A Love Like Stardust [Goblin]

[Juno]

Again Kendall surprised him with her comfort about being close with him. Apparently she didn't mind at all that it had been years since they'd properly spent time together.

"Sure. Didn't have to ask," he pointed out gently, feeling a little shy that she'd asked him for something so simple. Why did she want his in particular when she'd gathered so many?

Jack held the apple up to her lips so she could take what she wanted of it, reaching his free arm to wrap around her shoulders to hold her steady against him.

[GoblinFae]

"Thank you," she murmured softly before taking another bite of the apple and humming in appreciation. "They're really quite delicious. We've always bought our apples from your farm, you know. They're the best in the whole town."

Kendall rested her head back against his shoulder, allowing her face to turn in to the side some. "Are you cold? Your wedding clothes probably weren't meant for this weather. Mine certainly weren't. Too much fabric and didn't even serve the purpose of keeping warm." She shook her head and giggled softly as she recalled Ma West's face as she entered the room for the wedding, a complete mess.

[Juno]

"Did you?" He smiled some, the idea somehow leaving him with a warm sensation in his chest even though it was just a small piece of information he hadn't known previously.

"A little," he admitted, rubbing her arm idly and hoping she was comfortable enough herself. "I wasn't expecting to spend much time outside today, but here we are." Jack shrugged, his words stating the fact simply and without malice. He paused to take another bite of apple, his this time to finish it off before letting the core drop from his hand to fall below them.

"It's nice up here, though. I usually don't climb the trees to sit in them, just get the apples and leave," he explained with a chuckle. "Are you cold? Did you want to go back?"

[GoblinFae]

Dewey squawked in outrage at the dropped apple core, first going to investigate it and then picking it up and chucking it as far as he could throw in displeasure. He rushed up the tree trunk until he was level with Jack's head and barked at him unhappily. He was only sated when Kendall gave him the rest of his apple. Then he descended to a lower branch in the tree to eat it in peace.

"Dewey seems to like your apples too," she giggled. "I'm not cold, though if you are perhaps you should go back. Ma West would be furious if you caught sick. We can always tree-sit another time, Jack. I do it every day I can." Kendall's face crinkled in pure happiness though she made no move to actually get up and let him climb down.

[Juno]

The sudden barking from the squirrel startled him, the sound something Jack was unfamiliar with up close. Maybe eventually he would get used to it. The connection between it and the dropped core was lost on him, though, and he just watched Dewey as he escaped with the rest of the apple Kendall had offered him before.

"She's nothing to worry about. I won't get sick anyway," he told her confidently, adjusting his shoulders against the tree to get more comfortable. He was already getting a little stiff from the lack of cushioning, though. "But I guess we should go back, the animals will want these anyway."

He lifted Kendall onto his leg without even really thinking about it, swinging so both were dangling over one side of the branch. Jack was going to just jump but realized that probably wasn't the best idea; more than likely someone was going to get hurt from that. "Here, let me put you down," he offered, settling his hands at her waist to support her.

[GoblinFae]

Gathering her skirt-full of apples, Kendall did not bother accepting Jack's help down as she easily hopped off the branch and landed with her feet on a lower one. With the ease of a squirrel she scurried on down with a tune on her lips and a spring in her step. She truly was not used to having someone to help her do even the simple tasks of climbing up and down a tree.

As she was busy with her own climbing, Kendall did not notice the way Dewey first looked to her and her quickly descending bundle of apples and then to Jack. Having missed his opportunity to ride down with her, Dewey launched himself at Jack's chest hoping that the man would just carry him down to the ground again without making him climb all the way down himself.

[Juno]

Jack was surprised at the ease with which she slipped away, navigating down the branches like it was second nature; he wasn't truly aware yet how much time she spent outdoors.

He balance precariously on the branch, not seeing Dewey until the last moment when he was just a flying blur of fur. Jack yelped in surprise, teetering back and forth for a moment before ultimately falling from the tree, knocking into the lower branches as he went. He tried to break his fall by reaching out for the ground but one hand connected before the other and a sharp bolt of pain spiked up his arm for the small fracture he'd just caused to his right wrist.

