Bending Fate [M] [Goblin]

[Juno]

"Fine, if that's how you remember it. I'm going along and that's final," he insisted, unhappy about the way this was going all thanks to a couple of brats startling the horses. "I don't really care what your family thinks about it, but I'm still going with you. I wasn't complaining, just pointing it out," he grumbled, ready to just let the argument die for the sake of some relative peace between them. "I'm happy to go along, it's not like it's keeping me from anything."

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird tried not to argue further but internally she was steaming with rage that he would treat her in such a way. He was basically calling her a liar and it hurt when she knew they both remembered the truth correctly. But his last statement made it so she could not let the argument die.

"If it really isn't keeping you from anything then why are you even complaining in the first place and giving me such a hard time?" She nearing tears in her frustration and her voice warbled and cracked as she fought against the growing frog in her throat.

"Why do you hate me so much that you oppose me at every turn for the littlest things. I cannot go home. I cannot have my fam-ily pet back. I'm an inconvenience because you decide you want to come with me but I am not allowed to travel on my own. You don't believe me when I tell you the truth and you demean me because I live a different life than you. What have I done in what lifetime to deserve this? I am a good an honest woman," she cried, feeling the icy tears break their growing walls and race down her cheeks. "How have I wronged you Akakios Reolaras?"

[Juno]

"Well, because it is going to take some time, even if it isn't being taken from something else, I still don't like wasting time on things that don't concern me," he tried to explain. "Though if it's important to you I don't mind going, so it's fine, I was just saying it wouldn't be my first choice, I wasn't intentionally trying to give you a hard time."

As she continued, though, he realized that she'd begun to cry. It sent him into a quiet panic that it was entirely out of his control. "Petal, you haven't 'wronged' me, perse, don't worry," he tried to soothe, hoping this wouldn't spiral out of reach and he might be able to talk her down a bit. "I don't understand why you think I'm trying to prevent you from doing anything... I actually insisted that we go to your home but you were the one who wanted to go somewhere closer, remember? I gave your pet back, too.

"I wouldn't mind you traveling alone if I was certain you would come back, but I don't see how you can blame me for being wary when I hardly know you and I feel like you, whether you know it or not, may have some extremely important information to me. I would prefer not to have you too far away until this has been...resolved. And I didn't mean to demean you," he sighed, slowing his horse a bit so that he could look at her more comfortably. "I hold a different opinion about some things, but I didn't mean at all that you are wrong for what you do. I don't hate you. Do you understand?"

[GoblinFae]

While she tried to get a hold over her emotions she simply could not manage it. Between the late hour, her own exhaustion and frustration, as well as the entire situation it all had become too much for her. She was overwhelmed and had no way of stopping herself from continuing to cry.

Even Fern who had woken long enough to try and nuzzle her chin had done nothing to calm her frazzled nerves. "But I've told you everything," she protested weakly. "I met Toren only this week otherwise I've never even heard of him before. I didn't even know of his relation to you until he got into an argument with Agehneim in my barn while I was trying to treat your injured mare. I don't know what business he even was doing for you and I honestly don't care. I just want to go about my business and not have to deal with this anymore. I'm going to lose an entire day of business tomorrow along with a full night of sleep because of this on top of the fact I still won't have done any of my preparatory work tonight because I won't even be going home. I don't know what more truth you want from me when I've said everything that I know and answered every one of your questions and still you insist on continuing this."

Her words became nonsensical as she started hiccuping and fighting to loudly sob. Her hands came up to hide her face as she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes as if to force the tears from flowing. "If I haven't done anything wrong then why do you treat me as if I have?"

[Juno]

Seeing how stressed she seemed about it all left him taken aback as he stared helplessly at the tears upon her cheeks. This wasn't at all how he'd expected things to go and it left him equally frustrated and guilty for being a contributing factor to these problems no matter his opinions on them. "Alright fine," he sighed, stopping his horse and turning him around entirely. "Go do whatever it is you're going to do. Please take Sabra, you'll get there faster.

"Return to me within a week's time after you've gotten your...commitments sorted out. Then we'll talk. I'm going to trust you so that we can discuss my concerns civilly and calmly where I might be able to better express them to you. Does that sound fair?"

[GoblinFae]

"Thank you," she croaked weakly, still furiously wiping at her eyes. "You are too kind, Akakios. That is very fair. I give you my word that I will return as soon as I can within the week and with Sabra in as good of condition as you left her in."

