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toweredinglyRoland had woken with a headache and a sinking sense of cold dread, and neither were because of the large amounts of whiskey and graf he'd drunk the night before. It was a familiar feeling; the same steady almost-fear settled into his bones whenever he saw a battle looming. But battles could be fought with gunfire and cold rage, with all thought pushed aside and the world coming at you moment by moment. Today was worse. Today was politics.
He'd set aside his usual jerkin and jeans for more formal gear. The suit itself wasn't so bad, but he felt naked without his guns at his hip. It would have been good to have their comfort, even if he had no intent of using them. Their weight had always been like having a part of his father still with him, and all the gunslingers of their line before him. Now, when he most felt need of that reassurance, he had to set it aside. Clean-shaven and well-heeled, with his hair pulled back into a queue and his feet rubbed by the hard leather of new shoes, he felt like another man - and one even less capable of facing all that lay ahead.
The wedding was in the morning, before the real Fair-Day began. Then things would take their usual course; the castle flung open to the people, the feasting and singing and Fair-Day riddling, with raucous good humour and doubtless a few fights. That was manageable. He had lived that every Fair-Day for his whole life. What frightened him, more than he would ever admit, was the part that came before and after.
"You look more like a man going to put a noose around her neck than a ring around her finger," Bert commented in his ear, bringing him back to the present. For his part, Bert looked perfectly at ease in formal wear, sauntering about and regarding Roland with a critical eye. Whatever dark mood had been slithering about under the surface, he seemed to have excised it for now.
Roland answered with a grunt, looking back ruefully at the gunbelt hanging over the back of his chair, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Is there a difference?"
"Dinh or no dinh, I'm not beyond punching you. Just for once, Ro', try to stop living in whatever darkness is going on in that bony head of yours, and relax." For once, Bert wasn't smiling. He slung an arm around his friend's shoulders, looking at him closely. "She's not Susan. I kennit, Ro'. But she's what Susan would have wanted for you. Carry that with you, at least."
"Thankee, Bert." Patting Cuthbert on the back, Roland shook his head and started towards the door. Towards the Hall of the Ancestors, where Burtock Hattlen waited in lieu of a dinh, where Alain was standing by with a ring.
The hall was filled, to a casual eye, but Roland saw the empty spaces more than the full. No Cort, no Vannay, no Stephen Deschain in the high seat. Many who should have been seated in the best places were gone. Somehow, that made it easier to settle his mind, straighten his spine, and wait steady and watchful at the front of the hall for his bride.
He'd set aside his usual jerkin and jeans for more formal gear. The suit itself wasn't so bad, but he felt naked without his guns at his hip. It would have been good to have their comfort, even if he had no intent of using them. Their weight had always been like having a part of his father still with him, and all the gunslingers of their line before him. Now, when he most felt need of that reassurance, he had to set it aside. Clean-shaven and well-heeled, with his hair pulled back into a queue and his feet rubbed by the hard leather of new shoes, he felt like another man - and one even less capable of facing all that lay ahead.
The wedding was in the morning, before the real Fair-Day began. Then things would take their usual course; the castle flung open to the people, the feasting and singing and Fair-Day riddling, with raucous good humour and doubtless a few fights. That was manageable. He had lived that every Fair-Day for his whole life. What frightened him, more than he would ever admit, was the part that came before and after.
"You look more like a man going to put a noose around her neck than a ring around her finger," Bert commented in his ear, bringing him back to the present. For his part, Bert looked perfectly at ease in formal wear, sauntering about and regarding Roland with a critical eye. Whatever dark mood had been slithering about under the surface, he seemed to have excised it for now.
Roland answered with a grunt, looking back ruefully at the gunbelt hanging over the back of his chair, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Is there a difference?"
"Dinh or no dinh, I'm not beyond punching you. Just for once, Ro', try to stop living in whatever darkness is going on in that bony head of yours, and relax." For once, Bert wasn't smiling. He slung an arm around his friend's shoulders, looking at him closely. "She's not Susan. I kennit, Ro'. But she's what Susan would have wanted for you. Carry that with you, at least."
"Thankee, Bert." Patting Cuthbert on the back, Roland shook his head and started towards the door. Towards the Hall of the Ancestors, where Burtock Hattlen waited in lieu of a dinh, where Alain was standing by with a ring.
