| To See You Smile |
| Summary: | A busted up Veris gets paid a visit by Lark in the healer's tent. |
| Date: | 24 June 2012 |
| Related Logs: | Squire's Melee |
| Players: |
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| Healer's Tent - Seagard |
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| Full of broken people, and those who fix them. |
| Sun Jun 24, 289 |
Veris is still awake, mostly, having been treated mainly for a concussion and his right arm, which is badly bruised and swollen. His chest is in no pretty condition either after all the hits it took, but there's only so much they can do for that. So he lays on a cot with his shirt off, bandages wrapped around his head, chest, and arm, his good hand fisted and resting on his chest.
Lark enters quietly, not really certain if she's allowed to be here… but when no one throws her out, she creeps over to Very's cot, perching on the edge. "Hello," she whispers, smiling soft.
"Hey, little birdie," Veris says quietly when he hears her voice, opening his eyes. He looks both happy and sad to see her at the same time. "Wanted to win you the melee," he murmurs, holding his hand out to her and opening it - her necklace clutched within. "Sorry."
"Maybe less trash-talk, more tactics, next time," advises Lark, smiling still. "I wish my favor had been better luck for you," she says, carefully brushing back a lock of his hair. "But it doesn't matter that you didn't win. You still made me very proud."
"No, your favor was… it wasn't that," Veris says, lip quirking. "I did what I could. That hit on the head, I thought I was gonna pass out right there, I could feel it fadin'. But I kept goin', I could hear you up in the stands." He smiles faintly at that, looking up at her as she brushes back his hair. "Don't imagine she was too happy you were cheerin' for me."
"I know," whispers Lark, fingertips very lightly touching his unbruised cheek. "I saw… every time you were about to go down, and everything it took for you to get up again. That's why I was so proud." She shrugs about Alona. "She was… kind of put out," she admits with a smirk. "But she let me come here without a fight."
"I'm not all that bad," Veris says, defending himself to an Alona who is not there. "I never tried nothing the whole day we were together. I was good." Feeling awkward lying down and talking up at her, he grunts and tries to pull himself up into a sitting position, but it's hard to manage with his right arm slung up like that. "Next time I'll make you prouder," he promises. Making the assumption that there will be a next time, and that she'll still be rooting for him.
"Oh! Careful," she gasps as he tries to move. She slides an arm carefully around him, helping him shift. She doesn't really move away once he's sitting, her arm still sort of around him. "You were. Very good," she agrees, though now she's speaking of his behavior on their outing. "I doubt most folks who know you would have recognized you, at all," she teases.
Very doesn't protest when she moves in to help him sit up, nor does he complain when she stays there. Even though he's sitting a bit awkwardly stiff. "They wouldn't've even," he replies proudly, the smile returning to his lips. "I didn't even mention dicks once." He tries to think back. That might not be exactly right. "More than once," he corrects. "Okay, maybe twice. But other than that."
Lark snerks mirthfully. "Well," she says, however many times me mentioned dicks notwithstanding, "It just does to show you do know what to do with a girl. When you care to."
"But we didn't… do anything," Veris says quizzically. "We just walked, and talked, and looked at stuff, and walked some more, and talked some more, and…" He frowns, turning his head toward her. "…and it was nice? I mean, that didn't bore you?"
She shakes her head. "I loved it," she says, smile sweet and sincere. "It was really, really nice. And I wasn't bored at all."
"Don't get you, little birdie," Veris says with a small chuckle, which in turn makes him wince. "But I'm glad. I… wasn't bored at all either." And considering there was no fighting, drinking, gambling, or sexing involved, that's a pretty rare occurrence.
She might not know the whole of what Veris typically considers entertaining, but she knows enough that she gets the compliment. She lights up, all glowy, and smiles at him. "You weren't?" she asks. "Really?"
Veris grins crookedly. "Aye, truly," he murmurs, touching his forehead to her shoulder for a moment. "'Cause you always smile just like this, an' it… lifts me up. Don't know why it does, rightly, but there it is."
