;; falling hard

@marlixblacklore​

“I’m glad you’re okay. It, um, doesn’t look like many people survived in there.” Grayson hesitates, not wanting to ask, but knowing that he has to. “Your family?”

         in  medinah ?  julien  hesitates,  but  for  a  moment,  dark  eyes  sweeping  her  face.    ❛  i did.  ❜    he  sighs,  unused  to  discussing  such  things,  though  he  feels  no  shame  for  his  upbringing ;  and  marli  was  someone  so  openly  herself  that  it  almost  begged  he  grant  complete  sincerity.    ❛  in  a  way.  much  of  my  boyhood  was  spent  trapped  in  the  mines  until  i  ran  away.  the  rest  was  learning  the  streets  and  back  alleys  of  the  city.  ❜  

         julien’s  smile  is  kind,  hat  tipping  to  the  woman  beside  him  as  they  stroll  along.    ❛  of  course  –––  and  the  village  is  lovely.  ❜    he  chimes,  voice  soft  as  it  glides  along  the  evening’s  breeze,  grasses   swept  underfoot,  overgrown  and  idyllic.  he’d  never  seen  such  green  pastures.  if  he  looked  north,  at  least.  to  the  south,  the  black  crept,  ominous,  alive,  yet  seemingly  frozen  in  time.  he  recalls  warnings  of  some  villagers  about  the  family  they’ve  got  their  new  lodgings  with ;  some  such  nonsense  of  a curse.    ❛  though  the  people  can  be  less so.  ❜  

marli knew most people would be futzing over archer after his injury, herself included. but this evening it was not archer who she wanted to call upon but grayson. she could only imagine how he must feeling being hurt not so long ago himself and then seeing his brother hurt as well. lightly she knocked on the door to the room he was staying in before opening it. “grayson?” she said, spotting him in there. “i hope you don’t mind the visit. i just...i wanted to see how you were doing.”

“do you need anything?” marli asked, sitting next to dmitri. she knew adri had been working on healing him. (she could only guess much to his disapproval). but she still wanted to be sure he was alright. “you don’t have to get up. i can get your something.” 

“i...um brought you some food. i thought maybe you haven’t eaten anything. it’s just soup, so it should be easy to eat.” marli said placing the tray down next to him. her hands fidgetting with each other before she spoke again. “how...um...how are you feeling?”

“feels weird to be leaving like this so soon, but i know it is time for us to move on. i was just beginning to enjoy the city.” marli spoke as she walked the much small streets of the city. running into julien along the way, she was happy to have a companion for a small walk. “i’ve never gotten to visit the city, which is surprising honestly. but thank you for your hospitality while we were staying there.

         𝐇𝐈𝐒  𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐊  𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒𝐍'𝐓  𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊  𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄  𝐀𝐒  𝐇𝐄  𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐒,    ❛  what  kind  of  choice  do  i  have ?  ❜    none  at  all.  the  others  can  squabble  all  they’d  like  over  whether  or  not  they  valued  the  life  of  his  brother,  but  archer  wasn’t  about  to  just  let  him  go.  not  again.  and  it’s  the  thought  of  again  that  hits  him  square  in  the  chest,  causes  him  to  falter,  stopping  to  breathe  for  a  moment,  eyes  closed.  he’s  already  failed  grayson  in  this  once,  and  it’s  the  single  biggest  regret  of  his  life.  when  archer  turns  on  her,  he  is  miserable,  and  pleading  for  understanding.    ❛  he’s  my  brother.  ❜  

what could marl possibly say to comfor someone who’s sibling was gone? she’d never experienced anything like that and it was clear how close grayson and archer are. still saying nothing to him somehow felt worse. heading over to his tent, she pulled back the opening to find him crouched over.“archer i....” she paused when she saw him hastily throwing things into his bag. “what are you doing?” she asked, but knowing full well what he was about to do. how could she blame him though? his brother was out there missing. not just missing, clearly taken in some way. but rushing off like this was not going to be good. “wait, archer. you can’t go out there alone.”

“We were only with them for a few months, but the people were kind,” Reshdva replies, something wistful in her tone. “I guess hardy is the right word. What little they had, they shared.”

