The start of a beautiful ... well, something. (peerface x eldarface)

Oh my gosh. She was talking to him. She was talking to him and now she was blushing too. Did he really have that affect on her? Him? Really? It almost made him a little put off - anybody who could possibly be interested in HIM had something wrong with them. However he then remembered that he was a jerk for thinking so lowly of himself so he tried to put those thoughts away though. Even so, seeing her kind of fumble made him feel a little more relaxed. He was still blushing and now chuckling nervously as she was talking about the flowers. They all just looked like girly things to him, they all looked the same. He didn't know diddly squat about flowers except that one of them was called a 'rose' and it was apparently romantic. He got lost in the descriptions of all the flowers, but he wasn't really paying attention. Without realizing it, he was kind of just watching her and nodding when she talked, with a stupid grin on his face.

He snapped out of it when she started apologizing. "No, no! It's okay! I don't mind. So this is a sunflower, huh?" He asked. He leaned forward and took a whiff of it. It smelled foresty. It was definitely a nice smell, he supposed. He could see why girls (in their frivolous ways) would stop to smell flowers. "It's like art for the nose," He said. "And it's - I guess it's art to the eyes too, isn't it?" He leaned away from the flowers and nodded again. "Right, colors. Yellow is cheerful, isn't it?" he agreed. Suddenly, he found that yellow was his favorite color, when he was previously indifferent to all colors. "You know, it's funny - I never knew so many flowers could exist in so many different varieties in one spot. I grew up in such a muddy, shoddy place, I never got to see any flowers. I just started traveling with my Master and so I haven't really seen any flowers like this aside from the little flowers that grow on forest shrubs. I didn't know they could get so big... Do Roses come in yellow too?" He was hoping she'd point him to a rose since he had NO IDEA what they looked like. He was still too shy to reach forward and touch her back, but slowly his pose became less rigid as he did more genuinely examine the flowers.

The girl seemed to have been a good choice, Del’ure thought as he observed the two, especially Jack, who was slowly starting to look a little more relaxed while the girl seemed to have gone off on some sort of lecture about the various kinds of flowers. Or at least it looked that way from his vantage point as he watched her point to many different kinds and inviting Jack to smell them from time to time as well. ‘Hopefully the boy has a coin or two left in his purse when he comes back,’ Del’ure thought with a grin.

Selina smiled at Jack. “Yes, it is a cheerful colour. And I know, it is extremely girly and childish but flowers are lovely and they do brighten even the greyest of days with their colours and smells. Don’t you think?” Blushing at her own question, she quickly spoke again: “Of course you don’t, you’re a boy. Why would you…”
Jack’s question made her stop however and she hastily pointed him towards the requested flower. “Roses do come in yellow but they’re very, very rare. This palish sort of yellow that looks almost white is probably the closest you will get to a yellow rose most of the time. It’s still lovely though, isn’t it? It makes me understand why so many poems have been written about flowers, or comparing women to flowers.”
Why on earth she was practically pouring her heart out to him, she did not know, but she found it very easy to talk to him and he was a good listener. ‘Or rather,’ she thought with a frown as she noticed him stare at her, ‘he doesn’t interrupt and brush it all off as the silliness of an innocent, little girl.’
“I’m sorry, I’ve been talking too much. I hope I was of some help? Do you know what you will suggest to your master?”

"Well, boy or not, I know how shoddy grays can be, and I know how nice it is to have something - anything - to make the grays brighter. And if anybody ever tells you that this is childish, you just punch them." ... No, wait, that probably wasn't the best advice. "Or, ignore them. If I've learned anything, it's that dumb people will buckle under pressure and conform to the way society wants them to be, and people just like belittling other people and their wants. People like pushing themselves up, and another way to do that is making sure everybody else around them stays down. If you can stick to what you really want, then you'll be better for it."

He glanced at the yellow rose and tipped his head, finding opinions about things that he never really cared about before. It was lovely.... in kind of a sad, lonely way. Maybe all roses were lovely in a lonely way. They absolutely did bloom more fully than the other flowers, with a beauty that made them stand out... he decided, though that he preferred the sunflowers, because they seemed more down to earth (and probably because this girl said they were her favorite.) He also resolved to learn how to write poetry. And he'd write it about sunflowers. Or something.

"Nah, nah, you haven't been talking to much. And ... I think I do know. I think a yellow spread would be nice. I.." He paused and looked concerned for a moment. He glanced down to look at his feet apparently and his face turned bright red - and then he very quickly bought one of the potted sunflowers and held the pot kind of low, resting the pot on his upper thighs. Well.... this was very uncomfortable. He had every good sense to just walk away right there, but it would have made it even more awkward. He glanced down to make sure he was all well and hidden before continuing his conversation. He moved his head around the unwieldy flower that was hanging out by his face. "What was I.... what was I saying? Yes... this sunflower.. and... maybe... " He paused and sighed, trying to get his flirt back on after that very unwelcoming and crude distraction. "You know, it's a shame, I don't even know that this girl likes flowers. It seems like most girls like receiving flowers just because they like knowing that a guy is paying attention to them, rather than actually liking them for the flowers themselves. Of course, I don't even know the woman, but it seems a waste to go through the trouble for someone who might not appreciate them. Not like you do."

