A Port Unseen [Open]
Cera Novik
Metalsmith / Medic

Age: 29 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 1 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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Posts: 79 | Total: 6,168
MP: 0
#15
Unspoken tension between them flickers like electricity, and it makes Cera's chest feel tight. He's not unaware of his preferences, they had been apparent even in his homeland, in a form that did not facilitate such advances. And yes, Renaud is handsome, and kind, and well-spoken and...well, Cera is lonely. He had lived his entire life in a family larger than the entirety of the Settlement, scarcely without company, always able to find a warm side to sleep beside. He simply had too much love to give, and he desperately wanted to reach out and establish more of a connection. But he also wouldn't be able to forgive himself for exerting that kind of pressure on someone so newly transplanted to an entirely different world. Someone who relies on him, on his advice and his guiding hand. So he diverts his gaze, cuts the brief connection, and focuses instead on neutral joking territory.

"You never know, you could be starting a new trend," he grins, idly dusting the debris from his leggings where he had been knelt beside Renaud. "Always best to be safe instead of sorry." He's bold enough to turn and wink alongside his words, internally laughing at the imagery of Renaud coming to him for every scrape and scab. As an Ascended, he didn't have to worry much about that, but it was endearing to imagine.

Kind eyes soften and Cera turns fully to regard Renaud, aware of the change in the air, ready to move onward towards civilization. "It's no trouble, not if it helps," he assures firmly. It was the least he could do to welcome the man to Caido, to help him get set up on his feet. He glances around, eyeing the sunlight. It's relatively cloudy, and the shade of the trees should keep them safe enough as they travel towards the Settlement, but he still removes his traveling cloak and offers it to the taller man.

"You'll look a little silly, but if the sun starts to bother you as we walk in the shade, you can place this over your head and shoulders as a shield." It's spoken shyly, feeling embarrassed at such a gesture, but he'd rather be embarrassed than have Renaud burnt to a crisp. "I wish I had somewhere for you to stay during the daylight hours, but I...I have plans, for a large building, multiple rooms, for anyone and everyone to stay when they have nowhere to go." Verdant gaze takes on a dreamlike, distant quality as he smiles to himself, imagining it. "I've finally decided on a location, but it's not ready yet. I'm sorry I can't offer you a place to safely rest," regret returns sharply as he draws himself from the imagery. He had no problems personally, with his fur and his den in perfect condition, but Renaud certainly couldn't fit into his den with him. Though it was undoubtedly a greatly amusing notion, imagining the soldier crawling on his belly and sliding into the hole he had created.

"If you're feeling well enough, I can lead you?" Finally, the offer that will actually give them purpose and direction. There is much to be done, and while the sun will be low when they reach the Settlement, Cera wants to ensure that Renaud has plenty of twilight hours to move freely and achieve what he needs.
Cera
The worst in me could bring out the best in you
Renaud Cartier


Age: 29 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: 10 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 10 - Luck: 3 - Int:
Played by: Nate Offline
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Posts: 21 | Total: 22
MP: 0
#16



Renaud swallowed as Cera winked at him, a sudden fire struck in his chest.  He had read about these feelings in books and seen these moments portrayed on stages and heard them sung in opera halls around his home country.  He had never felt them himself, his life consumed with revolution and war for as long as he could remember and a marriage forced upon him before he was ready or willing.  

There was also the issue that all those stories, all those songs and operatic sonatas had been between or about a man and a woman.  His entire life was structured around that dichotomy, that seemingly unshakable relationship between men and women that likewise strictly defined the possible relationships between men themselves.  His religion had stressed this relationship, though he had admittedly possessed a distant relationship with his religion for years due to some complex relationships between new ideas presented in his country and the rigid tradition of the religious leaders of his time.  Still, the ideas and ways of life seemed burned into the foundation of who he was.

These forces, these feelings and those societal factors tugged him in opposite directions as Cera gave Renaud a confident wink.  There was also the ring on his finger, but that gave Renaud less pause than other concerns.  His marriage was over, ended by a phenomenon no different from death as far as his wife would be concerned.  Still, these feelings were brand new for the young soldier, and wrong by every metric he had ever known.  So when Cera gave him a wink,  Renaud cleared his throat and stiffened his spine.  He pretended not to notice even as his soul caught in his throat.


Renaud took his cloak with a polite smile.  "Thank you, my friend."  What a loaded word.  "If I have need, I shall use it with confidence.  No time to fret over appearances, wouldn't you say?"  An ironic phrase, perhaps playfully Freudian given the circumstances.

His tone had certainly acquired a new edge - not an aggressiveness, but a sort of partial retreat to perhaps a more professional demeanor.  "No, I would never impose so much as to assume you had a place to offer me and certainly not without compensation.  It is kind enough for you to offer a future place.  I am in your debt."

"I feel perfectly well enough Sir.  Please, lead the way."  He hung Cera's coat, folded, over his arm as he presumably began to follow Cera away from the Spire.




Cera Novik
Metalsmith / Medic

Age: 29 | Height: 5'5 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 1 - Strg: 16 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 79 | Total: 6,168
MP: 0
#17
It is not Cera's first time accidentally toeing or overstepping a boundary. He had always been touchy, always wanting to be close, to tease, to make people smile. Not everyone was receptive to such advances, especially any with romantic undertones. He'd certainly been wrong-footed in the past with muscleheads who didn't take his softer soul with an accepting spirit. So instead he lets Renaud withdraw, lets the reaction roll off his back with naught but a soft internal sigh. It does nothing to dissuade him on his path to bringing the man comfort and security in this new land after all.

"Certainly not!" He laughs in easy agreement, shouldering his satchel once more. "Plus your face will be concealed, so nobody but me will be privy to it, is assured with a further, impish grin. Ah the benefits of being unknown in a new land. You could embarrass yourself as much as you liked.

"It's only a debt if I enforce it my friend, and I certainly won't." The prince certainly would never have held such basic kindness against Renaud in hopes of securing some sort of reward for basic human decency. Instead he takes the man's leading words to heart, and turns to begin leading the way through the shadows away from the Spire.
Cera
The worst in me could bring out the best in you


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