Facing the Past and Present

Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:03 am

A few days had passed, giving the highwaywoman time to process the shock of Phor's reappearance. It was inevitable that the horned-girl would return. The crown would not pay for the girl's upkeep and education until she reached her majority. However, it was a surprise that she'd be released so early. Not even a year!

There was something that Ailova couldn't shake from that evening visit. Something that rattled her worse than sobriety. Phor seemed genuinely joyful at seeing her. Joyful! It wasn't a farce - that had been true delight.

That delight was what drove Ailova to postpone her afternoon activities and pay a visit on the young girl-child. A portmanteau was under one arm, while the other raised to lightly rap on the door of the room now shared by Phor and Gloria. The room that had been Gloria and Ailova's. Not that Ailova minded moving out officially. It was a happy twist of fate that it drove her even more into the arms of Elias.

"Phor? Ye aboou'?"
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby Antichthon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:20 am

In the limbo between being transferred from the crown's care to Gloria's, Phor had found not one, but several labor-free days. She was taking full advantage of them by doing absolutely nothing.

There was a knock on the door and Phor sat up. "It's unlocked," she said, when she heard Ailova on the other side. Phor made sure she was presentable before Ailova entered. Her hair, now shoulder-length and clean, had a tendency to get caught up in her horns as she slept. She straightened it out, as well as the wrinkles in her outfit, and perched on the edge of the bed.
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:33 am

It was strange how transformed Phor had become in appearance during her extended stay with the guard. A face that was usually marred with muck was now sparkling clean. Her hair gleamed with good care, something that never happened in her days with Ailova.

"Broough' ye soomethin'."

The bandit handed over the small trunk, taking a seat on the chair next to the window. A flash of a smile and her golden teeth gleamed, before taking a nip from her flask.

"Jus' a few troifles. Dinnae think Gloria 'ad the nootion 'o pu' ye 'o work ye'."

Inside the portmanteau were a pair of child's riding boots, breeches, and warm overcoat. Boy's clothes. No dresses for Phor. And at the top of the pile of boots and clothes was a wooden boar bristled hair brush.

"Idleness be 's taxin' on ye 'a i' i' on me. So, once ye 'ave prop'r cloothes, ye canna work in yon the stables. Und'r superivioon. If'n I'm nae a' the livery, then ye willna be admitted in."
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby Antichthon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:56 am

The guard had little to do with it. Phor made it clear with every visit that everything she was doing she was doing for Ailova. The greatest advances had been made in the past month, when Ailova had stopped visiting. Phor had seen that as as reason to try all the harder for her approval.

She eyed the trunk Ailova brought in with her, and made all the appropriate thanks when it was revealed it was for her. Ailova may have been convinced by the joy Phor had shown earlier, but there was something very rote about the girl's behavior. It was formulaic, practiced, acted.

Phor knelt and opened the the trunk, and her attention immediately went to the riding boots. "Oh, cool!" She took them from the trunk, grinning. She soon took a look at the breeches and the overcoat, too. No shirt, though. It looked like she'd still be stuck with Gloria's tunic, for now.

The brush was studied last, and that gave Phor an excuse not to look at Ailova when she spoke of working in the stables. The idea of handling horses against didn't enthuse her, too many bad memories, there. What she said was, "Okay," and left it at that. She returned to the bed, brush in hand. Between the two of them, it was clear who was in most need of brushing. "Can I use this on you?" Phor asked.
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:15 am

Phor seemed more controlled this visit, less of the hopeful look on her small face and more of the wariness that Ailova was used to seeing. There was a tell on the horned-girl's face, a small one, but it spoke volumes to the brigand.

"If'n ye dinnae wan' 'o work in the stables, I can 'alk 'o the blacksmith - 'e's a good man and woul' 'ake ye on a' an apprentice fer a bi'." Another sip from her flask, "Bu', ye mus' do soomethin'. Stayin' in 'ere all day loon' would droive anyoone mad."

Blood. All that feckin' blood! The horror of that night never left Ailova, but it was closested away with all the other horrors she'd witnessed.

The brush had been placed there as a token of friendship. It was something the two of them had never done, though the younger girl had always wanted to tackle the horsewoman's tangled lengths.

"Can I use this on you?"

"Thoough' ye'd neverra ask."