Selina chuckled at the boy’s sudden speech, but she enthusiastically nodded along. “You’re completely right!” And she made a mental note not to call her behaviour girlish anymore just because she tried to look on the bright side and see the good in most things, which often was nothing more but the sight of a beautiful flower.
She watched him buy the sunflower and for a brief, utterly crazy moment, she almost hoped he would buy it for her. But those were crazy thoughts. Why would he want to do that? Why would anyone want to do that? She wasn’t nobility or sought after.

“You have definitely made the right choice though. Yellow, and a sunflower at that. Even if she doesn’t like flowers as much as I do,” she smiled at that, giving him a little reassurance, or hoping so at least, since he had used her as a reference, “she will most definitely like it. Though yes, a lot of women appreciate them mostly for what they represent, but don’t worry. It will all go well and the sunflower keeps for a while longer as the others too, so she will be reminded of your master much longer than she would be with an ordinary rose.”

Her cheeks were still a little flushed from earlier but she was slowly calming down a little after all the chitchat. It had helped her get her act somewhat together again. Composure was everything and she was most likely… “Oh my! I have to go!” she suddenly called out, catching sight of the midwife she had been accompanying. The woman was frantically waving in her direction to catch her attention and immediately motioned for her to come before the older woman already turned around and headed out of the market place.

“It was lovely to meet you!” Selina smiled at him. “May the sunflower bring you and your master luck.” On a whim, she leaned over and planted a quick peck on his cheek, blushing flaming red once again, before running off to follow after her mistress.

Noooo he totally had wanted to buy it for her but right now it was doing a very important job of hiding his embarrassing anatomy. ;-; Whhhhyyyy was his body embarrassing him?! Didn't his body want to learn how to talk to girls? Why would it BETRAY HIM like this?!

"My name is Jack!" he called after her as she left. "Jack Dulac! Maybe I'll meet you again...!" Damnit, damnit, this had all gone horribly not the way he had wanted it to. But at least he got to talking to her. He had wanted to ask her so much more - like if she had had a garden, or if she wanted to start a garden with him outside the town walls. He turned and sulked back towards Del'ure, looking very unhappy. Perturbed, even.

For a minute, he thought that that girl was his true love... how could he ever hope to find somebody as sweet or as gentle or as perfect as she? All the things that he didn't know about her was filled in with fantasy about how awesome she was. He never would love anybody the way he loved her! He had to see her again. Had to.

He grunted an unhappy greeting as he came to Del'ure. "Well... Aside from ... you know... it went all right, right?" He still looked angry, though. "Here... I bought this for your betrothed." Now that he was back with his stuff, he dug through his satchel and pulled out one of his newer purchases - a cape for warmth. It was already wrinkled since he never bothered to learn how to fold it nicely before shoving it into the satchel, but right now it would work for what he needed. He clasped the cape on, draping it over one shoulder, so that his front-side was mostly obscured. With that finally done, he put the flower down and sighed. "I really don't know how that happened. I wanted to buy it for her, but, you know..." Unfortunately, what he was talking about was the fact that his body actually had a sex drive now. His years of going through puberty hadn't really alerted him to the changes in his body the way they normally would have, so now it was apparently playing catch-up in the most uncomfortable way possible. He faced the inn's wall and intentionally burried his face against it and bonked his head. "I can't believe it.. I really hope she didn't notice... Maybe that's why she left? Damnit..."

‘And there she goes,’ Del’ure grinned as he saw the girl leave in a hurry. Without a flower. But it seemed like Jack had done something right, judging from the kiss on his cheek. Del’ure was rather happy he had practically forced Jack into this situation. It would hopefully make him realise that he did have potential, that he only needed a little bit of experience. Or the right girl, spot on. Though Del’ure wasn’t a particularly strong believer in the one woman for one guy kind of theory. It happened for others, not for him, and frankly, he quite enjoyed his life style. Very much so indeed.

The angry and somewhat disappointed look on Jack’s face spoke volumes though and Del’ure didn’t say a word until the boy started speaking himself. “Yes, you did well,” he soothed him as best he could, while holding onto the flower Jack had thrust into his hands.

Of course, Del’ure knew what was really the issue here. With all the fumbling about with the cloak, he had to have been a fool not to understand the underlying message but he didn’t say anything to that. Not for now at least. It hadn’t been said outright and he didn’t want to embarrass Jack, plus he wanted to boy to speak about it first himself. If he wanted to learn how to be comfortable with talking to women and even getting them to spread their legs for him, then he would have to learn how to talk about sexual attraction as well.

“I can assure you, that is not why she left. Her mistress called for her, rather quite impatiently already because it took so long for her to even be noticed. And from where I was standing, she not once glanced in the direction of your trousers, so I think you’re fine.” Del’ure grinned at Jack but didn’t make any further comment. There was no need. His face was an open book at that moment, and he was clearly very amused.

“So, do you want to see her again? Got a plan of action? Or do you need me to help you out on that one?” The offer was a genuine one. He wasn’t yanking his tail, because he knew how difficult it could be when starting out. Getting the hang of things wasn’t the easiest things to do and he was fairly certain that Jack really did want to see her again, if his erection was any indication. What he wanted to hear was the reasons and how Jack was intending on doing so, if he indeed had an idea on how to go about it.