Jack collapsed in a heap, panting and trying not to make a big deal of the pain he couldn't help but groan for before he quieted to a whimper, just cradling his injured arm against his chest and curling up into a ball in the grass as if not confronting what had just happened might absolve him of his shame and free him from pain.

[GoblinFae]

The sound of branches breaking and a heavy thud had Kendall turning around in confusion. Seeing Jack curled up in the fetal position though had her rushing to his side in concern. "Jack?" she called worriedly, kneeling down in front of him while carefully trying to roll him onto his back. "Are you hurt?"

Kendall began to run her hands gently but firmly along his body. She started at his head and began working her way down from his neck to his shoulders to his forearms and down in hopes of feeling for any injuries herself. Dewey though, who had managed to hang onto Jack until the very end before launching himself away, came over slowly, sniffing at Jack's face and twitching his tail in rapid agitation. While he was not smart enough to realize everything that was going on, he did understand that he had caused the fall and was therefore worried that he had seriously injured his new friend.

[Juno]

Jack rolled to his back without resistance, uncaring for the damp grass slowly soaking his clothes. His breath came in small gasps as he tried to recover from the wind being knocked out of him only moments before. The pain was throbbing in his arm firmly now and he flinched away with a sharp hiss when his right forearm was touched.

"Hurt it," he whimpered helplessly, in too much pain to shoo Dewey away despite him being in his face again. "My hand, or- No, my wrist," he clarified, trembling slightly and cradling his arm close to his chest, trying and failing to keep still through the pain.

[GoblinFae]

Kendall tutted at him as she tried to collect his arm to look at it more properly. From what she could see it was already becoming quite swollen. "Can you stand up? We should get you inside and have that looked at before you turn into a soggy napkin out here." She tugged on him anyway, pulling him into a seated position. "Sit for a bit and then we can go inside where it's warm and the doctor can have a look. Just keep breathing, Jackie. Alright?"

She rubbed his back for a while as he sat curled up there before bracing herself to try and pull him to his feet. "First day a bride and I've already broken the groom," she muttered under her breath.

[Juno]

Jack allowed himself to be pulled up to sit, feeling a bit dizzy and closing his eyes against it as she inspected his injury. He nodded at her instructions, not minding her chosen nickname for him as he focused on getting his breath back and calming down.

"It's not bad, I don't want to bother Ma with a doctor or healer," Jack complained, wobbly getting to his feet with Kendall's help. He put his good arm around her for stability, cradling his hurt one close to his chest again as he shuffled forward.

He bowed his head to try to hide his shame and pain, feeling ridiculous for causing his new wife worry and being foolish enough to get himself hurt. "It's not your fault, Kendall. I slipped," he told her softly, brow furrowed for her mutterings. "Let me just get inside and lay down for a bit. I'll be fine."

[GoblinFae]

"And I told you to climb up with me. I just assumed everyone knew how to climb trees," she sighed pulling him along. "You don't need rest; you need a doctor." Kendall insisted on trying to drag him back towards the party. "You can rest afterwards if you need it. I won't have a sick husband on our first night together though. Your mother would kill me anyway," she reminded him as they carefully navigated through the strewn about apples she had dropped in her rush to get to him.

[Juno]

"I'm not sick. And I know how to climb trees," Jack argued, grumbling his annoyance only because the pain had his patience running rather thin. He realized quickly that she was not leading him back to the house but further away from it and, incidentally, towards the village.

"It's not worth the expense, Kendall, really. I just need to make a brace for it until it stops hurting," he insisted, not really in any state to go anywhere without her help but hoping she wouldn't just call him stubborn like he really was being and drag him anyway.

[GoblinFae]

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face her husband. "Your health is worth the expense. Jack you won't even let me touch it. You've probably broken something and it's your hand. You need those for working and fixing it yourself puts you in danger of not being able to use it properly. Please let me take you to have someone look at it. You can call me all the silly names you want afterwards and tell me all the 'I told you so's'. But do this for me?"

[Juno]

He was taken aback by her seemingly genuine concern, not really understanding where it was rooted but appreciative all the same that she cared so much about it. A cynical voice in his head nagged at him, though, making him doubt his gut reaction and wonder if maybe her concern was not over him but over his ability to provide for her.

