No Rest For The Wicked

[w0rmy]

(R-R-R-Ravery!)

Dee actually performed all his squire duties today, funnily enough. Maybe it was because he wanted to please Julius or maybe he was just simply bored and had nothing better to do. He saw his scholar and formally apologised (ignoring the look that the scholar had gave him. Dee swore he was a paedophile and he hoped that he was wrong. The scholar had a mole on his ear and it looked like chocolate. Maybe it was chocolate just dried out.) And did everything that was set. He even wrote an essay about the history of Talon and how amazing he is. Dee was careful to write about how ridiculous the idea of Adora was. The scholar would like that and thus, give him more marks. After theory, he did some sword play. The swords master wasn’t particularly happy with Dee, after all, the boy had neglected his duties in that area too. Oh Talon, how he was a terrible squire!

He got sliced up quite a bit during practise. None of them hit his face, thank Talon, or else he would have refused to go out for drinks.

Before actually leaving for the ‘Scowling Boar’, Dee had a long bath. He probably stayed in than intended but damn, his body hurt like hell! The hot water felt wonderful against his bruised body. Dee sighed and stared blankly up at the ceiling, biting the inside of his mouth. His bruising had gone down significantly but his hand still hurt quite a lot. Practise had been hard but he had been careful not to slip out his injury to the instructor, Dee didn’t want any questions.

Dee quickly got changed into something respectable, a brown doublet and breeches along with a soft white tunic. It wasn’t too posh nor was it poor, Dee would refuse to wear such garb. He hated the clothes that they wore, they were so boring! Dee looked at his reflection critically, wondering whether or not if it was suitable. “What am I doing?” He turned around and hurried out the door, appalled at his behaviour. Who was he trying to impress? Julius?

Talon damn it.

The walk to the Scowling Boar wasn’t a long one but there was always people wanting to talk. Gossip. Dee couldn’t stand such people and ignored those who attempted to conversation… he could just imagine what questions would be asked however the journey had been peaceful. No one had come up, no one even gave a second glance… Dee cursed. He hoped for at least a little attention, the boy liked getting attention even if had to be the bad kind.

Once the destination had been reached, Dee sat outside and waited. He folded his legs and lent against the building wall, staring up the cloudless sky. Dee rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, he was tired. Today had been rough…

[ravery]

It had been a ridiculously long time since Julius had been in the Scowling Boar, and it had been even longer since he\'d actually wanted to be there. He remembered a time when tavern hopping had been a particularly favourite pastime of his, but then again, he\'d actually had people to join him back then. Julius had a strong belief that drinking had to be a social thing or else there wasn\'t any point to it, and couldn\'t understand those people who\'d sit in a corner of a bar all by themselves and mope into their ale. He still couldn\'t, even if his interest in drinking had lessened over the years since he\'d been away from the regiment.

Drumming his fingers against the edge of the table absently, Julius snorted at himself and shook his head, going back to his ale quietly. He wasn\'t being a hypocrite by drinking on his own. Not really. It didn\'t count if you were waiting for company, anyway.
Speaking of which, he was starting to get a little worried as to where Dee had gotten up to. After his last argument with the boy, Julius had tried to distance himself, figuring he couldn\'t really do anything more to help if his squire was determined not to listen to him, and so had left him for his duties for the day.  He\'d left the offer to meet at the Scowling Boar open, though he\'d hoped Dee would agree to come. Maybe he was just being foolish and optimistic again, but he\'d thought time away from the manor couldn\'t hurt.

Rubbing at his forehead absently, he sighed, turning his attention away from the doors and back to the rest of the tavern. The Scowling Boar wasn\'t as busy as he\'d remembered it being during this time of day, but then again, that was a fairly long time ago, and he knew the tavern would be packed within a couple more hours. Settling back into his seat and setting his ale down again, he raised an eyebrow, watching one of the barmaids quietly as she tended to the drinks. She was new here, or maybe he just didn\'t recognize her, but she was a pretty enough and was a welcome distraction from the tension that had been building up behind Julius\'s temples.

