[OVERFLOW] Event: Healing Waters

[voidtreckermods]

This is an overflow post for the Healing Waters August event. Please feel free to continue threads here from that post, to avoid captcha.

Comments

[flatteries]

[ At first Inigo is quiet too. His eyes aren't closed though - instead he's staring down at the flower bracelet Roland made for him still, a very fond expression on his face. He wishes there was a way to preserve it forever so he could wear it regularly. But Inigo is well aware of the nature of flowers. They're beautiful, but they only last for such a short while.

.. 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! ]

[adregem]

[ You could put up a hammock here and sleep all day...An almost lazy smile graces his face as he listens to Inigo. Then, he starts chuckling, quiet and serene. Though he remains still where he sits, relishing the moment even as it passes. ]

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. ]

[flatteries]

Well.. [ Inigo lets the words trail off, though he continues fairly soon after, a tiny smile on his face. ] Then you just need someone to remind you to take a moment for yourself every once in a while.

[ 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.

[adregem]

Heh. Are you asking me to use you as a pillow?

[ 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.

[flatteries]

[ It's Roland's own movement that makes Inigo decide to take off the bracelet rather than the necklace, sliding it off so carefully - look, it's a present from Roland, which means he has to extra treasure it - before handing it over to the other. He wasn't aware that was a function of that Arms Band as well - the preservation part, that is - but he's making sure to remember now.

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

[adregem]

[ He takes it as gently as its handed to him and with his own bracelet in hand, they disappear into his Arms Band in a sparkle of gold and light. Roland never forgets what he puts in there, so there was no need to worry.

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...

[flatteries]

If I see even a single mosquito, I'm going to scream.

[ 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. ]