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Post by enchilada on May 16, 2019 20:51:39 GMT
Kara had said she was going to be out for a bit. That didn’t make it suck any less. Dhaunmyr was suddenly given time he hadn’t really considered before.
It wasn’t like he was missing a massive chunk of his day, at all, but it sort of felt that way; he didn’t have any of the excitement leading up to seeing her, just sort of knowing that his days would be like... before. He had barely known her for any time at all, but, the ‘before’ times just seemed so much worse, comparably. She didn’t even really know that. But she made him feel bad for relying on the confidence boosts and boredom killers that he always had, because she... he wasn’t sure why. Dhaunmyr just knew he felt kinda bad for doing some things, some times.
Anyway, that wasn’t right now. Right now, Dhaunmyr was going to have some time by himself, and he was going to do something actually productive, Eilistraee help him — so, what were the options?
Sitting cross legged on his bed, he really found nothing, white sheet covering the painting, messy pile of books on the floor, shoes scattered, clothes strewn, pens... everywhere...
Thinking about it, Dhaunmyr could probably do with cleaning his room. He would have to pack it all up eventually anyway. Probably. Maybe.
He should have just gone with her, he knew that, but he also knew that if he got hurt, he’d absolutely hate it, and, Dhaunmyr just... Kara was a wonderful friend, yes, but killing things? Just as many things as possible? It felt wrong, to Dhaunmyr, no matter how apparently terrible those things were. It didn’t sit right. Plus, if he saw blood, who knows, maybe he’d faint. To be fair, he would probably faint at most things.
Well. That was mostly everything at least off of the floor. The surfaces were still messy, but we can’t all have everything nice, can we? At least, not when you owned as many little things as Dhaunmyr for really no reason.
Why did he own so much, when, if he was really going to get moving when Brennip uprooted, he’d probably have to get rid of all of it? Dhaunmyr laid back on his bed, a little bottle in his hands. He turned it over, looking at how the glass had been shaped. It was pretty. Just like everything else in the room, except his bag.
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Post by moralhazard on May 16, 2019 21:07:24 GMT
It had been a pre-dawn start, a brutal fight against the orcs, and a long time taken for reporting back, clean up and recovery. The guards had let the rest of the squad go, but Kara had stayed for the full rest of it, especially after she had found the silver dragon coins. She couldn’t entrust them to just anyone; she had taken the time to make sure they went to the right hands. She knew too much about what they meant.
Even her half-plate felt heavy by the time Kara made her way back through the gates of Waterdeep. She made it through the gates and stopped, thinking. Her armor was dirty and grimy, splattered with orc blood; her leather pants were stained with her own blood, as was her clothing beneath. Her glaive was at least wiped down, but needed a more thorough cleaning. At some point, she had splashed water on her face, but there were still streaks of blood and grime running down her head and neck. Hot water was the most pleasant thing she could imagine in that moment.
And, if she was honest, there was a little part of her that didn’t want to be alone. They had survived; better than survived, they had faced a horde (albeit a small one) and turned it back, broken its back and sent it fleeing through the woods. Twenty one orcs, all told. Kara couldn’t have hoped for more. But – there had been moments when – looking back on the battle, it could have turned either way so easily. Kara had tried not to reflect, but it was all too easy to imagine how differently it could have gone.
And, so, almost without conscious thought, Kara turned – not towards the Bird’s Rest in the Dock Ward, but towards Dhaunmyr.
Kara knocked on his door; it was lucky that she spent so much time there, as the innkeeper hadn’t looked twice at her despite the bloody, grimy armor.
Dhaunmyr opened the door, and Kara looked up at him, blinking. She scratched her head, shifting her glaive and her pack, and asked, voice still hoarse and strained with shouting, “Can I use your bath?”
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Post by enchilada on May 16, 2019 21:51:59 GMT
Dhaunmyr had not been expecting guests.
