08-25-2015, 01:25 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-25-2015, 01:29 AM by Kushiel.)
Kushiel may be going to hell, but he was going with a big ol’ grin on his face. There were few creatures that could rival Kushiel for swagger when he was proud of himself.
And boy was he.
If he wasn’t so delighted by her misfortune, and if he ever spared a thought for such things, Kushiel might have felt bad about the awkward situation Elysteria was placed in. The situation he had placed her in. She had come for a diplomatic mission, and instead, her plans were being hijacked by stallion who hardly gave two shits for politics. At least, not when something so important was on the line.
He was having fun.
If she would let him, he would make sure she had fun too, because that was just the kind of guy Kushiel was. He cast Elysteria a sidelong, predatory grin. Should could hardly refuse to walk with him. She had come here to foster kind relations between their kingdoms.
Telling him to piss off would not be very kind.
He leaned toward her, purposely brushing his shoulder against hers. Conspiratorially, but still loud enough that everyone in this kingdom and probably the next one over, could hear him, he spoke in her ear.
“I think you’ve heard everything my dear companions have to say.” He grinned and winked, as if this was a joke she was in on.
“Why don’t you and I take a walk? Talk about the future of our two great Kingdoms?” From the smirk on his face, it was very clear that they were going to do no such thing. But, still he pressed on.
Deftly, he steered her away from the group, casting a delighted grin over his shoulder for whoever may still be watching. They had hardly gone ten feet before he crowed out, as loud as ever.
“Sweet mercy that’s over.” Kushiel rolled his shoulders in relief. He really was a part time diplomat at best. But, by the look on his face, you would have thought he had been attending that meeting all day, and the day before. He ambled on, all satisfied smiles, and cast a roving eye over his companion.
“So, Elysteria, is stoic really the best thing you could think of to flatter your king? Because, I have to be honest with you, that’s pretty cold.” She had used that term in the meeting when describing Ramiel. Now he wondered if, perhaps, that was the only somewhat complementary thing she could think to say about the man. Suddenly, he looked at her sharply, as if an idea had just come to him.
“Unless that’s what you actually look for in a man, stoicism.” His tone made it absolutely clear that he thought the idea was absurd. He had yet to meet a woman whose pulse quickened in the face of stoicism.
If that was the case he’d be shit out of luck.
Kushiel some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall
OOC: Sorry, I hijacked your girl a little, I wasn't sure how to get her away from the group without taking a wee bit of powerplaying liberties. XD
love is a temporary madness... She is, to say the least, surprised by his arrival. The last thing she had expected to encounter on her brief trip to the Chamber was him. Their initial meeting had gone over nearly as well as a cat in a wolf den. Meeting him again had most certainly not been on her agenda. She cannot help the faint stiffening of her entire body when she hears the distinct cadence of his voice. She pins him with her russet gaze, all hint of warmth leaving those brilliant depths. She smiles at him though, a reflex as automatic as breathing, before dipping her head slightly in a greeting, an unwitting echo of the very first time she had acknowledged him.
The gray stallion is all fast talk and smooth words as he edges closer to her before smoothly extracting her from the small group. Her surprise at the ease in which he had extricated them is evident. She had not expected him to desire her private company. After all, what could they possibly have to discuss? The smirk and suggestive wink however, make it all too clear. Her delicately lined head notches up several inches as she recoils slightly from his touch. Even this is far more reaction than she would normally give to such a situation, and given the watchful eyes of his kingdom mates, she has little choice but to step aside with him. She briefly considers simply flying away, but abandons the idea almost as soon as it occurs. After all, she would at least like to keep things cordial with the Chamber. What kind of woman would she prove to be if she said as much, then promptly reneged?
“Is this really necessary?”
The words come out on a soft hiss, quiet enough that their nearby companions would be unable to hear it, and far more telling than any expression that has crossed her features as yet.
At his exclamation of mercy, she turns her eyes briefly upward, the closest she would ever come to rolling them. She easily recognizes that most of the stallion’s words are said simply for effect, but that does not stop her exasperation. As he turns his assessing gaze back on her, she does her own best impression of stoicism. Though she would never be described as such, she is quite able of covering her emotions with the best of them.
He ended with what she could only consider his coup de grâce. It takes her a moment to register the words he had spoken, and when they do, surprise hits her, followed closely by horror. She does flinch from him then, her own retort escaping her mouth before she can censor it.
“He is, for all intents and purposes, my nephew. He is my daughter’s brother.” Half-brother, actually. “What you are suggesting is absolutely absurd.”