Grayson doesn’t quite know what to do with the sympathy. Archer’s reaction had been a lot different – more anger and upset, not the gentle words Marli’s giving him right now. He doesn’t know what to do with sympathy in general, let alone to do with this.

The offer of help from lawyers ad judges makes him blink. Because… well, he knows who killed Lord Dubois. But it wouldn’t be as simple as just pointing the finger, there’s no proof. Not unless Arkham confesses. And– Grayson’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to see the guy hanged. Yeah, he’s fucking furious at him right now, but not to the level of wanting him dead. 

“That’s… generous,” he says slowly. “I’ll have to think about it. It might not even be necessary, at the end of all this.” Who knows, he might be dead in a week. Or the black might have taken over completely.

“well if they were kind we can only hope they might extend that same offering to us if we are the same back to them.” she said. of course there was the change of them being outsiders that might sway them in another direction. but she hoped with a familiar face at least the people could be civil and perhaps kind if they realized that they were there for something good.

looking back into the racks of clothing she pulled out a few pairs of trousers that all seemed awful but at least they were going to be warm. maybe she could find a way to style them so they didn't look incredibly boyish on her like she suspected they were going to be. 

“you don't have to give me an answer now. just something to think about it when we get back here and are ready to go onto whatever is next” she told him.

Well, he really should have guessed that was where the question was going. He must have had some visible reaction back in Adri’s uncle’s office when the place was mentioned – it’s not that he wants to keep it a secret, he just… doesn’t really feel like talking about it.

But she deserves to know what she’s walking into. They all do.

“It’s empty,” Reshdva replies at length. “Desolate. Cold, though I guess we’ve made that part obvious. There’s not a lot of anything out there, not until you get to the glaciers, where there’s a few small communities. It’s… easy to get turned around in no man’s land. Everything looks the same. There’s good reason people are said to go mad there.”

He doesn’t know why he doesn’t want to verbally point the finger at Arkham, here. It’d be easy to just say it. Yeah, you know Arkham, he framed me for murder, that’s why I was there. But for whatever reason, he doesn’t. “There was, uh– I got accused of a crime I didn’t commit,” Grayson admits. “The punishment was death by hanging. No man’s land was the only place they wouldn’t find me.” He dredges up the ragged edges of a smile. “But hey, I survived there for four years. We’ll only be there for, like, a week. Probably.”

marli listened carefully to each and every word wanting to soak them all in. the more shew knew about what was happening the better off she could be in protecting herself and helping to protect the rest of the team. she’s only taken down one wolf she wasn’t sure she was counted as a great warrior just yet. “and these communities. what are the people like there?” she asked reshdva

“that’s just awful grayson i am so sorry.” moving across the shop to stand next to him she reached out to take his hand. “i can’t even imagine how scary that must have been you, having to hide in no man’s land like that when you didn’t deserve to go there...” marli sighed, pulling together a similar smile to his own. “you’re right though, you did survive all that and a dragon attack and wolf attack. i think we’re gonna be okay.” she said.

No, he guesses sturdy probably doesn’t matter a whole lot when you can just buy a new wardrobe every day. He’s still struggling to wrap his head the concept of how much money Marli has. She’s never given him a figure, but she doesn’t need to. The way she approaches certain things says more than enough about how wealthy her family is.

Reshdva makes a quiet noise, a little huff of a laugh, at the idea of her brother teaching her how to use a sword. It’s not pointed or mocking, rather, understanding. His brother had shown him how to fight, too, but not with swords.

“Sure?” he replies, taken off guard. What could she possibly need to ask him? “What is it?”

seemed silly enough but the more she looked at herself in the mirror the more she felt like she looked more like a fighter and less of just a blacklore. “my brother said it was a good skill to have in case anything ever happened. i suppose i should be thankful he was so insistent on it.” and insistent to do whatever he could to separate marli from their parents. something he was still struggling in doing.

It looks about three sizes too big for her, but that’s the point, right? Something big and bulky to keep warm, and maybe it’ll make potential attackers think twice because there’s definitely room to hide weapons under there.

Grayson trades a glance with Reshdva. “Warm,” he replies dryly. “It looks good. Sturdy.”