A very quiet yelp, a slightly louder thud, and a brief moment later, Dhaunmyr was on the floor, on his feet, and at the door. He opened it a crack to look, then smiled, completely lit up, and opened it completely. Kara was there. And then he was filled with a minor panic. Before he processed what she said, he’d ushered her inside his room, listening intently and checking around the stairs. Something had set him off, and, it may well have been the fact she was covered in blood!
Then he thought about the situation a moment longer, leaning on the door, and shook his head. “Nice to see you too Kara! I’m fine, before you ask, and absolutely not busy at all.” Dhaunmyr had a big smile on his face, he had so much time. And then it was gone again. Blood, dirt, nasty.
“Don’t touch anything or... um... else.” He chased through his room, extremely careful to dance around Kara and not touch her, even if he had sort of made a few choke points in the room with the furniture. Dhaunmyr seemed to disappear into his wardrobe for a second, before reemerging with several towels in his arms, as well as a brand new pink soap. “Touch these things though.” He handed them to her, and disappeared out of the room.
He shared with Faerveren and Brennip, which wasn’t a problem, they had pretty differing schedules. Faerveren liked just before bed, Brennip was more of a morning person, and Dhaunmyr sort of had a bath absolutely whenever he felt like it, once he’d had like... four? In one day? But there was a reason. There was often a reason with his quirks, if you cared to learn it.
Bath. Right. There was a ritual to this, Dhaunmyr really just had to get everything just right, but he always did. At least in his mind.
He called Kara out to the room. He had left the door open so she didn’t have to touch it. Dhaunmyr wondered it it was weird to be so clean but so disorganised, but he settled on agreeing with himself just not to care.
“Do you want to borrow some clothes? I can get your stuff cleaned up, or, well. I can probably clean what you’re wearing under all that, not really my area of expertise to do anything harder than leather. Don’t read into that. Or do, I don’t care.” He poked his head into his own room. “But obviously it will need to dry. Oh, and did you want to have anyone look at your cuts or anything? Kara I thought this was supposed to be easy today.” Dhaunmyr was worried about his friend more than anything.
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Post by moralhazard on May 16, 2019 22:12:51 GMT
Kara stepped inside the room, careful not to touch anything, nodding when Dhaunmyr told her he was fine and not busy. She would clean it, of course, but she had figured out that Dhaunmyr didn’t like to get things dirty. She stood still and patient as Dhaunmyr danced around her, fetching things; the only action she made was to carefully strip her gauntlets off, revealing small, slightly bruised but largely clean hands.
Kara took the towels and soap easily, holding them far from her armor. She waited, then follow Dhaunmyr into the bathroom. Kara hoped her armor could touch the floor here; it would be difficult, otherwise. She put the towels and soap somewhere safe, then set the gauntlets down first on a part of the floor that looked easily cleanable.
The armor itself looked not only dirty, but remarkably battered; it looked as if someone had been hammering at her with axes all day. Kara nodded at the offer of clothing, accepting it; she didn’t have anything else to wear.
“Orcs are never easy,” Kara said. She paused, thinking of how horrified Dhaunmyr had been by her the first time he’d seen one of her injuries. “Don’t look,” she told him.
Kara began to take the armor off, slowly, piece by piece. Her arms were badly bruised beneath, and her torso too, with black and blue strips covering her body, disappearing under the edges of her shirt. There was one bloody cut on her upper torso, but she was otherwise largely whole. The shirt itself was crusted with blood and sweat, ripped where the axe had hit her. Kara pulled it off with a faint grunt of pain, her ribs protesting vigorously.
Finally, with her armor in a neat pile on top of a cloth she’d brought on the floor and her shirt folded next to it, Kara slid her leather pants off. Her legs weren’t as badly bruised as her upper body, but they weren’t untouched either. She stood still for a few moments, solemnly looking herself over. Not bad; about what she’d expected.
“No healer,” Kara called back. She’d be fine by the next morning, if a bit stiff still.
