#valiantspirit

          ❝ Go ahead , dis-moi which song you like the most, I’ll play the instrumental. ❞

                                                                 ❝ are you going to tell me only ONCE per year ?

                                                    that you love me more than ANYONE else in the world ? ❞

  ❝ it’s a REWARD. rewards lose all their

     MEANING if you give them out like candy. ❞

                               LEON                      ♡                      FREY

        & was there ever a moment that would come that would be more relaxing than this ? eyelids flutter closed as he RELISHES the feeling of her fingers combing through his hair, the feeling of each strand carefully being taken into nimble digits ( fingers that are calloused stiff due to the constant farm work, yet are somehow capable of performing the softest touch one could ever hope to imagine ) as they’re weaved into a braid.

        it is in moments like this that he allows himself to RELAX under her hands, negative thoughts brushed away with each stroke of her kind & gentle fingers, combed away alongside whatever knotted strand she managed to untangle ( for he was sure there were quite a few, given the length of his turquoise coloured mane ).

        the end result of her oh so careful art work was not as rewarding as the SMILE she offered as soon as she was done, the curvature of her lips radiating a brilliance that was much too unsuitable for eyes such as his. & it is then that he thinks to himself ( much like he has thought THOUSANDS of times since the very day she had declared aloud her feelings for him ), that she truly was too much. that he truly was lucky & undeserving of such radiance, such beauty, such kindness that was shown his way by the princess.

        quick, CONFIDENT steps are taken as soon as he spots the other’s figure. the mere thought of asking another for help was exasperating ( especially given how much trouble he’s already caused for the other ), but still feet move forward until he towers above the prince, arms crossed & expression a tad more serious & demanding than he would’ve liked it to be. 

    she’s between songs for the moment, feet kicked up on the table at the tavern, and testing the strings to try and see what she might play next. it’s a nonsense tune, something that was just sing-song-y enough to go along with whatever story she conjured up next, that nesdin manages to match fairly well. not perfectly, but oh, not everyone could be blessed with perfect pitch.

    still, she laughs – it’s one she isn’t familiar with herself.

         “ ha! nesdin’s got a good sense for rhymes! ”

and after everything, it feels good to bring a smile to her face, to be able to bestow some sense of ease to one who had taken it upon herself to be fount of ease and solace. at times, Quincey’s lunacy was... endearing.

it went a long way towards lightening the mood. the least he could do was return the favour.

“How’s your improvisation?”

 “ finally. ” he’s been pestering reynauld for hours to try and convince the crusader to finally, finally play some kind of game with him. it’s no fun when he’s swindled chauncey out of most of his money and audrey is too smart to gamble against a man banned from the gambling hall.

    ashlyn’s good. she’s got a good eye. she makes for a good challenge. that bird of prey of hers sits upon her shoulder, quirking its head at dismas when ashlyn comes close.

     he gives a wide gesture to the seat across from him. “ you’re more than welcome to play. just don’t get upset when i win.  

it’s a bit of sport for her, to deliberately play with a known cheat. the real trick to it wasn’t in the luck, but more on her seeing if her senses could match his sleight of hand. training, you could call it. or maybe she actually DID enjoy his company, who could say?

his exaggerated gesture earns him a smile, so ashlyn wagers that the odds are higher for the latter. 

he hadn’t taken notice of it at first.

   Nesdin knew that with the recent outbreak of bloodsuckers, their woes came twofold: one in the physical threat they posed against their adventuring parties, their want for fresh blood driving their malicious resolve in cutting them open. it was bad enough, venturing into the courtyard for the trinkets and relics of old that Solomon needed to secure legitimacy in bettering the conditions of the hamlet but now it seemed they took no issue in separating themselves from their squalid, bloodied court in search of victims.

   but another threat came in a more sinister, underhanded fashion. it laid in the very victims the bloodsuckers claimed, it laid in their tainted blood. an infection was spreading in the hamlet, untreated wounds carrying the same madness that turned the ruined gentry into the frenzied beasts they were had the potential to instill that same thirst in their own allies. Nesdin... foolishly thought to count himself fortunate for his affliction. for certainly, there would be no way for the eldritch blood in his veins to coexist with this vampiric blight. he had even fallen privy to confirmation bias when a deep bite had left him with nothing but a stinging pain, free from the latent, growing craving others had attested to feeling.

   but now, now he was knocking on the door of a respected... colleague. one whose penchant for studying diseases and ailments could perhaps use what he had recorded to help treat this cursed madness that ran tandem with the affliction he had unreliable control over AT BEST. now he felt the voices: growled threats and whispered pleas chattering away in his his very veins.

“Aya... Please-”