The hall was filled, to a casual eye, but Roland saw the empty spaces more than the full. No Cort, no Vannay, no Stephen Deschain in the high seat. Many who should have been seated in the best places were gone. Somehow, that made it easier to settle his mind, straighten his spine, and wait steady and watchful at the front of the hall for his bride.
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Date: 2015-02-05 05:08 am (UTC)She hummed appreciatively when he played with her hair but otherwise concerned herself with enjoying this for as long as possible. For her that meant working farther down, running her tongue along his skin, sucking with no regard for how loud or even lewd it might be. Eventually both hands settled easily on his hips as she moved shallowly, working him and out of her throat in small bursts at first, to get used to it and to, y'know, not pass out. Being conscious was pretty sexy most of the time, in her opinion.
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Date: 2015-02-05 05:23 am (UTC)Part of him whispered that maybe that kind of complacency was dangerous, that in the past when he had let the world focus down to so little, it had led to nothing but pain. He tensed a little at the thought, but it was easy to salve with the feeling of her lips and tongue. One night. He could have one night.
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Date: 2015-02-05 05:36 am (UTC)Hopefully he would listen because she was done teasing, now she just wanted to make him come again. Playing around was slow and unhurried, everything else was instinct and intelligence. If he could honestly think through how quickly she sped up and the gratuitous implementation of his weaknesses, all of which she remembered and put to use no matter what it required, a curl of her tongue here or there, pressing, sucking, didn't really matter. If he couldn't have one night he could certainly have one damn blowjob.
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Date: 2015-02-05 05:53 am (UTC)Even with how recently he had come, it was only a few moments before he was gasping, his fingers tight in her hair, his eyes closed. "Fuck!" he ground out through his teeth, and spilt out into her mouth, his back arching. "Fuck," he repeated a moment later, falling back against the mattress, and let out a little huff that might have been a laugh. "Thankee, sai."
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Date: 2015-02-05 06:09 am (UTC)She let him go to sit up and kneel on the bed beside him, catching an errant bit off of her lips and licking it up. "Roland, we're married, and you know my name well. 'Na-ri-ko', you can even say 'Riko' if it makes you happy. Not that you should be thanking me for something I've wanted to do since yesterday, even before that kiss." To her they were well beyond this 'sai' business, though she understood that he might have meant it in a particular way, considering, so she still grinned and still kissed his forehead. "Better?"
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Date: 2015-02-05 08:09 pm (UTC)A moment later, there was a knock on the door. Sighing, Roland got to his feet and slung a sheet around his waist, looking down at her. "Well, I suppose now we both stink of sweat and come, there are worse times for a bath."
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Date: 2015-02-05 09:10 pm (UTC)"Probably," She grinned and found the blanket she had made since he had the sheet, and unfolded it enough to at least cover the important pieces. That she was visibly naked from a side view was no big deal. "But I was going to ask you to join me no matter what so it worked out very well!"
la la la ruining everything again~
Date: 2015-02-05 09:35 pm (UTC)Alain's eyes flickered briefly to Nariko, his colour rising, and he lowered his voice a little. "They know you have it. And they know what it does, how it corrupts. Roland. Someone's been through your study."
And there went any remnants of contentment. The hairs on the back of Roland's neck prickled, and he glanced back over his shoulder at Nariko and the maid. "Did they take it?"
"No. Though the mess is considerable." Alain fingered the blood on his collar, half-closing his eyes. "It's singing out to them, Roland. He was headed straight for it. Whatever we do now, it can't stay there forever."
"We'll find a better place tomorrow," Roland said, after a moment's thought, glancing back at Nariko again. "We can't afford to move it tonight. Not with all this still going on. Can you keep watch on it tonight?"
Alain grimaced. "It scrapes at the inside of my mind like nails on glass, Roland. But I'll watch over it, aye." Again, he looked past Roland at Nariko. "Cry pardon. I didn't mean to interrupt."
they just can't ever have nice things
Date: 2015-02-05 09:52 pm (UTC)The maid did her job while Nariko caught snippets of their talk, and answered every glance that came her way with a raised brow. Did they expect her to be somewhere else? Or to magically fly up from the bed and attack one of them? She wasn't exactly in a state to run off. But for Alain, who had already survived the formality of the wedding itself and now this, she could manage to brush off the irritation. "I know, Alain, I hope you are alright." She wasn't so far off that she hadn't been able to bend a bit to catch sight of the blood.
