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After he had let the door close, he found Phoebe just stopping and... watching. He honestly ouldn't tell if she was staring at him in a calculating way, as if she was trying to figure out if he genuinely wanted to be there, or if she was staring just because she had gotten lost in thought. He didn't care what the answer was, however, because he could see the familiar gleam coming back into her eyes as she forgot her current predicament and focused on... he didn't quite know what. It hurt him to think that the mere presence of someone staying and not leaving her was what made her happy, as that meant she didn't have that. Which meant everyone else had left her, and she saw him deciding to stay as a ... rare, good thing. That was sad, mostly because he knew how much it sucked to be abandoned by people who were supposed to love you. It messed him up, and he could only imagine how she even pretended to be the person she was... and... especially how she was the person she was. Truly. He had caught glimpses of the real her... like now... and she was truly a happy, gentle, out going person, and he knew it. He wished that person could come out more, but he also wondered how she had kept her true self. He had all but lost himself until she came around and started shining some light on his dark soul, which, apparently, wasn't so dark after all. If he was actually caring about someone, however much he didn't want to admit it, and putting them above himself, even when it could get him hurt.. or worse.... that .. well, it meant he wasn't all bad. Rhys felt the cold, breezy, chilly wind biting through the sad and thin layer of his single t-shirt- a far cry from what it had been earlier that day. From sweltering heat to a chilly wind, weather apparently had all the worst in store for them at the moment. Thankfully, he was a fan of chilly breezes... he preferred them to sweltering heat. This meant that he wasn't really cold.. and he was far too focused on Phoebe to pay attention to it, even thought it swirled around him and nipped at his skin like it had a personal grudge with his very existance. His dark eyes stayed locked on her as she pulled him into the night... and he went without struggle, willingly, something he would never have done a mere week ago. Even though he had known her, something had changed- drastically- when he had left his work to ask her what was bothering her. That was the moment everything snapped and fell all out a whack, and now... he was here. Walking in the dark. A servant holding the hand of a princess, two souls against the night, utterly alone yet still... not. Her mere presence was enough warmth to keep the wind from annoying him, and her small smile as she walked was the thing keeping him in step beside her, never even entertaining the thought of turning around. The only time he dragged his gaze from her is when he heard something... a crack in the brush here, a rustle in the flowers there, what could've been a voice floating on the wind. Every time her grip tightened slightly, when she heard the noises as well, he was quickly reminded of every rule he was breaking, and every time, he threw common sense out the window and ignored it. He didn't care if he was burning the rules themselves... right now he felt much more at peace than he had for a long time, even with the haunting thought of General Atius stuck in the backroads of his mind. He was painfully aware of what would happen if they were seen... just walking together would be hard enough to explain, but the whole hand situation would be even more difficult. What excuse was there to defy that they were willingly holding hands? 'She was about to run into a tree. I grabbed her to drag her out of the way.' That didn't seem like a valid excuse, even to a mere servant. If he said that to the King, her father, he'd most likely be executed on the spot. He tried not to worry about the ... details of their situation, however, and instead focus on enjoying the prickles of warmth that radiated up his arm and trickled into his cold heart, like drops of honey in vinegar, like speckles of lava on a glacier, slowly melting away at the interior. He stayed silent as they strolled slowly along, his gaze occasionally flicking up, but mostly focused on her. She somehow just radiated a light, even after everything he knew she had been through, and it was admirable. That took a strength he didn't have, obviously, as he tended to radiate darkness. At the moment he was ebbing more of a cool reading nook with some blankets and the lights down low, probably the calmest mood he had, but that was beside the point. He found it very admirable that she could still be a light in a world of darkness, and he felt... blessed to be able to see it. Experience it first hand. "You don't realize how amazing you are, do you?" He asked out of the blue, his voice quiet as his piercing eyes searched hers, head slightly tilted. It was quite the random question, but one that had been on the tip of his tongue for a while. She just didn't seem to see her own light. Or appreciate it. He wished he could just remove the lamp shade from her head or something, but it wasn't that easy. |