"I DO want to see her again!" Jack said frantically. "She was the most beautiful, most wonderful most everything person I ever met! She likes Yellow. It's such a cheerful color, you know. But I don't ... I don't have a plan. I can't seem to be stalking her. And if I approach her, she might think I'm creepy. I think. I just have to be in a place where she'll see me, doing something that she thinks is interesting enough to make me look interesting, or interesting enough to investigate, right? Or maybe I should approach her. I just met her, I don't want her to think that I already think she's my world (even if there might be some truth to that) and scare her off by singing ballads of love. Did you know that people write poetry about roses? I gotta learn how to write or something. I don't know. I don't know what the best course of action is."

He finally took a breath after he stopped rambling, and rubbed his head.

"... I guess I do have to keep that in mind, though," He said with a little more calmness. "For all I know, she could be a murdering harlot who just likes flowers. I don't know anything about her. It's dumb to get invested in somebody so soon, right? But... she was really, really charming." He smiled sheepishly at Del'ure. "I'd love help with a kind of plan or something, but I think it would be too forward if it became apparent I was going out of my way to see her. I might put too much pressure on her. It's gotta be relaxed and casual, right? Besides, I don't want any pressure either. If I expect too much, I'll start trying to over-perform, and I'll either burn out quick or put off the wrong vibe, I'm sure. So... do you have any ideas?" he asked hopefully.

“Jack, Jack, easy. Breathe!” Del’ure patted him on the shoulder in a gesture to calm the boy down a little. “You shouldn’t worry so much. Well, you should consider your actions of course because you wouldn’t want to rush into things headfirst without having given the situation any thought whatsoever beforehand.” Grinning at the desperation in Jack’s face, he continued: “I can tell you though that she does find you at least interesting, if not even cute. She would not have kissed you if that weren’t the case.”

Del’ure let these words sink in a little so Jack would realise that he really might have a chance with her, before he continued: “However, I have to warn you. Do not fall for the first woman to ever give you a little bit of her attention. You may think she is the love of your life now but as you said yourself, you do not know anything about her at all apart from the fact that she likes flowers, and preferably yellow ones.” He intently looked the boy in the eyes, making sure that his point was not completely lost on him. “You feel attracted to her, you think she’s pretty, you think she’s wonderful and perfect for you because you spoke to her and she reciprocated by giving you some of her attention. Do not mistake this for love. Love is something different. I do not deny that love at first sight exists but it generally exists for people with a tiny bit of experience, who know how to distinguish these sorts of feelings from one another.”

As he was beginning to be a little hungry, he motioned for Jack to follow him inside the inn where he snatched a small table at the back of the inn, seating his own back to the wall so he could keep an eye on the door and the window next to it. He wanted to be able to watch the outside without straining his neck. It would give them an opportunity to observe this town’s ways.
“As for a plan. You don’t have to do something particularly interesting for her to notice you, or think that you worthy of note. And you won’t stalk her. But there is no harm in trying to find some more information on her and try to arrange a chance meeting yourself. It’s part of the charm and generally women are flattered when a man goes through the trouble of trying to find them. Lucky for us, this place is not all that big, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem to track her down.”

At that moment, the innkeeper came over and eyed the sunflower with an amused grin. “May I take your orders?” Del’ure merely shrugged at her questioning glance and gave her a grin. “Some ale and whatever you are cooking today will be fine. It smells delicious.” Which it really did, but it nevertheless were magic words to the innkeeper, who immediately rewarded him with a broad smile. “And for you, young sir?”

Jack gave a helpless laugh, followed by a sad sigh and a bow of his head as he was patted. "I can't help worrying. She was really, really cute and I want to make a good impression." But when he was informed that she HAD thought of him as cute, his mind was set a little at ease, at least. Just a little. Now he had to hold that feeling in her or build it somehow, or...

But Del'ure WAS right. It wasn't love. And he knew that. It was... infatuation or something. But milder, considering he wasn't obsessed enough to stalk her or anything. He sighed as he was lectured on what love really was (Or wasn't, in this case), and laughed again. No, no, he had been being a bit silly for expecting more than just a little flirting, hadn't he? Finally succumbing to his more sensible side, he mocked himself with a fake whine. "But Del'ure! This is something bigger - this is true love! You wouldn't understand!" He laughed and waved his hand, showing Del'ure that he wasn't being serious with his complaint, since it might be harder to tell with this new situation.

"Though... Del'ure... to be fair..." He eyed Del'ure with a half-fake suspicion. "I think you're cheating. I've seen slutty men before - and they don't get ladies near as fast and nearly as effectively as you do." He squinted at him. It had to be something about those crazy eyes. Jack didn't mind them. He thought they were kinda cool, too. "You can't deny that you have something that other guys don't have - more than just techniques. I just can't put my finger on what it is. Though you do travel a lot. I guess there are some women out there looking for a fling without any strings attached."

He straightened and smiled as the Innkeeper asked for his order. "Your house specialty please, whatever it is. Surprise me." He did find that he had a favorite food so far (It was rare steak and fresh tomatoes and cheese. Cheese was delicious. He hadn't lived until he had cheese.) but he was not at all done with trying new foods. Every time he asked for the house specialty, he got something new - even if it was something he had had before, it was always done up in a new way, and he never tired of it. "And any sweet drink you have or milk, if at all possible. If not, I'll just take water." While Del'ure certainly hadn't forbidden him from drinking, Jack found that ale tasted a lot like rotten bread, and he had had well enough of that in his life that he had no desire to taste it again. While wine might be different, it still seemed kind of dubious to him so he didn't want to try it. Anything that needed to be rotted to consume just didn't sit well with him.

