Caught in the Middle (Laria, Jalen)

by **Laria** on August 22nd, 2011, 5:49 pm

OOCSorry it took me so long, been busy. And sorry it's a lame post ¬_¬

Laria worked as she usually did; quickly, calmly and carefully.
As Bolden picked and placed things, she would move them to wherever they were supposed to go. It was effective and the pair had everything organized in no time.
She glanced up from placing the last item and met his gaze. It was curious, but Laria didn’t say anything. She grabbed a blanket and placed it by Jalen – if she needed warmth it was there.

Laria gave a small smile in return as he mentioned the horses. She knew exactly what he meant by it and she also realized that he was probably trying to tell her that nothing had changed. She moved to Nightwind and stroked the horse’s nose. “You going to behave for me today?”

She began working on him, removing the yvas and proceeding to brush him down. She could hear Bolden talking to her father’s mare as he worked, and she took the liberty of coming to StormLady’s defence.
“She’s a Lady Bold, she behaves perfectly.”
It was true. Laria had made sure that the mare’s bad habits had been worked out of her.

She finished quickly, returned the brush to the box and then leaned against the strider. She watched as Bolden finished with StormLady before moving on to Jalen’s strider. Laria looked on, frowning as he suddenly headed for the tent. From what she could tell the mare had a cut on her neck. She stayed with Nightwind, leaning her head on the side of his ‘till the strider’s care was finished.

She ducked into the tent and held the flap open for Bolden and Jalen. She picked up the blanket and placed it next to the woman again before sitting down a little way off. She looked up at Bold and shrugged.
“Whatever you want.”
In truth, she wasn’t tired at all, though she was hungry.
“What about – “ She nodded her head in Jalen’s direction Surely she must be hungry too? Or perhaps she would sleep for a little while.

by **Bolden Denusk** on August 22nd, 2011, 6:27 pm

Secret :

Nightwind nickered softly as if in answer, immediately gentling under her much missed touch. He nibbled Laria's hair like old times, showing he'd missed her too.

Bolden grinned at Laria's comment of the once wild and untamed mare.

"That must've taken years just to get her to stop biting and kicking every bit of air that touched her! Let me guess--it turned out just like you thought--she was just very ticklish."

When all three Drykas were finally settled into the tent, Bold went to the corner and got out a bit of dried jerky and started some much needed tea to boil. That complete, he started caring for Jalen as he spoke to his Palomino girl.

"Jalen's been through trauma, and I've been there." He paused to wink at Laria because she'd know what he meant. "So bits of sleep, bit of food and tea, followed by lots more rest. It takes a while to come down from it so the poor woman won't sleep sound for several more bells."

Tenderly he wrapped the blanket around Jalen, looking at her careworn face. He would've bitched up a storm by now, but Jalen remained the true Drykas Lady, taking everything without complaint and holding herself with dignity. Bolden dabbed a clean cloth in water and wiped the tears and travel grime from her face as softly as he could--he didn't want to wake her uneasy rest. With a large hand, he smoothed back her hair and set up a pillow behind her head.

"As for us, I'm starving so I'm sure you are too Pal." Bolden checked and saw the tea had finally boiled and steeped. He had a moment's indecision on the sapphire blue honored guest cup. Tradition demanded the highest rank out of courtesy, but could he really place one above the other?

The memory of Vanator's words dropped the smile from his face and his eyes turned haunted. Immediately he squashed it down and brought his attention back to the cups.

"I broke one of my three cups the other day so I'm down to only the honorary cup and my cup." He filled both and gently set down the blue honorary cup by Jalen's side and offered Laria his own personal cup. They'd shared everything for six years, so there was no good reason to stop that now.
"Looks like you're stuck sharing with me as always pal. Oh and here's some fresh dried jerky too."

His dark, honey colored eyes lingered on the cuts on his palm and his mind struggled under the shame of how it had happened. Although still troubled, his expression brightened a bit at having Pal with him again--finally! He'd missed her every chime, thinking only of wanting to go back to her and her clan. Better to be a known stranger among people who didn't keep secrets from you, than being kept as someone's dirty secret.

