Mud on church steps. [open!]

Rhindeer · August 05, 2016, 12:19:08 PM

[PM to join!]

It was a stormy day in Uthlyn, which meant a lot of annoyance for Clover.

Namely because people were so gosh darned RUDE!

She had just finished sweeping out the nave, even getting under the pews where worshipers sat for Mass, and was just about ready to take a seat and wipe her sweaty brow, when a group of soldiers came tromping on in, not bothering to remove their filthy boots or even wipe them off, and left muddy puddles in their wake as they headed for the chapel to pray. And then they had the gall to smile in her direction!

Clover stared at them, open-mouthed and bristling, until they vanished into the chapel. And then she let out a soft, strangled scream of frustration and snatched her broom back up.

SHE HAD JUST CLEANED THAT!

NOW SHE HAD TO MOP!

"Lord give me the strength not to break this broom over their thick heads!" she growled. Not that she needed it anymore now. NOW she had to tromp outside into the rain, fill a bucket from the well, and clean everything all over again!

And she had to do it all while trying to NOT think murderous, impure thoughts!

With another frustrated growl, she tossed the broom aside and marched outside, rain soaking through her clothes, and headed for the well.

Lion · August 05, 2016, 02:35:41 PM

The stomping boots certainly impeded him from crawling out of his hiding spot. Quinlan never thought he'd end up back here in this godforsaken land, but here he was, none the wiser, and twice as bitter. He shuffled in the bush, hunkered down and waiting.

Phew that was a close one.

And just when he thought the coast was clear, he started to crawl out again, and felt his head bump into the leg of a girl and get tangled in her skirt.

Rhindeer · August 05, 2016, 04:52:34 PM

Clover was just walking along, through the rain, getting pissed on by God, when right as she passed by a clump of bushes on her way to the well...

Things got WEIRD.

A shape suddenly crawled out of the bushes, straight into her, bumping into her legs even as she kept walking forward--and her skirts quickly tangled around the shape, and her own legs. She let out a wail of panicked alarm--WHAT WAS THAT THING?!--and flailed for balance and might have otherwise caught herself--if the ground weren't already slippery with mud. Her heel slipped and she grabbed in vain at the shape assaulting her, which only served to pull him down with her as she fell, landing on her back in the mud--

With her assailant's head still tangled in her skirts, and her legs wrapped around his neck.

"AHHHH! IT'S A FUCKING PERVERT DEMON! GET OFF ME!" she squealed, and immediately started to beat at the thing with her tiny fists.

Lion · August 05, 2016, 05:42:15 PM

Just when he was about to get untangled from her skirt, her footing slipped and brought her down with him. He growled frustratedly, getting a faceful of womanhood without ANYONE BUYING HIM A DRINK FIRST! He huffed amid her squeals and pulled the fabric off his head when he was free. Quinlan immediately flew over her, covering her mouth with his hand!"

"Shut up!" He hissed. "You wanna bring the whole fucking army down on us? Besides it was your fault anyway! You assaulted me! If you think I'm gonna be doing any of that for free, you've got another thing coming!"

Rhindeer · August 06, 2016, 04:09:42 PM

Clover was still flailing and squealing like a banshee when the man--oh, not a demon!--flew over her and covered her mouth, muting the noise to muffled outraged. Her face went bright red with horrow and mortification, and she wasn't sure which outcome would have been better: for it to have been a demon afterall, or for it to have been a strange man that had his face in her nethers! And a man that was now pinning her to the muddy ground in a most inappropriate fashion! Inwardly, she panicked. He was much bigger than her and she was all alone and he had been literally trying to get in her skirts!

And then he had the gall to blame HER!

Her eyes went wide with indignation and horror before narrowing to angry slits, and then she did the unladylike thing.

She bit him, and struggled all the more. "Gerroff!!"

Lion · August 10, 2016, 08:56:35 PM

"Ow! You fuckwit! You bit me! What are you a gerbil?" he asked, and moved off of her but kept his hand firmly on her mouth. "Just shut up! I didn't do anything wrong! I swear. Now if I take my hand off your mouth, you have to promise not to scream! Do you promise?"

