Aspel Cassul: When in doubt, Aspel! (weaponry) wrote in emillion, @ 2013-08-20 08:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, aspel cassul, kiernan manley |
“I could’ve sworn I was telling the truth when I told you I didn’t miss you....”
Who: Aspel & Kiernan
What: Misunderstandings in rooming.
Where: Ari’s Apartment.
When: BACKDATED: August 2nd
Rating: PG?
Status: Complete
If someone had asked her why she was here, the honest to Faram answer would have been ‘I don’t know’ even if something inside of her did. However, the answer that would be given would be a fairly different one altogether. Aspel was here, standing in front of Ari’s apartment door, looking at the way the handle sat and the arch of the doorway now because she just wanted to assure her friend’s belongings. The smith had spent time wondering about downstairs attempting to get a good glance at the windows to assure they hadn’t been inappropriately jarred just moments before because she just wanted to make sure things were okay for the other woman’s return. Ari was getting increasingly famous with each passing day, and surely there would be chance for someone to want to take advantage of that. No need to not include a little extra security on things when it could be afforded, right? Though, there had been a flickering of light when she’d been glancing up at things and it set her on high alert. Something was going on up there.... Unless it was the flicker of another apartment off the window, but after looking at the angles and how the buildings were situated, it seemed unlikely. With that, she’d set on the task of trekking up the multiple flights of stairs and now, with hand at her sword hilt, Aspel shifted reaching out to knock at the door. It would either send the miscreants running or they’d go quiet and either way, the smith would get them for sure. Kiernan was, in a word, exhausted. He had barely returned to the city when he'd been pulled into a guildhall to help teach a group of fresh-faced squires without being warned it'd take most of the day. Not that he didn't enjoy teaching twelve-year-olds, of course, but he would have appreciated a heads-up. Then after, he grabbed a tray of barbequed shish kabobs and then tried to get Lucy to come and take him someplace to sleep, but she had only swooped down and set a small fire on the pasture just in front of his feet before flying off. After stomping the thankfully tiny flames out, Kiernan glanced behind him to see dark clouds rolling in and groaned. Rain. Fantastic. Fortunately, Ari said that she'd left her key with her landlord, so it was back into the city he went and hopefully before the water fell. It didn't, at least not when he finally made it to her flat. Her couch looked as inviting as always, but he was a good houseguest, after all. Better to wash up first. So he set his spear against the wall and went to the kitchen sink to wash his face and hands. He thought he heard the door knock over the sound of running water, and he frowned and turned off the faucet. He listened again, but nothing. Must've been my imagination, he decided. With a shrug he grabbed a towel to dry off and then flopped on the couch with a loud, satisfying sigh. The rustling and moving seemed to come to a lull and Aspel’s eyes narrowed at the door in front of her. If there was someone in there, clearly, they were either ignoring her or attempting to lay low and with some of the other stories that the smith had heard from the tiny bard, Aspel had an idea of what might just be going on. Mouth pulling into a hard line, her jaw set firmly and her brow furrowed to accompany the already narrowed eyes. One hand fell to the hilt of her sword as words were muttered underneath her breath regarding how the intruder had hopefully made their peace with Faram for they would clearly be meeting him soon. With that, her free hand rose, this time knuckles rapping loudly at the door to see if it would stir the occupant into activity once more before Aspel simply busted down the younger woman’s apartment door. Kiernan definitely didn’t miss that next knock but before he could debate about whether or not to respond and how to do it -- for all he knew, it could have been the landlord about some crisis or another -- the door flew open with a violent force. He wasted no time in hopping to his feet and making a break for his spear. A burglary then! Well, sure seemed like Ari was going to need a dedicated housesitter every time she left the city from now on. But now was not the time to think about the things to tell the young bard when she returned; now was the time to get the intruder out of here with no more than a few broken bones if he could help it. It was just too bad the spear was a bit too far out of reach. The first thought had been that perhaps she shouldn’t bust down the door, that it would make a horrible mess of Ari’s apartment. However, when there was no answer, and no clear discernible noise of scuffling feet attempting a hasty retreat, it worried the smith even more. What if these were skilled house breakers? What if they had already slipped out the back door (was there a backdoor?) or window or some such and had made a royal mess of everything? What if.... And that was why the door was slammed open with the tip of her sword wedged between the door and the door frame to help pop open the lock a bit easier. With the turning of her wrist, the sword rolled and the splintered wood littered the floor from where the frame had broken. “I advise you turn yourself over!” Came the barked suggestion, which sounded far more like a command with her sword raised for an attack, and the tone of her voice. Though, thankfully the room was well enough lit that the ‘intruder’ - Kiernan - was quickly recognized. “What in Faram’s name are you doing here?” Perhaps those were the worst words Aspel could have ever come up with but with sword raised and apartment door splintered.... It was the best she had. Kiernan finally had his spear in hand and was about to whip around to make the first strike -- while he understood the wisdom in never dealing the first blow, in practice when someone was about to kill you, it was a horrible mistake Kiernan never intended to make as