Impetuously, Bolden reached over to his Palomino in a large welcoming hug, nearly engulfing her tiny self completely. He drew back finally and held her by the shoulders.

"I'm not that tired either--now I got my Palomino girl back." He managed to hold a smile up for Laria, but his thoughts of recent talks, weighed heavily on him and the corners of his mouth tugged downward again a half chime after.

by **Laria** on August 30th, 2011, 10:02 am

OOCSorry thought it was Jae's post!

Laria watched as he fussed over Jalen. A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth with his comment. Oh boy did she know what he was talking about. She was glad he could mention it with such jest now; it seemed that coming back to his family had helped him a great deal. As Bold cleaned the sleeping woman’s face, Laria moved over to the other side of the tent and started shuffling pillows around, trying to be useful. She held one out to Bold, which he propped behind Jalen’s head.

Another smile, this time a little wider. Laria was indeed hungry, and if that was the case then Bolden must be famished. She watched him as he picked up the cups, and saw the expression on his face falter for a moment. A light frown creased her brow, but she said nothing. It wasn’t like Bolden to break things, he was usually extremely careful when it came to handling possessions and horses. Her eyes followed the sapphire cup as it was set down by the sleeping girl, but she took the offered cup with a little nod.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” She set the cup down near the other pillows. Sharing with Bolden was instinctive to her. Whenever one of them had something that the other did not, they would immediately share it. It had always been like that.

She followed his gaze to his palms, her eyes lingering on the cuts that littered them. His expression had shifted slightly again; it mirrored how he had looked a few moments before when deliberating over the cups. She was about to say something, when he enveloped her in a surprise hug. She was glad that she had set the cup down, and her attempt at hugging his back failed, since he had her arms pinned to her sides.

Sapphire eyes looked up and met the honey ones on release, and the tiny smile returned. Though her eyes held a worried edge.
“Bold, what’s the matter? You’ve been trying to smile but it’s not working. Don’t think you can pretend otherwise. I know you, and I know something’s up.”

by **Bolden Denusk** on September 3rd, 2011, 1:11 am

"Pal, you know I--" Bolden stopped and looked at the sleeping Jalen and motioned Laria over to the other side of the tent. He grabbed a few pillows and scrunched them up for the pair. Laying on his side, the young man waited for her to follow and he continued,

"You know I can never hide anything from you Pal and that's exactly my problem here. Hold on, I almost forgot the food." He went back to get the cup, kettle and food and returned in a chime. With the fresh cooked meat laid between them and sharing a cup, he propped himself up on one arm.

He filled his eyes with the sight of her again. They'd been separated for too long and it was damn good to see her again. Laria's sunny blond hair hung past her shoulders, golden and shining. Her vivid blue eyes captured a piece of the summer sky every time he looked at her and her smile could make anything better.

Like they used to, he picked out the biggest piece of meat, broke it in half and gave one to her. The young drykas chewed thoughtfully, not quite knowing what to say. It had to be a first for him. Bold had always shared his heart with Palomino and they had the tattoo to prove it. But after his... Van's news, he couldn't -not- tell her either.

"It's crazy here Palomino and I wouldn't know where to begin. Besides, you haven't told me anything of what you've been up to since I left. Did your father get that stud colt he's been after? How did you get StormLady to finally behave like a lady? What have you been doing with yourself?"

He drained the tea and refilled it to offer it to Laria, watching her face like a desert traveler thirsting for an oasis.

by **Laria** on September 3rd, 2011, 2:31 pm

Laria waited for him to say something. Whatever it was was troubling him a great deal. Bolden was never usually one to bottle things up. At least, not when he had been in the Amethyst Clan. She stepped over to the other side of the tent at his gesture before settling onto the pillows. She sat cross-legged and faced him.

When he returned, she looked over at him expectantly. However he still didn’t answer her question, instead looking right into her eyes. Laria caught herself in his own honey coloured ones. They were warm and familiar. She had missed them – missed him.