Ladybird sniffled as her tears began to slow. "I'm sorry I let my emotions get the better of me. It has been a very trying night. I hope that we both can move forward at our next meeting and leave this outburst and any other ill feelings behind us."

[Juno]

"Alright," he sighed, patting his horse as he tried not to stare at her crying to give her some privacy. "There's no need to apologize. I want you to feel at your best when we next speak. And...yes, I would like to set aside any ill feelings we may harbor," he agreed. "So we can talk on even ground.

"Thank you for understanding. I...hope you feel better soon. I suppose I'll see you sometime soon. Have a good night," he bid her.

[GoblinFae]

"Thank you," she breathed softly. "You have a good night as well Akakios. Until we meet again," she bid, bowing her head respectfully. For a moment she paused to collect herself, expecting him to go first. When he did not appear to be in a hurry to do so she decided to do so instead.

Ladybird gave Sabra a nervous pat before gently urging her forward on the road back to town. She allowed herself to relax and zone out for much of the journey back into town as the soothing motion of riding a horse calmed her frazzled nerves. When she at last could see the torches ablaze she dismounted and led the beautiful mare to her own stable and began the task of caring for her. The matter with Goddfrey would wait until she could ensure that the mare who had borne her was perfectly content for the night.

Only once Sabra was taken care of and fed did Ladybird begin to care for the other animals under her care that were not visitors such as her own horse, Butterscotch. She did not hurry through her chores though she was eager to check on the boy and his mother. The woman took her responsibilities to others quite seriously and would not allow herself to be swayed into ignoring them any longer that night.

Finally, she ventured back out into the night, winding her through the streets until she came to the Marshalton household. Nearly an hour later she was at last able to leave again, completely assured that Goddfrey would not only be alright but would be doing some volunteer work in Ladybird's shop to make up for the scare and any possible damage he may have caused.

Exhausted and emotionally drained, Ladybird was incredibly relieved to collapse into her bed the moment she was home. It did not even matter to her that she was not in her nightclothes or that Fern protested quite vocally at being woken up and disturbed. Clutching her pillow firmly, she attempted to fall asleep. But, of course it was not meant to be. When she was at last bone-weary her mind decided that it was the perfect time to analyze all that she had been through.

Had it really only been that morning that Agehneim had bruised, her body and pride? It seemed so long ago. Had she really argued with a notoriously reclusive nobleman? Was that really one of his prized mares within her stables? Was this all a dream?

On and on her mind swirled with these thoughts until the new dawn came and she was still awake, forced into facing the new day.

[Juno]

Watching her disappear down the road before he began to head back home, Akakios couldn't help but feel that he was either making a very smart decision or a very poor one in letting her go. He was anxious about letting her leave with Sabra, especially, for he was certain if she intended to flee the kingdom she very well could off of the sale of his horse and hardly leave a trace. He couldn't deny, though, that he still had his connections. Agehneim could keep an eye out for her at least, and he was certain he would be informed if she did try to leave. Even better, he was sure he would also be able to tell him where to find those family members of hers if things got ugly.

For once he would need to be patient and wait for someone else to make their move, to return to him on their own. Perhaps in her absence he could get something more out of Toren, but he had a sinking feeling that his suspicions about this whole ordeal would really ride upon her cooperation. Already he felt stupid for giving her a week, a whole week to return to him.

Once he'd arrived back at his home again it was quickly apparent that the rest in his household had been anxiously awaiting his return or another glimpse of the mystery woman. He was certain he saw more than just a few pairs of eyes in the windows as he returned his horse to the stables. His mind full of questions, Akakios could only return to his study to write them down amidst his continued work. Toren would have to be dealt with once he was healthy enough to even face him. At sunrise he wanted no part of sleep and turned away every knock at his door as he buried himself in his work as a means of distracting himself, a pattern that continued for the next several days and left the usually sharply dressed and groomed master with a decidedly haggard look.

[GoblinFae]

The days passed quickly in a mindless blur for Ladybird. Goddfrey kept his end of the deal and helped her with some of the manual labor around the shop while she took care of other matters. She would have completely forgotten about her deal with Akakios had it not been for the presence of Sabra within her stable.

Everyday Ladybird herself brushed and groomed the mare while letting Goddfrey care for Butterscotch, the feedings, and the mucking of the stalls. Sabra was the constant reminder that there was a promise to be kept. The young woman felt guilty for some of her behavior towards the nobleman even if he did deserve to be put in his place a bit, she did not need to lose her temper or meltdown quite so embarrassingly.