Lark lowers her lashes, looking down at their hands. She threads her fingers through his — the good hand — clasping the favor between their palms. "I like you, too."
Veris just grins like a fool and squeezes her hand. "Your cousin-jailer wouldn't approve," he admonishes teasingly. "She'd tell you I was a bad influence an' a randy goat an' all those other things she says about me. An' for all I know, she's right about all of it."
"Well, you are those things, aren't you?" asks Lark, glancing up at him sidelong. "I think… it just makes it mean all the more, you know? That you're different when you're with me."
"Well, I mean… sometimes?" Veris answers sheepishly. "I'm not a bad influence on you. I think. I guess I ain't the judge of that." He smiles, leaning back - and realizing that there's nothing to lean back against, since he's sitting on a cot and not a chair. "I guess? If you say so." He doesn't really understand what she means by that, not fully. "Are you different?"
"You're not a bad influence on me," says Lark, gently. "At least… I don't think so." But perhaps she's not the best judge of that, either. She shakes her head. "I don't — there's only one me, really. I think there are several yous." She shakes her head, trying to find a way to express what she means. "There's Very who was going to be a maester, and is still so proud of his letters and cipher. And there's Very who's lewd and treats girls like they're for nothing but fucking, lazy and loutish. And there's Very who's so proud to be the squire of his Ser, who's up early and works hard — sometimes," she smiles, "when it counts. And who's content to hold my hand, and walk and talk and… likes me." She laughs softly. "Like I said… you're interesting."
"You make me sound complicated," Veris says with a laugh - he thinks he's anything but. "I'm jus' simple like you said, little birdie. The me that was gonna be a Maester is long dead, just as long as Kile. Mostly I'm a mix of the other two, when they don't conflict, like." He sounds a bit apologetic about it, or at least embarrassed. "I think the last week would've been a lot different if you hadn't randomly found me."
"I think there's a lot more to you than you give yourself credit for," says Lark. She strokes the side of his finger with the pad of her thumb. "And… I'm glad. That I've gotten to know you. Even a little." She smiles, lashes low again, eyes on their clasped hands. "Yeah?"
"…Yeah," Very agrees quietly, watching her thumb stroke his finger. "I mean, I guess I feel like you got to know me a lot more than I got to know you. I don't know a lot about you. But I feel like… I know you." He glances up at her with a boyish look. "If that makes any sense."
Lark bites her bottom lip in a shy, glowing smile. She nods, looking up at him. "That makes sense," she whispers.
Veris takes a slow breath in when she bites her lip, and she can feel his hand tighten - involuntarily - around hers, their fingers still interwoven. "I think I'm gonna miss you when all this is done."
"Don't miss me too much," says Lark, squeezing his hand. She turns slightly, to better face him. "You'll visit, won't you?"
Veris squeezes right back, feeling the favor still there between their palms. "You're not the boss of me," he says with a small grin, but his eyelids are getting heavier and his voice is getting thicker. It's been a long day, her presence is comforting, her voice is soothing, and they've been whispering for a little bit now. "I'll visit," he promises, squeezing harder. "Can't get rid of me that easy."
"Shhh. You should rest," Lark shifts again, gently helping him to lie back down. "Rest up and heal. There's going to be a dance to close the tournament." She kisses his forehead. "I might go with you, if you have the sense to ask me."
"Mmmmdance?" Very asks as he lays back down with Lark's assistance. He yawns as he settles in, not that the cot is particularly comfortable. "Wanted… win you… tournament," he mumbles, his grip on her hand loosening until his fingers open up. His hand palm-up, still cradling her jade necklace, starts to slide out of hers. "…see you smile…" Zzzzzzzzz.
Lark takes the necklace from his hand, then carefully puts it back around his neck. "I am smiling," she whispers. And her lips brush his ear, and she leaves him to rest.