Dhaunmyr’s inn had piped hot water. Kara thought it was the most wonderful thing she’d ever experienced; she soaped herself up thoroughly, and stood beneath it with closed eyes until the water dripped clear from her and the heat had loosened tight and tense muscles. Some of the worst dirt took a bit of scrubbing, and Kara had to bite her cheek not to cry out when she soaped the cut out, but by the time she finished was gloriously, blissfully clean.
Kara emerged, eyed Dhaunmyr’s fluffy towels suspiciously – they were too soft – but grabbed one and wrapped it around herself. They were large on him, and nearly hit the floor on Kara. Once she got some clothing on and her hair braided, she would go out back and use the inn’s pump for her armor; she didn’t think Dhaunmyr would survive if she cleaned it in his room. She should really have cleaned that before herself, but – well, perhaps she was becoming a bit soft.
Dhaunmyr had left out clothing while she was showering; once she was dry, Kara pulled it on and used the towel to squeeze the wetness out of her hair. She lifted her arms against the complaint of bruised ribs, combing the knots from her hair and braiding it, letting the last of the wetness drip down her back.
Kara left the towel folded in the bathroom, scooped up the cloth with the armor, and went to get her glaive from Dhaunmyr’s room. “I’ll clean this out back,” she told him, and hesitated, not sure if he would want to come with her. He was funny like that sometimes.
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Post by enchilada on May 17, 2019 9:20:18 GMT
Dhaunmyr sighed, nodding. He couldn’t retroactively stop her from going out, and he couldn’t stop her going to fight orcs in the future, full stop. He knew that, but he didn’t like it, knowing she was just going out and getting hurt and... she was too brave, too determined. Why was she so good? Too much of anything was terrible.
He sighed when she insisted she did not need a healer, but figured he really didn’t expect anything less. There was one in easy reach, but she didn’t want to be healed, and, well, Dhaunmyr couldn’t force it on Kara any more than he could force her to keep safe and sound somewhere where people didn’t die frequently.
Dhaunmyr was on the end of his bed, when Kara came back in. He was staring down at some books — numbers. He was just making sure everything was correct.
He looked up and smiled, then he put the books behind him and rushed to grab his coat. No matter how hot it got, it just seemed wrong to go outside without a coat or a jacket, or something. Then he pulled on his boots, they were the simplest ones he had, and in easiest reach. They were there just in case he had to leave quickly.
“Alright, let’s go.” Instead of the hug he wanted to give her, Dhaunmyr put a hand on her shoulder for a second, before heading down the stairs. He had no worries about the door, but if Kara did, he was sure she’d pull it to.
Dhaunmyr got round to the back, waiting for her to join him. He pulled his coat around himself a little tighter, it was dark and plain, compared to his outfit, which was light and comfortable but still covered in lace and beads. He wasn’t really expecting to go anywhere, but, well, maybe he still wasn’t going anywhere.
“How was it?” He asked like she’d gone on a nice walk, not like she’d been attacking brutes and creatures and... like she hadn’t gotten hurt.
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Post by moralhazard on May 17, 2019 12:45:56 GMT
Sure enough, Dhaunmyr meant to go with her. He got up, putting on a coat and boots, and Kara waited, not minding at all, until he was ready. She shut the door behind him, carefully - it was a nice inn but still an inn - and followed him down for stairs and out to the back, carrying her armor, glaive, cleaning clothes and oil.
Kara crouched in front of the pump. She pumped a bit of water into the cloth, and began to work it steadily over the pieces of armor, scrubbing the blood away. When necessary she would pump a little water into her hand and wet the dried spots of blood and water, and resume scrubbing. She also cleaned the cloth frequently, keeping it as clean as possible.
Kara glanced up at Dhaunmyr when he spoke. She looked back down at the plate in her hands, and kept scrubbing.
How was it? Terrifying. They had been swarmed by orcs, surrounded by them on all sides. Her companions had fallen one by one but - they had gotten back up, they had kept fighting. They had won, this battle at least.