He paused and lean in to the innkeeper a bit. "And, can I ask for your advice?" He did trust Del'ure, but he kind of wanted to hear the other side, too. "There's a girl who I like..." He indicated to the sunflower that was "sitting" on the chair next to him, "-and I want to run into her again and talk with her again. Where do you think the line would be drawn between cute meetings and creepy stalker? What would you like a man to do for you to get your attention, that maybe men so far haven't been doing for ya? What do you think would make a guy stand out as ... really unique as a pursuer?"

“Oh my,” the innkeeper laughed. “My dear, that entirely depends on the girl, I’m afraid. I personally like my men to be able to do something with their two hands, keep rascals from ripping apart this inn and stand by me when hard times are ahead... That sort of thing. Though I can tell by the look on your face that wasn’t quite the answer you were hoping to get.” Wiping her hands on her apron, she lightly touched the sunflower, a smile turning up the corners of her mouth. “But let me tell you this my dear. A man who goes through the trouble of buying a flower for a girl and desperately wants to find her just to give her the flower... Now that is a feat. You hold on to that idea and I’m sure you won’t have to do much else other than show up and give her the flower. But don’t follow her around like a puppy and lick her feet, because that will turn out to be annoying more than anything else.”

Giving Jack another smile, she was off to process their order and shortly returned with their drinks, indeed having produced a glass of milk for Jack.
“This, my friend,” Del’ure said earnestly as he held up the mug of ale, “this is true love.” He winked at Jack before taking a sip. He was considering telling the boy off for paralleling him with the whore-seekers out there but he shrugged it off, knowing Jack hadn’t meant in that way, plus, he was very aware of the fact that many would call him a slut for his lifestyle.

“Now, what do you make of what she told you? And while we’re here and she seems to be rather willing to talk, you might as well use the chance and ask her if she knows your dreamgirl. Doesn’t hurt to ask and if anyone knows, it generally is the innkeepers.” He knew the boy needed the reassurance but he wasn’t going to make it all too easy on him. If he wanted to pursue this, he would have to find a way on his own, Del’ure would simply provide the hints and nudges he needed. It was rather fun, and it was a good experience for the young man himself. “Depending on what she will reply, I’ll give you pointers on what you could do, if necessary.”

When the innkeeper came back over with two steaming plates, Del’ure smiled, knowing how much Jack would love this. “Now would you look at that. There seems to be cheese involved.”

Jack made a face as Del'ure professed his love for the rotted-grain-juice and shook his head. "I'll never get what people see in alcohol." Of course, it was easy to say that coming from a guy who'd never been drunk or buzzed, and since he refused to try any more alcohol, he most likely never would be. "Good Sir, sometimes I wonder if the civilized world is crazy."

He beamed as the waitress brought him his food, and looked so very happy once he caught a whiff of the cheese. Food took priority over everything, including the pursuit of nubile young women. He took a bite and melted, embracing the paradise for a moment.

Fortunately, due to the training during his first few weeks, he had enough self-control to not inhale the dish without chewing it, in spite of all of his better judgement. He had overall turned into a polite eater, just a little quick with his bites. He smiled at the inn-keeper. "Madam, you have liberated me from an average meal. I have never, ever tasted anything as good as this before."

It may or may not have been true, but every new flavor just seemed like it was the best in the world.

RIGHT, right, back to focusing on his chase! Back to taking Del'ure's advice.

"Say, maybe you've met her before..." Jack said after his first bite, focusing on the inn-keeper again. "The girl... she seemed to be a maid for somebody. She was about fifteen (I think), and liked flowers a whole lot." He described the girl and the woman who she worked for. "Have you seen anybody like her? Do you know who she is?"

“Thank you, dear,” the innkeeper smiled as the food as so well received by the young boy. Del’ure also gave her an appreciative nod as he began to savour the food on his plate. It really did have a special flair to it unlike most of the inn foods he has tasted in his many travels. It was nothing in particular as such, but the melted cheese over the oven baked potato was a delight in and of itself, not to mention the side of vegetables and meat strips, which seemed to taste like various meats mixed in together to give a particular flavour to it all. Interesting, indeed!

The innkeeper was just about to move off again to serve another customer when Jack asked his question and she curiously stayed where she was, listening to his description. Not far in, her face lit up with a knowing smile and she nodded along until Jack was done. “You’re talking about Selina, I assume. Lovely girl indeed. She works with a midwife and is learning to become one herself. Rather quite proficient in her studies. Flowers and herbal plants are her specialty. Very bright little girl but I would beware of her surroundings. Sweet as she is, she is well guarded. It seems the doctor himself as an eye out for her and it is rumoured that the only reason he hasn’t made a move on her yet is because the midwife is keeping him on a tight leash.”

With a polite nod, the woman excused herself and hurried off to throw herself back into her work while Del’ure contemplated what they had just heard, but commented on something completely different. “You know, this potato is really quite lovely. I might have to proclaim my undying love onto this potato instead of the ale.” Taking a fairly large bit which would effectively prevent him from saying anything for a while, he looked at Jack, as if to say ‘well?’.

