Lovers

The sound of a lute in the air drew her deeper into the woods, her pace quickening the further she walked. Her feet and staff kicked and knocked leaves on the ground about with faint whispers and rustles, and the occasional twig that caught in her hair or brushed against her face was pushed aside. Pausing, she tilted her head to one side, slowly, then the other side. A left turn was made to draw closer to the origin of the lute she heard. A bit too quickly though, so she nearly clunked her head on a large, low tree branch. Luckily, an outstretched hand had caught it first so she knew to duck beneath it.

"Gwydion?" Her voice quiet as she called out, brows furrowed as she turned one way and then another. When the sound of the lute faded and she heard the rustling of leaves where she once heard the former, a rare grin was worn and she turned that way.

"Hey babe. I was starting to think you weren't going to show up." She heard him moving her way and couldn't help but move towards him herself, her free hand held out. Unlike most others she had rare contact with, he was warm to the touch. Eyes fluttered shut then, as she relished that touch and warmth when his hands easily took hers in them.

"I'm sorry Gwydion... it was hard to get away this time. Noreen sometimes doesn't mind, but she had to stay back at the Sacrosanct to take care of some things for Mother... So it was Augustus who accompanied me here and he's..." She trailed off, shaking her head. He would know exactly how Augustus was about letting her wander off by herself. Much less to spend time with a human. She didn't dwell on those thoughts though. It had been too long... "I've missed you..."

"I've missed you too babe." She smiled when he squeezed her hand, lifting it so his lips lightly brushed against her knuckles. "..how long do we have this time?" His words came somewhat hesitantly.

She knew she should probably be getting back soon. Now probably. The consequences for this outing wouldn't be pleasant, but she felt as if enduring them would be worth it. "It's been a month since we've been able to be alone together like this.. hasn't it?" A rhetorical question, she sighed a little before he could respond, leaning into him, her forehead resting against his chest. "I don't plan on going back for a while..." It had taken her too long to be able to take a trip to Rhist. She didn't do that just for five minutes with him...

"You sure about that babe..?" Her head tilted to the side just a touch when his fingers sifted through her hair. Isolated most of the time, she craved the contact. "I mean, I don't want to get you in any sort of trouble." She caught the twinge of guilt in his tone, mirroring it with a faint frown. She would get in trouble for this, and it certainly wasn't the first time. She figured he knew that, but it was her choice.

"It's no trouble Gwydion..." She whispered it as she leaned back a little, enough to lift her eyes in his direction. "I'd rather be here. If I could just stay here with you.. in Rhist.. and never go back? I never would." She paused then, her next words coming somewhat tentatively. "Do you ever think it'll be like that Gwydion? One day life can be normal for us...? I'll just live here with you, and never have to go back." The thought brought a smile to her lips, even if it was something of a dream. "I'll be free, and we'd never have to spend so much time apart ever again..." She waited for a response from him. Any response. But it never did come. She laughed softly, bitterly, as her hands pulled from his and wrapped around him, drawing him closer as she forfeited her staff to the ground. "I should know better than that shouldn't I?"

"It's not-" His words ceased rather abruptly. Silence came as she felt him pull her closer. "Even if it's never.. quite like that, that's okay isn't it? It's rare for things to be perfect between people. What we have, even as is.. it's a whole hell of a lot better than what others have- or don't have. Even if this isn't normal, even if we never have that, we'll have each other. That's what counts, isn't it?" A rhetorical question of his own there, she didn't have time to respond before she felt his lips brush against hers, feather light and fleeting all too quick as he pulled away.

"..it is." Her words were uncertain at first, though she smiled, nodding as she spoke them once more. Confidently this time. "It is." It wasn't easy though, but she didn't need to voice that. It couldn't have been easy for him either. To see him so rarely, always in private, always on her own terms- there was always guilt eating away at her for it. Aside from her father, he was all she really had, genuinely and truly. But he had the opportunity to have so much more. He couldn't really have that with her though, could he? He deserved so much better than this life; than her.

"You okay babe?" Hearing the concern in his tone break through her thoughts, she gave him a reassuring smile, hoping to alleviate any worry he might have for her. "It'll work out. Things always have a funny way of doing that." A quick kiss was delivered to her forehead then, before she felt him pull away, hand sliding down her arm towards her hand to grasp it and give a gentle tug. "Come on. I wrote a new song I think you might like. It's easy to play too, so I thought I could teach you how to play it."

"Really?" She couldn't help but grin at that, on the verge of letting laughter bubble out, yet it never quite came to the surface. "I didn't think you'd ever let me touch your lute again after last time..."

