08-31-2021, 07:44 PM
Foolish indeed, Cheri might’ve agreed if she didn’t know Aela better. They both know there’s more to the story. The heir to Loess hadn’t been sure if she wanted Aela to know the full scope of things, her trust in the mare being so little earned or given, so instead she crafts a question that will tell her what (if any) decision is to be made about the little palomino and her place inside Cheri’s world. For Loess is her world, and she will see that it expands and takes root in ways that might prevent any horse from stepping across her path without thinking more than twice first.
Her biting nature has nothing to do with Taiga, and only partially reveals itself because of Obscene’s involvement - which reminds her:
“Request that he keep the spittle to a minimum this time, won’t you?” She slips a wry joke into her reply, acutely aware of how Aela had said that ‘she’ would send him along and not the other way around.
For a long time Cheri had been bitter about the relationship between her early crush and his golden paramour. The two arriving in Loess for a reception with Oceane had been an especially hard day for Cheri, and she’d left her post to search for Targaryen with sage advice from Reave on the matter. Advice that had slowly sunk into her psyche and pivoted the way she felt. Maybe a year ago Aela could’ve wounded Cheri’s pride with that comment, but now?
“I want to admit something to you.” Cheri leveled out. It was hard for such a naturally buoyant tone to sound austere, but she managed. “When you spouted off to Ledger about Obscene filling his court with the “loveliest and most powerful” this world had to offer, I thought you were full of shit.” She couldn’t help but grin.
“But the more reports I received about his budding little territory, the more I saw how your claim emerged as truth. I took note.” She ground the stones beneath her, turning to face Aela’s sideways stance. The river was but a murmur of noise now, overshadowed by her steady stream of consciousness. “I should thank you, really, for bringing so many fascinating oddities to bolster the south’s numbers, but in the end I’ll admit I was disappointed to see you’d passed over the loveliest and the best of them all.” Cheri tilted her chin and the effect was instantaneous: she looked celestial, exuding kindness and emerald warmth from the depths of her being. The world around her seemed to dim in comparison to her glow. She paused for a moment, considering the graceful elegance standing before her.
“You should honestly visit me in Loess more often.” She suggested, finally moving as if her business at the water’s edge was finished. “I like this... ‘girl talk’.”
Her biting nature has nothing to do with Taiga, and only partially reveals itself because of Obscene’s involvement - which reminds her:
“Request that he keep the spittle to a minimum this time, won’t you?” She slips a wry joke into her reply, acutely aware of how Aela had said that ‘she’ would send him along and not the other way around.
For a long time Cheri had been bitter about the relationship between her early crush and his golden paramour. The two arriving in Loess for a reception with Oceane had been an especially hard day for Cheri, and she’d left her post to search for Targaryen with sage advice from Reave on the matter. Advice that had slowly sunk into her psyche and pivoted the way she felt. Maybe a year ago Aela could’ve wounded Cheri’s pride with that comment, but now?
“I want to admit something to you.” Cheri leveled out. It was hard for such a naturally buoyant tone to sound austere, but she managed. “When you spouted off to Ledger about Obscene filling his court with the “loveliest and most powerful” this world had to offer, I thought you were full of shit.” She couldn’t help but grin.
“But the more reports I received about his budding little territory, the more I saw how your claim emerged as truth. I took note.” She ground the stones beneath her, turning to face Aela’s sideways stance. The river was but a murmur of noise now, overshadowed by her steady stream of consciousness. “I should thank you, really, for bringing so many fascinating oddities to bolster the south’s numbers, but in the end I’ll admit I was disappointed to see you’d passed over the loveliest and the best of them all.” Cheri tilted her chin and the effect was instantaneous: she looked celestial, exuding kindness and emerald warmth from the depths of her being. The world around her seemed to dim in comparison to her glow. She paused for a moment, considering the graceful elegance standing before her.
“You should honestly visit me in Loess more often.” She suggested, finally moving as if her business at the water’s edge was finished. “I like this... ‘girl talk’.”
@Aela