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| OC Owned by Imp
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣ Phoebe Nightlingale ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ She had never enjoyed a walk as much as she was at this precise moment, feeling the most at peace and protected she had ever been before. Of course, it was not ideal that it was because of Rhys and his presence, but.. she welcomed it and did not want it to change. If anyone saw them together, it would be easy to determine that there was something going on, even if both of them had never openly acknowledged it; the way she would smile at the mere thought of spending extra time with him or whenever she would tighten her grip on his hand.. It was clear she did not want him to go anywhere. She did not want things to change, not when she finally felt like she was accepted and wanted, even if it was by someone that was not supposed to be feeling or acting as such with her. Regardless, she felt like everything was perfect and the way it was supposed to be for once. Although he was on her right side and she could barely see him due to her wounded eye, she did notice it when he tilted his head. She lifted her chin to meet his gaze, craning her head slightly to get a clearer view of him; she prefereed being face-to-face compared to being side-by-side, especially when it was a tad more obvious that her right eye had an injury of some kind. His words drew her in as much ss they usually did, her eyes seemingly twinkling as she absorbed every syllable. At first, she was confused and nearly thought he was kidding, but there was that look on his face. It was akin to the one he had worn when he had told her she was perfect. And the words he spoke now, it nearly made her lose her composure. For some reason, this felt a little different compared to the other time he had said something similar. It somehow felt more.. genuine, as if there was more regarding where the question had come from. ``Maybe because I`m not amazing,`` Phoebe replied with a small sigh before looking off into the distance again, hoping he would deem it as her merely chrcking their surroundings again. In reality, she could not maintain eye contact whenrver he was so honest and.. genuine; it was what dhe wanted, yet she had no idea how to react whenever he actually was. The wind was causing her hair to be a tad annoying, causing her to lift her free hand to swat at the stray strands that sporadically whipped into her face. It was almost as if nature was making fun of her or someting.. She did not appreciate it, especially now of all times. After nearly a minute, she returned her gaze to his own, finding herself staring into those eyes that she found so special and intricate. ``I don`t know what you see when you look at me, but.. I`m sure it`s not an amazing person.`` They had already talked about her being perfect the other night, but it had all happened so quickly. It was clear the entire thing had been impulsive, but tonight.. it felt more real, as if the fact that it was happening again was confirmation that there really was something going on. Perhaps that was precisely why she had been so quick to deny it, refusing to believe that he truly thought of her as.. perfect. Although it made her feel warm and almost blissful, she was still scared of the possibility he was messing with her. It was not uncommon for servants to invade the emotions of royals, picking on every single word of vulnerability before using it to lure them into a trap. She knew Rhys was not that kind of person, yet she had learned countless numbers of times that anyone could abandon anyone, whether it be their significant other, sibling, friend, parents, or children. It was the way the world worked and, unfortunately, she was tired of being abandoned and cast away the moment she finally felt something. It had only been two days.. yet she was holding on to the possibility that Rhys would never leave her. If he did, she probably would genuinely lose all hope in the possibility of someone merely wanting to be with her for more than what was necessary. |
