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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 0:56:25 GMT -7
The smiles fades from his lips, and not for the first time. As the silence follows her words, Ro turns his eyes ahead, watching the path ahead of them without really paying it any attention. It's a somber thought, a disheartening one. When he left Ash, so determined to fulfill some sort of expectation he felt each and every time someone reminded him that he wasn't truly a Durin, he had not done so with the intention of hurting Mia. He had not done so to put this wall between them, which only seems to build itself higher even now as they walk together through the castle grounds. And he knows... he knows his path diverged so far from hers, straight into the darkest heart of this world, but it's also brought him back here. Now. Next to her after so long, a better man, a more sure-footed man, a whole man.
And he knows things are different. They will never be as they once were. They are no longer those wild children lying in the grass of Ash, twirling flowers in the air, lacing their fingers so tight not even sunshine could break through.
But he had hoped that neither one of them had strayed so far that they could not find a new path.
Ro pulls in a slow, deep breath, not knowing how to say any of that out loud. He stretches his fingers out at his sides, and exhales it all back out in a rush. "Well..." he begins, shoulders slumping once more, "We might be, who knows," he gives a short, noncommittal shrug, before his eyes drop down towards her, "But for the moment we're walking the same way, aren't we?" He says with a hint of reassurance in his tone, a smile curving at the corner of his lips. "One thing I've learned is...life is not so much a strict road pre-determined by the gods, but an empty map left for you to fill in. So..." he pauses as they reach a fork in their trail around the large, labyrinth of a courtyard that makes up the heart of Winterfell, turning just slightly towards her, "Which way do you want to go?"
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 17, 2018 1:26:37 GMT -7
Mia isn't deaf to the silence that comes from him mostly because she was sure that if it was her then she would be the same especially if Ro had said all of that to her. She never said it to hurt him and if he did hurt because of that then she would apologise because that was never her intention. The two of them had been so wild that at one point she was sure that Katherine had given up hope of trying to teach her anything and had declared that she had been around Tormund too long so she waited for Mia to grow out of it and then he was given the perfect opportunity to help her daughter on the path that she should've been on in the first place.
Like Katherine, Mia never cared about anyone's station and maybe that was why she had been friends with Ro for so long, she didn't care that he had been an orphan and had been adopted by Thorin and Bilbo, she didn't care that he didn't have adventures like those before him. The only thing she cared about was that he was her friend, that he would laugh with her, joke around with her and lay in the grass and watch as the sky turned from blue to the colours of sunset in Ash. Those were the days that she loved more than anything. Those were the times when she truly felt happy.
Mia looked ahead of her when he spoke about the path that they were on. "We're going the same way" she said after a moment and smiled over at him. They had then come to a fork in the path and she chewed on her lip for a moment, before she didn't use to think they would just take the path and not care where it was leading but now if she got lost here then the guards would be out looking for her, well they had been before but now everything was different. She reached up and moved a few strands of her hair from her cheek and put it back behind her ear and then took a deep breath before closing her eyes.
She let all the stress move away and for a little bit she let go and opened her eyes before she took a step in the direction that she wanted to go. "You coming or what?" she asked looking over at him, a smile on her lips. For a moment she wanted to have some time with him, without everyone staring at him. She wanted to just spend a little bit of time without her mother being present or her constant feeling of having to surrender for anything. With him she had been able to shake off everything and maybe she was living in the past too much because they would never be children again. They wouldn't be the kind that would lay in the grass and hold hands or run through the mud but she was sure with time they could at least be friends again and whatever it turned out like this time then was up to them.
"You always did like to chase after me" she said in a soft tease.
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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 12:02:43 GMT -7
Mia pauses for a moment, quiet, contemplative, and Ro lets the moment of silence fill in with city noise as he waits. He does not know what to expect, especially after the conversations they've already had. Mia has grown into a woman more mindful of her station and her responsibilities, and even in the short time they've spoken since he returned, he has not ignored how often she speaks about the future, about what lies ahead, her thoughts already on the road that seems to have been readily chosen for her. But he does not have to wait much longer. Moving with a sure grace, Amelia steps off into the direction of her choosing, looking back at him with a small smile on her lips. His own ticks a little further as he watches after her, beckoned to follow -- a good start.
Ro takes a step forward to catch up.
