|
Post by Wildfeather on May 20, 2008 10:39:22 GMT -5
*Wild blushed and hid her face against his chest. She was not used to people calling her good. She concidered herself to be a devilish little imp, of no use to anyone.*
"Ummmm...." *She didn't know how to reply.*
|
|
|
Post by Father Joseph on May 20, 2008 11:03:28 GMT -5
"See?" *He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead chastely.*
"Don't worry." *He whispered.* "I won't tell anyone."
|
|
|
Post by Wildfeather on May 20, 2008 11:05:49 GMT -5
*Wild smiled and huggled him tightly.*
"Thank you." *She whispered back.* "In return I'll do anything you tell me to do."
|
|
|
Post by Father Joseph on May 20, 2008 11:14:49 GMT -5
*He touched her cheek gently.*
"Wild...I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to. I just want to help you find hope."
|
|
|
Post by Wildfeather on May 20, 2008 11:19:14 GMT -5
*Wild huggled Father Joseph again, smiling up to him.*
"I know you don't, Father. But I feel kind of useless when I don't have anything to do. All the others living in the church are working. I don't do anything."
|
|
|
Post by Father Joseph on May 20, 2008 11:31:30 GMT -5
*He never lost his smile.*
"Then work. I'm always happy to have another set of hands."
|
|
|
Post by Wildfeather on May 20, 2008 11:33:59 GMT -5
*Wild was slightly wondering if he ever could get angry. But something inside her told her that she didn't want to see him angry. She smiled up to him.*
"I can work? For real? What can I do to help you?"
|
|
|
Post by Father Joseph on May 20, 2008 12:00:19 GMT -5
*Joseph thought for a moment.*
"Well, you can take over Anna's chores while she is away. What do you think?"
|
|
|
Post by Wildfeather on May 20, 2008 12:04:39 GMT -5
*Wild looked up at him, worrying. What if those were chores she hadn't learned. She would hate to disappoint him.*
"What are Annas chores?"
|
|
|
Post by Valerie on May 21, 2008 9:52:52 GMT -5
***NEW DAY***
*Valerie stood at the fishmonger's stall, perusing the freshest of the day's catch as they stared at her with glassy eyes.*
|
|
|
Post by Valmont on May 21, 2008 9:57:11 GMT -5
*Valmont was fairly certain he was in no condition to be out on the streets. But being in such a condition, he hadn't the mental capacity to remember to stay inside. He wasn't so much drunk as hungover and wallowing in a bottomless vortex of guilt and wrong, which caused his jacket to be just slightly awry and his cravat to be tied with a smidgen less accuracy.
The sight of Valerie at the fishmonger's stall did, however, add a fashionable pallor to his cheeks. Damn these crowds--he'd been on her before he saw here there. Where was he? What had brought him here? Could he get away before she saw him?*
|
|
|
Post by Valerie on May 21, 2008 10:10:13 GMT -5
*Perhaps Valmont's chances at escaping her notice might have been better had he not been standing completely still amidst the seething crowd of buyers and sellers around him. Valerie had only to glance up as she turned to leave the stall to find him gaping at her as if he were simple.*
"...I suspect you're not here for the fish," *she said dryly, with a raised eyebrow.* "With that squint you've got and your mouth hanging open, you only lack some scales to make you a complete codfish. Not to mention you look a little green."
*She paused to hand some coins to the fishmonger as he handed her her wrapped up purchase to put in the basket she carried.*
"What are you about, anyway? This is hardly your place."
|
|
|
Post by Valmont on May 21, 2008 10:22:57 GMT -5
*Valmont blinked, not helping the unflattering resemblance. He looked like a man who hoped he was dreaming, unable to focus on his surroundings in favor of the unthinkable thing in front of him.*
"I..."
She doesn't want to know. She doesn't need to know.
*Valmont swallowed painfully.*
"Just a walk," *he said hoarsely.* "A... fresh air."
*Valerie always caught him off balance. But previous to this, it had been a pleasant sort of discomfort, something challenging, something entirely new. This was new, too, but wholly untenable. Could this lovely creature have come from him?
Of course. That wasn't the issue, and he supposed there were much more embarrassing progeny.
His discomfort was all the greater for the fact that anything resembling fatherly pride or criminal shame was overshadowed by the constant knowledge of the carnal delight he'd taken in her, images that would not cease playing behind his eyelids. Everything about this was wrong, and it always had been. He wasn't supposed to become obsessed like this. Not once the conquest was completed. Perhaps he'd always known, and that's what had had him thrown off when it came to her. Now he knew, and he wished he didn't.*
|
|
|
Post by Valerie on May 21, 2008 10:29:39 GMT -5
"Fresh air?" *she said with evident disbelief as she considered the smog of sweat both human and animal, grime and somewhere, eggs gone rotten that surrounded them. She rolled her eyes.*
"Lie to me again and I'll find good reason to knock one of your teeth out. I'm not an idiot."
*She turned in at the next stall for vegetables and perused the selection, her bent head exposing the soft line of the nape of her neck, wisps of her dark hair curling against it as they had escaped her hair pins.*
|
|
|
Post by Valmont on May 21, 2008 10:34:02 GMT -5
*Valmont blinked at the violent suggestion, and then found himself staring at the back of her neck. He shook himself mentally, recovering somewhat. This would not do. He'd faced down husbands, mothers, scorned lovers with aplomb. He'd maintained the tightrope balance between society and disgrace for years. To be so undone only added to his shame.*
"No, you aren't," *he said quietly. But he knew something she didn't.* "I am not, however, lying; I went for a walk and found myself here."
|
|