Genuine concern or not, though, the sooner Alain was gone the sooner she would be tasked with figuring out the state of her husband. If she trusted her instincts and the lines of his body then she would be forced to admit that there might not be any reclaiming the calm they'd found. But what were instincts? Annoying, that was what they were ... And hopefully wrong.
story of roland's life tbh
Date: 2015-02-05 10:02 pm (UTC)Nodding to the maid as she dried her hands and hurried away, he closed the door after her and moved back over to sit on the bed, head in his hands and sheet still around his waist. "The next person to bring me bad news," he commented at last, rather bitterly, "will be lucky not to get my boot in their belly." It was a joke, or as much as one as someone so humourless could summon up with the immense weariness that was currently coming over him. At the same time, though, it might not be so far from true. He might have been able to manage, had it not been for that hope, however brief, of letting it go for the night.
Then is it good or bad that he's stuck with a woman that won't give up on the nice things
Date: 2015-02-05 10:28 pm (UTC)"You won't have to, the next time someone knocks on the door I'll open it, and you won't have to deal with it. 'Not just yours to carry' and all that." Unless there was a true fight, or someone was dead she could tell people to fuck off, it wasn't that difficult.
"Roland, look at me," Even if he didn't she certainly looked at him, just not with her usual stubborn, hardheaded nature, now it was something gentler, just as imploring but not with such a lack of subtlety. "Everything was fine as it could be, and it can go right back to that. We are both still here, and what's wrong can wait until the morning, I promise, so there's no sense in wasting warm bath water. I have enough silly questions to distract you for the rest of the night." She slid off of the bed but didn't quite let go, nor did she forcefully pull him. "You can listen to them or find a way to shut me up after getting through at least three, those are the only options."
probably good. he needs someone to kick him out of being a depressive ass.
Date: 2015-02-05 10:51 pm (UTC)"Three, I can manage," he said after a moment, unwinding the sheet from his hips and letting himself be guided to his feet. "Beyond that, no promises." But he looked at her with a new kind of fondness, one hand going out to rest for a moment on her hip.
now lets just hope she never really kicks him
Date: 2015-02-05 11:09 pm (UTC)Right now getting this much out of him was a victory so even if he couldn't smile with his eyes she did, and brightly enough for them both.
"Ahh," She leaned up as much as she could to kiss his jaw, "But what if you get a surprise for answering five?" Not that there was any guarantee ... But something could be worked out! The first few steps were taken backwards, but before she turned around she flashed him that same smile, and took his hand loosely. To the tub!! Except once there she deliberately got in before him, making sure to press her back against one end, her hair hanging over the edge because it wasn't worth getting it wet. If he thought he was getting away from an embrace here Roland was well and truly insane.
i'm pretty sure if they got in a physical fight they would destroy everything around them
Date: 2015-02-05 11:32 pm (UTC)He shook off the feeling, resting his head back on her shoulder and looking up at her. "Go ahead. Ask."
Oh, without a doubt! Which is why imo it's a simultaneously terrifying and exciting idea
Date: 2015-02-05 11:49 pm (UTC)"Alright, first question ..." She pretended as if she hadn't already thought it out, and so her expression was purposefully over dramatic before she said, "Favorite color!"
it would be so disastrous and thus clearly needs to happen
Date: 2015-02-06 12:08 am (UTC)"White," he said at last. "Or, if that doesn't count, then blue." Both were more based on the first thing to come into his mind than on any real favourite, but that was no bad thing. It was, at least, the distraction she'd promised.
Yes, this is a great idea and nothing bad will happen (that can't be fixed. Maybe.)
Date: 2015-02-06 12:19 am (UTC)Which left them to move onto the next question which upped itself in intricacy if not full difficulty. "Now, say that on any particular day you're being too hardheaded and not eating and not sleeping because, let's face it, that happened before. Let us also remember that I am a chronic worrier and that in general I just don't really want you to waste away? Mostly because that would be horrible and you're not getting rid of me yet." None of that was the question, but that did follow! "Now, on this particular day, if I were to have exhausted all verbal attempts and you ignored me, how terribly might you react if I just sat on that really important desk until you left it and took a nap."
everything would be awful for a while but what else is new?