Rhindeer · August 10, 2016, 11:41:37 PM

He got more angry, muffled gibberish as his answer. But for all of that, Clover did at least nod, even if she didn't stop glaring at him. But beneath all the biting and glaring and bluster, there was obvious fear in her eyes, too.

Lion · August 11, 2016, 10:15:43 AM

He cut eyes out toward the church door, and seeing there was no activity inside, he carefully released his hand from her mouth. He held his breath just in case she decided against it. And he crawled off of her.

"Now I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get tangled in your business, down under."

Rhindeer · August 16, 2016, 10:30:06 AM

As soon as he was off of her, Clover scrambled to her knees and yanked her frumpy dress down, making damned well and sure everything was properly covered! Her face was bright red as she glowered at him, making her freckles even more pronounced, and she quickly reached up to straighten her hair where it had fallen loose of her headscarf.

Not that there was any point to it. She was covered in mud and soaked through to her skivvies so now she had to clean both herself and the floor!

"HOW did you even MANAGE that?!" she barked, trying to control her rapidly beating heart. She pressed a hand to her chest and took a breath--but it was a calculated move, too, as she covered up the mage brand sewn onto her breast. "What are you doing, skulking about? This is a house of God! Not a place of...of...of skirt-chasing!"

Lion · August 16, 2016, 07:39:32 PM

"Pffft, as if there were anything under there worth chasing," Quinlan said almost under his breath but not quite. Still, he made an effort to dust himself off. "Look, I said I was sorry. And it was an accident. I wouldn't normally be caught dead near a place like this. So just warm your nipples. I know it's awful nippy out here."

He tore his eyes away from her chest. "You should apologize to me, I mean you almost suffocated me!"

Rhindeer · August 16, 2016, 08:33:45 PM

"My...my...what?" Clover sputtered, face burning even hotter with embarrassment and indignation both as he used such language! In a goddamned church, too! Well, outside it, but still!

"You should watch your bloody tongue, it's not appropriate to speak like that here! This is holy ground!" she huffed, even as she moved both hands to her chest to cover herself and left muddy hand prints right over her breasts. Oh no. Was it...was she really showing through her dress?! "And you got me all dirty! Me, a poor church mouse just trying to do her work!"

But he'd gotten muddy, too. And even as her temper flared, she realized she should rein it in. Humility. Peace. Grace. Forgiveness. Those were all qualities blessed by Ansgar, though of course all fell short of His glory--and she certainly was now! She sucked in a deep breath, counted to three, and let her breath out slowly. He had apologized. Sort of.

"Alright. I'm sorry," she said at last, though it came out sounding a bit forced, like she had a sword at her back. "I didn't mean to...suffocate you. Or yell." Grr. "But you could at least show some respect! Here, look, why don't you help me bring in the water and then you can come inside and dry off, okay?"

Charity. Giving. Love. She just had to channel those here. Be who Ansgar wants her to be!

Lion · August 16, 2016, 09:00:40 PM

An apology. Hrm, did that make him feel better? Probably not, but there were worse things in the world than that right now, especially with thinking about who he thought who he was running from to begin with. He could let it go, since she did. Last thing he needed was for her to call the guards down on his head.

Admittedly, it was a rather quick switch, and the mud on her breasts just made him stare at them more. With a forced clearing of his throat he focused his attention to her. "It's the least I could do I suppose. But...we're not going in there are we?" he said pointing to the church.

Rhindeer · August 16, 2016, 09:12:51 PM

Clover cocked an eyebrow and followed his gaze to the church, then gave him a puzzled look.

"Uh...yes?" she said. Was he daft? "Where else would I be talking about?"

Lion · August 16, 2016, 09:14:23 PM

"Oh, okay. Lead the way," he gestured. Then proceeded to pull up the collar of his coat as high as it could go.