"I wouldn't have had to," he begins, tsking lightly at her tease, "If you hadn't always run off on me." Ro returns to her side, walking along with her as they continue on this little walk of theirs, no real destination in mind. It's easier to keep up with her now, his legs far longer and more sure-footed than they once had been when he was just the skinny boy from Ash. He remembers tripping after her, trying to match her speed and energy and spontaneity, none of which his people are particularly known for.
"So," he says after a moment of walking, eyeing her once more through his peripherals, "Besides your horse lord and your gowns, what else is new?" He asks, having never really gotten much of an answer before. A lot can happen in half a decade, and for the Princess of Winterfell, he doubts it's been so quiet. Even the world around them has come alive with spring.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 17, 2018 12:19:34 GMT -7
Mia laughed and it was the first real laugh she has given him while he has been here. She remembered leaving him behind and then getting frustrated when he wasn’t behind her. Of course it would mean that she would have to wait for him to catch up on his small legs but now, now he can keep up with her and like before he is at her side. Walking with her in no general direction just the two of them walking like they used too.
He asked her again what was new besides the Lord husbands that she was choosing from and she chewed on her lip for a moment trying to think what had happened in the years that they had been separated. “Well the big news of course is that we finally have Spring” she said and looked up at the sky. They both had known the cold here in Westeros and there had been people wondering if there was going to be any Spring at all and then thankfully it came.
“I haven’t ran through the grass with no shoes on yet but I will have to try it” she smiled and looked over at him. “Hmm what else?” She said trying to think once more. “I went to Durinhall a few times, I’m not sure if you knew that” she said softly. “I’ll be going back there again in a few weeks for my name day, Jeyne and Eoin are hosting a ball”
The two countries had become close and thankfully they didn’t need each other in times of war. What had brought them closer was the wedding of Sansa and Fili and then after that it had just been like they were close family also Mia and robin wasn’t going to be separated so easily so that made them close too. These two friends had withstood everything and for that she was grateful for the fact that she had had a friend.
“But it is nice to know that you can keep up with me this time” she turned around and started walking backwards so that her eyes were on him and a grin was pulling at her lips. “I did worry that you wouldn’t be able to keep up”
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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 12:37:51 GMT -7
"I hadn't noticed," he teases lightly, his soft smile turning into a wry grin. The moment he'd stepped off the boat to the west of here, he'd been greeted by the warmth of this place. The North still carries a chill, ice still drifting upon the winds blowing southward from the Wall, but it's the warmest he's ever known this place, and the brightest. Even though the skies remain a dull grey, the sun has actually made an appearance out from the thick, dark clouds he remembers, lighting the walkways and the stone walls and the fields of grass that stretch all around the castle. "I'm surprised you haven't yet." He comments, looking back towards her with a knowing eye.
When they had been children, the moment she set foot in Ash, she'd already be toeing out of her shoes -- intent on running full-tilt up the green hills and leaving Ro to chase after her as Bilbo's neighbors watched on with a disapproving eye.
Much like how they still look at them.
Ro blinks a little when she mentions Durinhall, his smile faltering slightly in surprise, "No..." he admits, shaking his head a little and looking ahead once more, "Eoin failed to mention that." Which was particularly odd, considering Eoin was the last man he'd seen before venturing eastward to Westeros. But he is a King after all. Perhaps it just slipped his mind. "Well, I'm sure Jeyne will make a spectacle." He smiles again, pushing those thoughts out of his mind and looking back to Mia.
A laugh bubbles out of him as she begins walking backwards, watching him with a grin, "I've learned how to hold my own." He replies.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 17, 2018 13:00:23 GMT -7
Mia kept the grin on her lips when he teased her. It was definitely starting to feel better than the cold that had lasted as long as she could remember. Knowing that this is what the sun left like it had made her feel better with knowing that he had been away. "Well I have to try sometime don't I?" she asked and raised an eyebrow at him. There had been times when she had stayed in Ash and had gone over in a dress that her mother usually picked out but when she got there she had taken her shoes off and was making the most of the grass, she even had grass stains on the gowns and in the end Katherine stopped sending her over with nice clothes and used gowns that had been old.
She raised an eyebrow when Ro said that Eoin hadn't mentioned that she had been over there a few times and guessed that that was mostly down to him having Kingly things to do so it wasn't actually that surprising. She laughed again when he said about Jeyne making a spectacle and honestly it was true, the woman had come from Nightsong and hadn't had an ounce of royal blood in her but Eoin had chosen her for his wife and even Mia had to admit that it was a good choice. Jeyne might not have been royal but that woman sure knew how to throw a party when she wanted too.