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Rhys was still trying to forget about everything- just... enjoy the moment. He wanted to push all memories out of his mind, all thoughts of Atius, all worries about her holding his hand or being found. He just wanted to enjoy... the moment. The brief moment of peace and serenity as they walked through the gardens, ambling along, footsteps quiet, trees and bushes and flowers surrounding them, the moon shining down. The breeze brought a fresh scent, the clouds were lit up by the moon, and everything was rather perfect if it hadn't been so chilly. However, the mere sight of her smile warded off all the chill, so even that was perfect. He wanted to enjoy it while he could, because... he may not get to again. In his life, any day could be his last, whether it was from making a royal mad enough to execute him or simply because a tree fell the wrong way. Or even his uncle finding him after all these years and killing him anyway. In any case... enjoying the moment was important. Rhys noticed how she tilted her head slightly, then moved it more, almost as if she was trying to see something behind him. Then he remembered the slight glaze he had glimpsed over her right eye, and the fact that he was on the right side... he could place a wagered guess that she had sight problems out of her right eye. He didn't need to bring that up, but he stored it in the back of his mind, another piece of information that could be useful. He thought, at first, as he saw the slight twinkling in her eyes, that she'd accept his words- a miracle in itself- but her own proved him wrong. He snorted quietly, shaking his own head as she looked away. "That is not a valid argument." He stated drily, his words almost... humorous... before he returned to his normal serious and quiet and firm and gentle state. "You are amazing, believe it or not... you're like a lampost." He paused, realizing... yeah, he could've just said light. His words... weren't wording. "Scratch that. You're like a light to everyone around you... sure, sometimes it dims, but it is still noticeable. I'm surprised no one has noticed it yet. However, I do." He stated simply, turning his gaze to the path ahead for a moment before bringing it back to her, staring at the back of her head as he waited, expectantly, for her to look back at him. When she did, and spoke again, he exhaled slowly. "Look at the world around us. Not to burst the compliment, but it ain't very hard to stick out enough to be called amazing." He pointed out quietly, pausing for a couple moments before continuing. "What I see doesn't necessarily matter to you, but since I like to be bothersome, I'll provide my opinion anyway. When I look at you, I see someone who tries to help even when the world hasn't been kind back, and I see someone who makes the world a better place in small, meaningful ways. For instance, like how you take care of the visiting royal's horses. Don't think that doesn't go unnoticed by the servants who would've had to do it. They, and I, are very grateful for the lesser amount of work... and it is something you didn't even have to do." He was convinced that these were more words he had uttered than in the last 10 or so years, but that was beside the point. He wanted to get his seemingly simple yet honestly complicated point across. He hoped, with that, he had... somewhat. He knew that he was different from most servants... many of them, if they were in his postion, would sweet talk Phoebe just to take advantage oif her or use her. This is why he was still treading... carefully, per say. He let her lead and initiate things, although he had approached her a couple times, that was just an act of... dare he say it... tentative friendship. He didn't want to push any boundaries or upset her... that was the last thing he wanted. |
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| OC Owned by Imp
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣ Phoebe Nightlingale ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ As she always does, Phoebe listened to every word he said, memorizing the tone of his voice and the way he pronounced certain words. She was typically never so absorbed with the way someone talked, yet here she was. Although it felt odd, she did not want to take a single moment for granted, at least not with someone as unique as Rhys. Her smile nearly returned at the smallest trace of amusement in his voice before it vanished again; she could tell he wanted her to know he was being secret and, clearly, it was working. When he referred to her as a lampost- no, light- she truly had to take a moment to process it. Was she really that kind of person? The type that was the one to always brighten the room with their presence or to simply.. exist and make everyone around them calm? She could see it now that he had expounded further, yet she had never viewed herself as such. She had grown used to only focusing on what other royals did around her, whether it be mocking, bantering, demeaning language.. anything that had reduced her into a ghost of her self whenever she was around them. It was painfully clear that Rhys did not understand how much his perspective of her did matter and, briefly, it hurt to think of it. She cared about what everyone thought of her and always believed in the presumptions she made in her head, but Rhys` was far more important. He was, after all, the only person she would dare consider a friend. In that moment, his words seemed to strike a chord within her, an enotional one; it was similar to how he had accidentally made her cry in his quarters. He was almost successful at doing