Date: 2015-02-06 12:31 am (UTC)"I don't guarantee I wouldn't push you off it," he said after a moment's consideration. His smile was, all of a sudden, rather sharp. "I'd suggest not trying it. We're both bullheaded enough that it would only end in tears."
That is an eerily good point
Date: 2015-02-06 12:43 am (UTC)If he saw some game in it then, well, he was thinking too hard again. The question only mattered because she sort of wanted to fuck on that desk.
"Am I right in assuming you're not a big 'sleep in a bed with someone' person?"
I'm full of 'em!
Date: 2015-02-06 12:55 am (UTC)Leaning forwards for a moment to splash water on his face, he looked back at her. "In all honesty, I've never had the chance," he said frankly. "With Susan, the one time we fell asleep together was in the fields after fucking, and neither of us had a bed that wasn't being watched." For a moment, he looked a little darker for the thought, but he put it aside with an effort, as much for her sake as his own, and shrugged one shoulder. "Every other woman I've fucked charged by the hour. Assume as you like, your guess is as good as mine."
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Date: 2015-02-06 01:11 am (UTC)"Oh, don't say that, then I'll daydream about cuddling and that probably isn't very realistic." Not because he tended to be rough, but just because to cuddle you actually had to go to bed, and she knew just by being in his room, the lack of feeling in it, that he wasn't here often. And he sure as hell wouldn't be visiting her, not even if Farson's balls were nailed to board and he wanted to celebrate. "But, then, those of us who need attention tend to want to see others as the same, it's not as lonely that way."
This, much like a lot of what Roland said, was just a plainly stated fact and nothing more than that. "That's three! The next two will be absolutely terrible, though, do you want to put yourself through such a harrowing challenge?"
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Date: 2015-02-06 01:26 am (UTC)He didn't really expect her to refuse. She seemed to like talking, after all, and he didn't plan to ask her anything too uncomfortable. This just felt horribly one-sided, which for somebody unused to talking about himself, made it rather more difficult. Besides, thinking about it, he was a little shocked by just how little he knew of her.
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Date: 2015-02-06 01:35 am (UTC)"I'll give you punching, especially since I would never really do it anyway," Unless someone was hurting him. Or Bert or Alain. "Amend 'no surprises' to exclude harmless things such as occasionally asking you to come shoot with me or perhaps have lunch, and I will accept that sometimes your answer to such requests will be 'no', and I won't hold it against you." Probably. "And then it's a deal. Hell, ask ten if you like."
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Date: 2015-02-06 02:01 am (UTC)She wasn't entirely wrong in her belief that it was near-impossible for him not to be serious. Whatever sense of humour he had once had (which hadn't been considerable; jokes had always been one of the areas of life he left to other people) had been lost in Hambry, or along the long miles between then and now. But that didn't stop him from smiling, although he looked more than a little tired as he did. It was in the eyes, those cold blue eyes that looked older than they had any right to.
"Alright." Resting his hands on her thighs, he half-closed his eyes. "Ask away."
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Date: 2015-02-06 02:16 am (UTC)"How long has it been since you spent time with your ka-tet," She still couldn't say that word without her tongue forming oddly around it but it didn't stop her any, "as their friend and not their dinh?" She had warned him that this would be a little harder, so no complaining!
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From:agh i should have checked he hadn't already asked I WAS REALLY TIRED OKAY?
From:NO IT'S OKAY that was like 300 comments ago or something! Tbh I don't really remember either!
From:...oh god i didn't even realise how much of this we'd written wow XD
From:Haha yep! There's a lot and every second has been so much fun
From:i'm glad you think so too! (it would be destroying my sleep patterns if i'd ever had them)
From:Well hey if there's no hope of sleeping, might as well have fun!
From:that's what I figure, yeah.
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From:sorry for the long delay there. friend showed up to force me out of the house.
From:No problem. I hope you had fun!
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From:you can either call this an end to the thread or carry on from the morning, idk
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