Ailova's hair was already down, thanks in part to having no hat to stuff it up in her typical manner. Looks had never been a concern to the bandit, she preferred hiding her femininity with breeches and boots, and oversized male attire. Despite all that - she kept her hair long, preferring to keep some token of the girl she had been.
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby Antichthon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:26 am

"I can work with the horses." Phor's goal was no secret, and to work with Ailova--that was, to work with Ailova--would require working with horses. She'd do what she needed to do. She swung around behind Ailova on the bed, and went up on her knees to reach the woman's head.

For a moment, Phor was entranced by Ailova's neck. From behind, it seemed extra vulnerable. There was so much blood in there, flowing just under the skin... Phor released her knife-like hold on the brush and held it properly. She stuck the brush in Ailova's hair, and immediately got stuck in a tangle. Phor grimaced and tried to brute force her way through it. She said, "You're working on a job, aren't you?"
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 04, 2016 9:54 am

The neck that Phor looked at was marred with bruises. They hadn't yet begun to fade. Ugly purple and varying shades of blue fingerprints had imprinted themselves effectively. Even if the bruises had been placed in a dream, the effects of them were real. There was a flicker of tension in the bandit's face. From such a vulnerable position, her throat was as bare to being sliced as the pony's had been.

Trust could be an unsettling thing.

"You're working on a job, aren't you?"

"I always be workin'." There was a flinch as Phor worked through the tangles that weaved through Ailova's thick blonde hair. "If'n I wasnae workin', I'd be layin' in the ground."

"Saints beloow. Tha' feckin' hurts!"
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby Antichthon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:10 am

"You got choked," Phor remarked. Had someone tried to kill Ailova? That wouldn't be all that new, though this time, it looked like they'd gotten close to succeeding. "I hope you choked them back." Choking was one of the most satisfying things you could do to something, and it would be all the more satisfying in revenge.

Ailova cried out in pain, and Phor felt a sense of thrill. "It hurt when they got the tangles out of my hair, too." That being said, Phor was more careful with the next one, pulling it apart by hand to spare Ailova the pain. "Your hair's longer, so it's worse. I dunno if brushing can fix it."

But back to the topic of working. "Can't I help? Like, even with something small? I mean, I can do something that helps, but can't get me in trouble."
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 04, 2016 11:25 am

"I didnae 'ave the chance. 'Twas in that hellish dreamworld. The oone tha' glimm'rs with goold. Firs' toime I've broough' marks back froom tha' place. Lost me 'at and swoord there too." A wad of spit went to the floor at the bitter memory of Gareth's face and then how it was replaced with that grotesque soldier's.

"Feckin' noine 'ells. Dinnae ye 'ave some oil or somethin'? That'll help separate the strands." As Phor wrestled with the tangles, Ailova bit her lip to keep from cursing or jerking away from the girl's busy hands.

Back to work. Phor was as doggedly determined to pursue her desires as she'd been before. The brigand felt a frisson of fear race up her spine. While Elias had assured her that the likelihood of the horned-girl being a turncoat for the crown was minimal. It still was a dark thought at the edges of her mind.

"I'll need 'o speak 'o me partn'r. I ain't in this oone aloone. I willnae say nae, but le' me 'alk 'o 'im firs', aye?" She hastily cast a glance over her shoulder, putting a pause to the tugging of her straw-colored hair, "I'd do the same fer ye, if'n ye were workin' and I were wantin' 'o add anoth'r."
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby Antichthon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:03 pm

"Oh." Phor usually didn't talk about the dreams she had. The herb mix she'd been using to escape the dreams had stopped working, but she'd been successful so far in keeping the horrors she'd experienced the last few months to herself.

At Ailova's question about oil, Phor gave an incredulous look to the back of the woman's had. "How would I have oil?" She had a blanket, her pair of dolls, and a few other odds and ends. Since when did she have possessions Ailova didn't know about? "Maybe Gloria's got oil. They didn't use oil for my hair, though. Don't be a baby." She yanked out another snag to drive the point home.

The talk of Ailova's partner made Phor's expression darken. As jealous as she was of Gloria's relationship with Ailova, she was more jealous of her mysterious partner. Whoever he was, he got to work with Ailova all the time, doing highwayman things. It was exactly what Phor wanted. "Sure." Talk to him. Tell him all the horror stories about her, and have her be denied. It was a lot easier to treat someone like a faceless threat when you'd never met. In fact... "I want to meet him."