it again, but this time she didn`t have to ponder if it was on purpose or not; he wanted her to know the truth, that was all there was to it. When he finished speaking, she nodded slowly, signifying that she had heard every word yet needed time to truly process it. It was at this point that she realized she had unconsciously tightened her grip on his hand, only slightly, once again as if this entire moment was fleeting. The reality was that it was technically fleeting, time did move on, but.. she could not lose Rhys, not when he was her anchor and.. friend. Honestly, Phoebe had no idea how to respond in a way that would be suitable, so she tilted her chin back slightly to look up at the stars. They were besutiful and they radiated serenity snd besuty, something anyone would be able to acknowledge and admire. For the briefest of moments, she noticed that a cluster of them almost resembled Rhys` eyes, a dark void with sprinkles of lighter hues here and there. It reminded her that all their interactions had been orbiting around her, never once had she asked about him. She wanted to, but she knew that one wrong move could revert everything back to normal. The thought of losing him and the peace he brought hurt more than she could have expected.. if it were to happen, she had no idea how she would handle it, that is if she could even handle it in the first place. Maybe one day, she could help him in the same way he had recently, slowly putting together the pieces of herself that she had deemed useless and.. unwanted. If she had asked her parents what they thought of her, they probably would have said the exacr opposite of what Rhys had. She wanted him to be aware of the way he seemed to make everything better and more manageable, as if his words were the only bits of reassurance she had ever gotten her whole life; this was practically true. Phoebe, although the thought alone was insane, knew for a fact that, no matter what, she would not allow things to go back to the way they were before. Sure, their statuses were an evident problem, but if they were careful like they were now, they could probably make it a daily routine: the walks, the conversations.. It felt right to have them, in her opinion. Besides, she figured that Rhys felt as cold and empty as she did, feeling the small bits of warmth that only each other`s presences seemed to bring. |
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Rhys always had a slight drawl, although his German roots would show through every once in a while... very rarely, though. He had left that life long behind him. Really, it was confusing to think about, but overall, his voice was deep, gentle, quiet, and soothing, perfect for calming someone down. Usually. If he was angry, that was a whole 'nother story. The moral of the story is... never go near Rhys when he is truly angry. It was just a bad idea in general. He felt a little sad at her now pondering and unsmiling face... he couldn't help but want the smile back... any moment he could capture in his mind was another that brightened his day. However, he didn't focus on that and focused on the fact, instead, that he was trying to convince her of her own spectacular self. It was much harder to convince her that she was amazing than it was to convince an egotistical person that they weren't amazing. He had done the latter, and was working on the first, and it was proving quite the challenge. He was reminded again that he he had delightfully called her a lampost... he had such a way with words, didn't he? Untrained compliments and all, he was like a walking circus act when It came to actually talking to somebody. Obviously, this was coming out in full force at the moment. He felt that she had mostly accepted his words, and the small nod she gave confirmed that. He had the slight pressing urge to make a joke... and it ... eventually won out. "My speech was so amazing that you just don't have words, huh?" He smiled faintly, his voice holding the slightest bit of amusement, his eyes twinkling in a little more... merry manner. This was a rare sighting, something which hadn't occurred in a while. He had a superb sense of humor, if you asked him- it was one of the only good things that he truly believed he was good at. Well, dad humor, anyway. The dumbest humor imaginable that made people say, 'it's so stupid it's funny.' Still humor, though. He hadn't been able to use this in a long time, as it wasn't like the castle folk would appreciate it, but here he was... the first real joke he had ever uttered in her presence. What a milestone. He internally hoped there were more to come. He was also sliiiiiightly worried, considering he had probably interrupted her train of thought for a dumb joke, but what was life without risks. He watched her as she seemingly contemplated the meaning of life... she looked deep in thought, the glimpse of her blue eyes that he could see looking like eternal pools. He felt her grip tighten slightly on his hand, as if she was holding