“Hard,” Kara whispered the word into her armor. Her hands were shaking, and she had to stop for a moment, just gripping the gauntlet she’d been working on. She doubted she could say these words to anyone but Dhaunmyr and even to Dhaunmyr it was almost impossible. But at night, looking away from him and towards the pump, Kara could -
“We survived,” Kara said, slowly. “It was - close. There were... so many of them.” She bowed her head, a small hunched figure on the ground, clutching a gauntlet and trembling in the dark. Fighting the orcs herself was one thing; that didn’t scare her. But she could have lost the entire team - Warden, Honeybun, Igostrom, Dredka - and she so nearly had.
But she hadn’t! Kara told herself that, fiercely. She hadn’t. She had been in command, and they hadn’t lost. Let go of the what ifs, the could have beens, she told herself, trying to breathe. Let go.
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Post by enchilada on May 17, 2019 14:04:12 GMT
“But you did well, dearest. Well. I don’t know if you did, but I assume you did. I can’t imagine you doing anything badly, Kara, in fact.” She was so good at helping him. Dhaunmyr wasn’t sure he could say the same about himself for her. It wouldn’t stop him trying, at least, he could try, and then he would... learn.
It seemed a weird thing to experiment with, really, people’s feelings, but, well. There was really no other way to figure out that kind of thing, other than eventually, by doing it. He was tentative, hovering and just — oh Eilistraee...
Dhaunmyr decided that Kara didn’t need someone who didn’t know what they were actually doing, so he pretended to be as confident as he could. In truth, she was probably fine without him trying to help.
He smiled down at her, hands stuffed in his pockets. “You wanna talk about it? Or shall we find something more distracting for us to do together? I actually don’t have any, um, but we could draw something? I got some nice new paints actually if you wanted to try those. I’m getting ahead of myself, I’m here for you to talk to if you need it, of course.”
He wasn’t entirely sure what was going through Kara’s head, was she angry, left over from the orcs? Or was she happy they were dead? Or was she struggling with what had been and gone? Dhaunmyr wasn’t sure he fully understood what she had been doing, anyway, Kara was direct, but she didn’t say much, and Dhaunmyr often got lost in his thoughts and forgot to ask the questions he came up with as he fantasised answers.
But that vice grip and that posture and... well. Dhaunmyr knew that wasn’t good.
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Post by moralhazard on May 17, 2019 14:27:09 GMT
Dhaunmyr’s absolute confidence in her was touching; it felt as if he had draped a warm blanket over her shoulders. Kara still couldn’t bring herself to say anything in response for a long few moments.
If Dredka had pulled free of her grasp - if Warden hadn’t managed to smite that orc before pulling back - if Honeybun hadn’t had the sense to jump free of Igostrom before he fell - if Igostrom hadn’t managed to come up swinging - if Kara herself had faltered again, just a little longer.
But she hadn’t.
Slowly Kara began to clean her armor again. She hadn’t faltered. Igostrom had come up swinging and killed the orc. Honeybun had jumped free and been able to heal him. Warden had smited the orc and pulled back to close the gap in the group. Dredka hadn’t pulled free and she hadn’t died either.
“Drawing. Please,” Kara’s voice was still hoarse. She didn’t want to talk about it. First, because she didn’t think it would help, not really. How could she explain? Second, because even if she could, she thought it would only scare Dhaunmyr.
The gauntlet was clean. Kara moved on to the next piece, and the next. The steady even motions were familiar and soothing, comforting her. Her back straightened; some of the tension in her shoulders relaxed. Kara’s glaive she cleaned last of all, getting the blood out of every crevice of the blade and drying it quickly and thoroughly. Last, she rubbed oil into the shaft and blade of the glaive, then soaped her hands and washed them until they weren’t sticky. The armor would need scouring and some repairs, but nothing was too badly damaged, axes and all. She wouldn’t talk much more herself, but she didn’t mind if Dhaunmyr did. In truth, she hoped he would; it was soothing.