"Selina..." Jack gave an overly dramatic love-struck sigh. "What a beautiful name. Selina.... I just met a girl named Selina..." And she's a midwife and everything. That's so honorable, for a young lady her age! Wanting to help... most girls are so shallow, you know, not looking for a job at all, let alone one that dedicates all the time in the world to making sure others are healthy and... whatever else midwives do. I'm sure.. I'm sure that tomorrow I can ask where the midwives work and I can get her location. That sounds reasonable, right boss?" He sort of glanced at the sunflower next to him and played with it's petals a bit, as if making sure that it was going to be perfect when she received it. "Maybe I can sneak it into whatever garden she has. You don't think she'd mind, do you? Or would that be more stalker-y than friendly?" He rubbed the back of his neck, still blushing a lot.

"Okay. So." He paused and finished off his delightful potato. He definitely agreed that Del'ure should swap out the love of his life to cheesy potato from ale, but a witty comeback or solemn nod fell by the wayside of actually consuming the thing. "So I can find her tomorrow... then... I don't know. After that my plan sort of falls flat. I'm thinking I can either do the plant-the-sunflower bit, or, just find her and be like 'oh, you know, the girl didn't want this....' your 'betrothed', I mean, or just say that she didn't deserve it as much as Salina does. She really does like flowers." He paused and tipped his head, still mostly looking at the sunflower. "Is that normal for girls? I mean... I know they like flowery stuff in general... but I though they preferred jewelry a bit more. What does it tell you about a girl if they like the humbler stuff more than the fancy stuff? Would you say that's a good sign or a bad sign?"

Del’ure leaned back in his chair after having finished his plate and looked at Jack as he fiddled with the sunflower’s petals. “Well, you can easily answer that question yourself,” he said. “You said that you think it is honourable that she is learning to become a midwife and that she is willing to make sure others are alright, whereas most other girls are shallow and wouldn’t even want a job. The latter group is generally the kind of girl going for the superficial things, such as jewellery rather than the meaning a flower can carry, which would fit more to a girl like Selina, who actually does something noble with her life. See where I’m going with this?”

Del’ure shook his head in amusement. “You do have a knack for overthinking things. But listen. It isn’t stalker-y but rather quite interesting – for the girl – when a guy tries to find her address. I’m also fairly certain that she will immediately know who this plant is from if you decide to plant it somewhere around the place she works – or if you just leave it sitting in its pot on a window sill for her to find. What I suggest you do then, is figure out her social habits, though not in too much detail because that might creep her out. One small thing is enough. Somewhere where you could just happen to be when she turns up so she can come over to you, talk to you,” Del’ure specifically stretched that part, “and you can then take things from there. Maybe take her for dinner or a walk or something. It all depends on what you’re going to find out about her today.”

After the innkeeper had cleared their plates away, the man leaned forward on his elbows again. “So, do you have any idea how to go about learning more about her? And I don’t just mean asking a million questions to the innkeeper, she has already helped you quite a bit with your Selina. A new source is needed.” Taking a few coins out of his purse and putting them on the table, he motioned for Jack to get up too. “Let’s go for a walk, shall we? Have a look around town for a bit.” Winking at the innkeeper and calling a ‘thank you’ over to her, he ushered Jack out the door and back into the light of day.

Jack nodded, rubbing his chin. "Well... I mean, I could go to one of the information-sellers, if this town has one. I mean, looking around though, it doesn't look like this town has that kind of atmosphere. And that didn't work out well for us anyway. Well - though I bet who I would know about her. I bet - I bet the flower-vendor would know. If she likes flowers, she probably talks tot he flower-vendor a lot, or at least the flower-vendor probably takes a special interest in her, hoping that she'll start buying the flowers that she seems to like so much."

He paused, glancing at Del'ure. There was something he wanted to ask, but .... it was greedy and selfish of him. Maybe he should just hint at it? "You know, she'd probably be impressed if I took her on a ride... on a real horse. Maybe to the forest or something." While Jack liked his donkey very much, getting a horse of his own was waaaay out of the question due to the price, and somehow whisking a girl away on a donkey just did not seem like it would make much of an impression. Borrowing Del'ure's horse for the minute would save everybody the money and it would give him the impressive kick that he was sure he needed. And, you know what? that hint was dumb. The worst Del'ure could do was say "No". "Do you think.... I could borrow your horse if I do get to finding her again? You taught me how to ride really well... I certainly won't do anything dumb like try to jump any gorges or fences."

He headed over to the flower vendor, and gave her a little nod of greeting. The vendor gave a wry smirk and looked at the sunflower. "I see you've hung onto that. Have you got your little problem under control yet?"

Jack blushed bright red, and sighed. "Yeah... But.... I did want to give this to Salina. She did deserve it. I was hoping to maybe court her... and, of course, if she does take a shining to me, I'd be obliged to buy her more flowers. I was hoping you might be able to tell me a little bit more about her?"

Last edited by Eldarwen on Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

“Just so you know, for this sort of thing you’d better stay away from information sellers. They sell information, yes, but they generally sell what you want to hear, not necessarily always what you want to know. For this sort of endeavour, you don’t need them and you don’t want to need them. Make the efforts through other resources and your own research. The result will be so much better and it will be more rewarding for you too.” Del’ure wasn’t particularly fond of information-sellers for the reasons he mentioned. Many times he had been given false information just because they thought that was what he wanted to hear. Of course, some of them were extraordinarily good at what they did, but their prices reflected accordingly. “Flower vendor, yes, definitely a good idea.”