Her biggest excuse for not having gone to see him yet was that she did not know how give him a peace offering that he would not find insulting. After all, what did one buy the man who can afford anything? She certainly did not know. Ladybird had every intention of bringing some salves for his injured mare as well as making Sabra look her best, yet she still felt that she should do something more. She had behaved very badly in her mind and that needed to be fixed.

By the time she had come to a decision as to what could possibly be passable as an apology it was close to Akakios' mandated deadline. She rose early the morning she had decided would be the one she returned to the nobleman's home and began the task of readying both her own horse as well beautifying Sabra. The mare patiently allowed her tail and mane to be braided in waterfall braids that made her look much like a princess in Ladybird's mind. Her coat gleamed from a thorough brushing and she had been given a sugar cube as a treat before Ladybird set off astride Butterscotch with the mare loosely tethered to the saddlehorn.

She finally arrived by mid-morning, praying that she was not too late as to incite his anger nor too early as to waken him. Ladybird went straight to the stable where she carefully let Sabra into her stall, waving off anyone that attempted to help her with either horse or their tack. Then, once that was taken care of she busied herself with greeting the healing mare and treating her wounded leg with more salve that she had brought along. Ladybird became so focused in her work with the horses that she had completely forgotten her reason for coming.

[Juno]

When not attending to his work, Akakios passed the time assembling his arguments for when Petal returned, or at least what he thought might be points he would need to bring up with her. He crafted a picture in his head for how their exchanges would ideally go. She would swiftly return, apologize, and then he could move on from the unusual problem plaguing his thoughts. Yet, every day that passed without her presence concerned him further and left him anxiously awaiting whenever she might decide to drop in. As the end of the week following their initial meeting drew closer, however, he became a nervous wreck of uncertainty.

Would she come at all? What might she have to say after so much time? Was she planning some scheme to blackmail him? He at least would eventually recover his property as the mare was branded, but he had no idea what sort of condition she might be returned to him in.

She was still within the time frame he had requested her to return in, but it was now what he would have considered to be the final day and he was becoming quite restless as his plan was unraveling in his mind. The past several days he'd even been refusing to feed properly with the time passing so painfully slow.

If nothing else he'd expected her to announce her return at his doorstep so he was very surprised when a couple of his stable hands scrambled into his study to tell him that Petal had returned and had brought some extra horse along and was down at the stables instead of in the parlor as he'd thought she might be. Hurrying downstairs and out into the morning sun, the vampire all but ran out to the stables.

There was no immediate signs of Petal, but he hurried to Sabra's stall and was pleasantly surprised at the calm and well-groomed horse he faced across the door. Puzzled, he began walking down the aisle to peer into each of the stalls before he finally caught sight of her and stood frozen and staring.

He had no idea why she was tending to the pony mare, but he leaned against the door and rocked anxiously on his heels as he stared at her. "Welcome back," he muttered, glancing down at the line of heads poking out of the stalls to eye him. "Sabra looks well," he said, not wanting her efforts to go unnoticed.

"...Is there a reason you won't come inside?" he asked, puzzled and unaware that the young stable hands had very much embellished the events of her arrival.

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird startled slightly, as she was surprised by Akakios' presence. Her hands though remained steady as she finished re-wrapping the pony's bandages. "Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully, getting to her feet and patting the horse as she exited the stall. "I wanted to check on her before I came in. I brought more salve for leg," her hands lifted the medium-sized jar up for him to see. "I hope you don't mind."

A head from the next stall butted into her shoulder, causing her to turn and glare. "You behave!" The slight woman told the horse. "After all your showing off in front of Sabra you still beg like a pony for attention, Butterscotch." The horse nickered and rubbed his nice against her cheek causing her to laugh and shake her head. "Here you big baby," she relented, handing him a piece of apple. "Now no more!" The other half she gave to the pony.

When she turned back and remembered that Akakios was standing there she blushed darkly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting. I hope you can forgive me for wasting your time, I brought something for you too." Ladybird reached into her pocket and pulled out a small satchel which she then held out for him to take.

[Juno]

"Ah." He watched as she finished up with bandaging the pony and scolded who he could only assume was her own horse as knew it was not his own. The name Butterscotch confirmed that, as he did remember what she'd called him when they'd last spoken.

