[closed/complete] Characters: Anubis [dogofthedead] and Helen [helel] Date/Time: After Helen's shoe crisis. Location: About the city. Rating: PG Warnings: Nope! Summary: Anubis and Helen take a walk~ Really, nothing dirty here. :|
Anubis still wasn't sure how to feel about the one suggestion, but he'd decided to ignore it in favor of paying attention to where he should show Helen. Had he thought this through before, he'd have planned it out, but...he hadn't, so as he walked to pick Helen up, his mind was thinking about a few places. Maybe the ruins. Those were always somewhat interesting. Perhaps it didn't really need destinations. Maybe just walking would be okay.
No. No. He was sure that the destinations would cover up for what he lacked in entertaining manners. There were a few places near the palace they could look into. This would be perfectly fine. Today he was dressed less finely, having opted for something perhaps a little better than his normal wear, but not quite as fancy. He thought it might be better suited for adventuring or wandering around. Whatever they were calling it.
Helen was waiting patiently, she had left behind the more complex courtesan outfit she had worn when they first met, opting for something fine, but much lighter and comfortable. She didn't wear heels but lightly shoes, and a pashmina over her shoulders, the end of it trailing behind her back. Upon seeing Anubis she broke out into a well-practiced smiled and lifted her hand to wave.
"Why hello," She smiled, "Where are you taking me today? Or is it a surprise?" Honestly Helen didn't mind where they went as long as he was entertained and hooked enough on her to keep coming back- that was all that mattered.
Anubis smiled almost immediately before finding a slight awkwardness settling over him again. Why she paid him as much mind as she did when she had more powerful people she could focus on, he wasn't sure. It could be that he was the brother of the sultan, but he wasn't sure he wanted to shine such a negative light on their outings. He hoped that it was because he was entertaining enough - even though he was sure he wasn't - and that she liked spending time with him.
"Hello," he replied. "I have a few ideas in mind, but nothing's quite settled." He paused a moment before adding, "And you look..." Now to find to word he wanted that would also be acceptable to her. "Beautiful." He hoped that was good enough. He wasn't really a poetic soul and there wasn't much he'd feel comfortable saying without imagining that he felt silly. All the same, he held out his arm to her. "I'll figure out the destination...or destinations...as we go."
If Helen wanted someone powerful... it wouldn't be Anubis who she'd pick. If she wanted someone skilled...again not Anubis. She wasn't thinking about those things, instead she took his arm and pulled him close as they walked along. "I look forward to wherever you want to show me, place or places, it doesn't matter. It is our time to have a break, yes?" Though this wasn't quite a break for her really.
"You think so?" About her being beautiful, Helen preened up proudly and bat her eyelashes at him coquettishly. "Thank you, I find that more muted clothing suit you better. You look...more you, less-" She waved her free hand, "-tense."
"Yes. From our workaholic schedules." Not that he minded his work. The graveyards were quiet and the dead rarely argued with him. Never argued with him, acutally. He smiled a little before nodding. "Yes. I do." It wasn't that he was entirely unaware of the female population, rather that he was too aware of them. There were a few with whom he was comfortable, but those were always the quieter ones, the ones that didn't press him to be more than himself. Even if said pressing wasn't entirely purposeful.
His eyes dropped to his clothes for a moment as they walked before he looked back toward her. "My brother is more suited for fine clothing, I think. I don't know how much I fit into the royal setting, but perhaps it's all the better that it's my brother in charge than myself. He does the job far better than I would." Not that he couldn't do it if it came down to it, but he preferred it to be in his brother's hands. Having to deal with so many people all the time would get exhausting.
"You know it not a matter of expensive clothing, but rather how you carry yourself in them." Helen offered the words kindly and gave his arm another squeeze. "I'm so glad you came to steal me for a while, I had an awful time since someone stole one shoe." A dramatic sigh and she pressed her cheek on his arm. "Very inconvenient, but I shall have to go on." The tile at the end of that word was more than audible.
Helen enjoyed the attention, but she kind of liked this. Having him just to herself. It was nice, "Oh, why don't we go this way?" Clearly if Anubis had decided on a destination, she was going to go another way, or find a new path. "What do you think we could find here? Up along that road?"
"Then I guess I make a pretty terrible show of it," he said quietly. Once again, it didn't bother him to know it. Things were what they were. He arched an eyebrow at her comment about the lost shoe. "I have faith you'll get along just fine," he commented, doing his best not to sound terribly amused at the prospect of comforting someone on a lost shoe. "Perhaps we can get you a new pair to make up for it." Surely that would be an acceptable offer.
His gaze turned to the road she'd asked about. "There are a few places up there..." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "If I remember correctly, there's a small park up there." He'd gone exploring often enough, but sometimes the details were a little hazy. "And there are a few other things. Nothing all that fancy, but I like them all the same. We can go there if you'd like."
Helen laughed, "You're offering to buy me a new pair?" Her tone was amused and teasing, but she actually wasn't expecting him to actually buy her anything, when Helen wanted a man to buy her something, she could - still. "It is nice of you to offer." He was likable and malleable enough for Helen's taste.
She wasn't someone who gave into notions of love, fate or significant others, but still. This was nice. "Well, show me, I don't need something fancy. Just something..." she waved one hand about, "Something that means something." After all, someone in Helen's lifestyle was very lacking in... well depth, she had jewels and attention and everything of the sort, but she didn't have more meaningful connections. True affection and the like.
"It would solve the problem of having lost one." Wouldn't it? He didn't know. He wasn't going to overthink it. If she wanted the shoes, he'd get them. If not, then it wasn't important. He turned to lead her up the road. There were enough places that had some connection to his childhood. Some of those connections involved Hours and some didn't. Admittedly, he liked the ones that involved Hours best. He always enjoyed spending time with his brother and it was harder to do when he was so busy.
"Not much experience with things that mean something?" That made him frown slightly as he looked over to her. Surely she should have had friends, places she went as a child. Didn't everyone? Unless she hadn't, which made this more....unsettling. "Then I'll show you a few of the places my brother and I frequented when we were younger." There were probably a few stories he could tell. Nothing too embarrassing for Hours, though.
For a moment Helen seemed sad, "Yeah." Not much experience with things that meant something- anything - and being beautiful was an upside as much as a downside. When you were young and the world was new and you were unprotected. She shook the sadness off as if it were nothing and smiled, "Please do, and tell me all the good stories that go with those."
"And if they're very good stories, then maybe you get a kiss." Helen smiled playfully and allowed him the lead the way again. "It looks to be like a good day." The comment was made absent-minded, with a quick gaze at the sky.
The sadness didn't go unnoticed. Anubis didn't comment on it. There were few worse things than having your sadness pointed out to you. He preferred any notice of emotional shifts to be left alone. "There are quite a few stories." He smiled at the memories, shaking his head slightly. "We rarely went to the park...but we were always somewhere near it. I think it was because I didn't want to be around so many other people, so we found places not very many people seemed to frequent." Which could have ended poorly if they hadn't been careful.
He nearly froze in his path at the mention of kisses, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't be sure if it was just joking or serious. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure which one he'd prefer. Before he could really decide, the topic switched again. "Yes. It does seem that way. I hope it stays that way."