Kara carried her things back inside, and made a neat pile where ever Dhaunmyr would allow her. Her stomach grumbled noisily as she settled into place on his bed, curling against her favorite of his cushions, the one she had fallen asleep against several times by now. She looked up at Dhaunmyr, and her stomach grumbled again. “Did you - eat?” Kara asked, tentatively. Eating with Dhaunmyr was mostly like eating alone anyway, but Kara didn’t mind too much. Someday she would figure out how to repay him for all the meals. Tonight she was too tired to be more than grateful.
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Post by enchilada on May 17, 2019 14:52:57 GMT
“Of course, of course. So I got these new paints? They’re almost... shiny? I mean, I have used gold leaf in the past, quite a lot, actually, but it’s just in the paint — I don’t know if that’s common up here but it made me happy, so, so — whatever.” Dhaunmyr grinned. Shiny paint. It really didn’t take much to make him happy, sometimes, it just needed to be something pretty. And the paints were very pretty. “I didn’t really do anything else today, to be honest, if you notice the other thing then I did a good job, and if not, well. I should probably do it again tomorrow.”
Dhaunmyr was referring to finally picking up everything from the floor, which wasnt really that impressive, but Dhaunmyr had a distinct distaste for cleaning and organising, but he also could only function when things were clean and organised. Somehow, he’d managed to find a happy middle: organised mess.
Watching Kara clean her equipment was interesting. She had such focus while she did it. He thought of the armoury at the Aleduis house. Dhaunmyr spent far too long messing around with the blades and the targets than actually dusting anything, or whatever he had been sent to do. Somewhere, in those years, he’d been caught, and, his sisters had been... relieved. He wasn’t good enough at anything to be a spellcaster, or really any role he was... permitted to assume, so, cannon fodder soldier was a solid backup if he wasn’t able to find another house to join with.
Kara’s question in his room seemed accusatory, though he felt it wasn’t. Surely, by now, she knew the answer to that kind of question. “No.” He responded, picking at his nails for a moment.
Then he sighed, and disappeared out the door. Dhaunmyr was just getting an order in, but he really... he wouldn’t be let off just ordering for Kara. He got back into his room, and shut the door, leaning against it until it clicked. “Your clothes comfortable? I don’t really have much like-“ Dhaunmyr gestured vaguely, then shrugged, and went to find his art things. Where... were they, again?
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Post by moralhazard on May 17, 2019 15:05:39 GMT
Kara was asleep by the time Dhaunmyr returned, curled up half on top of the pillow almost like a cat. Her cheek was nestled into it, her arms cuddled up to her front. She woke up the moment the door clicked shut, jerking bolt upright, a few strands of hair sticking to her cheek, eyes wide and panicked. Her gaze darted from side to side, fixed on Dhaunmyr and - Kara visibly relaxed. To him, it would look as if all the tension just drained out of her.
Kara rubbed her eyes with her hands, wiping at the sticky spot on her cheek and shoving the rebellious strands of hair back behind her ear. She nodded at the question about her clothes; they weren’t what she would have chosen, but they were clean and loose and comfortable enough.
Kara accepted the wooden block, paper and pencils with a quiet ‘thank you.’ She liked to watch Dhaunmyr paint, but she still preferred sketching with pencils herself. She was only just starting to relax as she drew, and the thought of moving to a new medium intimidated her.
Kara looked down at the paper, thinking. Usually she sketched what she saw in front of her. It was easier that way. For a moment, she wished she could draw - the battle. But... Kara doubted she had the skill. Maybe someday. Faces, first, once she learned more. Then - then she would see about memories. Kara began to sketch Dhaunmyr’s room. He had moved things around, she noticed. Mostly the floor things.
“Will you - help me?” Kara asked, quietly, after a little time drawing. “I want to - find a new place to stay.” There was a heavy purse of gold in her pocket. Her armor was in good shape, even her glaive recently repaired. She didn’t have any other big purchases coming up, and she thought - maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have a bed she could actually sleep on.
