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 Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:15 am
No longer proud and furious, Willowbreeze listened to the male's explanation with her feather's sleeked and her shoulders hunched, making her appear acutely miserable and even smaller than usual. “So... you... do still wish to be mates?”
Her usually-melodious voice came out as a bit of a squeak, and she swallowed and cleared her throat, blinking back hot tears. Drywood's confession came as a surprise to her, although in her emotional state she was not able to fully process his words. At any rate, he seemed genuinely sorry...
Partly for comfort, and partly because she simply could not find the voice or the words to respond to him, Willow closed the small gap that remained between them and nestled against Drywood's feathers. After a few moments of regaining her composure, she looked up at him with earnest golden eyes. Softly, she said, “I'm sorry, too. I thought you meant that you had changed your mind... That you did not find me... acceptable...”
Although there was no way he could have known it, Drywood had inadvertently played upon the young female's most tender, hidden fear. All her life she had been raised to be the mate of an unknown Chestnut, her very birth was for this purpose. To be rejected by the mate she had literally been made for would confirm to her romantic heart that her life had no greater purpose, that she was like a Mus raised by keepers, then sold for food when it proved too flawed for breeding.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:35 am
Drywood's feathers rose and fell several times as Willowbreeze pressed up against him. He really had no idea what to do with himself, or what to say, if he should, indeed, say or do anything at all. Since he didn't even seem to be able to think straight at the moment, he opted for remaining perfectly still.
It was clearly a gesture of acceptance, but he had certainly not expected that. Nor had he had any really close physical contact with anyone other than Tails for... a very long time. Something about all this was making him feel very odd. Or, well, very warm under his feathers, at least. And strangely twitchy inside his skin.
But, he determined, he was clearly, definitely, most assuredly some kind of happy. When she looked up at him, his stomach did a funny little twist, and he couldn't help but smile. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate, but he couldn't prevent it any more than he could stop the sunrise.
"Acceptable? My dear Miss Willowbreeze... Who could not find you acceptable? You are charming and well-mannered and..." He had to pause briefly, because he was starting to feel embarrassed for some reason, but Willowbreeze's obvious sadness still haunted him, and he resolutely carried on: "...and quite beautiful. In fact, you are such a lovely lady that I rather expected you to... find me... disagreeable. Hrrm. But if you... if you, despite knowing that I am... um, different..." His embarrassment had grown a bit too large for him to handle, and he had already had to look away from her eyes. Now it seemed to be locking down his beak, as he could no longer go on speaking. He recognised this, it had happened to him a few times before, but the last time was when he had barely fledged, for Noctus' sake!
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:42 pm
Willow's heart seemed to leap as Drywood's smile returned. It seemed a good sign that her overly-emotional behavior had not been enough to deter him. She had exibited, her grandmother would say, a deplorable lack of focus. Such a heated response was beneath her, she knew that, but nevertheless... she had never before experienced the particularly exquisite pain of rejection that only comes in romantic affairs gone awry.
The bard felt her face growing warm at his compliments, and she smiled gently in return. If that was really how he felt... maybe everything was going to be alright, after all. "No, no... I find you... very agreeable." Given the generous way he had complimented her, Willowbreeze felt she should elaborate.
"You are quite kind, and handsome, very talented in your task-- Hollysong made that clear-- and... and quite... sweet..." Willow was now nearly as bashful as Drywood, but pressed on, "I must say, you have shown admirable honesty and concern for me. I think you are..." Willow paused shyly, searching for the words, "An exemplary male."
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 2:00 pm
Drywood blinked, feeling almost even more flustered at her compliments.
"Oh."
His ear tufts slowly lowered as he digested what she had said - and her last comment in particular.
"Oh my."
He looked away from her, studying the play of shadows in the air beneath them with quite the worried frown on his face.
"Well, I... shall certainly endeavour not to disappoint you, then. But, Miss Willowbreeze..." He hurriedly continued, his voice growing quieter and his face utterly earnest as he sought her eyes again. "I will need... help. f you really do still wish to have me... and I do believe that you could probably do quite better than me... But if you really do want to be, hrm, my mate, then... You see, I never really did think about getting a mate, and so... I have no idea... how to make one happy. You will need to tell me these things. And... please... you must forgive me if I ever say or do something that offends you or hurts you. I can assure you that it would be most unintentional."
