. He could still slightly taste blood where she busted open his lip. She had managed to tear his white shirt, which brought him here to buy another.

He was inside and had just purchased a simple white shirt. The store owner said she'd discard the old one. He walked out of the shop and turned to the left, his welt covered back looking like he had received fifty lashes. His mother liked to strike him there, it showed how incompetent of a swordsman he was. He winced as he lifted his shirt to pull it on, wincing at the pain in his little finger. It was broken, and he had set it himself but it was black and blue and hurt like all. He raised his arms once more when he let out a hiss off pain. His shoulder had spiked in pain. Something felt wrong. And that was his sword arm. He tried once more hissing and sighing loudly in pain as he finally managed to pull the shirt on. He didn't notice the fellow squire behind him, staring into the window.

by **Jokor** on May 12th, 2011, 6:46 pm

Jokor was lazing around in the stone gardens, enjoying syna's rays, he caught himself doing this more and more these days, going towards one of the few spots in syliras that actually had an open roof and get some fresh air, the fact that the summer was coming and that the weather was just right to just lay in the sun and relax was just a small plus.
When he saw Jealyn enter the stone gardens however he raised an eyebrow and slowly got to his feet and hid behind one of the trees, wasn't she supposed to be training at the moment? Keeping into the cover of the tree and outside Jaelyn's sight he kept an eye on her, mentally debating to sneak a peak at her aura to see what was on her mind. Slowly channeling djed into his eyes the aura's sprang into existence, before he could get a good look at her aura though she walked towards the exit of the garden, letting out a soft curse he quickly went after her, keeping out of her view and being as inconspicious as he could in following her, mingling with the crowds or using the alleyways as a means to keep out of her sight and not trying to clue in other people that he was flowing her.

After a while they where walking through the winthrop alley and she suddenly stopped to look through the window of one of the shops, finding something on display very interesting. Jokor just kept to the other side of the street leaning against one of the walls, feigning as if he was waiting for somebody while keeping his senses on jealyn, expending a bit more djed to get a more picture what was going on in her mind.

by **Devlin Parker** on May 12th, 2011, 7:16 pm

On his way home, Devlin had decided on taking the shortest possible route, not quite in the mood for a stroll. He knew the alleyways in this area well, so he had no worries of getting lost. Besides, the main roads were always crowded, and he much preferred the more quiet path, not having to worry about accidentally placing his cane on someone's foot. He wondered if he needed to buy anything as he got closer to An Elegant Weave.

As he went around the corner towards the shop, he was surprised that there was already a group of people standing right outside of it. He was hoping there would be no one there as he walked through. He wasn't anti-social, in fact quite the opposite really, but his expectations of seeing an empty alley way at the next turn disappointed him for a moment. As he got closer, he noticed that the two women were both staring at a rather elegant dress through the window.
“I wish I could afford something so beautiful,” he heard the woman say as he walked closer. He shared her wishes as he imagined her wearing it in a fleeting thought.

As he took another passing glance at the dress the women were admiring, he failed to notice another man burst out of the shop, and he bumped into him unceremoniously. It wasn't a hard collision, but Devlin quickly lost his balance and tumbled to the side, just barely catching himself before his fall with his cane. gripping tightly onto his support and rather flustered, he struggled to find the words to speak. "Sorry, sorry..." he said, not even looking up at the figure opposite him.

by **Jaelyn Baroth** on May 13th, 2011, 4:39 am

The sudden sound of a voice, especially one stating something so close to Jaelyn's own thoughts, caught her off guard, and Jaelyn gave a little startled jump as she turned to face the source of the voice. The young woman she found standing next to her seemed rather similar to Jaelyn. About the same age and height, but the other young woman seemed seemed slimmer and more attractive. Despite that she wore a sword on her hip, which meant she most likely knew how to use a blade.

Jaelyn looked around quickly, but there was no one else close enough for the young woman to be talking to. Unbidden the images of Jaelyn wearing the dress, being escorted by Kendall, "I... Well..." she stammered as her face went bright red.

She really couldn't think about such things, she had to focus on her training, but it was so hard to keep such thoughts out. She didn't want to lie, to shame Tyveth, but it felt that if she voiced such feelings it would only make things more difficult.