"Oh I bet you have" she said around a grin again before chewing on her lip.
When they were younger she would tease him about his little legs but now she was the shorter one of the two but somehow she still managed to keep up although she was usually the one who stepped forward quicker than him. Then a thought came to her and she then slipped her hand into his and pulled him with her towards the Godswood. It was the closet she could really get to being outside on grass and then once she stepped into the wood she slipped her shoes off and walked through it without any shoes on before turning towards him.
"Now do you think I'm fun?" she whispered to him.
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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 13:22:27 GMT -7
Quickly, without warning, Mia grabs a hold of Ro's hand and pulls him off to the side of the path they had been walking, her palm warm and small in his. It takes him a moment to recognize where he has been dragged, his blue eyes falling upon the familiar slow fall of red leaves upon the ground. But spring has turned the godswood into a spectacle of color -- bright greens and pale yellows and the vibrant reds of the weirwood tree. The lake is no longer frozen over, and beneath the surface, he can spy fish swimming lazily back and forth, untouched by anything but the clear water surrounding them.
His gaze falls back to Mia, watching as she slips out of her shoes and steps into the thick layer of grass covering the ground all around them. He lets loose a huff of a laugh.
"I did not expect you to fulfill that task so soon," he admits with a hint of humor after she whispers to him. "I would join you, but...my boots are a little harder to take off." He adds on. Though it is tempting. There's a sort of innocence to the idea of sinking his bare feet deep into the grass, a sort of nostalgia and comfort that he hasn't enjoyed in years. There are other ways to find moments of reprieve out in the wild, but they rarely come with such a child-like peace to it. Ro can't even remember the last time he did run barefoot through a field. It must have been long, long ago.
He reaches down to pick up a red leaf, twirling it round in his fingers as he rises straight once more.
It's been even longer since he's seen a weirwood. The only mystical trees in Rohan are...far different.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 17, 2018 13:36:29 GMT -7
"No time like the present" she said with a shrug of her shoulder.
If she was honest Ro brought out a side of her that was definitely different from the regal woman he saw back in the castle. Mia knew her mother meant well and she loved her for that but could Katherine even remember the last time she truly had fun? Did she remember her own childhood friendship with Leith their widowed cook? She had been tempted to ask but thought better of it. She was lucky that someone had wanted to be her friend, that someone had seen passed her title to the small girl that was there instead.
"It looks like the whole thing would be hard to take off" she admitted and looked him up and down. Thankfully she wasn't dressed like Ro was because his armour looked really complicated if she's being honest.
Mia chewed on her lip for a moment before she glanced over at him "Are you glad to be back or is the wild calling you again?" she asked softly and stopped to look back at him, for a man that had been gone for so long she wondered if he was longing for the wild or whether he was glad to be back in Ash or was he eager to leave again and to leave her without a friend again?
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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 13:58:54 GMT -7
"Can't argue with that," Ro admits, giving the leaf another spin as he looks towards her. The people of Ash aren't really known for their prompt desire to take life by the reigns. They're simple folk, small folk as Tormund called him, liking instead to let the days pass them by peacefully, doting their time on farming and gossip and the quiet luxuries of life. Bilbo, even before he ran off with the Durins on their quest to reclaim Durinhall, had been odd just for his wandering curiosity. He's even more of an oddity now, this little man who's trekked all the way across Rohan and the wilderness and beyond, fought a dragon, battled an army for a throne, and brought back a husband with him. That is unheard of even in the normal realms of men, let alone in the sleepy hollows of Ash.
And now Ro has followed in his footsteps.
He tucks the leaf away and snorts quietly as she looks over the armor adorning him. It is nowhere near as complex as it appears, far less of a hassle than the armor Thorin used to wear, far less buckles and snaps and pieces. Most of his armor is leather and lighter, meant for quick travel and easy movement. It's the steel plates on his left arm that bear the most of the weight and struggle, but they are necessary. "Oh, you get used to it," he replies with a small smirk. "A few pulls here, a tug there...." He shrugs his shoulders lightly, taking a step in her direction. "Practiced hands make perfect." He smiles.