It had been such a relief to leave the manor. The house had been making him feel increasingly claustrophobic, and the constant cantankerous needling from his father had not done anything to help with that. At least here, the atmosphere was open, and the people were friendly enough. Settling back and deciding to just put his thoughts of Dee on hold, Julius tilted his head, watching the barmaid from over his ale, grinning slightly at the slightly indignant look she gave the men she was currently serving. As if aware that she was being watched, the girl glanced up at Julius before giving him a smile.

Well. No doubt she smiled at everyone, but it couldn\'t really hurt to smile back, could it?

[w0rmy]

Dee had fallen into a doze, his mouth slightly parted. In his light sleep, he dreamt of silly, childish things such as being able to fly. Even though juvenile, it had been enjoyable. He wasn’t sure how it would be when Julius did finally arrive, without a doubt awkward. Dee had taken care to avoid the man at all costs though, he did glance at Julius from time to time but he had been hidden at the time. Dee awoke with a start when a rather loud laughter pieced the street. A woman, possibly in her late thirties, was talking to a man and both of them looked quite excited. How annoying. The boy grunted and ruffled his hair, annoyed that his sleep had been disturbed. This also meant that he would have to face Julius… wherever the man was. He did say the Scowling Boar right?

After five more minutes of waiting, Dee cursed and walked inside. He couldn’t be bothered waiting for Julius any longer, it was quite obvious that he had been set up… but why would Julius do such a thing?

As Dee made his way to the bar, he walked past a blonde man who at first he didn’t recognise. “Julius?” Dee spoke softly, looking back over his shoulder. The blonde man was indeed Sir Julius Brodwick, looking rather intently at barmaid.

“Hello Julius.” Dee pulled out a chair. “I didn’t know you were here… I arrived late but I thought I was early.” He shrugged, playing with a strand of hair absently. “I waited for you outside but I thought you were not going to show so I went inside… but you’re here…” He finished rather lamely.

“So…” Dee attempted conversation, folding his fingers together. “How was your day, Julius?” He was trying to be polite as possible. He didn\'t want another fight to take place, especially in a tavern.

[ravery]

Julius blinked and started  as his name was called, and turning his attention away from the barmaid, he relaxed a little, smiling slightly as he saw it was Dee. He was rather relieved that the boy actually turned up. Given the amount of time he\'d already spent waiting for Dee, he had been starting to think that his squire had decided to avoid coming after all.

He stood, gesturing for the boy to take a seat before waving the barmaid over quietly for another round of drinks, before settling back  again. Folding his arms against the edge of the table, he tilted his head, drumming his fingers against wood absently and trying to ignore just how awkward he felt. At least Dee looked about as uncomfortable as he felt. It was strangely comforting, now that Julius thought about it.

“Oh? I\'ve just been in here. I\'m sorry about that, I should have checked to see if you were outside.”

Shrugging slightly, he sat back, watching the boy quietly. “It\'s been... alright. How was yours? How did your lessons go?”

[w0rmy]

Dee sighed heavily and rested his head on his palm. He didn’t bother to look up at the barmaid, focusing his gaze upon a certain knot on the table. The table itself was appeared to be made out of oat wood with a bee wax finish however, it hadn’t been cut to perfection. That small, trivial fact annoyed Dee immensely. This was meant to be a high ranking tavern but yet they have people who cannot craft a table! Absently, he embedded his nails into the wood, ignoring the dull pain spreading through his hand and forearm.  

“It’s fine.” He spoke quietly, keeping his voice polite as possible. Though, Dee noticed it did sound a bit curt and he regretted that. Hopefully Julius would either not notice or not comment. “I was late so it’s my fault.” He shrugged, flicking his hair back and glancing around to the dimly lit tavern, just in case he saw anyone he knew. Seeing no one, Dee rubbed the back of his neck. This situation was incredibly awkward, he wished he was elsewhere.