long as he could help it -- when he saw exactly who had broken into Ari’s apartment. “Aspel?!” He might have laughed if his nerves weren’t worked up still, and if he wasn’t completely befuddled. He stared at her for a few seconds before retorting, “I could ask you that same thing. Breaking down Ari’s door like that.” He let out a sigh and dropped from his stance, shaking his head. “Ari lets me sleep on her couch on rainy days. She left the key behind in case I needed a dry place to sleep while she’s gone.” A beat. “What’s your excuse?” He racked his brain to think of all the reasons Aspel might be here, and everything he could think of, well, it was a good thing Aspel wasn’t a mind reader or Banes wouldn’t be the only woman in the Guild he’d have to fear would castrate him. No, no. There had to be a good reason for this and, the more Kiernan thought about it, the more he realized he had to hear it. “If you had answered when first I knocked we would have no broken door of which to speak.” Aspel couldn’t help the somewhat sharp response to Kiernan’s commentary. Though, Kiernan then proceeded to quickly explain and..... At least that seemed reasonable enough. It made sense considering all and if it weren’t for the fact that the smith had already raised her nerves regarding the whole thing, perhaps she would have laughed at this point. Instead, her features remained a bit hard and while Kiernan dropped out of a combat stance it would take Aspel a few moments longer before her sword was lowered. “Ari has spoken of stalkers and I wanted to assure her apartment was safe.” The last thing anyone would ever need was coming home to their living quarters having been ransacked or defiled in some manner or another. Especially, after Fedoro the bard was likely to have even more misguided suitors, and fans attempting to bark up a quite incorrect tree. Sighing heavily, her sword was finally sheathed and her shoulders began to relax. “I will assure someone to fix the door tomorrow.” The smith’s features flickered slightly finally from the firm line of mouth and narrow eyes they had been just moments before. “If you are still here I will assure they are informed.” "When you first knocked? I only heard that last one." At least that he knew for any sort of certainty. So the one when he was washing up hadn't been his imagination after all. "I might've answered, if I'd been given the chance to. Thought you might have been the landlord or," finally, a corner of his mouth lifted, "a stalker who was good enough to find out where the beautiful Arielle Chiaro lives but not so good to know she's out of town." That last one was the lie, of course; his thoughts only had time to think of the landlord before the door busted down. That was something he knew he'd have to explain sooner rather than later to the guy, come to think of it. Ah, well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. Kiernan set his spear against the wall. "But you came here expecting stalkers? I'm guessing Ari didn't ask you to--" He liked to think that she would have warned Aspel that he might be here first, but it was difficult to be sure sometimes. "--else she'd have given you a key." Overall, Kiernan was disappointed with that explanation; it was far more boring than what he'd imagined, and he hated to think he was so off par. "So that's it then?" He hoped not. Aspel couldn’t help the unamused look that crossed her face with Kiernan’s rather elaborate delivery of his opinions. Letting a huff of air out a hand raised, fingers running through her hair. “I fear reality is only a fraction as interesting as that imagination you seem to holster within the walls of that head of yours.” Then came his additional commentary and the smith couldn’t help but feel slightly ill at ease with the whole thing suddenly. “Correct.” Was the only thing else she had to say regarding all of his words because, in the end, it was the only question he had actually asked in all of his musings over the last few moments, and quite frankly, Aspel felt awkward enough, she didn’t need Kiernan trying to prod at potentially confusing, and tender areas more than she was already beginning to second guess herself over. “As all is well, I will bid you a good eve.” Pausing a moment, a foot scraped over some of the splitters on the floor and a bow of her head was given. Suddenly, Aspel felt quite horrible if she were to be honest with herself. “Please do let me know if you are in need of anything else.” If Ari’s apartment was going to be in Kiernan’s hands however, it should be fine. Besides, it wasn’t like there was any possible way the Dragon Rider could lose a mage up here after all. To Aspel's comments, Kiernan shrugged with a good-natured chuckle. "I've heard worse. And it's true. Reality is often far less... fun than my imagination, always." The lost gil from Ari's birthday a month or so ago was telling of that. With that thought, he didn't brood, for the money had been made up with paychecks and surprise bonuses from fighting in battles, and if Aspel was here, well, if something hadn't happened yet it was bound to soon. So he just snickered instead. "Good night, then," he said as he stared at the shattered door scattered across the floor. At this time of night, there was no way they could get someone to do anything about this, but Kiernan was nothing if not resourceful. He'd find a way to get his privacy and keep out any actual burglars and stalkers readily enough, if Ari would forgive him for moving some furniture about. But first... "You're helping me pay for the door, right?" Kiernan’s answer wasn’t really much of a surprise. Though, if Aspel were honest, her imagination was far more entertaining generally as well. “Good eve.” A bowing of her head was offered as she turned and headed for the door. However, the question of who would be picking up the tab regarding the repairs did cause Aspel to pause. “I will handle the cost.” After all, as much as she hated to admit it, this was her fault. “Please do be on the lookout for a carpenter on the morrow.” With that, there really was nothing else to say as far as the smith was concerned, and she headed off into the night gingerly pulling the door closed behind her. |