on for dear life and didn't want to let go. When life got out of control and nothing was certain, he would assuredly always think of his moment. Anchored to the spot by her gentle grip, frozen to the ground by her smile, mesmerized into place by her sky colored eyes. Rhys could tell that she was at a sort of loss for words, so he stayed silent as well, following her gaze up to the starry sky. Spatterings of clusters of stars spread here and there, inky blackness stretching behind them. It was honestly a beautiful sight, but it would never compare with her smile. That was much more dazzling... he didn't need to think that now, though, as it would not aid him in trying to keep his brain from wandering. It was funny how he could be so strategic and focused one second, and the next his mind could be in Timbuktoo and he may never get it back. He kept his gaze on the starry night sky for a couple long moments before slowly turning it back to her, his senses alert but his eyes zoned in on her and her alone, scanning her expression and internalizing each emotion that crossed his face. |
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| OC Owned by Imp
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣ Phoebe Nightlingale ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ Phoebe continued to stare up at the stars, recollecting the names of certain constellations she deemed familiar. Although she was a stranger to astrology and the whole concept of space, she would not deny that it was always breathtaking; one would probably think she knew even a little, but her family deemed anything related to nature stupid, other than crops and produce, of course. It would seem she was so focused on the stars and him that they had already paused their walk, enjoying the breeze and their surroundings. Did she ever think she would find herself stargazing with Rhys? No, but she found herself enjoying every second of it, especially when he seemed to be perfectly fine with the way she was clinging onto him like he was her lifeline. She recollected his words, albeit briefly, and nearly laughed when she recalled the way he had bluntly called her a lampost.. Maybe she could tease him about it once they were genuinely friends; little did she know she was growing a little bold already. Her eyes widened, unsurprisingly, at his voice and his change in tone, tilting her chin again to look at him clearly. It felt so.. odd, yet right to see this version of Rhys, the real version, she presumed. ``You`ve managed to make me cry and render me speechless,`` Phoebe replied eventually, letting her built-up walls crumble; they had only resurfaced the moment she started thinking about everything that could potentially happen because of their newfound friendship, which it was still barely one. Her smile returned and she even laughed softly, the twinkle returning to her eyes as she noticed the traces of bliss in his gaze. She felt honored to see this side of him, the true one. It was rather heartwarming to ponder the fact that Phoebe was so accustomed to the serious conversations and malicious jokes that royals made that she would find any joke from Rhys hilarious. She wanted nothing more than to hear more of his jokes, maybe even the laugh he had given her the privilege of hearing the night before, even if it lasted another mere second. ``And it would seem that I, a supposed lampost, can make you come out of your shell,`` Phoebe decided it best to add on her own joke while adding on a few words of truth, her smile growing further. Would she ever forget that statement? No, and she had already started to tease him with it; the thought of him running around asking for the `lampost` he knew was downright comical. Phoebe continued to hold his hand, something she wanted to keep doing for as long as possible, glsncing down to seemingly memorize the sight of it before lifting her eyes to Rhys` again. His eyes seemed a little different now, almost as if a small sprinkle of light had been cast upon them. They were not as dark as before and the golden specks seemed more apparent; she wished she could engrave the sight into her head, but she could not. It would seem her mind was only good at remembering all of the terrible things.. ``Since I`m a lampost apparently, I need to figure out what you are,`` she spoke again, her lips curling upwards even further somehow. She was definitely truly lowering her walls now, casting the whole status issue and the worries regarding Atius aside; Phoebe hoped that Rhys knew it was only possible because of him and everything he had done for her thus far. Of course, her words could only work if he was willing to play along, something she hoped he would do; it would be rather awkward if she were to stand there blabbering about a lampost and believing it was one of the funniest things she had ever heard. If her parents knew that such a joke was enough for her to laugh, they definitely would have been even more disappointed in her than they were already.