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Post by enchilada on May 17, 2019 16:30:39 GMT
Dhaunmyr smiled, it was nice to just sit and paint and draw with Kara. He had some sketches from earlier, he’d gotten Faerveren to pose for him, and he was transferring them from sheet to small canvas in his lap, quite intent on trying to just capture that same energy that she had shown in her pose, it was hard when he didn’t have the model in front of him directly.
She had been happy to do it for him, Faerveren had a very perfect body, it was almost unreal, and she, although being human in half, still had some of the grace of the elves about her, which made it easy for Dhaunmyr to use her to paint what he enjoyed, which was beautiful elven women. He had to make some aspects a little thinner, and her shoulders were a little broad, but that was really in terms of differing skeletal structures.
And then Kara asked if he could help her, automatically he nodded. Dhaunmyr would have been more than happy to help Kara with anything.
New place to stay? Well, Dhaunmyr had to admit that wasn’t the first idea that sprung to mind when he asked, but he definitely able to help with that sort of thing, he just needed to have something clarified first, because he had a very simple answer if it was one way, and if it was another, he would of course accompany her to whatever places she intended to look at.
“Do you mean for a different room?”
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Post by moralhazard on May 17, 2019 16:40:29 GMT
Dhaunmyr had nodded his agreement before Kara could even get the question out. Her lips twitched at something very much like a smile, and Kara’s shoulders relaxed as she finished her request. She looked down at the piece of paper on her lap, adding another loose line to the sketch, thinking his question over.
In truth, Kara hadn’t thought much about it before just now. Characteristically, once she had decided, she was utterly set on her course. She didn’t regret staying at the Bird’s Rest. In fact, since her room was rented daily, she made the choice to stay there again every day. It couldn’t have been described as comfortable, but Kara had never been robbed, and she was able to keep it clean. She could lay her bedroll out there, and most nights there wasn’t so much noise that she couldn’t sleep.
If, of late, she had been conscious of a vague sense of wanting more – it wasn’t until just now that she had realized her room might be part of it. It didn’t feel like hers, and it never would; there was no sense in which she could be at home at the Bird’s Rest, other than the bare minimum requirement of privacy. Even that she provided with her own lock. She was almost more comfortable in the woods.
So, now that she had the money, Kara thought she should move. Unfortunately, that was as far as she had gotten, both before she asked and in the intervening moments after Dhaunmyr’s response.
“I didn’t think about it,” Kara admitted. She added a little cross-hatching to try and give depth to the drawing. She thought she was getting better; Dhaunmyr let her still use his supplies, at least. “… What do you think?” She looked up at Dhaunmyr, quite serious, hand pausing on the page, clearly happy to take his advice.
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Post by enchilada on May 17, 2019 18:18:56 GMT
Dhaunmyr thought over what Kara said intently.
Because — to answer her question, he’d have to really come to terms with his own issues with housing, which were more complicated than he’d ever really thought. “Well. It... depends.”
He felt bad that that was the only answer he could give her, so he thought a little harder over what he had to say, then, Dhaunmyr thought he could get what he was dealing with out of the way at the same time as explaining what he meant. Maybe he’d even reach a conclusion once he sounded out his thoughts.
“For me, I stay here because it’s nice, and it’s not a terrible area, and it’s near everything I want to be near. But that also refers to Waterdeep, too. So, I stay here because I can just leave if I want to, and I don’t have to worry about anything permanent. At the same time, it’s costing me a lot of money, because by this point I’m probably better getting a payment down on a small house or even a shop or something and starting that kind of thing up, because I don’t want to leave Waterdeep, for some reason.” Dhaunmyr explained what was really on his mind the whole time, hoping it would prompt Kara to go down the same line of thinking.