Rhindeer · August 16, 2016, 09:20:25 PM

Clover gave him an odd look. He didn't seem all that thrilled to be going inside a church. Maybe he was a demon, after all--they didn't like churches, did they? Could they even enter a holy space? Maybe that was vampires...

And she had just invited him inside.

She shoved the superstitious thought away, though she couldn't help notice how he adjusted the collar of his coat. Which made since, because it was cold and rainy outside, but with her mind wandering to vampires she couldn't help but think that was a strange coincidence.

You're being paranoid, Clover! After all, there was plenty of holy water inside!

With a long stare at him, she turned to the well, hooked a bucket onto the rope, and lowered it. A moment later, she cranked it back up and heaved the heavy bucket over the side--and then held it out for him to take. "There you go. Carry that, please."

She even asked nicely!

Lion · August 17, 2016, 12:07:14 AM

[Oh man, if Clover thinks he's a vampire, this won't end well. XD]

Quinlan watched her idly. She was a vicious little thing wasn't she. He wondered what she was in for. Nobody but lunatics were church mouses because they wanted to be. She had be a loon because it was the only plausible explanation he could come up with.

He did reach for the bucket, hoisting it up expertly. "Alright, Miss Whatever, where'd ya need me to take this?"

Rhindeer · August 17, 2016, 12:17:47 AM

[*dies laughing* xD This'll be fantastic.]

"Clover," she supplied, still watching him a little too closely while trying not to be too obvious about it. If only he would bend over a little more, she might be able to catch a glance at his neck. "Miss Clover to you. Uh, just bring it inside, I gotta use it to mop. Take your boots off first before you enter, you hear? I don't want more mud all over my floors."

Turning her back to him, she lead the way, but her mind was racing. Okay, he was kind of tan, and vampires were supposed to be pasty, right? But maybe he was a recent one, which was why he was hiding his neck, and in which case, he might not be that dead looking. She was probably being ridiculous, it was probably nothing, but just in case, Clover quickened her pace so she could get inside the church before he could.

There was holy water on the altar! She'd just have to be sly about reaching it. She didn't want him to catch onto what she was planning.

Just in case.

Lion · August 17, 2016, 12:26:08 AM

Quinlan hesitated before stepping beyond the boundaries of the door. He could see some of the soldiers in the pews up ahead. He supposed if he didn't make much of a ruckus he wouldn't catch any of their attention. His hand slipped up enough to keep part of his face hidden, and it was thankfully stiff enough to stay that way.

"So, you need help mopping, or just some muscle to help you lift stuff?" he asked, setting down the bucket once he braved the inside. But he ignored the dirty boots bit.He vaguely met her gaze... why was she looking at him like that? Yeah, definitely a loon.

Her brain probably shot to the moon and never came down.

"Miss Clover...you still in there?" And snapped fingers in front of her face.

Rhindeer · August 17, 2016, 12:43:44 AM

Clover was, indeed, staring. Because he was so totally a vampire. She'd caught that little gesture, the way he put his hand up as though to shield his face from the altar, as though he couldn't bear the sight of the holy relics up at the front. They were supposed to be physically painful or something.

She jumped when he snapped in front of her face. "Huh?! Oh. Uh. Hi! Yes. Sorry! I was thinking about something, nothing important, nothing concerning you at all!" she said with a laugh and took a few steps backwards, eyes still on him. "If you could start the mopping, that'd be great! I just...I'll be right back! I gotta grab something!"

And then she turned on her heel and scurried down the aisle, toward the altar--and the soldiers praying at the front.

Lion · August 17, 2016, 04:57:55 PM

Quinlan was immediately suspicious. He just watched her sputter and walk away and already panic was setting in. But what could be do. Run? She'd rat him out to the soldiers, possibly. Maybe she didn't know who he was, maybe it didn't matter.

He only then remembered his muddy boots and took them off, as he sat down quietly in a pew, watching where she went. He didn't want to bring attention to himself. And he set his boots on the floor, rolling his trouser legs up. Quinlan turned to the mop laid out, and idly mopped, watching her.