She blinked at his sudden questions.
“Oh, uh yes he did. The grey one you mean? He named it Theron.” She smiled a little. The colt was going to make a perfect stallion. “As for StormLady, she just needed someone to show her – namely her mother. Turns out she learns best when there’s another horse with her.” She paused in thought then. The truthful answer to his next question was simply nothing. Laria had been trying to forget – forget what she had realized just after Bolden had left.

Her brow furrowed and she shot a look at him
“Stop trying to change the subject.”
Laria accepted the cup from him and took a sip of tea.
“Just… start at the beginning. What happened when you got back? Try and explain it to me Bold, I’ve never seen you like this before…”

by **Bolden Denusk** on September 3rd, 2011, 3:34 pm

"That's great. He's still got some growing to do if he's a notch on his sire, especially with that giant stallion neck of his." Bolden dipped his head down like a horse to take a sip of the tea, while Laria held the cup. It was just a small gesture, but it bespoke years of trust in each others company.

"Oh she's a copycat then! She better not stay around Nightwind too much then--she'll start eating the hair right off your head to get attention!" Bolden tried to grin, but it was a just a shadow of what it had been only two moons ago.

The young drykas looked at her frown and shook his head, a large weight sitting on his shoulders.

"Pal it's such a long story and well.."

Stalling for time, he picked up some more food, broke it in half and gave it to the girl.

'How can I just outright tell someone, by the way, I'm a bastard now? Everything was a big fat lie and everyone I thought was family is a distant branch of a twig of family. I was a mistake, an accident born without the blessing of Chevas so I'm not even a legitimate member of any family.'

Uneasy about the whole subject, he sat up cross-legged, facing Laria.

"Remember a long while back when we were fifteen and sixteen? That crazy mare that your father bought that was in foal? How the guy said he was just moving on and didn't have room, that's why he was selling off such a well bred mare for so cheap. And then she foals some mangy zibri looking runt that doesn't even look half horse? Yea. That crazy mare that got out of her paddock four times to breed while we slept and we had no clue who the sire was of her next foal! Well, I guess that's where I'm at now."

While Bolden talked, he picked absently at the cuts on his hand and his dark eyes clouded over. He sighed deeply and continued, a deep crimson staining his face and ears.

"I'm not officially of any clan or pavilion Palomino. Heir to the Ankal, Vanator had a fling with some girl when he was a kid. They were just messin' around and ended up with me. Since Ay'vata couldn't have sons because she was a Konti, she agreed to raise me as her own. So what it comes down to is, I'm a dirty secret they kept for nineteen years."

by **Laria** on September 3rd, 2011, 4:12 pm

Laria nodded. The colt was going to be huge when finished growing, bigger even than Bolden’s own Nightwind. Again his smile was not right. It didn’t stretch as far as it usually did and was a long way off reaching his eyes.

She carefully took the offered food, nibbling at it while he sat in thought. Laria sat up a little straighter as Bolden shifted positions, focusing all of her attention on him. A light frown crossed her brow, her eyes showing her confusion. She couldn’t understand why he was talking about horses now, especially ones that they had gotten years ago.

Another nod was given as Laria attempted to work out what he was trying to tell her. She remembered the mare clearly. She had been a beautiful horse, one who promised fine offspring, but the foal she had birthed was runty and strange-looking. And Bolden was comparing himself to her? No… the foal, he was comparing himself to the foal.

The frown vanished from her face and she looked at him with compassion as he continued on. Larira blinked in surprise though, as he revealed that Vanator was his father. She had no words for him. What does one say to a person who has just discovered what Bolden had done? She couldn’t imagine how he felt, but from his expression she had a good idea.

“Bold I –“
She cut off, her eyes sorrowful.
“I don’t know what to say…” She reached out for his hand to take it in her own.

by **Bolden Denusk** on September 3rd, 2011, 4:45 pm

Bolden sighed and nodded.

"Exactly Pal. There's really nothing to say about it."