That she is mostly in love with the previous king of the Dale (and their current king's father) has no place in this conversation, nor would she ever tell him that. Besides, her relationship with Tiphon is complicated at best, considering the man’s affections are so torn between Elysteria and another. She pauses then, pinning him with a hard stare.
“Besides, when discussing a king, stoicism could be considered quite a complement.” elysteria
Oh, this is necessary, very necessary.
If pressed, Kushiel could give no possible reason for why he had to drag Elysteria away from her meeting. Most of his ideas moved through him like a wave, briefly registering with his brain before taking action, for all intensive purposes, on their own.
Some men believed in logic and reason. Kushiel believed in his gut. And his gut told him that his was a great idea. So far, he hadn’t been wrong. Granted, she wasn’t have a great time yet, but she hadn’t immediately flown off. Kushiel graciously counted himself as ahead.
At her hissed rebuke he just grinned a little more. She would come around.
He had mainly been teasing her about Ramiel, trying to see how far he could push it before she got really mad. Apparently, he had found that line. He could see that he had disturbed her, the extent of it, however, had surprised him. He had come to expect subdued responses and reluctant, sometimes resentful, courtesy from Elysteria. To his growing pleasure, she gave him a real answer, rather than a diplomatic party line.
“Your nephew, huh?” This conversation had quickly become quite interesting. He took a moment congratulate himself on his truly excellent instincts. Sure, he never applied them to anything productive, but Kushiel knew is way around a conversation. For example, he knew that you didn’t get to the good stuff without asking a few awkward questions. Kushiel just liked to skip over the bullshit. Namely, the trust building and small talk. Hoping she wouldn’t clam up again, Kushiel continued.
“So, is that why you follow him with such tedious determination? Because he’s family?” That, at least, was something he could understand. If his mother decided she wanted to be a queen Kushiel would have no choice other than to hoist the flag and rally the troops. He would complain mightily about it, but he would do it.
“Would you still follow him if he wasn’t?” Now that, that was the real question. Kushiel watched her with avid interest, excited to understand what it was, exactly, that made this mare tick. He was so wrapped up in unraveling her that he wasn’t prepared for the party line that followed. A second ago he had been talking to Elysteria, now he wondered if he had found the diplomat again. He groaned loudly, theatrically, dramatically in protest. He threw his head back in a way that was bound to convey the depths of his frustration. His surprise caused his response to be sharper than it otherwise would have been, and in a way, much more real.
“Sure stoicism could be considered a compliment, but it’s not! When you think of your king is that what you want to see? A granite slab who rouses himself to say something long suffering when it is required?”
When Kushiel thought of a king all he could see was passion. If he loved something as well as a king should love his kingdom, he would burn the whole world down before he let it come to harm. It was a good thing he didn't love anything so well.
But still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Elysteria shared some of his passion, if not his utter recklessness and folly. He wanted to see what she was like when she wasn’t playing the pleasant diplomat. He wanted to see what happened when she forgot to be nice. If he hit too many more nerves he might get his way.
Kushiel some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall
love is a temporary madness... She had vowed a long time ago to never again lose her head to passion. She had done so once, and she had paid a dreadful price for her mistake. It was why, for so long, she had been a wanderer, going where the wind blew her. It is easy to remain unattached when you do not dwell in any one place for very long. But then the Dale had called to her and she had answered. She had found that giving her heart to the land was easy, for land does not betray you. It is steadfast and eternal. It was not until her daughter had been born that she had truly allowed more turbulent emotions to hold any sway over her. She had taught her a lesson, one long in coming. She had shown her that some emotions are well worth having.
But watching this gray stallion practically crow in satisfaction at having garnered a reaction from her, she thinks that perhaps she had had it right before after all. It had been quite some time since she had experienced such a panorama of emotions. It brings her back to the days when a charming stallion had swept her off her feet, and, in her youth and naivety, she had let him. It is not a mistake she would make again.
His rejoinder to her heated exclamation causes her russet eyes to narrow as she regards him closely. She can sense his determination, his pleasure in prodding her. Well, she can play with the best of them.
“Hardly tedious. I follow him because he is a worthy leader, because he loves the Dale as much as I do. Stoicism does not preclude love.”
It is fortunate that she does not have feathers, because as much as she would like to deny it, they would be well and truly ruffled by now. She steps in front of him them, her flared nostrils the only outward sign of her continued agitation. She can sense the passion in the stallion just as easily as she can see it, but she also knows better than most how easily such emotions can be hidden. She knows her king, knows of his love for the Dale. Anyone who knew Ramiel would know it as well. She wonders then, if this stallion is even capable of that kind of love, that kind of loyalty.