(I still can`t stop laughing at his lampost comment, xd) |
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Rhys had always been more of a fan in possessing knowledge he could use, so, naturally, he knew what direction constellations were in, which ones were up each month so he could find his way, and exactly where the north star was, but he couldn't tell you the name of anything past the Big Dipper. That was true for many things he knew... he only knew them because it would aid him in outdoor survival, really. Like he could tell you 20 different types of trees and which bark burnt the best on each. He could say that dry birch bark was the best Firestarter. He could show you every direction with no compass in the daytime and no sun in the nighttime. If you dumped him on a survival show, he'd come out swinging. However, if you asked him anything not related to that, he was rather clueless. Unless it was animals... he knew quite a bit about them, useful information and not. There were sometimes when his delightful mental disorder actually helped. He didn't mind in the slightest that they had paused their walk... he focused his eyes on the seven sisters, another constellation, found in the northwest. He slowly inhaled, enjoying the fresh breeze, much preferring it to a couple hours ago when he couldn't take a step without sweating. He kept his gaze locked on the stars for a second longer before glancing down at her as she reacted to his little quip... just one of the many dad jokes he had been waiting to use since the dawn of his existence. Rhys smiled faintly as she eventually replied, brushing the slightest bit of hair out of his eyes that had been blown in by the wind. It was quickly drying off, so that was nice. At least. "Both were accidents." He pointed out. He definitely hadn't tried to make her cry, but as for the latter.. he was good at rendering people speechless. Usually it was with different methods, but he was glad he got a chance to use this method. Being actually helpful was something he took joy in. As her smile returned, he decided the joke was very much worth it, but then she laughed quietly... and by gosh, he instantly had a new favorite sound. It was like everything good in the world. Gentle birdsong, tinkling bells, the soft patter of rain on a rooftop- all the best sounds, it totally blew out of the competition. Somehow, it was like pure honey and happiness but in the air in Soundwaves. He hadn't known that was possible until now. He replayed the sound in his head, trapping and imprinting it there forever. Somehow, it was even better than her smile. Rhys had glanced around for merely half a second when she spoke again, causing him to snort lowly. Yeah, sure. "Ahaha, yes, wasn't that comment funny. You do make an amazing lampost." He said drily, traces of sarcasm lacing through his tone, but in an amused way. "It seems that way." Shell was a ... soft term for the layers upon layers of ice and steel and everything cold and hard that separated his heart from the world, but hey, if shell was what she wanted to call it, whatever. On the subject of the lamppost, that had been his stupendous social skills making an appearance, gallantly helping with a sentence that needed no help and royally messing it up. It was kind of expected, though, considering he had been hiding in his shell almost ever since he joined the castle servant work force. Which meant his talking to people was reduced to a near minimum. The most he said was usually along the lines of yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am. Simple as that. No conversations or jolly expeditions into the wonderful world of friendship. Rhys focused his gaze on her again, albeit with less... force. It was more of a gentle gaze than his usual piercing, searching gaze. He lifted his eyebrows slightly at her words, turning his eyes out to the garden for a moment as he pondered what to reply before glancing back. "You seem to be doing a good job on that already; don't let me interfere." He stated with a slight upward twitch of his lips. She had been admittedly making progress, he could tell, especially since he had actually told a joke- that was the closest he got to his true self since the little kid wandered into the castle grounds. Sooner or later, she was going to figure out not what he was, but that there was a whole lot more than meets the eye. Years of sorrow that had been trapped away so that no one would have to feel it again... except him. A painful story with each scar that told a wretched tale of mistrust and agony. The void in which happiness should've rested its wings, but when it looked down at his sorry life, it flew away as quickly as possible. There was a lot to him that he didn't want her to figure out, simply to protect her. He was definitely glad that she seemed to be putting the worries out of her mind and just enjoying the moment, like he had been trying to do for a while now. It was good for her to just ... relax. Even if it was only for a couple minutes, outside, in the chilly wind, under the stars, with a servant. He paused for a second longer before thinking about adding something and pausing again. He didn't want to speak where he didn't need to speak, so he kept his mouth shut... it was best to see how she'd react to his first comment. If he handed her all the information on a silver platter, which, honestly, for him, would be more like a rotting wooden board, then there'd be no challenge. It would also be traumatizing to realize everything at once. That would be bad. - (I'm usually a very humorous person in playing my characters, and it's been hard playing a quiet Rhys, so I decided I needed to add something in xD) |
