VoidTrecker Express Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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middleofsomewhere2020-09-01 04:51 pm
voidtreckermods) wrote in middleofsomewhere2020-09-01 04:51 pm
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[OVERFLOW] Event: Healing Waters
This is an overflow post for the Healing Waters August event. Please feel free to continue threads here from that post, to avoid captcha.
With Inigo
[ Roland angles himself so he can watch for Inigo's reactions a little bit better. What he sees does warm his heart somewhat, though if it were up to him, he would have attempted for the bracelet no matter what. But he looked happy, actually happy with a flower necklace instead, so Roland does a breathy sort of acknowledgment and a fond shake of his head. ]
As long as you like it, then. Accident or not. I'll try and make another one, complete the set. Think I can make flower earrings, too? [ And while he jests, there is something relaxing about the act. Roland pivots his body back to the bushes, reaches for another bunch of flowers that are hanging low, drooping and easy for him to grasp without tearing off the petals. He glances at Inigo from time to time, listening, frowning though he hides it well.
'As long as I can help even one person who would have been worse off otherwise.. Then it will have been worth it to me.'
When he resumes his position, seated on he ground, he tries to get more comfortable so he can focus on the task a bit more closely. The flowers are threaded together with much more concern than the first, and before he overdoes it, he makes a gesture for Inigo to hold out his wrist so he can try and measure it before he loops the stems around. ]
...I can't fault you for that kind of thinking. [ Roland smiles wryly, wrapping the flowers around the circumference of Inigo's wrist quickly, before drawing back to make a new chain. He keeps his eyes focused on this task as he speaks. ] I guess you and I believe in the same thing. The first time you see someone in peril, and you're powerless to do a thing, it can change you. Now, now that we're better - stronger - all you want to do is prove that you can save a life, no matter who it is.
[ At last, he succeeds. He holds up the flower bracelet for Inigo to see, his expression warm under the filtered sunlight, smile bright. Far too bright for someone who was basically talking about self-sacrifice as the highest form of love.
Wasn't it?] Well, teacher? Better?no subject
.. and what words they are. They hit so close to home. Inigo thinks of the early days after Grima's attack. He remembers feeling so young, so out of his depth. A tiny boy, barely in his teens, trying to help out wherever he could, but having been too small to attempt to rebuild houses that collapsed, too unsure of how to provide people with food.
So he took up the sword, the only thing he did know how to do that would be useful in that hellscape. And he remembers striking down so many of the Risen over time. Taking life after life after life just in order two save one life, maybe two at a time. Having to convince himself it was worth it, feeling himself crumble with every step.
He snaps himself out of the thoughts, smiling and looking into Roland's eyes as he speaks up. ]
It's beautiful. Thank you, I'll treasure it.
[ He leans back, slowly pulling his arm back as well in order to admire the flowers on his skin now. ]
.. Hopefully we can fight together sometime during the next mission. I know I would feel reassured to have someone with your kind heart and great ideals at my side. [ Not to mention fighting together with dad!! but he's trying to sliiightly tone down the puppy inside here, okay. ] Let's do our best to save lives together.
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[ He clasps his hands gently around his hand with the flower bracelet, before letting go. Roland leans back, relaxes somewhat, with an arm extended back and his other draped gently around his midsection. All doubts and hesitations about this trip aside, it was admittedly a gorgeous island. He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply, inhale, exhale. ]
...Yeah. Together.
[ Roland's eyes remain closed in peace. Maybe it was the smell of the sweet syrup, or the lingering sound of waves crashing somewhere in the distance. The leaves dancing in the wind, rustling against one another. Perhaps this is the calmest he's been since he arrived on the Voidtrecker, and something about spending time with Inigo easily brought out his two extremes - one that wished to protect the boy from harm, and the other, desiring only to show him that life was good. That it could be good, if they worked hard for it. ]
You know, this is the first real vacation I've had in a long time. [ He chuckles. His youthful face, skin smooth and eyes without a single crease, tilts up, trying to find the warmth of the sun. ] I can't even remember when exactly we had a holiday, back home when I was in office. In Evermore, we couldn't let a day go to waste either. I guess this is...nice.
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.. maybe that's exactly why they always reminded him of his mother, huh.
Roland's words snap him out of the thought, and though he looks over at the man with curious eyes initially, Inigo then starts smiling. ]
You must have been busy. [ Inigo can imagine. He's seen the same thing up close, after all, though the memories grow more and more hazy with time. He was too young to fully remember. But he still does remember faintly - just how often his father was gone, how busy he must have been.. ] But even so.. you should really give yourself some time off every now and then, Roland. Even if you're a president and have so many people counting on you.. It's not as if you can keep on working without pause forever. It'll end up catching up with you.