When Dimitri came out it only made things more complicated in her mind. His beaten and bruised experience brought concern for her fellow Squire, but also memories of the training where she had first realized they might be more than fellow Squires. Even beaten the sight of his naked torso pushed her blush all the way to her ears as she froze, unsure what to do.

Before she could make a decision something else happened to break her from her indecision. A boy with a cane came up and bumped into Dimitri, almost falling over in the process. Stepping towards her fellow Squire quickly, forgetting about her embarrassment and bright red face, Jaelyn gasped, "Dimitri! Are you hurt?" moving up next to him she gingerly reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, "It looks like you have had a rough day..."

by **Dimitri** on June 13th, 2011, 10:19 pm

Dimitri hadn't noticed the man until after he was bumped away, the collision sending spikes of pain up his worrisome shoulder. He gritted through his teeth a quick, honest apology. After changing shirts he felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to hiss in pain. He turned and saw the friendly face of Jaelyn. She had a genuine look of worry and concern upon her face as he noticed her eyes examining his battered body. He felt something strange. Did she... Did she care for him more than a squire to squire bond? Her eyes, at least so it seemed, showed something... Deep and real.

He suddenly found his tongue unable to speak. She asked about his pain, but thankfully not how he got the injuries. He was embarrassed, being beaten by one's own mother. And she was a Knight no less. But no Knight was perfect. He hoped she wouldn't ask further, because he couldn't lie to her, or lie at all. He winced out a smile, and looked her in the eyes, his own showing his reservation to talk about it and a curiosity at her own look.

He tried to pretend to be tough, "Just a few bruises and scrapes, nothing some rest won't fix. And not too bad of a day, what have you been up too..?," he saw a woman behind her looking at some dress in the window. He wondered what Jaelyn would look like in a dress. His smile grew more genuine, he figured she'd be stunning. "Dress shopping?"

by **Jokor** on June 26th, 2011, 8:09 pm

When his auristic vision turned on his almost immediately gotoverwelmed from the sheer amount of aura's suddenly sprung to life, quickly trying to drown out the majority of information by focusing one Jaelyn's aura, calming down as the useless information quieted down till just something comparable to background noise. When he finally got a good lock on her aura he just caught a few feeling being suppressed under something that felt like duty or obligation... maybe even a mix of both. Jokor groaned as he couldn't catch what she was hiding underneath that. Still if he was careful and a bit vicious he would be able to wring that secret out of her anyway. He was from sunberth after all.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as Jaelyn's aura suddenly flared up with concern, surprising himself that he could easily pin the emotion down like that this time, before going back to the task at hand, namely trying to figure out what she was so concerned about anyway. Dropping his auristic vision before he began to feel the effects of overgiving he pushed himself of the wall he was leaning against and made his way towards the group, keeping himself out of their vision as he tried to get close enough to hjear their voices and satisfy his curiosity.

by **Jaelyn Baroth** on June 28th, 2011, 8:39 pm

Dimitri's response to Jaelyn's concern brought a slight frown to her lips, "That looks like more than just some scrapes and bruises Dimitri. We should get you to the Soothing Waters."

Jaelyn had started to move to help guide Dimitri away, but she froze at Dimitri's warm smile and simple question. All the embarrassment and confusion from before came rushing back, and almost completely drowned out her concern for Dimitri, "I... well," she blushed furiously at having been caught looking at a dress by another Squire, "I was just walking by, and the dress caught my eye," she finally admitted.

She turned her gaze away from Dimitri, looking unknowingly off in Jokor's direction, "I do not think a dress would suit me anyways. Squires and Knights should wear their armor, not pretty things like that."

Giving a small shake of her head she returned to her original desire, "Come on, we should get you to where you can be healed at least a little. If nothing else the hot water should help sooth your pain."

by **Dimitri** on August 6th, 2011, 4:41 pm

Dimitri smiled at the care she showed for him. He could tell she wanted the ball gown, but wouldn't dare get it for herself. Dimitri had to do something to change her mind. "How about I make you a deal? You try this beautiful dress on, and I'll let you take me to go get taken care of?"

He smiled at her genuinely, though teasingly. He moved to reenter the shop, gesturing for her to follow him. He wasn't taking no for an answer, after all Jaelyn wasn't the only one that needed to feel better now. "Come on, what could it hurt?" he held out his large, coarse hand, preparing to take her own and lead her within. He turned to the proprietor, "This lovely woman here would like to try on this ballgown in the window, can this be arranged please?"