Ro shrugs again at her question, letting his blue eyes drift across the lake near them, closing an eye against the reflected sunlight. "A bit of both, really. But I am enjoying the quiet." He admits. Especially after everything.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 17, 2018 14:19:34 GMT -7
He spoke about his armor and honestly it sound simple as a few pulls and a tug but to her it looked complicated. Her mind then wandered away for a moment and after he took a step towards her she found herself thinking of helping him to take it off, wondering just how practiced she would have to be. Then another thought came to her mind and she didn't like it, didn't like the thought of another woman helping him with the armor but she pushed that away because now wasn't the time to be thinking like that especially when she didn't think of him in that way. He was her friend and nothing else.
He spoke about the fact that he was enjoying the quiet and she smiled. "I'm glad that you're back" she admitted after a moment and she watched him. They had been apart for so long that it felt strange to be here with him again, here in the weirwood watching as he stood there in that armor of his.
Mia pulled her lip in between her teeth and watched him for a moment and for some reason she found herself moving closer to him, found herself putting her hand on his chest and looking up at him. It felt strange to know that this was Ro, this was her Ro but he was here with her and she was just glad to have him back even if for a little while before he went back to Rohan and the wild leaving her behind again and maybe this time it would be worth the hurt. This time it would be worth all the pain and sadness that she had felt last time to know that he missed her that he was her friend still and always would be.
She wanted to say something funny about why she had her hand on his chest but for the first time nothing came, there was no tease that would grace her lips or no joke that they both could share; instead there were blue eyes on blue eyes and she wondered for a moment if he too felt the sensation in him that she was feeling? Something so foreign that she wasn't sure she wanted to put a name too.
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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 14:45:25 GMT -7
He glances back to her, the smile on his lips turning warm at Mia's words. He is glad for that, at least. Glad that his arrival had not come with feelings too bitter that they drove her even further from him. That possibility had worried him throughout his entire journey here, wondering what if Mia no longer wanted to see him, no longer wanted to look at him, after he had left without a word. But to know that she glad to see him again, after all this time...
It's a relief.
She moves slightly forward, and as Ro's brows twitch close together, her palm lays upon the black leathers covering his chest. A strange tightness forms there, beneath her touch, his heart feeling two sizes too big and his ribs feeling as though they shrink around it. He lowers his blue eyes to her hand for a moment, curious, before his gaze flicks back up to meet hers. Ro finds her already watching him, as though she wanted to say something, but the silence continues between them -- broken only by the quiet brush of wind through leaves.
The smile ticks again at his lips. "As am I," he finally replies. Taking her hand with his, gently, he lifts her knuckles upwards to lay a soft kiss upon them. His eyes remaining upon her face the entire time. His lips linger for just a moment upon her skin before he lowers her hand away once more, fingers still wrapped around it.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 17, 2018 15:06:03 GMT -7
Mia can't describe the feeling in her when he replied to her and said that he too was glad to be back. For a long time she had wondered what she would say when she finally did see him, would she be relieved or would she feel so mad at him that she didn't want to see him? There were so many ways she could've played this but in the end she could only decide on the day that it would occur and for a while she wasn't sure that day would ever come. Then finally that day came and she tried to be angry, even wanted to be, but in the end she could only feel relief that he had finally come back to her.
The wind blew about them and that was the only noise that actually existed to them right now. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles and she couldn't explain the shock that she had when he done that; his eyes remained on her the whole time. Mia tried not to let her feelings show but it was hard not too when his lips lingered against her skin for a long time and then he finally lowered her hand away and his fingers were still on her hand. She moved her hand in his and then slipped her fingers between this and held onto his hand just like she did when they were younger.
Her blue eyes were still on his face and she slowly move towards him, her heart set on doing one thing and she was getting closer. Her lips were getting closer to his.
Then...
"Amelia" a voice came through the quiet and Mia moved away from him and looked over at her mother who was looking like she was trying to keep her emotions in check. Katherine kept her eyes away from Ro and kept them firmly on her daughter. "You have a guest that is waiting for you to go back to him, move along now"
Mia sighed softly and slipped her hand away from Ro's and then moved away before grabbing her shoes "Yes, Mother" she said softly and then glanced back at Ro before she moved in the direction of courtyard to head back into the castle, only stopping to put her shoes on.
Katherine however stayed in the same spot, listening to her daughter as she moved back in the direction of the Great Hall for her guest before she put her eyes on Ro "I want you out of this castle and out of Amelia's life just like before and if you think of coming back I will personally make sure that you don't make it back from the wild" she said and turned away from him and in the direction of the courtyard too.