Blue

Lips pursed, Lydia examined the items laid out on the various vendor's tables. Most, like the fine metals and jewelry set out were way beyond anything she could afford, but they were still pretty to look at. Part of her wanted a closer look at a pretty garnet necklace, but the gnome who manned that particular table was shooting her some nasty looks as she reached out for it. Some vendors were like that- Look but don't touch. Not if you weren't going to be buying anything at least, and looking at her? It was obvious she didn't have a lot of money to be buying jewelry. Offering a halfhearted smile to the little gnome in the pointy hat she withdrew her hand, moved around someone else looking over the jewelry and down the tables, to another vendor's area.

This particular table had fabric swatches laid out all over it, and was the reason she had come to the market today. Lydia had plans for a few things she wanted to make and try to sell at the market herself, she was just running out of fabric. She reached down, letting fingertips trail over the various swatches, head tilted curiously. She hadn't any idea what she wanted, but one fabric did catch her eye. It wasn't particularly fancy in texture or appearance, but she found herself particularly fond of the shade of blue. Smiling to herself as she picked up the sample, Lydia turned it over and back again, lips pursed in contemplation. Decision made, she turned to search out the one selling the fabrics, but the only thing she saw was a lone feather peeking out from behind the table, swaying to and fro.

"Ah, excuse me?" Lydia started to lean foward to get a look at whoever was down there but jumped back with a startled yelp when they suddenly popped up in a blur of blue. The one who popped up looked rather young to be peddling things at the market by herself, honestly, but she didn't seem to mind. Her smile was just so... beyond cheery. The smile never wavered as she regarded Lydia, particularly the green locks, as she reached up to flip the feather in her beret out of her face.

"Heya! I take it ya want a roll of that? Bouncing on toes, the little blonde elf reached out to snatch the fabric swatch from Lydia's hands, briefly looking it over with a light giggle. "That's a real good choice!" Beaming, she held it next to the fabric from her own clothing to show off the similarities between the two. Before Lydia had much of a chance to say anything, the little blonde and bouncy elf disappeared under her table. She could only hope it wouldn't be too expensive then, as it seemed she'd be buying a roll of that particular fabric...

Suppressing a sigh, Lydia's gaze wandered around momentarily, pausing on a man standing a couple feet from her, the one looking over jewelry. He was grumbling and mumbling in aggravation as he tried to get his lighter to work, presumably to light the unlit cigarette that hung loosely between his lips. Finally giving up, lighter was snapped closed and dropped into a pocket before he lifted his gaze, speaking up as he did so. "Someone got a light?"

She waited a couple moments before speaking up, pale blues a touch lighter in color. "Ah.. I can light it I suppose." Though smoking? A small part of her wanted to 'tsk tsk' at people for that. Grem may have been a werewolf and it wouldn't exactly cause him much harm, but she doubted every person she saw smoking, like Erin, could say the same. She was just about to reach up to try and light his cigarette, but winced as the gnome she saw earlier suddenly started yelling.

"What da hell ya doin'!?" The gnome glowered down beneath his table, shaking a fist indignantly. "Ya can't store things under my table! It's my space, get out from there!"

"Oh shut up David!!" Screeching at the gnome, the bouncy blonde elf popped up from beneath his table, holding a roll of blue fabric. "It's not like yer storin' anything of use down there and I needed more room for my stuff!" She pointed beneath the table with a free hand.

The gnomes plump and naturally rosy cheeks and nose turned a bright crimson as features twisted in anger. "What!?" He took a step forward, invading the personal space of the little elf.

Snickering in absolute delight at his reaction, the blonde elf beamed a grin down upon the gnome. "What? Ya can't hear me all the way down there?" She leaned down, grinning still, her own face mere inches from his.

Lydia and the man with the unlit cigarette watched, wordlessly, as the scene unfolded. It was like a wreck on the street where a carriage tipped over- you just couldn't look away. Lydia wasn't terribly thrilled about the prospect of a fight breaking out though, so eventually, she did speak up. "Ah, hey, there's no need to fight, yeah?" She did her best to offer the blonde a smile. "And the fabric looks great, I'll take that roll. I'm just in a hurry, so..." She trailed off, hoping she'd lay off the gnome.

"Huh?" The blonde looked towards Lydia, blinking, then waved her hand almost dismissively as she approached. "Oh, right, yeah yeah, I'm hurryin'."

Situation seemingly diffused, the man with the unlit cigarette cleared his throat lightly, causing Lydia to look back that way. Right! She had nearly forgotten. A sheepish look sent up his way, she was about to light his cigarette, however.. fate had other plans that day.

The little blonde elf had leaned against her table, jotting something down on paper when a light wind picked up, sending the feather in her beret wafting over towards the green haired elf. Lydia's nose wriggled as the feather lightly brushed against it, and there was just no fighting it. She had to sneeze. Which normally wasn't such an awful thing, but she was in the midst of lighting a cigarette, and her magic had been a bit... fritzy lately. Lucky for the cigarette man, she turned head and hand away as the sneeze, some sparks, and flakes of fire escaped her. However...