He doesn’t know what she means by only slightly hideous, it looks perfectly fine to Grayson. But then, they clearly have very different tastes.

“We’ve been walking into trouble for a while now, we’ll be fine.” It’s said with a confidence that Grayson doesn’t necessarily feel. He has no idea who they’re going to encounter in no man’s land. If they run into the tenebri he knew, that… might not go well. But what are the chances? That place is huge. “Besides, you seemed to handle yourself pretty well against those wolves.”

“sturdy? oh god, that’s never a word i have ever used to describe fashion. ever.” she said walking across the shop to look in the mirror. damn it was.....not good. but maybe workable. “maybe the color is not so bad. grey is....a good color.” grabbing a random large men’s belt off one of the racks she tied it around her waist to cinch in it. if it was too big she’d never be able to walk around with it. it still looked too big for her but at least she didn't feel swallowed by it. “alright trousers next....sadly.”

The one good thing about this shop is, when the attendant leaves, there’s nobody else in here. So Grayson sets Reshdva down where she can explore at will, nosing through the racks of clothing.

He catches sight of a price tag.

What the fuck.

Grayson decides he’s just not going to touch anything in here. That’s probably the safest bet. So he stands off the side while Marli browses, Reshdva following behind her. “It’ll only be while we’re in no man’s land,” Reshdva tries to assure. “Once we find that book, we’ll be back in civilization, and you can return to your normal wardrobe.”

“Maybe… that?” Grayson points at a suitably bulky looking jacket he can see. “That looks pretty good.”

“and who knows how long we are going to be there? and who knows where else we are going next? what if i have to keep wearing pants for months and months now? i mean i don’t even know where we are really going really or what we are going to see or happen. i mean we all could be walking right in danger or trouble or...” marli realized she going on a tangent. deep down she knew this wasn’t all about just pants. growing up she had been told hundreds of times that where they were going somewhere was a place that no one returned from. “i’m sorry.” she said before turning to look back at the clothing.

Grayson carefully smothers a laugh. “You’ll look fine. And you’ll thank me when we get out there, trust me.”

All of the shops around them are, uh, way more expensive than he’s used to. Everything inside looks finely made, but he’s only just been able to convince Marli that she needs something other than dresses, he doubts he’ll have much luck convincing her to buy second hand. As long as he doesn’t look at the price tag, maybe he’ll be fine?

“You should also probably, um… look, people in no man’s land don’t have much,” he explains awkwardly. “And if you look like you have a lot, that’s practically flashing a sign saying rob me. So. Plain colors. Simple styles.”

"in here." marli said motioning over towards a small shop. it would at least have some more winter clothing here. the moment they walked into the store the shop attendments seemed to perk up at the sight of the two. "miss. blacklore. w-what are you doing in here?" one of the attendants stammered. "please, please come in. you too sir, please. can we get anything for you?" the heiress smiled, and shook her head. "no, thank you. we can handle it from here. and oh..." marli reached into her bag and pulled out a few coins. "we were never here. i never came in here." the woman stared down at the coins, "yes miss!" she said before hurrying off.

@marlixblacklore​

Grayson’s not worried about most of the people in this party and how well they’ll do in no man’s land. Most of them seem to be able to handle themselves just fine, they can adapt, and it’s not like they’ll be there for very long.

On the other hand, there’s Marli. Marli, who wears elaborate dresses even when they’re traipsing through the forest. Marli, who seemed shocked at the very notion that one could just go into no man’s land.

It’s not like there’s much civilization out there either, so before they leave the Capitol, Grayson figures now is the best time to get her ready. Here, there’s shops. In no man’s land? Not so much.

“You’re gonna need some warmer clothing. Like, a lot warmer. Big jackets, thick trousers, otherwise you’re gonna be miserable and probably get frostbite.”

walking down to the shops with grayson, one could say that marli was quite a bit pouty. just the thought of having to leave behind her wardrobe for something FAR worse was terrible terrible news to put on top of how scary the place they were going. 

luckily her mother seemed to be punishing her with a silent treatment, which meant she had no time to question her about where they were going. no way would she let her daughter go to no man’s land.