A Day Just Begun

[Verdan]

Verdan blinked several times blankly as he watched Mira blush ever so brightly. He was completely unprepared for something like that, so it took him several seconds to get his speech back. "U-uh, something wrong?" he managed to force out, raising an eyebrow, not even bothering to try to hide his ignorance. "Is it something rude or bad to watch someone change their shoes?" Verdan's childhood ran through his mind. All those times that he has waited for his friends to get their shoes on before they could go out and play with him, he was doing something wrong? All those times his friends watched him put his shoes on, it was something bad?... Verdan blinked several more times at Mira as he was thinking about what could possibly be so wrong.

Verdan smiled slightly at her question. What was his soft spot?.. He did not really know himself. He liked animals, adventuring, excitement. But none of those were really his soft spots. After some thought, he managed to come to a conclusion that he, himself, did not know his own soft spot. He looked at Mira for a long time, taking in every detail of her being. Wow, she was truly beautiful. A sudden realization comes over Verdan as he begins coughing furiously to hide his expression. Having cleared his face, Verdan looks up at Mira once more and states blandly, "I don't know. I honestly have no idea. What about you, do you have a soft spot?" ha asks, using this perfect opportunity to find out.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira eyed Verdan for a moment, before sighing softly and shaking her head forcibly. “Well, um, no it’s not.” she finally decided, completely blowing aside her mother’s words. What she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her, after all. Still a little hesitant she slid her feet out of her heels and into the shoes Verdan had conjured as quickly as possible, losing a few inches in height in the process. “They’re really comfortable.” she commented after a long pause as she got used to the shoes. “I like them. Thank you.”

Verdan was silent for a moment, as if pondering the answer to her question. Then he erupted into a huge coughing fit. “Are you all right?” she asked him hesitantly once his coughing settled down and he proceeded to tell her that he didn’t know his own soft spot. Oh well, asking the question was worth a try after all. “Tell me when you find it out, then.” she instructed him, not leaving room for argument.

“As for me,” she continued, taking a moment to think about it, “I used to love animals, horses especially. I once got three for a single birthday.” she added after a moment, then laughed softly in embarrassment. Verdan hadn’t needed to know that. “But now, I guess a small fuzzy animal is always wonderful. Other than that,” at this point she glanced around the stable as if expecting a spy to tell her parents what she was about to say. Not seeing one, of course, she finished her sentence. “I would have to say independence.”

Although her answer may have seemed strange, she had a true reason for if being her weakness. Any chance she got to leave home and be on her own, whether rain, sleet, snow, hail, or thunder, she took it. Often her day long getaways resulted in her getting sick or having a chill, or even in hours of her least favorite thing to do ever- sewing and anything involving a needle and fabric.

[Verdan]

As Mira took off her high heeled shoes, she seemed to shrink a few inches. If Verdan had to look straight ahead to look into her eyes before, he now had to lower his gaze ever so slightly to come in contact with her glance. He smiled as she slipped into the leather shoes, commenting on their comfort. "I'm glad I could be of help." he said, his words truly sincere. Verdan was ready to do most anything to be of any assistance to Mira. "And if I could be of any help in the future," he added, "just say the word."

As he finished coughing, Mira asked him if he was alright in such a tone that made Verdan flinch inwardly. A tone of calm, pretensive concern. One commoner less, one commoner more, what did it matter?.. But he had to understand that--... he cut off his own thoughts with a surge of energy. There was no point to even thinking about the issue, for something like that was out of the question. He was about to speak his mind as Mira cut him off even before he could take a breath. Tell me when you find it out, then. she said in such a commanding voice that Verdan was left speechless.

As she continued talking, Verdan made a mental note of the things that she spoke of. Horses, fuzzy animals, independence. Independence? Verdan thought about it for a moment, after which he realized that Mira was a noblewoman. She was to be escorted everywhere, all that fancy stuff. Verdan nodded in understanding.