Del’ure made as if to contemplate Jack’s request to borrow the horse while inwardly, he was trying not to laugh. He would have thought that by now the boy would have realised that he did not bite and that hence these sorts of questions barely were even necessary other than for propriety’s sake because one simply did not borrow other people’s things without asking them first. But the fear in his voice that Del’ure might actually say no to his desperate request made Del’ure almost laugh. Just for the sake of amusement, he should say no, but he didn’t want to put even more strain on the poor boy, thus he merely nodded his head. “As long as you don’t break the horse’s, the girl’s or your own neck, I think that should be absolutely fine. The horse is yours whenever you need it. I won’t be needing it while we stay here.”

As the young man went to the vendor to inquire after his love interest, Del’ure politely hung back, listening in but neither participating, nor actually feigning any interest in the conversation. Of course, he couldn’t act as though he didn’t belong to Jack since he had clearly visible come toward the stand with him. Not that it mattered much, there was no real act to be played in this town. Not this time round at least.

“Ah my boy, I cannot tell you much. I have my flower farm a little ways away from town and only ever see dear Selina at the market. I do know however that she is learning to become a midwife and that she is apprenticed to the assistant of this horrible, horrible doctor. Now what was his name again… it’s an ugly name even, I completely forgot. Luckily he’s not the only doctor in town otherwise we’d all end up being sick because we wouldn’t want to have him at our house. Now what was his name again… Ah yes, yes! I have it! Porter. Porter Swineston. It is not a very charming name, now is it?” The vendor quite happily kept chatting about what she had heard about the doctor and Del’ure was starting to grin so much he had to turn away and observe the crowd to hide his amusement.
“But I’m sorry, I’m digressing,” she finally said after a while. “You have really chosen the perfect plant to give her though. Selina does love her sunflowers, she does! Now, I’m not quite sure what her day looks like, I guess that also depends on when the baby intends to leave its mother’s womb, doesn’t it?” Chuckling at her own joke, the woman looked at him with a twinkle in her eye: “The doctor’s office is on the other side of town. It is a fairly small building with a sort of reddish brick and uncommonly large windows. You’ll immediately see it, he’s the only one to have built something with that sort of brick. Probably to make the house noticed. Which is not a bad idea for a doctor, you see. Try not to let him see you though. He is very protective of her and well… there are certain rumours, you know. Good luck in your quest!”
She offered him another happy smile, before she turned to a freshly arrived customer in need of a whole bunch of different kinds of flowers.

Certain rumours? Jack furrowed his brows. He thought about pressing, but he doubted the vendor would reveal any more than that since doctors had a higher social status in towns and slander was not usually well received. But of course... that was very concerning. His mind jumped to the worst case scenario, to be sure. Rumours like he was training her to be his betrothed? Rumours like molestation?! He had to save her! He gave another sheepish smile to the vendor to try to hide his concerns, and then he moved back over to Del'ure looking deeply disturbed.

"The guy who she's working for is apparently a lech," he said with a deep frown. "He's a terrible guy and a jerk and she's learning how to be a doctor from him and he never lets her out of his sight. We have to rescue her!" Like a princess, who needed rescuing from a dragon!

Of course, if he DID rescue her, he wouldn't know what to do with her. He didn't even think about the fact that he'd still have to keep riding with Del'ure (and even if that wasn't something that was forced on him, once Del'ure left, he'd make his choice to keep following), and he'd probably have to leave the lovely girl behind since she wouldn't fit into their bachelor lifestyle very well. So this was the kind of forethought that Jack was lacking right now.

What he was going to do with her when Jack rescued her (including the horse-ride that he had previously been planning) became secondary to saving the lovely girl from her captive's clutches. "He lives on the other side of town," he said, pacing impatiently. "The house stands out with different bricks. We need some sort of plan... Maybe we should sneak in and smother him in his sleep."

“Yes, I figured,” Del’ure merely replied as Jack voiced his concern. “The innkeeper had already hinted something along those lines and it wasn’t hard to pick it up from the vendor now either. I would be extremely careful about rescuing her however. You could easily ruin her reputation or her chance at a job if you go about this the wrong way. Don’t jump to any conclusions until you have more information on the girl and the doctor.”

He was concerned himself however. He did not like girls or women being treated as personal property, even less so if they were not even willing to comply to such desires. “Easy there dragon, we’ll find a way. Don’t worry. Let’s head over to the other side of town and see what we can do. We’ll come up with a plan eventually, but preparation is of the essence in this case. A wrong move and we might jeopardise her and you wouldn’t want to do that, now would you?”

The other side of town was actually much closer than Del’ure would have thought. He had remembered the town to be slightly bigger but it had been a while since he had come through her for one, and secondly, he hadn’t really stayed long after having run into trouble with a merchant as soon as he had stepped foot on the market. Said merchant was currently rotting in jail in a different place, so there was no problem for Del’ure on that front.

The doctor’s house indeed stood out quite a bit with different coloured bricks and no sooner had they detected it when a man stepped out the door and harshly called something back inside. The midwife and Selina in tow immediately came hurrying after the man as he already made his way to one of the neighbouring houses, a bag in hand, which Del’ure assumed to contain medicinal objects. “Better observe for a bit before doing anything rash,” Del’ure muttered and before they followed, he took Jack by the shoulder and forced the boy to look at him. “Promise me, you won’t do anything stupid, alright?”