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| OC Owned by Imp
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣ Phoebe Nightlingale ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ Phoebe truly found herself loving this side of Rhys and she even silently prayed that he would be as carefree and comedic as he was now. The memory of seeing him so worried and helpless when she had confirmed his suspicions regarding Atius had broke her heart; even now, it still stung a little to remember his expression. Most royals would have laughed at the sight or ridiculed him for even showing the smallest bit of emotion, maybe even using it as a main conversation point whenever they were in desperate need for something to talk about other than themselves. Honestly, she would prefer the emotional Rhys over the reserved, cold version of him, even if it hurt a little to see him like that. She felt like he did not deserve to be so.. consumed by emotions; he had helped her in more ways imaginable regarding her own, so she wanted to help him too. She laughed again, mostly at his tone of voice and the underlying sarcasm. It was becoming more clear to her that Rhys was not a mere servant to her anymore, but a friend; she never really viewed servants as lesser than anyways, but there was still a difference now. When Rhys called her an amazing lampost, she nearly continued laughing, but managed to hold it in; she did not want to get too comfortable, at least for now anyways. She felt almost honored when he said it seemed like she was slowly getting more hints of the real Rhys, the one beneath the shell he seemed to have. Of course, she was clueless regarding how much he carried on his shoulders and for how long he had done so, but she wanted to know more. A part of her was warning her that there was a lot more to discover and learn about him, maybe more than she could handle, but she was dedicatde to this. She wanted to merely help him the same way he had helped her. It did take Phoebe a few moments to realize what he was implying, something she did not really expect to him any time soon or even happen at all. He was practically encouraging her to keep trying to know him, to understand him; she figured that Rhys was the type to keep everyone out regardless of who they were to him, but it would seem she was an.. exception of sorts. Maybe it was because of how easy it was to get along with her, nothing more and nothing less. Besides, she was not one of those people that would go out of their way to use someone`s vulnerability against them; it made her sick to her stomach, the mere possibility of that happening, to be more precise. Her gaze remained fixated on him, gentle yet focused. She had noticed the way he seemed to want to add more to what he had said, but realized he was expecting her to respond. How exactly was she supposed to respond to what he had said? Phoebe lacked experience with conversations like this, which was surpising given how much she loved them; she was far more used to dealing with obvious lies or underlying intentions, not.. genuine emotions and exchanges like she was having with him. Eventually, she settled on smiling and replying softly, ``I will continue to do a good job then.``
(I was getting that vibe from you at certain points, xD. I love that tho; it`s like a breather from all the sad stuff, >-<) |
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Rhys would've never before showed this much emotion... honestly, it was less than normal for most people, but he was himself. He had been debating this whole time whether it was really safe or not for him to open up, even if just the littlest bit. Anyone could turn on him at any time, even Phoebe. Emotion was weakness, and he couldn't let his weaknesses show... he had learned that a long time ago. Over the years, he had lost most of his physical weaknesses, the only one lingering being his shoulder. He was stronger and more fit than most people, he had experience in combat, and if he was attacked, he could ward off people. However, mentally and emotionally, he was a weak, blithering wreck. He had never been good with dealing with emotions, so he always had just... stuffed it in the back of his mind and ignored it. To him, emotion was the most dangerous thing... it could be used to wreck people, to shape them into what they weren't, change their personality, twist them in cruel ways. For centuries people have played on others emotions, and it had always ended horribly. He didn't want to think about what would happen if his walls fully crumbled. Anyone could take advantage of him just as easily as if he was a child. He had gotten skilled at hiding his emotions, but man, controlling them? Forget it. His eyes filled with that same glitter as she laughed again... it was more than enough to push all of his worrying thoughts away, like a warm summer breeze wafting by and taking his worries with it. A small smile touched his lips as he watched her, not because of anything she said, merely because seeing her happy was making him happy. That weird warm feeling had returned and nestled itself in his chest, like a child sitting on a couch with a warm blanket wrapped around them in the cold of winter. It was delightful, and he wished it would never leave. Through the cold winter of his heart, the warmth felt amazing, and it almost made him think that maybe, just maybe, something could go right. That something could be good for once. That something might make him feel like he didn't have to hide. The initial wariness still lingered... it always would, he was sure. Burrowed deep in his stomach, in his very mind, it