“Tell me Kushiel, are you even capable of that? Of such love and loyalty?”
She pushes him then, stepping closer as she takes the offensive. If he would dare presume to judge her, than she had no qualms in doing the same. elysteria
08-31-2015, 11:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2015, 12:34 AM by Kushiel.)
Kushiel grinned broadly, and looked sidelong at his companion. Truly, she was delightful, for all her insistence on honor and loyalty. Kushiel was beginning to think he had her wrong, or rather, he had been right and all her stoicism and serenity was just for show. He was starting to think that, between the two of them, she may very well feel things more deeply.
He was not unaware that people got like this. That they were patriotic and the like. Hell, his own mother was as bad as any. She could get all up in arms over her precious Valley. On his worse day Kushiel found it rather tedious, on his best he thought it was a little endearing, cute, if you will.
Kushiel could admit that Elysteria may be the latter. His broad grin turned on her again, his dark eyes blazing with amusement, a bit of triumph, and a large need to heckle.
“Sure, Ellie, whatever you say.” He considered holding his tongue for a moment, bit the inside of his cheek, than continued with a gleeful abandon.
“But, to quote a man much smarter than I, ‘methinks the lady doth protest too much.” Perhaps it was a good thing she was a diplomat, for all that they were rather dull. He’d been attacked more than once, and for being a lot more polite than he was now. Not that he’d never been attacked by a diplomat, it just happened less often, and was less harmful when it did.
Still, it seemed like Elysteria was determined to keep her cool, or else she was simply a lot more tolerant than most, for she didn’t seem about ready to attack him. Kushiel wouldn’t blame her of course, and in truth it wouldn’t do much to dampen his regard. He rarely held the actions of others against them, perhaps in some vain hope that they would extend him the same courtesy.
Kushiel had to stop walking when she stepped in front of him. Of course, he didn’t stop walking until he had made an exaggerated show of bumping into her. With all the bluster and well choreographed clumsiness of a king’s fool, he regained his footing but didn’t step back, preferring to be inappropriately close to her slightly flared nostrils and animated eyes. He answered her with a shrug, very casually, as if he had not just done his best to whip her into a frenzy.
“How would I know? I’ve never tried it.” He considered for a minute, then continued.
“Though I’ve loved my Ma well enough, and she’s never complained. Though don’t tell anyone, I’d never admit to it.” This was not true either. Gallows complained about him all the time, but not about his love for her, in that they seemed to be in unspoken agreement.
Kushiel some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall
love is a temporary madness... He would not be the first to mistake her as purely a diplomat. It is true, her heart is by and large diplomatic. If there is a way to work things out peaceably, she will always take that route. But she is nearly as excellent a fighter as she is a diplomat. She had always made it a practice to become proficient in all ways necessary to her, her kingdom’s, and her family’s survival. So while few know it of her, she is a more than capable fighter. It is simply something she does not flaunt. It's always much easier to best an enemy when they underestimate you.
Not that she thinks of Kushiel as an enemy. Not quite yet. At the moment, he is simply just an infuriating, annoying stallion who has no concept of manners. Sadly, it is something she has little experience with. She had always made a point of avoiding men like him.
The nickname as it crosses his lips raises her hackles. It had always been a nickname reserved for those of close acquaintance. With an irritated snort, she steps back as he bumps into her. She is not quite sure whether the use of her nickname or the blatantly exaggerated display of incivility exasperates her more.
“Trust me, I am definitely not protesting enough.”
His response to her question brings her up short. She had not expected such easy capitulation to her caustic words. His admission to loving his mother also gives her pause. She is not entirely certain what she had been expecting of him, but this is definitely not it. She takes another step back, eyeing him with a hint of confusion in her russet gaze. And then she does the only thing she possibly can do in that situation, she turns tail and runs.
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
The words come out with only a slightly sarcastic edge. She had meant them to be bitingly acerbic.
“I must go. I am needed back at the Dale.”
With that, she takes a final step backwards before launching herself into the air and beating a hasty retreat above the tree-line. elysteria
So, I figured I'd end this here and they can pick up again with traumatized Ely if you want.
09-07-2015, 02:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-07-2015, 02:25 PM by Kushiel.)
Sure, that sounds good. Do you want to continue here, in the Meadow, or Kushiel could obnoxiously follow her to the Dale for a visit? He could be like, "Hey, why'd you fly away, omg what happened to you?"
Either would be awesome 
I'll follow you to the Dale, I feel like that would be more realistic, since he'd be able to count on finding her there.
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