Trepidation
Two Weeks Later
Pemenicaux was shipping off the next morning and his parents would be there to see him off, so it was agreed that this evening would be their last together until he returned in three months. Having spent most of the afternoon at the lakeside amidst the sunflowers, enjoying a picnic and some wine, the happy couple had finally returned back to civilization once their clothes had dried from swimming when the fireflies started fluttering about. Kes suddenly stopped, glancing at the structure that stood before them on the side of the path.
"There's no time like the present, Kessy! You've been talking about this for months... I'll tell ya what, I'll do it with you!" Pemenicaux smiled warmly at her as the pair stood in front of a dilapidated old building. "Are you sure about her, though...?" His grin remained as he indicated one of the windows that was missing and replaced by two large planks of wood with a slight nod.
Her jaw dropped even before he had finished, "You... would do that...?"
He nodded in response, "Why not? I think it looks quite fetching, actually."
"Your parents will kill you... This isn't really something that Wild-"
"I'm not a child, Kes. I'm 32 years old. And frankly, that's almost incentive. I'll get a design to match yours, so everyone will know when they see us together." His smile was warm and reassuring, but she was certain that the amount of hot water he would find himself in with his family would be immeasurable. Still, it was sweet of him to want to express himself as such. That was enough for her.
"Pemmy, no. Your family... They're going to blame me. I don't want them to hate me..." She paused, taking a deep breath. "And you know they will, for this..."
Looking her square in the eye, he grinned at her and pushed his way past her into the parlor. She followed him, murmuring something inaudible behind him.
"It'll look good, Kes! See all the designs?"
"I mean it Pemmy!" Her hands found their way to her hips and she gave him a very stern glare.
"It won't matter," his voice lowered. "When I get back in a few months... I want you to move away from here with me."
Her stern expression gave way to shock. She'd thought about moving away from all of this ever since he'd proposed two weeks before, but she hadn't said a word of it to anyone.
"I... I..." words escaped her lips.
"What do you think of Ul'dah?" His hand now rested gently on her shoulder, and the weight of everything came crashing down on her. Thrilled as she was to be far away from his parents, the thought of leaving her own father behind upset her - especially in his condition. She knew that Garmekor or one of the others would look after him, and probably even would have encouraged her to go ahead with the move if it was what she wanted. And aside from some travel with her father when she was too young to remember, she'd only ever really known Gridania. The thought of moving elsewhere was completely foreign to her.
"They have a guild for weavers and tailors there. You can continue working your trade. You promised me a cloak for the winter! And I'll hold you to that! I hear those desert nights can be pretty cold..."
And then there was the desert. They had the trees and the lake and the water here. It would be strange to not be able to swim every day. She had never done well with heat, either. But she had lost a considerable amount of weight over the past three years, largely due to Pemenicaux's wanting to swim all the time, which she had grown to love. The both of them had been quite chubby back then. The activity had worked wonders for him, his body rippled now as he swam. And it had clearly made a difference in her as well, but some days she still felt she could have given more effort. She had noted the way that men sometimes looked at her now - something she'd never really experienced before and would probably never get used to. Maybe the heat wouldn't touch her as much as it once had in the past, after all.
"Okay."
He was still in his thoughts, "And I hear there's a lot of excitement out there. Games and fun and-"
"Okay, Pem! I'll do it!" She smiled up at him. He stood over a head taller than her when he wasn't slouching, and she stood on her tippy-toes and pecked him on the lips. "We'll move to Ul'dah together. I just want to be with you."
"Excellent!" he beamed back at her, clearly surprised at the impulse of the response. "We'll start making the arrangements as soon as I'm back. Three months - it'll go like nothing! Think how fast the past two weeks has gone!" She had, and she knew that time would go from moving at a racing speed to a near halt while he wasn't around. "In the meantime, we both have a lot to think about."
Nodding, Kes walked over to a particular design on the wall that caught her intrigue. "Hey Pemmy, what about this one...?" She traced a line over her face with her right hand, tracing a similar line over Pem's face with her other hand, visualizing what the tattoo would look like on his face.
"Wow Kes... I like it!"
A stirring behind a curtained doorway pulled their focus away from the design, as a hyur man emerged, a white bandage firmly enveloped most of his right arm. He smiled slightly at the pair as he strode out of the waiting room.
An elderly woman's voice from behind the curtain called out, "Next!"