"Alright," he grumbled finally, whimpering quietly as he jostled his wrist while adjusting his arm across his chest. "I'll get it looked at for you, I just hope I only twisted it or something. Can you walk me there, then? Or am I too heavy?" Collapsing on his wife probably wouldn't have been the best way to start their marriage but he still felt a little dizzy and didn't trust himself to not fall over and maybe even hurt himself more if left to do it on his own.

[GoblinFae]

"Well you're no feather that's for sure," Kendall declared bluntly. Nevertheless though she once more moved to his side to help him. Pressing in close against his side, she slipped one arm firmly around his waist while taking his good arm and slinging it over her shoulders to hold with her other free hand. "We'll be there soon though. Just focus on breathing. Breathe in and breathe out," she encouraged softly, intoning the words slowly and evenly while matching their steps to her words.

[Juno]

Jack breathed shallowly through his teeth, gritting back against the pulsing ache in his arm but just trying to follow her instruction as he walked along with her. It did manage to have a calming effect on him, his body relaxing and his vision narrowing to the town ahead that was gradually becoming clearer again.

He prayed neither of their families would make a big fuss of them reappearing with him injured. The last thing he wanted or needed was a bunch of worried hovering over something so minor. As they approached the tavern, though, Jack grew tense and slowed to a stop. "Maybe he left... Could you just check if he's even still in there? I'd rather not cause a panic. I can just lean on the wall for a bit," he offered.

[GoblinFae]

Kendall rubbed his back hoping to soothe the tension back out of him. Jack looked as apprehensive as a horse being given its first bridle. "There, there," she cooed softly, giving him a gentle side-hug. "It's going to be alright. No one is going to panic. Now come inside at least before you get sick in the chill. Your clothes are all wet! I can still run and fetch the doctor. Please?" She looked to him imploringly her green eyes round and pleading for him to obey her on this small thing.

[Juno]

Jack pursed his lips thoughtfully at her request, not really thinking it was such a good idea but in too much pain to go back and forth with her on it in the moment. And she seemed so certain, somehow managing to be both confident and soothing.

"Fine, fine," he sighed, gingerly moving forward again and to enter the building. The music was clearer, no longer muffled behind the wall, but Jack was careful to keep his head down as much as possible and look fairly inconspicuous. That didn't stop his mother from catching sight of him, of course. The matriarch of the West family made her way over to her eldest son, looking him up and down and frowning at the odd angle he seemed to be holding his arm at.

"Back already? We thought you might stay at home the rest of the afternoon, what's changed your mind?" She eyed him pointedly, noting the rumpled dampness of his clothes with a frown. Jack could already feel a thin sheen of sweat forming on his brow. He wasn't really in the mood to squabble with his mother and especially not if she was going to be invasive.

"Nothing, Ma," Jack grumbled, swallowing against the lump in his throat as he lifted his head to finally scan the room's inhabitants. "We, um... forgot something. We'll just be a few moments, go along and dance with Pa."

It was all the shooing he was really in any condition to do but his father blessedly stepped in to lead her away at his prompting with a muttered, "Come along, dear," noticing his son was at least uncomfortable and wanting to give him space.

[GoblinFae]

She stayed with her new husband long enough for his mother to come and go before nudging him into a chair pointedly. Kendall was not about to leave him just so he could fall over and pass out on her. Only once he was seated did she weave her way through the crowd, ignoring guests that greeted her or simply gave her strange looks. She was used to the latter anyway.

"Doctor U'Bino, Jackie and I would like your blessing please for our new family," she stated with a sweet smile and a tilt of her head as she interrupted the man telling tales at the bar. He was a weathered man with crow's feet dancing in the corners of his eyes and laugh lines creasing his cheeks. Jameson U'Bino had been treating Kendall since she was a wee thing in the world and knew her oddities probably better than most. So with an apologetic smile to the group of listeners he followed the bride back to her groom without complaint.

"Now what's this I hear about wantin' a blessin' eh?" he asked looking Jack up and down critically. "You gettin' sick boy? Don' look so good."