“They went fine. The scholar asked me to write a full length essay on Talon. I also put in how ridiculous the concept of Adora is, I’ll surely receive more marks. I know how much contempt the man has for the goddess but it’s quite understandable.” Dee fell silent, embarrassed by his ramble. “The rest was okay, I went practise my swordsman ship. Sebastian wasn’t very happy with me though but its fine, he sliced me up a fair bit. He should be pretty pleased now.”

Dee fell silent, resting both hands behind his head and stared rather intently at Julius. He wondered how the man would react. It wouldn’t be anything positive, Dee was quite sure of that. Julius would probably say it was rude to write such a thing and that we must respect all the religions, no matter how strange we view them. The very thought sickened the boy.

“Anyway, that’s enough of that…” Dee fell silent, not sure what to say. What should be talked about next? The weather? Oh yes, he could just imagine talking about the weather. It was after all, such an interesting topic!

[ravery]

Julius raised a eyebrow at the boy\'s sullen expression and ignored the urge to snort, both amused and a little irritated at the fact that Dee appeared to be sulking. He\'d been fairly sure that he\'d told the boy he was going to be in the tavern, not outside it, and whilst he knew he should have probably gone up to check, the fact that Dee seemed to be holding onto his grudge from before wasn\'t really helping Julius feel much sympathy for him.

The shortness of the boy\'s voice only confirmed his suspicions. Watching Dee for a moment, Julius sighed softly, deciding to just let it go. It wasn\'t worth having another argument with the squire, and especially not here. The contempt in Dee\'s posture as he talked about his learnings and about Elaria\'s religions made Julius frown slightly, but he bit the inside of his lip to keep from reprimanding him.

“... Sliced you up?”

He wasn\'t quite able to keep the slightly incredulous tone out of his voice. He knew that Sebastian was especially hard on his students, but there was something almost childish about the way Dee was describing him. Julius was almost expecting the boy to start pouting and demanding that he no longer take any more lessons.

“I see. I think I might need to have a word with him. That doesn\'t sound professional in the slightest.”

Glancing up at the barmaid as she headed over with their drinks, Julius grinned slightly, rather glad for the distraction. He thanked the girl, paying her quietly before turning his attention back to his squire, gesturing for him to take his drink.
Julius blinked at the expression on the boy\'s face as he looked back over at him, before his mouth tightened into a frown. Rubbing at his forehead absently, he sighed, talking quietly.

“Look. It\'s clear you don\'t want to be here. If you\'d rather be somewhere else, I\'d much rather you just come out and say it instead of sitting there and sulking.”

He\'d always found that honesty was the best policy, after all. And he was growing a little tired of being treated like a fool when he\'d only been trying to help.

[w0rmy]

“No.” Dee looked up from the table and into the knight’s eyes. Perhaps he shouldn’t have used ‘sliced’, it wasn’t the right word but it was the only one that came to mind but then again… he patted his side and winced. Those cuts did hurt quite a bit. Bringing his hands together, Dee spoke quietly, “He was just doing his job and professionally too. It’s my own fault, I’ve been neglecting my sword play… probably why I got hurt so much during training.” He shrugged and returned his gaze back to the poorly crafted table. Dee should have kept eye contact but thanks to his age, he didn’t know better… or maybe, it was simply because the boy was afraid of looking into his knight’s eyes. Afraid of what exactly? Being thrown away like an apple core? Even though the two had their fair share of fights, Dee did not want to leave Julius’s side.

Running a hand through his hair then twirling the locks absently with a finger, Dee looked back up Julius, his mouth slightly parted. “No-no, I’ll stay.” He stammered, taking the goblet of ale and drank half of the contents. Dee didn’t mind ale but preferred mead, he liked the honey texture.

“So.” Dee set down the goblet, ignoring the burn in his throat. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Why did he fail when it came to making conversation with Julius? Maybe it was the age difference or the tension between the two? Dee didn’t like it. “Are you going on a trip any time soon?” He asked, annoyed at himself for being so lame... oh well, at least it\'s better than nothing, Dee told himself.