He took her slim strong hands in his, turning them this way and that, stroking the tops of them as if searching for an answer. All he knew was that Pal always made it better, just by being there. She never turned her back on him or called him stupid. Just offered the comfort or her presence or even better, made him laugh. Bold's large hands completely engulfed the woman's own, taking solace in just being able to hold her, even a little.

They had shared every moment of the last six years together, holding back nothing from each other. It was a purely open and honest relationship, typical of the Drykas culture. Blunt honesty and a forthright nature had paired them off long ago, but only Laria truly saw it. The young man only knew that Pal was his comfort, his left half--the side that had his heart.

Bolden would never be accused of being a scholar-not by a long shot; but his open, honest nature was admirable in and of itself. He had the reading level of a thirteen year old, but when it came to horses and striders, his knowledge bordered nearly on supernatural instinct. The man could tell you reams of wisdom on a horse's stride, but writing a single sentence took him far longer than it should.

Slowly he tucked back a long blond lock of Pal's hair, his large hand lingering over the simple motion. When amber eyes met sapphire, there was an abrupt, unspoken difference between them. As if seeing her for the first time, Bolden really -saw- Pal--Laria, the woman, not just the friend.

Her golden skin and hair, the color of nature itself. Laria's finely made features were an incredible blend of natural beauty and serene strength. Her amazingly vivid blue eyes drew him, willed him to see not the childhood friend, but rather the impossibly beautiful woman before him.

Somehow the charged silence changed with the long chimes as they sat and simply looked at each other. In Bolden's greatest moment of sorrow, his Palomino girl became the woman, Laria, to help him into tomorrow. She was no longer the fourteen year old who shared adventures with him when they were children. Some where when he wasn't looking, she'd grown into a breathtakingly lovely woman who saw him as...more.

by **Laria** on September 3rd, 2011, 5:20 pm

Laria watched as Bolden took her hands and examined them. She wondered what he was looking for, what he was thinking. But truthfully, it didn’t really matter. She was just glad that she had found him again. Even if there were some issues, some things that he might struggle with now, it didn’t matter. His hands completely enveloped hers. It was funny – it mirrored them in a way. She always felt safe with Bolden, she knew he would protect her.

She glanced up at him, and Laria immediately knew that he was thinking about the past. Not specific events, just the past in general. She looked down again and wondered what her life would be like without Bold in it. She couldn’t fathom it – she drew a blank. He had become such a huge part of her life, of her, that it was impossible to see it without him.

Laria looked up again as he released one of her hands so that he could tuck her hair back. Azure eyes locked onto his golden ones and she paused. Like this, seeing Bolden at that exact moment pulled up everything that she had realized just days after he had returned home. All the feelings of loneliness, the yearning for him to come back to her... it all came flooding back to the surface.

Without realising what she was doing, Laria pulled her other hand from Bolden’s grip. She placed both her hands on his shoulders for a moment before she wound them round his neck, pulling the pair into a hug. It was more than that though. It wasn’t a ‘glad-to-see-you’ hug. It was an ‘I –need-you’ one. She buried her face in his shoulder and clung to him as if her life depended on it.

by **Bolden Denusk** on September 3rd, 2011, 5:43 pm

At first her hug surprised him but it just felt..right. Long overdue in fact. Bolden held her gently at first, like having a precious gem in his hands. His large arms enfolded her delicate form in a large hug, both of them finally realizing what they meant to each other--at last.

Laria's hair and skin smelled of fresh air and sunlight and something more mysteriously female-uniquely hers. Bold could feel a heart beat speed up, but couldn't be sure if it was his or hers; it must be both. Never had he been so aware of her as he was at this moment. Laria's own scent was a dizzying perfume that he couldn't get enough of and her warmth within his arms demanded action.

His large hands circled her waist as if feeling it truly for the first time. Not as Pal, but as the golden haired beauty that stole all thoughts from his mind in the way that only a woman can. Bolden turned his face a fraction downward and to the side, close enough to feel her breath on his skin. His large hand gently cupped her face to pull up her small chin until their lips finally met in a kiss that was six years in the making.

Secret :