But...hold on. Phor furrowed her brow. "How'd you lose real stuff in a dream?"
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:10 pm

There was that notorious glint of ill-temper that clouded the horned-girl in Ailova's mind. "They didn't use oil for my hair, though. Don't be a baby." Alarms sounded in the bandit's head pounding harder than the tolling need for her whiskey. The malicious way Phor yanked through her hair, proved a point. She still yearned for the pain of others. Their suffering.

The conversation turned towards Elias, which made Ailova redden and Phor darken. Thoughts turned to the meeting in the stable, his wish to make her happy - secure. And of course the happenings later. It took a span of several moments for the highwaywoman to hear what the girl was saying.

"Och! Ye me' 'im. Broown hair'd, koin' eyes." Beautiful smile, huge heart, and bravery that outmatched a lion. "No reasoon ye canna mee' 'im again, thoough."

Except, Elias already knew of Phor's transgressions. After the Red Devil debacle, the two had become so close - it was nigh impossible to leave out the tragedies that muddied their lives.

"We have a flat near the doocks. Mayhap, ye canna coome visi' oone day, or we canna coome up 'ere 'o visi' ye."

We. We! She almost cringed at using that word in relation to she and Elias. But, feckin' 'ells. It felt good. It felt right.
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby Antichthon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:41 pm

She'd met him? hard as Phor tried, she couldn't recall that. Perhaps she'd met his acquaintance, but she must not have had a good conversation with him, not enough to draw him apart from the shapeless, evil mass she lumped all men into. "If I work with you I'll work with him, so I should get to talk with him, too." For as long as she didn't, he'd be a wild card, one which she'd have no control over. She didn't like that.

The brush turned to focus on the small patch of hair Phor had cleared of tangles, giving Ailova a reprieve from the pain. "I think you should cut off your hair, and let it grow back. I can't do much with this. It's really bad."
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 04, 2016 2:52 pm

"Aye, ye did. I think ye 'old 'im tha' we shooould jus' go ahead and feck already."

They had eventually taken the horned-girl's advice. Only after life, death, and a Red Devil had intermingled into their lives.

"Ye canna mee' 'im. Give ye booth a chance 'o git 'o ken the other."

"Ye canna work the knots oou' with oil. Olive oil. They 'ave i' in the kitchens. I just had it coomb'd oou' fer the masquerade ball a month ago." There would be no way Ailova would cut her hair. Never. It nearly fell to her waist. There were thin braids that were tousled in with the longer strands, but it was her one claim to womanhood. She'd keep it.
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby Antichthon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:13 pm

"Oh yeah, him!" It didn't occur to her Ailova might be chastising her for what she'd said. For her, that was a good memory.

The talk of olive oil Phor absorbed with a grunt. "Next time you come and visit me, can you bring some? I wanna do your hair right."

She stopped brushing. Had Ailova not been facing away, she would have seen the deep calculation in Phor's green eyes. What she decided on was to throw her arm over Ailova's shoulder and cuddle up to her as best she could. "I love you."
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Re: Facing the Past and Present

Postby highawaywoman » Tue Jan 05, 2016 12:54 pm

Thankfully, the brush was set aside. Ailova's tangles could wait another day, though in truth they were not snarled as in times past. Mayhap, sharing quarters with a man had made her cognizant of the mop of straw-colored hair. Either way, suffering through Phor's rather rough handling of her locks was temporarily paused.

"Next time you come and visit me, can you bring some?"

Ailova nodded absently, glancing to the door and figuring that a shorter visit was probably a good one - given their attempt to regain trust and respect.

The embrace was unexpected and the highwaywoman flinched reflexively at the touch. Not because it was Phor, but mainly because she didn't expect most people to touch her - unless they were intent on harm.

And then those words. Words that she had wanted to hear months ago from Phor. They finally arrived to her ears.

"I love you."

"I loove ye, Phor. Le' us hoope we booth give things a bett'r chance this toime."

Given the horned-girl's past, Ailova very carefully wrapped her arms about the small child. The hug was returned tightly at first, but over in a half a minute. Lips moved next to the girl's ear, whispering fiercely against her face.

"Do ye still 'ave the need 'o kill? To maim?"
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