Two Weeks Later
Pemenicaux was shipping off the next morning and his parents would be there to see him off, so it was agreed that this evening would be their last together until he returned in three months. Having spent most of the afternoon at the lakeside amidst the sunflowers, enjoying a picnic and some wine, the happy couple had finally returned back to civilization once their clothes had dried from swimming when the fireflies started fluttering about. Kes suddenly stopped, glancing at the structure that stood before them on the side of the path.
"There's no time like the present, Kessy! You've been talking about this for months... I'll tell ya what, I'll do it with you!" Pemenicaux smiled warmly at her as the pair stood in front of a dilapidated old building. "Are you sure about her, though...?" His grin remained as he indicated one of the windows that was missing and replaced by two large planks of wood with a slight nod.
Her jaw dropped even before he had finished, "You... would do that...?"
He nodded in response, "Why not? I think it looks quite fetching, actually."
"Your parents will kill you... This isn't really something that Wild-"
"I'm not a child, Kes. I'm 32 years old. And frankly, that's almost incentive. I'll get a design to match yours, so everyone will know when they see us together." His smile was warm and reassuring, but she was certain that the amount of hot water he would find himself in with his family would be immeasurable. Still, it was sweet of him to want to express himself as such. That was enough for her.
"Pemmy, no. Your family... They're going to blame me. I don't want them to hate me..." She paused, taking a deep breath. "And you know they will, for this..."
Looking her square in the eye, he grinned at her and pushed his way past her into the parlor. She followed him, murmuring something inaudible behind him.
"It'll look good, Kes! See all the designs?"
"I mean it Pemmy!" Her hands found their way to her hips and she gave him a very stern glare.
"It won't matter," his voice lowered. "When I get back in a few months... I want you to move away from here with me."
Her stern expression gave way to shock. She'd thought about moving away from all of this ever since he'd proposed two weeks before, but she hadn't said a word of it to anyone.
"I... I..." words escaped her lips.
"What do you think of Ul'dah?" His hand now rested gently on her shoulder, and the weight of everything came crashing down on her. Thrilled as she was to be far away from his parents, the thought of leaving her own father behind upset her - especially in his condition. She knew that Garmekor or one of the others would look after him, and probably even would have encouraged her to go ahead with the move if it was what she wanted. And aside from some travel with her father when she was too young to remember, she'd only ever really known Gridania. The thought of moving elsewhere was completely foreign to her.
"They have a guild for weavers and tailors there. You can continue working your trade. You promised me a cloak for the winter! And I'll hold you to that! I hear those desert nights can be pretty cold..."
And then there was the desert. They had the trees and the lake and the water here. It would be strange to not be able to swim every day. She had never done well with heat, either. But she had lost a considerable amount of weight over the past three years, largely due to Pemenicaux's wanting to swim all the time, which she had grown to love. The both of them had been quite chubby back then. The activity had worked wonders for him, his body rippled now as he swam. And it had clearly made a difference in her as well, but some days she still felt she could have given more effort. She had noted the way that men sometimes looked at her now - something she'd never really experienced before and would probably never get used to. Maybe the heat wouldn't touch her as much as it once had in the past, after all.
"Okay."
He was still in his thoughts, "And I hear there's a lot of excitement out there. Games and fun and-"
"Okay, Pem! I'll do it!" She smiled up at him. He stood over a head taller than her when he wasn't slouching, and she stood on her tippy-toes and pecked him on the lips. "We'll move to Ul'dah together. I just want to be with you."
"Excellent!" he beamed back at her, clearly surprised at the impulse of the response. "We'll start making the arrangements as soon as I'm back. Three months - it'll go like nothing! Think how fast the past two weeks has gone!" She had, and she knew that time would go from moving at a racing speed to a near halt while he wasn't around. "In the meantime, we both have a lot to think about."
Nodding, Kes walked over to a particular design on the wall that caught her intrigue. "Hey Pemmy, what about this one...?" She traced a line over her face with her right hand, tracing a similar line over Pem's face with her other hand, visualizing what the tattoo would look like on his face.
"Wow Kes... I like it!"
A stirring behind a curtained doorway pulled their focus away from the design, as a hyur man emerged, a white bandage firmly enveloped most of his right arm. He smiled slightly at the pair as he strode out of the waiting room.
An elderly woman's voice from behind the curtain called out, "Next!"
"One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." Â ~ Lewis Carol
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
Eva's Journals  |  Eva's Wiki Page (coming soon)  |  RP Handbook