[ BOLD WORDS FROM SOMEONE WHO OVERWORKS HIMSELF TOO. But ssh, that doesn't matter right now. These words are just meant for the other! ]
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Heh. You're starting to sound like Evan. [ Roland rubs the back of his neck as he attempts to sit up straight now, still smiling, amused. ] You can't imagine how many times I get lectured myself.
[ Roland's mouth falls back into a straight line, brows beginning to meet in the middle again. That was as much rest as he allows himself. A breath, just a breath. ] But the more people you have counting on you, the less you actually have time to relax. It's just...what I'm used to.
[ Hear that, Inigo? Welcome to Roland's perception of his sense of responsibility to others, even if sometimes, it gets misplaced.
He looks down at his flower bracelet, gently touching its petals. He'll continue to stare at it for a while, even as Inigo speaks. ]
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[ It's a much more simplified answer than how reality works. Inigo knows it. Even though the memories are vague and hazy, he recalls knowing how hard his father must have been working out there. Because everyone was counting on him too. Responsibility is heavy, especially when it comes with a crown. Just like Roland's own, which he seems to very willingly carry, judging by what he just said.
But.. is it really so bad or selfish to wish for Roland to be able to rest a bit more despite that burden? Or maybe exactly because of it?
Inigo scoots over so he's sitting directly next to Roland, their shoulders almost touching. ]
Why don't you rest your eyes? Just for a tiny bit. [ He adds, a touch more cheekily: ] I think everyone may just survive you not looking for that much time. And I'll be here.
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[ He gets a slight laugh out of that. Come to think of it, when was the last time Roland's even had a nap out of nowhere? When was the last time he actually sat there in the great outdoors, wondering about things like this? He can't remember. He can't remember a life outside of what he does, the promise he's sworn to keep till death.
But as Inigo just told him earlier, this was another way to look at life, wasn't it? To enjoy the moment for what it was, even when you knew it wouldn't last. His smile grows fond. Roland removes the flower bracelet from his wrist, and gestures for Inigo to do the same, though the movement of his hand is a bit vague. What was he asking for? The bracelet he had on too, or the flower necklace? ]
Before anything else, give one of them to me. [ He curls up his fingers once, for emphasis. ] I want to keep them preserved, so I'll put my bracelet and something of yours in the Arms Band. They won't wilt in there.
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Once he's carefully put the flowers into the other guy's hand though, Inigo smiles, puffing out his chest. ]
I will have you know that I am an extremely comfortable pillow! [ So, yes. Yes, that's exactly what he's saying here. ] Not to mention that I'll keep you safe from any and all danger! Like the terrible, terrifying insects that may be lurking in these woods!
oh no is this a wrap
Afterwards, he just chuckles low and breathy at Inigo's silliness. His words are still hitting him close to home - that he's happy to have met people here, even though there was a risk to see them off; to live in the moment was all he could ask for. Roland was confident in his abilities, he knew his talents and he was capable of stepping up to the plate should that be his calling. But this was a time when he realizes there was so much more to learn about this life than what he already knew. Inigo was one of the few on the train to show him that, even if they didn't mean to.
'So an old dog can learn new tricks, huh...?
Roland stands, if only to walk closer to the bark of a big tree with thick roots that almost seems to protect whoever sat by its girth. There was enough space for the two of them, so he waits till Inigo follows. He sits cross-legged, arms over his shoulers, but he is missing the usual tenseness that follows this action. Right now, it's all habit, what he's comfortable with. ]
...I'll take you up on that offer, then. Just for a while. I better not get a single mosquito bite while I'm knocked out, got it? Heh.
[ The jest is made in earnest. And even if it takes Roland a good long while to fall asleep, happy to stay in silence next to Inigo, eventually his eyelids do grow heavy, and he closes them with certainty. At least, for this moment, he knows he is in good hands.
And if his head leans forward from time to time, eventually, it does find its way to someone's shoulder, fulfilling Inigo's promise of being an extremely comfortable pillow. ]
YES IT'S A WRAP imagine us... actually wrapping up threads...
[ It's easy to take that as a joke. Inigo is making it sound like a joke, and he does mostly mean it jokingly, but..
He will scream if he sees a bug. Definitely. So don't blame him if you end up getting a rude awakening from your nap eventually, Roland..
Though for now Inigo is more than content to sit here like this. Leaning back against the tree, looking at the way the sunlight slightly falls through the leaves of the high trees. At first he isn't too sure on whether or not Roland is going to sleep for real, if maybe he just can't do that so naturally.. But when he feels that head moving onto his shoulder, Inigo knows that this is alright.
And maybe things just.. are alright. Despite his constant anxiety. Despite the vision he saw earlier this morning that still lurks at the back of his mind.
Maybe, just in this moment.. Things are okay.
Inigo keeps sitting there with Roland without complaint, for as long as he needs to nap. ]