Unfortunately for the gnome, he had set to stalking towards the blonde from behind, with every intention of delivering a boot to her backside. That put him in the right, or is that wrong? spot for his hat to catch those sparks though. Gods, that had to be the most flammable hat too, because the tip erupted into flames almost immediately.

"Oh Gods!" Lydia was horrified and mortified, eyes wide on the gnome who seemed unaware. "Your hat! Take it off!" She pointed outwards towards it, almost frantically. And the cigarette guy? He had long made his retreat. A man with good sense, that.

The blonde had seen what Lydia had done and lips pulled back in a grin all too big for her face, her bright blue eyes forming little crescents as she regarded the green haired one. "That was awesome!" Forgetting about the gnome, she looked to be in absolute awe over Lydia. "How did ya do that anyways?"

The gnome sniffed at the air, and realizing what was up? He was in absolute state of panic, shouting and running around in circles as he flailed about. "Someone save me! I'm bein' burned alive!"

Lydia hadn't really heard the blonde elf, still being absolutely horrified over the fact she just accidentally set someone, or rather, their hat, on fire. But still! What if she had set him on fire!? Frowning, she was about to try to vault over the table to try to get closer to him and help out, before the fire moved from hat to gnome, but fortunately the blonde finally decided to act. With a sigh she reached over and knocked the hat off his head and to the ground where it continued to burn. The gnome was unscathed, but the shiny bald spot on his head was revealed to the world.

Laughing at the burning hat and then the bald spot the little blonde turned back to Lydia, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "That was a really neat trick Fire."

Parents

It was the warmth of sunlight that awoke the five year old. Turning in her bed, Lydia absently grasped for the stuffed animal by her side, smiling when her fingers sifted through the soft fur on its long, floppy ears. A rabbit, her father had called it. Sleepy eyes remained shut as she pulled her stuffed rabbit closer, hugging it close. She was never allowed such an item by her mother. Her room at The Sacrosanct was rather sparse, but her father kept things around her room at his castle for her to play with. It was rare her attention wandered away from the rabbit, however, as it was a favorite.

"Morning." Her voice was soft and singsong, if a little off key, as she addressed her rabbit. She gave it another hug before letting go, so that she could finally reach up and rub the sleep from her eyes. Her large yawn went uncovered as she sat up and opened up her eyes. It was quiet within the castle, but she could hear some activity, even through the doors and walls that currently separated her from it. Normally she would have hopped right out of bed to locate her father, but she wasn't feeling terribly good.

Lydia's small body still ached with a fever she had had for quite a few days now. The aches had settled back in as she sat up, causing her to moan quietly. Rather defeatedly, she laid back down, frown on her face as she reached out for her rabbit to snuggle to. She didn't like being sick, but most children didn't, though she was sick far more often than other children were. It didn't seem fair to her, but a lot of what she went through didn't. The positive of being sick, this time at least, was that she got to remain in her father's care for longer than usual. She didn't have to go back to The Sacrosanct since she was in no condition to travel.

She stirred a bit, when she heard her door slowly creak open, and a bright smile plastered itself upon her face when she heard heavy footfalls, in spite of the pains and aches she currently suffered through. At The Sacrosanct she'd know it to be one of the many elves responsible for her care, but never her own mother. Not even when she was ill. Here? Every morning, it was the same person who greeted her and took time to personally tend to her.

"Daddy." Lydia's voice was weak, but still carried an undertone of excitement to it. She was always happy to spend time with her father, as it was all too rare that she was able to.

"Good morning, little love." The bed shift a little beneath her father's weight as he sat. "Are you feeling any better this morning?" His hand felt cool to her, as he lightly touched her forehead.

"A little." Lydia nodded as she hugged her rabbit. "But I still don't feel that good... I don't have to go back yet, right?"

It took a moment before her father responded. "No, you don't." With a sigh he smoothed back some of her hair. "You still feel rather feverish. I think more bed rest is in order for you." She moaned in protest, hating to have to lay around so often. "I'm sure you'll be feeling much better after some rest, Lydia. When the time comes I'll take you outside to the gardens - you and your sister both."

Talk of her sister and the gardens had Lydia smiling rather gleefully up at her father. "Really? I'd like that daddy." The glee was short lived, before another ache wracked through her body. She groaned quietly as she laid back down and rolled to her side.

A long moment passed before her father spoke again, his words quiet. "Try to rest, little love. I'll bring you your breakfast shortly, okay?"

"Okay..." Lydia's eyes shut as she felt her father press a kiss to her head. It wasn't long after, that she drifted back to sleep.