[Mira Nightingale]

Gazing at the mare who had now calmed down significantly, Mira couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to gallop her out of the stables, heading no where in particular. Her answer came too fast, though. It would be awful, dangerous, and scary, and would end with her falling out of the saddle and getting trampled to death, or with the horse losing balance and landing completely on top of her, killing her this time. She didn’t want to die, not while she still had a life ahead of her. So she could never ride a horse again. She just couldn’t…

Looking away from the mare as quickly as she had looked at her, she forced a smile to her suddenly pale face. “Thank you, Verdan, once again.” she murmured, trying to keep up a happy appearance. At the moment she just wanted to get as far away from the mare as she could.

Seeing a mildly puzzle expression on Verdan’s face as she said independence, she opened her mouth to explain, but then his look melted into one of understanding. “I have so many obligations,” she clarified, “just getting away and being on my own is absolutely amazing.”

[Verdan]

Seeing the color drain from Mira's face, Verdan takes a step forward impulsively, ready to catch her at a moment's notice in the case of her fainting or something of the sort. However, Mira manages to stay upright and Verdan takes another step, returning him to his original position, slightly flustered at his sudden action. Pushing it out of the way, he asks Mira, his expression highly concerned, "Are you alright? Do you need anything?" he asks, ready to act at a moment's notice. She tried to act happy, but Verdan was not ignorant. He knew that if someone turned pale sharply, there is no reason to be happy.

Verdan listened to Mira's words with understanding. They clarified and confirmed his current thoughts and suspicions. He nodded in acknowledgment.

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan took a few steps closer, as if to catch her if she fell, but she wasn’t feeling faint or anything of the sort. She had just been nervous of the horse, frightened by what could happen if she ever got on one again, and had panicked thinking about the accident. But she was not going to be one of those weak women who fainted left and right or because they had gotten too much sun.

“Yes, I’m all right.” she told Verdan with an apologetic nod. “As for needing anything… no, nothing.” she said, going to say that she wanted to get away from the horse, but deciding against it. It would do no good for Verdan to know what she was worried about. Even so, she took a few casual steps away from the horse and went back to where she had left her shoes and picked them up, setting them on top of a bale of hay so they couldn’t get kicked under something.

[Verdan]

Verdan was no fool, though he sometimes played himself to be. He knew something was bothering Mira, and it was most likely the horse. She had just gotten the mare to calm down, to let her touch her, but then suddenly took a step away. Especially on the pretense of moving her shoes to a safer location. Who could possibly trip over the shoes, considering that it was only the two of them there and both were aware of them on the ground. Verdan followed Mira and gently led her to sit on the nearest bale of hay. Sitting down next to to her, he looked deep into her eyes. "You're not telling me something. First, you're ready to go to almost any lengths for that horse, now you want to get away from it. Tell me, what happened?" he asked her, hoping that he wasn't being too forceful. After some thought, he added: "Please..."

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira let Verdan lead her to a large bale of hay, and she sat down next to him with a soft, almost inaudible, sigh. Then he asked her what happened, saying that she wasn’t telling him something. “What makes you think something happened?” she snapped angrily, but instantly regretted her harsh words. “I’m sorry…” she said, biting her lip softly for a moment. She hadn’t meant to snap at him, but she had invisible scars that ran deep, and the stables, the horse, and him had been slowly poking them all day long until they were gaping wounds once again.

“It’s just…” she started, trailing off for probably the tenth time that evening. “It’s hard to talk about. I-I just have had… problems with horses in the past and I just get… overworked and nervous.” she finally said, choosing her words slowly and carefully. She looked back up at Verdan after a moment, her eyes pleading with him to drop the subject, although something was telling her that Verdan wouldn’t drop the subject.

[Verdan]

Verdan flinched slightly as Mira snapped at him. It was understandable thought for she did not want to talk about it and Verdan was oftentimes way too forceful and questioning. So, he let the matter slide. Especially after she had regretted saying it, Verdan completely forgot about it. He understood that he was digging in old memories was a bad thing to do, that it hurt the other person. He decided to take a different approach. He took her hands in his own and looked deep in her eyes, which were filled with pain, which were pleading for him to drop it, but Verdan could not. He wanted to help. "Mira. This... incident... I understand that it is a hard burden to carry, but I am here to help you. I can help you carry that burden. You can trust me, Mira." he said reassuringly. He stroked her hand gently as he was holding it.