whispered to him, said that no one really could deal with the real him, that no one wanted to. However, for the moment, he decided to ignore the voice and envelop himself in that warm feeling. Rhys had taken a... risk.... in almost implying that she should keep digging. He didn't really... well.. he didn't know. The one thing he did know was that he didn't want to get tricked again, as he was sure that'd shatter him forever. Emotionally, he knew how fragile he was- which sucked, but it was true. He knew that one more emotionally traumatizing event would send him over the edge, into darkness once in for all. He was already slightly insane, but it was nothing compared to what he could be. Of course, he wanted to get to know her, despite- well- their differences, but he didn't know if that was entirely possible. So, really, he was going to leave it up to her. If she wanted to get to know him, that was.. her decision. Her problem, if she fell too deep. At that thought, he paused a second and mentally promised himself that he wouldn't let her fall too deep. His past was a chasm of pain and sorrow, and he was not going to let her near that. It didn't matter how strong she thought she was, or how much she had been through- he wasn't going to add to that. He would let her get to know him if she wanted, but.. not that deeply. As she spoke, it settled in that she would- she wanted to get to know him. She had just said it. That was a bit shocking in itself. He... well... he hadn't fully expected that. He had kinda expected her to laugh at him- not with him but at him. He paused for a couple more seconds before deciding that didn't need a reply... he intstead turned his gaze around for a second, glancing at the surrounding paths, listening as well. He heard and saw nothing, but that didn't get rid of the slight worry that Atius and the king would wander in. That'd be bad. |
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∩ ∩
(„• ֊ •„)♡
|￣U U￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
| OC Owned by Imp
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣ Phoebe Nightlingale ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆ For the longest of moments, Phoebe merely basked in the feeling of the cold, tender breeze wafting through her hair and the sensation of it tickling against her skin, her blue eyes now transfixed on the stars. Although she was still unsettled by the minuscule possibility of being stumbled upon with Rhys, his vigilant and unwavering presence kept her at ease. The occassional sounds did raise her wariness, yet she composed herself shortly after; a part of her reassured her that Rhys would never let anything catastrophic happen. Unlike Rhys, she was much more of an open book than she would ever acknowledge nor appreciate. Her emotions were what controlled her actions primarily, hence her parents believed she had needed the sporadic counseling visits. As of late, however, she had been avoiding them like the plague, more so than she had been with General Atius; this certainly spoke volumes. She felt as if the last thing she needed was an additional lecture or two regarding her emotional weaknesses; she was not foolish enough to believe that everyone she met did not have alternate intentions whenever they slithered into her emotional/mental hell, which was what her parents and other royals fretted over. No one truly appreciated it when silence befell in the midst of such serious exchanges, so Phoebe sighed and tilted her chin to meet Rhys` gaze again. She was tempted- far too tempted- to verbally observe how his eyes were.. beautiful, the kind that you could get lost in trying to discern how many different shades of blue and gold were speckled here and there. Of course, she refrained herself from doing so and refocused on the conversation at hand. Phoebe let out a brief, yet noticeable, exhale as she gave his hand a small squeeze, whispering into the cold night air between them, ``What`s going on in that head of yours, Rhys?`` There were probably multiple alternative ways to inquire such a thing, but she had settled on that one. It gave him the possibility to shrug it off or fabricate a lie if he wanted, something that she would prefer not to happen; she wanted the truth from him, no matter what the cost was. Phoebe continued to meet his gaze and took silent notes of his expression; it was still the same as it had been a few minutes prior, but it seemed almost.. gentle, far more gentle than before. She could only presume it was because she was genuinely willing to get to know him, to understand the real Rhys. Phoebe despised how it seemed like fate was against them, as if someone was experimenting with the dangers of their interactions, especially when she stiffened at the sound of galloping horses. She could only presume that it was her father and Atius returning from their ride, which had lasted far longer than she had expected; it sounded like there were two pairs of thundering hooves as well. They were near the stables to the point if they were to turn on the lights within, which they would definitely do, her and Rhys could be spotted if they looked close enough. Instead of hurrying away with him in tow, she resorted to dropping his hand and crossing her arms across her chest. If they came over and asked why they were outside, she could tell them that she had been unable to sleep and decided to go on a stroll, taking Rhys with her since she was still stunned from what had happened the night before. Since General Atius and her father were aware of the accident, they would find it believable.. hopefully. |
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Clear and Calm