Jack did not want to make that promise, and it was obvious. He had passion and hatred burning in his eyes and everything. Still... he finally sighed and reluctantly nodded. "All right. All right, Del'ure, I promise I won't do anything stupid." And Jack absolutely kept his promises to Del'ure. Besides, doing things smartly wasn't really a bad thing. He knew that rushing into things didn't usually go over well. As long as they figured out what was really going on and worked out a plan together, he was sure that they'd be able to fix this situation, whatever it was.

For now he stashed the daisy behind a brick wall, not too far from the doctor's house, but out of site from the directly they were going, so should the doctor return, it wouldn't be visible. He kept his knives sheathed for now, but he was playing with the handles like he wanted to start using them right then. for now, he stayed a safe distance away as they followed.

The three healers arrived at their destination. For now, it was a family whose mother had come down with the shivering sickness - influenza. The doctor ushered his two assistants inside and followed in behind them. He caught a quick glance of the two strangers and hesitated, narrowing his eyes just a little bit, before brushing the strangers off as being of little consequence. He closed his client's door behind him.

Jack frowned a bit. "Should we just spy through windows, or try to sneak in, or what?"

Del’ure was a little worried about the way Jack kept playing with the handles of his knives but he let the gesture slip. He hadn’t thought that the boy would fall so quickly and so hard for this girl, and it made him wonder whether it had not been too soon for Jack after all, but here they were.

Completely ignoring the look of the doctor, Del’ure feigned to be explaining to his young companion that they would arrive back at the market if they followed this road, or maybe it was that one? It was casual talk that was loud enough for the doctor to notice what it was about but low enough to make clear that they did not want to ask for any directions but were merely exploring this town they had never been to.

“Peaking in through the window is a bad idea in case someone sees you. I generally go for roofs because most people don’t look up. I’ll go to the house opposite this one and see if I can have a look inside to figure out where they’re going, then I’ll motion it to you so you know which window to place yourself under to try and listen in to the conversation if there is any. If it’s upstairs, then we’ll have a problem because sneaking in is not a good idea when you don’t know what you have to expect. There could be a massive guardian dog behind that door, or a lot of people milling about. We don’t even know why the doctor went there, but I’m assuming it’ll be childbirth since the midwife and Selina came along.”

Del’ure patted Jack on the shoulder. “Be casual, but be on the lookout.” Reconsidering what he had said earlier, he added: “See if you can find a way to climb onto the roof without making any noise – in case it really is upstairs. If not, then come join me.” And with those words, Del’ure made his way to the other side of the road to swing himself up onto the roof of the house, which was surprisingly easy, almost as if it were made for spying. It was a good thing that most houses in this part of the town were well constructed but fairly low. They rarely had more than the ground floor, just like the one he was currently escalating.

He had suspected that whoever was giving birth would be on the first floor and he had been right. Motioning to Jack that it was upstairs on the right, he hoped that the boy could find a way. Otherwise, they would have to rely purely on what they could see.

Jack gave a vague nod in Del'ure's direction, trying to make sure he didn't alert any lost onlookers to Del'ure's location. He casually strolled around the house, and slipped out of sight from Del'ure. A few minutes later, he emerged on the building's rooftop. Jack had become quite sneaky after Del'ure had picked him up and after his hands had healed a bit better. Grace was, surprisingly, his strong point. He stayed in a crouching position or crawling when on the roof to make sure all his movements were slow, careful, and deliberate. He gave a quick wave to Del'ure once he was up, and moved over to the window that Del'ure had pointed to earlier, and gave him a questioning look to make sure it was the right window. With that done, he flattened onto his stomach and got very still, to listen in on all the conversations.

It didn't take a whole lot of effort, to be honest. The woman going in labor did not stay quiet for too terribly long. Without a doubt, Del'ure would be able to hear it from his spot, and likely so could the entire quaint little street. Well, regardless of all their medical distractions, Jack was mostly keeping an ear out for important conversation - trying to listen for any indication of real abuse - specifically, listening for the doctor to start calling his assistants names, or things like that. Of course, it was a high-stress situation, so it might have been forgivable if a person considered the circumstances, but Jack wasn't in any kind of forgiving mood regardless of their situation. He was looking in shades of black and white right now.

Del’ure grinned when he saw Jack appear on the roof of the house on the other side of the street and gave an affirmative nod when he had arrived at the right window. As had to be expected however, the situation was not the best for listening in to any kind of conversation considering the ruckus coming out of that room. She did scream quite loudly and Del’ure suddenly was glad that the end of the bed was not pointing towards the window. It was something he had not considered before settling himself comfortably against the chimney.

The ongoings were fairly normal as far as Del’ure was concerned. He didn’t know much about childbirth, but he knew there was screaming and medical attention involved, at least by a midwife if not by a doctor. In this case, both parties were present. What he did notice however was that the doctor regularly was very distracted by staring after Selina rather than paying attention to what he was supposed to do, even if the movements were so automatic after years of doing the same that he didn’t particularly need to focus. Yet, there was also the stern look the midwife gave him and the arrogant glare she got in return.

Selina for the most part tried to observe the midwife’s gestures and fetched things here and there where needed. Generally, she tried to stay out of view of the doctor however. Probably on purpose. It was clear that she was not particularly fond of him but they would still have to be careful. Del’ure could not hear their conversation either and he was not sure Jack picked up much with the constant screaming of the child-bearing woman but his ears were fairly keen. They needed to gather much more information however before they could decide on a move. This really had not been conclusive enough yet. At least as far as the girl’s situation was concerned.

