• Solo • Cause Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

16th of Ymiden 718

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Doran Cooney
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Posts: 461
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 8:10 am
Race: Human
Profession: Performer
Renown: 40
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Cause Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

Gentle light filtered in through the gap in the heavy drapes; its pale, ashen colors tinted the morning's darkness with calm and peace. Outside of the window, muffled but loud enough to wake him, the music of the song birds had begun. Their light trills and low warbles danced about through the quiet rise and fall of his chest, drawing him from sleep into a groggy wakefulness. For a time he continued to lay still in the bed that was twice to large for him, his eyes closed and mind luxuriously empty.

But as consciousness was to wont to do, thoughts slowly began to rise as well.

Running the back of his knuckle across his eyes, he stretched for a trill before he began to extricate himself from the covers. In the night, it seemed he'd tossed and turned enough to quite effectively wrap himself up into a cocoon of soft wool and ramie; after some time, he finally managed to find the floor with his feet and shuffled towards the bedroom door. He'd slept in the clothes he'd arrived in - and had done so nearly immediately after they had unlocked the door -, and he remembered leaving his bag near the door in the outer room.

As he carefully opened the door, the well-oiled hinges only sighing softly as they allowed him, Doran paused in the doorway. His brother lay sprawled out over the far too small sofa: his head hung at an angle, mouth just slightly ajar and breath loud but not necessarily a snore; one leg was bent, foot pressed against the sturdy, green arm of the sofa while the other leg was propped up against the back of sofa, foot resting where heads were meant to; and he had shed his outer layers, leaving on his his small clothes and socks, hands resting on the bare skin of his stomach.

It was, by far, the most vulnerable and compromising position he'd ever seen the other man in, and he might have laughed had he not been so surprised by the change in his brother's resting face: he looked so peaceful and untroubled. The brooding shadow of his brow wasn't quite so deep, nor were his lips held in his common half-frown. He looked, for all the world, like a tired young man, no older than Doran himself. There was an odd innocence about him, something that Doran couldn't help but wonder if it was what his brother might have - should have - been. The thought was heavy and cold, like a stone tied tight abound his neck, dragging him ever deeper into the bitter waters of dismay.

Ziemko stirred, wide chest rising even wider as he turned his body, leg flopping from the back of the sofa to stretch out over the arm. His head still lolled off of the other end, and within a few ticks, his eyes flickered open. For a brief moment, there was unhooded surprise followed immediately by a gentle warmth in the muddy green gaze that peered out from between his scrunched lids, but it quickly passed as Ziemko remembered him. Within the next few trills, he'd sat up properly on the couch, hand at the back of his neck as he stretched out the kinks, moving his head side to side. "M-morning." Just woken, his voice sounded somewhat gentler - not quite yet reaching the rolling deepness he tended to speak with.

"Good morning." Doran finally stepped out into the room, his brother settling back into his austerity. With his face much returned to how it usually was, Doran found his gaze flicking over the more glaring peculiarities he'd missed before. Though the light in the room was dim, there was enough for him to make out the raised, ragged scars about his wrists and ankles, such markings typically hidden beneath his brother's concealing wardrobe. As his stare lingered, Ziemko shifted on the sofa, setting his hands into his lap as crossing his legs at his shins. By posture alone, it was easy enough to see he was uncomfortable, and Doran shook his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Erm- it looks as though you've had a- a reasonably suitable sleep?"

Silently, Ziemko nodded.

"Ah, well I was just-" He gestured towards the door where his rucksack still lay where he'd left it. There was another nod, though this time his brother rose and headed over the small bookshelf that sat adjacent to the sofa, collecting his neatly folded trousers and beginning to don them with a fluid efficiency. "Right." Not wishing to intrude on his brother's privacy any longer, he quickly stepped across the smooth wood of the floor, gathered up his bag, and escaped into the small washroom.
. . .
Cleaned after a soak in the soapy waters of the bath, Doran finally stepped out, hair still damp. He sported a fresh set of clothes, and, in spite of all the events the trials before, he at least felt better clean. Bag in tow, he headed back into the bedroom and it beside the empty desk before joining Ziemko at the table where he sat with a loaf of bread and a small jar of an off-yellow paste. Blinking down at it, Ziemko offered one of his clipped explanations as he held out a hunk of bread towards his brother. "Hummus."

Taking the bread offered, Doran tore a small piece off and scooped up a tentative taste of the paste. "Hummus? What does it... is it good?"

Ziemko shrugged, steadily chewing without enthusiasm - though Doran supposed he never seemed all that enthusiastic about anything - he replied with a vague, "It's a little tart."

"Like... jam?"

Again Ziemko shrugged as he dipped a piece of his own bread into the glass container. From the amount he managed to draw out, Doran imagined that the paste was at least acceptable in taste. Without any further questions, he popped his own bread into his mouth. The flavor wasn't quite like anything he'd had before - there was an odd texture to the hummus, not quite grainy but neither was it smooth, and it was most certainly 'tart". He liked it.

"Now that we're here in Ne'haer," As Doran spoke, liberally dipping another piece of bread into the dish, Ziemko's gaze rose to meet his. "Do you believe we'll be safe - safer - out of Rynmere?"

"Maybe." He tore off another small piece of bread. "But I can't know for sure; better to not to draw attention."

"Then, as long as we're careful...?"

Ziemko shrugged again, chewing impassively for a few trills. "Maybe."

Doran nodded, tapping the hard crust of his bread against the table, crumbs splintering off like glutenous snowflakes. "I was thinking of going out - seeing the city." His brother nodded. "Is it... alright if I go alone?"