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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 15:35:49 GMT -7
Her fingers lace through his tightly, reminding him of those summer days when they were younger, reminding him the sun warming his face and the tickle of grass around their bodies and soft giggles as they let the wind tickle their noses. And then she leans towards him, slowly, hesitantly, and Ro finds his face dipping down towards her as well, drawn in.
But the moment ends abruptly, the world filling in back around their ears, Mia's hand slipping quickly from his. The familiar sound of Queen Katherine's voice shatters whatever might have been, and he knows as well as he knows his own bones that it would not be so easily regained. Ro sighs quietly, chin dropping a little, eyes falling to the ground. Mia collects her things upon her mother's request, slipping on her shoes and disappearing hastily out of the godswood with no question at all. Roe clears his throat quietly, lifting his chin once more to look towards the sky, steeling himself.
And for good reason.
The Katherine he remembers was not so cold. He remembers warm evenings in the Great Hall, bundled up in blankets, sipping warm drinks, watching Katherine brush Mia's hair and thinking of the few memories he has of his own mother. She had seemed so radiant to him. This strange, other-worldly being. The epitome of what a Queen should be.
But here and now, turning to look at her slowly as she speaks to him in a low, serious voice, that gilded image is gone. She looks the same. Exactly the same. None of the grey that had appeared on any of the others, none of the lines marking her face, none of the passage of time. Just an unwelcoming image of the past.
Ro furrows his brows. "It is good to see you as well, your Grace." He says carefully, facing her completely. "If I have done something to offend you..." He speaks, her threat remaining at the forefront of his mind and not likely to go anywhere soon, "I apologize. But I don't seem to know what it is exactly I've done."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 17, 2018 15:54:44 GMT -7
Ro spoke and Katherine stopped before turning her head to the side and listening to what he said. Then there was silence between them after he finished speaking and she took a deep breath then she finally turned and looked at him.
Katherine had to admit that he looked different, older, and she could see the look in his eyes that told her that she looked the same. That she didn't look a day older than when he last saw her and there had been times when he would stay in Winterfell with Amelia, the two of them not being separated for very long. She had loved this boy like he was her own, he had made her daughter happy and she loved seeing Amelia so giggly with him. Of course she wasn't a fan of her wild side but she came to expect that from a Stark. They all seemed wild to her.
Then one day he had broken her daughters heart and that she couldn't forgive him for. He spoke about not knowing exactly what he had done but she knew, she damn well knew what he had done.
Katherine turned and looked at him. "You don't know what you done? You broke my daughters heart, when she found out that you had left it shattered her and for a long time she would sit and cry as she waited for you to come back but you never and both me and her father had to deal with that" she said watching him and then shook her head. "We were the ones who had to put her back together and now what? You're back to hurt her again? That isn't going to happen so I will ask you as nicely as I can to get out of Winterfell because this is going to be the last time you have contact with Amelia"
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Post by Ray on Jan 17, 2018 16:21:44 GMT -7
Queen Katherine turns back to face him, the same stony expression upon her face, indifferent to any apologies. But Ro stands his ground, somehow feeling like he should be preparing for the worst as he stares into her dark eyes.
He's seen plenty in his time, plenty out in the wilds. He knows that the people of Esgaroth age slowly, as if frozen in ice, their lifespans lengthy and their youth almost eternal. But she is not one of them. He knows that there are other beings that lurk, untouched by time, watching the clock wind slowly round as if it were merely a toy. And those things are dangerous. Each different, each beautiful, each eager to rip the sinew from bones. And looking at Katherine now, he feels that familiar uncomfortable twist in his stomach.
But still he remains.
His heart sinks slowly in his chest as she speaks, lamenting the heartbreak he'd caused, laying it out before him harshly. Mia had not told him this, only giving him a peek into the distress he'd caused. But this... this is not merely diverging roads. This is burying the path altogether. A slight frown tugs at the corners of his mouth. "I didn't know." He admits in a murmur. "That was never my intention. And that is not why I am here." He tries, but he knows his words will fall on deaf ears. Especially when he's still not entirely sure what had driven him here in the first place. Nostalgia? Fixing a friendship? Kindling an old flame?
"But sending me away will do nothing but hurt her again." He says, fixing his eyes back onto Katherine. "I am trying to make amends."
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