There, he had finally said it. He had finally, honestly, managed to ask for help with the things that he found most difficult, but seemed to come so easily to everyone else. It had gone a lot easier than he had thought, but after having admitted his shortcomings to her, the rest seemed to follow quite naturally.
He was still quite nervous of what her reaction might be, though.
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Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 6:33 pm
“Oh, Drywood.” Willow's voice was almost a sigh, and she met his eyes readily. “Of course I will help you-- I'll do my best, anyhow. We'll... do it together. I'm sure we can learn to understand each other.” She paused, looking at him with a smile that could only be called tender. “We'll learn to... to be happy, together.”
He might be be a mate of her own choosing, but as she got to know him, Willowbreeze thought more and more that she would choose Drywood even if she could pick any male in the forest. It may have seemed silly to many Sentinels, for her to be so sentimental about an arranged mating, but it was in her nature.
Rather than seem disturbed by Drywood's admission, the young female found his honesty appealing. Snuggled warmly against his sleek side, she felt surprisingly safe and comforted. “As long as you still wish to go forward with our arrangement... there is nothing I would like more.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:38 am
Drywood's feathers fluffed out a bit, perhaps a little bit further than his usual state, and his face relaxed into a very genuinely relieved smile. Her words, and the soft, quiet tone that she said them in, calmed his worries greatly. He sank back on his perch somewhat and let out a breath that seemed to have nested in his chest for years.
He had to look away from her eyes, however. For some reason, the look in them made him feel as though burning ants were crawling around at the base of every feather on him. He roused his feathers, trying to get rid of the feeling (with very little success) and opted to rest his head on top of hers, just like Tails would sometimes do to him when she wanted attention. After all, since Willowbreeze herself had initiated the close physical contact, surely there was no harm in reciprocating it?
"I... hrm," his voice felt unreliable, and he had to speak up a little bit to make sure it was properly steady. "I do believe that... I would appreciate that. I really... um..." He found himself quite at a loss of words. There was so much that he wanted to try to explain to her, but simply no way to really put it, as no words that he could think of could truly capture what he felt. But he struggled with what he could manage:
"I... I would be quite grateful, actually... As you seem to... What I mean to say is... Ah... I must admit that I never really thought of taking a mate, but... if it is you... Well, now it actually seems possible." He leaned back a little and looked down at her, managing a small, rather embarrassed smile in an attempt to properly prove his sincerity. "Even... a rather pleasant prospect."
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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:06 pm
The young bard smiled to herself as the reassuring weight of Drywood's head rested atop her own. She was pleased that he returned her gesture of affection, since she had feared, for a moment, that he would reject her snuggling, or was simply tolerating it to avoid offending her. It suddenly looked as if things were working out beautifully: Her grandmother and Hollysong would be pleased with themselves, and she would have a mate with whom she shared, if not passionate romance, at least mutual affection.
Willowbreeze laughed softly at Drywoods stammering, but it was a fond chuckle, in no way mocking him. He was just so darn cute! She returned his smile with a dazzling one of her own, then sighed contently. "I'm so glad you think so, too."
For a few moments, Willow just stayed still, as if she could soak up more happiness by staying close to her intended mate. As she snuggled up to his feathers with her eyes half-closed in relaxation, she suddenly remembered something-- a brightly-dyed chirop with a puzzling message. "I nearly forgot to ask you... who is tails?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 7:33 am
Drywood heaved a small sigh of satisfaction and allowed himself to begin feeling really relaxed in the close physical presence of his intended mate, when her next, almost mumbled question immediately put him right back on edge.
Oh my, had Lady Hazel said something unflattering about Tails? Perhaps even warned her granddaughter in some way? He stiffened, and insinctively straightened up, plastering his amiable smile onto his face faster than he could even think about it.
"Oh," he stammered only slightly, "I assure you, Miss Willowbreeze, she will be no problem at all. I will talk to her and explain everything - she will understand."
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Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:22 pm
Drywood's sudden tension caught Willow by surprise, and she pulled back a bit in order to see his face. He was smiling, although rather nervously, it seemed to her, and she returned the expression. "A friend of yours?"
For some reason she couldn't quite place, she hesitated to mention the mysterious message she had recieved, and the puzzling references to bringing food it had contained. "Oh, I'm not worried, really." She reassured the apothecary, "I'm sure you will take care of it."
The bard nodded, unable and unwilling to let her blissful moment be interrupted any further. "I'm sure it will be fine. I was only curious."
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