There was a pause as Ziemko seemed to consider, his cold, hazel eyes regarding him with a mix of concern and appraisal. "No." He reached forward, leaning across the table to quickly wipe up the crumbs Doran had absently begun to scatter, sweeping them up into his hand. "Not until you're healed."

It was a reasonable precaution, and though Doran let a small sigh slip out through his nose, he nodded all the same, his turn to play the silent companion. The two of them finished their meal without any further conversation while Doran took care not to spill any more crumbs on the table. He wasn't certain why, but it seemed to bother his brother - or perhaps it was just part of his imagination, but he chose to err on the side of caution. Once the bread was consumed and the little glass jar properly washed and set out to dry on one of the counters that hugged the hearth in the back corner of the room, Ziemko waited for him by the front door.
. . .
They spent most of the morning and early afternoon exploring most of the streets and alleys - though some they chose to avoid. It seemed the entire city was constructed about a central square; the main roads broke off and scattered throughout the buildings and gardens like a network of roots, but it was not nearly so confusing as Rynmere - merely much, much larger. Both the Bank of Ne'haer and the Order of the Aduunih were easy enough to find, mostly familiar. There were several taverns scattered throughout the city, some more upscale while others clearly only existed for the consumption of alcohol.

There were temples everywhere - a stark difference from Rynmere - and though Doran made not of where they were located, he felt no inclination to visit them. The immortals held no interest for him - distant and fickle as he'd learned of them. They did, however, stop in at several shops: a book store with a painfully pun-crafted name that Doran had no doubt he'd be returning to to find something to pass the time while his leg continued healing; a pair of curiosity shops that he only glanced briefly in - Ziemko had been more disinterested than usual in those specific cases; a weaponsmith's shop; a potions shop; a tailors; and a sweet shop.

They settled for a time in one of the larger gardens, and even Ziemko seemed somewhat more relaxed among the quiet stillness of nature. By the time supper had rolled around, they had been all over the city but hadn't done much. Doran had found a stall that sold jerked fish - something neither he'd never had before but had received an "It's good." from his brother which was all the praise he'd needed to try it. As they returned to their new home, an elderly woman stopped them for a time to chat about the weather and Ne'haer's seemingly precarious political state. She had given them an oddly satisfied look as they'd excused themselves, but neither of them paid her too much mind.

As Doran prepared for bed, his nightclothes far more comfortable than the leathers and linens he wore about the city, he gently massaged his thigh to help with the soreness. They'd done more walking than perhaps he should have, and he doubted he'd feel up for such a venture in the morning. As he exited the washroom, he leaned up against the wall, grinning at his brother's attempt to make himself comfortable on the couch. "You know, there's plenty of room in the bed."

With a grunt, Ziemko righted himself, brow furrowed for a moment. "I thought-"

Doran shrugged. "You've save my life twice now, Ziemko. I hardly think there's anyone I trust more to sleep beside me." He pushed off from the wall, shaking his head. "It's merely an invitation. The sofa can't be comfortable, and it'd be better for the both of us if you were well rested." The last person he'd shared a bed with had been Alistair - but the situation had been far more intimately charged. Ziemko, however much a stranger he'd been in the trials before, had proved twice over he was willing to follow through with his promises. If anything, Doran felt a bit less secure knowing Ziemko was in the other room than beside him.

Slowly, Ziemko nodded and rose. "Is it- do you mind if I-"

Quite to the point, Doran raised a brow. "Sleep in your small-clothes? Should I?" There was a brief moment of silence before Ziemko shook his head. "Good." His brother was muscled and attractive, certainly, but whatever charms he might have had ended with the fact he was blood.

The day had been busy, busy enough Doran had not had much time to dwell on his thoughts, as he'd intended. As he settled into the covers, Ziemko's slow and steady breath a familiar metronome, he found himself fading into sleep far faster than before. With a small smile on his lips, he supposed, a the very least and in spite of all his faults and doubts he gave rise to in Doran's mind, he was glad Ziemko was there; the final thought that drifted through his fading consciousness.
. . .the 16th of Ymiden during the 718th arc. . .
Last edited by Doran Cooney on Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:17 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 2066
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Tristan Venora
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Cause Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

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Doran Cooney:

Knowledge:
Location: Ne’haer - City Square
Location: Ne’haer - Crazed Corner
Location: Ne’haer - Lochgrass Gardens
Location: Ne’haer - The Coleseum
Location: Ne’haer - Training Grounds
Location: Ne’haer - Crest Break Tavern
Location: Ne’haer - The Golden Flask
Location: Ne’haer - Harbor View Village Office
Location: Ne’haer - Doracre’s Delicacies
Location: Ne’haer - Betty’s Bits and Baubles
Location: Ne’haer - Curio’s Curiosities Book Shop
Location: Ne’haer - Every Day Elixirs
Location: Ne’haer - Siason’s Stichery
Location: Ne’haer - The Sphinx’s Armaments
Location: Ne’haer - Written Wisdom
Location: Ne’haer - Eastern Temple
Location: Ne’haer - Northern Temple
Location: Ne’haer - Southern Temple
Location: Ne’haer - Temple of the All Gods
Location: Ne’haer - Western Temple
Location: Ne’haer - Bank of Ne’haer
Location: Ne’haer - Order of the Adunih

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A
Renown: N/A
Magic XP: N/A

Points: 10
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Comments: I’m envious of your post template. It’s gorgeous.

To be honest I’m envious of your writing, too. You described the scenery so vividly that I felt as if I was right there, with Doran and his brother.

Please edit your review request to include the button below so that the other reviewers know that it's been taken care of!

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