He almost sounded out the reason, too, but it felt weird and cheesy and just sort of inappropriate. Dhaunmyr was staying in Waterdeep and ruining his work and not experiencing the world the way he wanted to, not travelling and trying new things, because he didn’t want to leave Kara. But he also didn’t expect her to uproot for him. There was another benefit, too, it wasn’t so far away from where he’d entered the Realms Above, and he didn’t really want to be so far that it would be impossible to go back. There may have been a closer entrance to the Underdark, but, realistically, the caverns were so winding and twisting that it was extremely unlikely that he would ever find his old house and his family and... yeah.
“What do you think now?”
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Post by moralhazard on May 17, 2019 18:31:33 GMT
Kara set the pencil all the way down now, scarred hands resting on the wooden board. She listened attentively as Dhaunmyr explained how he’d chosen his inn, nodding slowly. Something inside her – clenched, tightly. She hadn’t thought of him leaving Waterdeep. It just – it hadn’t occurred to her. She knew he was a merchant; she knew he traveled. Early on, when they first knew each other, he’d said something about hiring her as a caravan guard some day. But… she hadn’t thought about all of that since. At that point, Dhaunmyr hadn’t been – what he was now.
A friend. Kara turned it over in her mind, slowly. Not just a friend, but… Kara swallowed a little. If she was honest with herself, and she very much did not want to be, he was the first person she’d really allowed into her heart since… since. Kara looked down at the bedspread. And if he left…
Dhaunmyr said he didn’t want to leave Waterdeep, and the pressure inside Kara’s chest eased, as if someone had been squeezing her heart and let go. Maybe someday, then, and she would – she would deal with it if it came. When it came. Kara squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. It was very selfish of her. She took a slow, deep breath, opening her eyes again. She wanted what was best for Dhaunmyr. What was best for her didn’t matter.
But he had said he didn’t want to leave, and although Kara had no idea what his ‘some reason’ might be, she would take him at face value. She was aware that her chest was rising and falling a little harder than it should, and she made a conscious effort to calm herself, taking a few deep breaths until the faint feeling of panic subsided.
What did she think now? Kara lifted one hand to rub her eyes again, trying to think. “I like Waterdeep,” she said, finally. “I miss the North sometimes. But I want to stay in Waterdeep.” She shrugged. Kara had, honestly, lost track of what this had to do with finding a new inn to stay at, but she did her best to answer what she thought Dhaunmyr had been asking.
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Post by enchilada on May 17, 2019 18:50:56 GMT
Obviously, he saw it. Dhaunmyr let his hand hover over Kara’s, a fair amount of concern washing over his face, but he was still warm and open and friendly and — “Kara, I’m not going anywhere unless you’re coming with me. And if that means going nowhere for the next century, I couldn’t care less. You’re my some reason for staying, okay? There. Now you know.”
Dhaunmyr sighed, he was going to have to be at terms with this now. He ran a hand through his slicked back hair, pulling it down, letting it settle. “So, if you want to stay, maybe... I don’t know if you could make this work for you, but, have you considered, perhaps, something other than a rented room somewhere? Maybe... something, you know, yours?”
He didn’t want to sway her down a path she didn’t want, it was a big jump. Probably. Dhaunmyr didn’t know if it was a leap, he wasn’t looking for a house or anything at all, he was just sort of surviving in Waterdeep, with some friends, and one in particular who tied him down to the city.
“And, if I’m staying here, in the city, because of you... I don’t know... maybe you’d be okay if I suggested that I stayed with you, too?” Dhaunmyr tried to make it sound joking so he could jerk his statement back, but he did mean it, and he figured Kara would see right through that, but, maybe she wouldn’t. He thought he came across fairly obviously, but he had no idea what Kara really thought of him.
He went back to pulling hands through his hair, trying to get it to lie as though it wasn’t drowned in product. Dhaunmyr realised he’d never had his hair down like this before in front of anyone, since his first hair styling. It wasn’t weird or embarrassing, Dhaunmyr just found that a little odd, the way it had worked out. No matter how he tried, it still sort of stuck up and out, he’d have to wash it, probably, or brush it, maybe. What was he thinking about again? Oh — Eilistraee — Kara’s whole living situation. Dhaunmyr waited for the answer.
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