Backing away from the door a bit to give her some space, he wasn't quite sure what to say now that he knew she was not trying to avoid him or be belligerent. He'd expected, after how much time had passed, that she might be bitter but she really seemed quite the opposite with how helpful she seemed to be with his horses.

"No, you haven't wasted my time," he assured her. "I wouldn't have even worried unless you made no contact in a month's time, really," he lied, not wanting her to think he'd been worried about it. Her offering surprised him, though. It was certainly the last thing he'd expected of her from their parting.

Reaching out to take it from her and hold it loosely in his hand, the vampire weighed it with uncertainty as to whether he should open it immediately or not. "Thank you," he told her with a slight bow of his head. "You certainly didn't have to bring me anything you know. And you didn't need to tend to her," he said, gesturing to the pony. "I have other people who can do that... Did you bring that snake again?" he wondered, though he was sure her own horse in his stables was collateral enough.

[GoblinFae]

"I behaved somewhat poorly last we met and I wanted to make up for it. I know it is not much to give but I hope it can help make up for some of the trouble I have caused you." She debated telling him what it was, completely unsure if he would recognize the extremely rare plant bark and berries she had gifted him. They were something she had had to procure personally from a temple deep within the tundra wastelands as few dared to make the journey and those did were against selling their product unless it be for an arm and a leg.

"It was no trouble to check on her though," she continued, nodding towards the pony. "I wanted to. Besides I said when we last met that I would and I intended to keep my word as I am not one to break it."

As she talked Fern popped out from underneath one of her rolled up sleeves, a wide open-mouthed "grin" displaying his pleasure at being asked after. Loudly he greeted Akakios back in a series of hisses while wriggling his head back and forth.

[Juno]

Well, at least this was going according to his plan. That she would apologize and acknowledge her past wrongs and make a peace offering... He thought it showed her humbleness well enough, and he certainly approved of it. "Well...thank you," he said again as he carefully loosened the tie on the small parcel to look inside. While he recognized the bark and berries as unusual he knew he would need to ask her to explain them later as he certainly was no expert in plants as she was.

"That's true. I suppose I can understand your concern, but from now on it won't be necessary. I can hardly expect a guest to take care of my livestock," he pointed out before his eyes were drawn to the movements by her arm. Noticing the hissing little creature, Akakios smirked. "There he is," he remarked as he reached out to run a finger along his scales.

[GoblinFae]

Fern hissed happily, tilting his head to enjoy the petting and closing his eyes in pleasure. "He really likes you," commented Ladybird as she stared down in amused surprise at her familiar. "He usually spends most of his time sleeping or complaining about having his sleep disturbed. Silly snake," she chuckled with a shake of her head.

Ladybird straightened up to address Akakios properly, a small smile still lighting up her face and a very business-like tone in her voice. "Shall we proceed then or is there something else you needed of me?"

[Juno]

Akakios smirked at the idea of her pet liking him when she'd been so against him the last time they'd met. There was something she said, though, that caught him quite off guard. "Yes," he chirped, happy to finally be on with the "plan."

"Come with me," he insisted, turning to leave the barn and head back towards his home after giving her snake a final pet. "So why do you think he complains so much? Do snakes really sleep that much?" he wondered, trying not to let her know that he thought it was highly unusual to be talking about a snake's issues in life.

[GoblinFae]

She hurried to follow him, making sure to keep a secure on Fern should he suddenly decide to drop off her wrist as he was known to try at times. The last thing she needed was him getting hurt here or being stolen from her again by Akakios. She still had not forgotten nor quite forgiven him for doing that.

"I can't say that I really know whether that is normal or not. Honestly I think he just enjoys complaining. Fern has one of those crotchety-old man personalities. It's too loud. It's too quiet. It's too warm. It's too cold. He can never make up his mind."

Fern grumpily protested, his tongue flickering quickly as he made a series of angry hisses up towards Ladybird. His eyes squinted beadily up at her as if to intimidate her but only served in making her chuckle.

[Juno]

"A snake with personality," he mused as they reached the steps. "Seems like a nice pet to have, I suppose, but how did that come to be?" he asked with a wave of his hand. "Is he enchanted or something like that? Or transformed, perhaps?"

[GoblinFae]

Ladybird found herself choosing her next words carefully. She realized perhaps too late that she may have already said far too much about her "pet" and his capabilities. "He is neither enchanted nor transformed. He's simply Fern, a little snake that I found in my garden one day and has stuck around with me ever since.

"Do you have any pets, Akakios?" she tried, hoping to bring the topic away from her familiar and to something else instead.