[Mira Nightingale]

Verdan was practically pleading with her to tell him what happened, and she was getting more and more uncomfortable as the seconds passed. Then he took her hands and was stroking one, as he continued pleading. If Mira was anyone else at that moment, she probably would have gotten up and walked out. But she wasn’t anyone else, no matter how much she wished that she was. There was nothing she could do about that.

“Horses make me nervous. I had a bad experience.” she said after a moment, not knowing how to say my horse fell on top of me and I almost died less bluntly than reality. She was saved from saying anything for the moment, however, as one of the stable boys walked by and stopped in front of the mare’s paddock. He opened it up and led the horse out, securing her to the walls with crossties as he started to brush her down, apparently preparing to saddle her up and take her outside for some exercise. It was only when he stood next to the horse, though, that Mira realized she wasn’t like Autumn, her former horse, at all. This mare was a lot larger.

[Verdan]

Verdan noticed Mira getting more tense, note uncomfortable with every moment on the topic. She once more replied indirectly to his question. She did not want to tell him, Verdan understood. Fine. He sharply stood up, and using the opportunity of the stable boy leading the horse out walked up to the pair, nodding a greeting to the human coming closer to the creature. It was truly a majestic animal. Purposefully avoiding glancing at Mira, Verdan stroked the mare's elongated head, running his fingers through her mane. The horse seemed to calm down now, taking a liking for Verdan, or particularly his sugar. The mare stretched its neck towards the sack of treats which was resting on one of the paddock's walls. Verdan smiled and reached into the bag, offering the horse another piece of sugar, still pointedly looking away from Mira. She did not want to tell him what seemed to be her problem with horses and he was fine with that.

[Mira Nightingale]

The stable boy finished brushing the horse just as Verdan walked up to her, stroking her neck and her mane. Sighing softly, she realized that he was pointedly ignoring her. That didn’t make her feel any better than before. Clenching her teeth she growled out, “She landed almost on top of me and I broke four bones. Happy?”

Even as she finished her sentence, the stable boy came out from the tack room carrying the mare’s saddle, which could easily fit two people, and her bridle. Proceeding to tack her up, he turned to the two of them and said that he needed to take her out for some exercise since she hadn’t been ridden in a while. Mira didn’t pay much attention to him though, as she was still waiting for some kind of acknowledgement from Verdan.

[Verdan]

Verdan froze abruptly. "Overjoyed." he said, strongly stressing the sarcasm in his voice. "You didn't have to tell me anything, you know. You didn't wish to speak, so I let you have your way..." he spoke tensely, his movements unnatural, as he turned towards Mira and strode over to sit beside her once more. "But was that so hard?" he asked, looking deep into her eyes.



((Ugh. Sorry it's so short. Muse still trying to get into a functional state.))

[Mira Nightingale]

“No… I guess not.” she replied after a moment, running her fingers absently through her hair. “I just try to forget about it.” Looking away from Verdan for a moment she watched as the stable boy vaulted onto the horse and walked her toward the exit of the stables.

Mira stood up slowly after another moment and took two steps to follow the horse before turning back to Verdan. “I… think I should be going. My parents are probably worried about me.” she admitted with a bit of a sheepish grin. “And we’re having company for dinner tonight… Lord somebody.” she added with a shrug. “I can’t be late.”

((The thread got kind of stalled, lol. So I’m leaving again, since we have… two other threads currently and I have lots more to make. ^_^))

[Verdan]

Verdan followed Mira's movements with only his eyes as she got up and began to make her way out of the stables. He sighed inwardly. Again, he did or said something stupid to her. And then she left. "Alrighty then..." he said, his voice filled with a sort of sadness, a tone that he did not hear himself. "You can't miss out on your guests. I guess you should go then... I think I'll stay here a while with the horses..." Verdan's voice trailed off into silence.