When the baby had finally arrived, Del’ure motioned for Jack to stay put until the trio had walked out the door again. If they went on another errand, Jack and Del’ure would follow. If they went back to the doctor’s house, they would try to listen in there. Either way, more spying was the way to go.

Jack stayed very still until a retreat from the rooftops would be undetected by their targets. Jack slipped down with ease and joined up with Del'ure, shaking his head a bit. "I didn't hear anything ... overt. Selina didn't say a whole lot, but the man complimented her frequently. She didn't answer. Maybe that says something, right? I don't know, it was hard to tell if she was trying to not provoke him any more, or if she was just focused. Honestly, from my angle, I couldn't tell. And it was harder to tell with the screaming woman. Yeesh." If Jack had ever wanted a kid before, he certainly didn't now. It sounded like it was a painful ordeal all around.

As the doctor walked, he kept trying to reach over and put his hand on her shoulder - or, you know, give her those light touches that Del'ure had previously encouraged. A ruffle of her hair or what have you. The Midwife was walking on ahead, not having much interest in what the other two were doing. But for now, it looked like they were heading back to their home.

Jack huffed a but. "Ugh, this is annoying. We need a better plan. We need to lure the doctor away so we can get Selina alone again. Or question the doctor. Or something. Or question the midwife. What do you think an appropriate sickness would be to separate the lot of them? What do you think we could do to pull Selina out of the house and keep the doctor at home? Maybe I can try to catch her attention in the evening, when house calls aren't being made anymore..." So that means he'd have to figure out which room was hers. "Or do apprentices not live with the people who they're shadowing? If she goes home, maybe I can just come out and ask her about it. What do you think?"

“What I think?” Del’ure repeated the question while looking at his young companion. “I think that you need to seriously consider what it is you want to do here. This is not a situation to stumble in blindly, and we are definitely not going to do anything today anymore. We are lacking far too much information. And from what it seems to me is that he might be her patron so she doesn’t have much of a choice other than trying to make do with his advances otherwise her apprenticeship might be over very quickly for her.”

Del’ure couldn’t be sure of course, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was deliberately not doing anything against the way the doctor was trying to touch her and get her attention because she had no other choice. Not because she didn’t have a backbone but because there was no other way for her. His guess was on dead parents and he was the only one willing to take her in. And he stubbornly remained on his suggestion of not rushing into this without thinking it through.

“Most apprentices stay with their masters yes, unless they’re really really close. But imagine there is an emergency in the middle of the night and the doctor needs to hurry out immediately. The apprentice needs to be there for exactly those cases. Find out which room she lives in by just sneaking round and observing the house. And try to learn as much about the layout of the house as you possibly can merely from the outside. I’ll see if I can think up a suitable illness so we can get inside. Childbirth is out of the question though. As good as I am with faking identity, I cannot become a pregnant woman.”
Del’ure grinned at Jack, hoping to ease the boy’s mind a little, inwardly cursing that he had had to meet a girl in such a complicated situation. And of course, he wouldn’t just let her be now. He wasn’t going to tell Jack to do it either but he hoped the youth would realise just how much was at stake for the girl if what Del’ure feared was true.

“And I mean it, figure out what you really want out of this before it gets out of hand.”

"What I want? Before it gets out of hand?" To be honest, Jack was slightly annoyed at Del'ure, but that's only because Del'ure was asking him to think with his brain instead of his feelings. He didn't quite recognize why he was annoyed, but he still tried to take a deep breath and calm down anyway. "What I want..." He rubbed his face. "Look, right now I'm not trying to get her to like me or anything. I just want to make sure she's okay. If she can live with being hounded by him, that's fine, but if she needs help, shouldn't we help her? At this point, I don't want anything from her- I don't want to court her, I don't want to flirt with her, I just want to make sure she's all right." So, funny story, Jack had a teeny tiny hero complex that made him want to be the knight in shining armor for girls who seemed to need it. Of course, it didn't hurt that she was gorgeous and flirted with him back. "Whatever I might have wanted before is secondary to her well-being."

He looked up a little more Sheepishly at Del'ure than usual, feeling a bit guilty for his small bout of annoyance that hadn't even leaked into his voice. He was still trying to help... even though this wasn't really about just learning how to flirt anymore. Of course, Jack had always known that Del'ure was a good guy of course (since Del'ure had saved his own sorry ass) but it was nice to see it show through so obviously. "Thanks, Del'ure." All right, so a sickness that was absolutely urgent, something that the doctor would have to rush out for. Hmmm....

"Can you fake plague? Or something that looks like plague, but isn't? I mean, if the doctor "confirmed" it was plague, the entire town would go into a panic, and of course we don't want that, but if it looked a lot like plague, the doctor would absolutely rush out to see if it was plague or not. Maybe I can pound on his door and inform him that my riding companion is sick in bed and that way he'd have to go all the way to the inn where you are, and then from there I could... Hmm. No, then I'd have to stay with him and escort him over to you. But if you pay for a messenger to get the doctor for you, I could stay waiting... and since this is my ordeal, I could pay for the messenger. I don't know if I have enough to pay for the doctor's initial examination, though he might not charge until after he determines what it is and how to fix it." Of course he'd be checking out the home until then, but it was good to have a solid idea of a plan.

» Arasolra --:> How Beautiful is your Pain?