A Terrible Day

[DoTheLimbo]

Robin Chaput was frustrated. In one hand was a loose string, in the other was a cracked wooden bow. A loud sigh left his glossed lips. Today was just not going well. It started early this morning when he was woken up by his mother coughing. She had fumbled trying to turn on a new candle and the whole thing had gone up in black smoke. Luckily Robin woke up in time to put the flame out before it really spread. His mother, however, had gained a nasty cough from the incident. He should have known the awful wake up was an indicator he should have just stayed in bed. The man went on to have little horrible things happen. His favorite hair ribbon had been stolen by his father’s cat and shredded into bits. He tripped on the outside step, bruising his knee quite nicely. His arrows had all fallen out of his quiver when he went to collect them up. When he arrived to the archery field, he found that his appointment had canceled on him. As he turned to go collect the targets, he had forgotten he set his bow on the ground nicely stepping on it. The loud crack that sounded in that second made Robin’s heart break.

So here he was, in the middle of the archery field, late afternoon, holding a broken bow. His cheeks were flushed with frustration and his eyes were shining with tears that didn’t dare fall. He looked at the ruins of his favorite bow in shock. It had made the bow himself spending months on it. It had taken at least a month to get the right wood shipped in. And here it was broken. A tear escaped and quickly rolled down his red cheek.

The archer kneeled down on the ground, not caring that his leggings and tunic were getting dirty from the muddy ground. He sat down, criss-crossing his legs and placing the broken bow in his lap. Absently, he tried to tie the string back onto the broken pieces of wood. Another tear silently sneaked it’s way down his cheek. Nothing was going right. Robin didn’t even want to bother heading back home. He’d probably fall in a ditch on the way back and never be seen again. Maybe Adora was angry at him. Robin searched his brain to try and think of what he had done that would have angered Adora. As he thought, he continued to try hopelessly to put back together the broken bow.

[Kysis]

It had been a busy last few months.  Between the whole royal scandal, captain suddenly ending up around a lot more before becoming the ex-captain, her marriage to Kysis, and other such issues, like training the new shop hand, Rico had not had a chance to step outside and take a breath of fresh air, much less anything else.

Well, his adoring lover (who followed him like a puppy dog.  It was cute... sometimes.  Other times Rico found it verging on annoying) might count as unwinding, but the usual suspects were not allowed for.  His instruments were no longer tuned right and collecting dust.  His bow was no doubt stiff past recovery.

At least that was what he thought when he started off from the townhouse, archery gear in a canvas bag over his shoulder.  It had been early when he left, Matthew agreeing to cover him for the day, thankfully.

And now, it was well past lunch, and his stomach growled in protest.  Rico picked up another arrow anyway, knocking it, pulling back on the string, thumb hooking at the hinge of his jaw.  His eyes narrowed down the shaft of the arrow, at the target, quite a while away.  It was already peppered with arrows, most of which somewhere near the center, though he had missed one pretty bad, which was on the outer ring; his arm had cramped, sadly.

Letting out a breath, he released the tension of his fingers, string flying forward, arrow shooting off of it.  That was when he heard the snap.  Brown brows furrowing, he looked at his own bow, seeing no damage to it.  With a thunk, his arrow buried itself into the target, hitting dead center this time, finally.  Rico let his gaze wander away from the target, finding the young... man(?) sitting, a broken bow in hand.  He looked sad.

Rico didn\'t recognize him, but he did recognize emotions quite well.  Putting a friendly, charming smile on, he picked up his quiver, shouldering it before walking over, kneeling beside the sitting form.  It was definitely a man, now that he got close enough to recognize the facial hair popping out.  Even the scariest of women couldn\'t manage that much.

"Something wrong?" Rico kept up that smile, even as his voice came out more thickly accented than usual.

[DoTheLimbo]

Robin did not see the other man coming near him. He was much too preoccupied with his bow. His thin fingers gently ran along the polished wood absently as he stopped trying to fix it and started to move into mourning the broken bow. As he was about to say good bye to it, a rather thick-accented question snapped his concentration in half. Taken off-guard, Robin started. A loud squeak left his lips and he threw the bow up into the air. It fell to the muddy ground with a thud. Robin being the nimble man that he is, leapt onto his feet and took a quick couples steps away from the stranger.

His eyes darted quickly over the man trying to figure out if he knew him or not. It took him a moment to process what exactly the man had asked. The smile calmed him down somewhat and Robin took a deep relieved breath. Placing a hand on his chest, he shook his head.

“No.” He responded breathily, “I mean, yes… but nothing that bad.” The flush darkened on his cheeks. Robin realized now that his cheeks were wet with tears. He wiped his cheeks off with the palm of his hand. The man attempted a smile, but his lips twitched downwards. He sniffed.

“I’m sorry, I’m just having a really terrible day.” Robin felt bad for bothering this poor stranger. He looked down at the bow on the ground, “That was my favorite bow.” He explained. Reaching down, he picked up the pieces once more, “I guess I’ll just have to make a new one.” Robin forced a soft giggle to pass his lips, trying to appear pleasant. This was such an awkward situation the more Robin’s shock faded and he became more observant of the situation. His leggings were covered in mud and from the wet feeling on his back side, his tunic probably was as well. He really shouldn’t have sat down.

[Kysis]

It was amusing in a way, seeing how the man jumped at his approach, which had been in no way silent, not even close.  Rico let out a small, quiet chuckle, tilting his head slightly to the side, watching the man intently.

It was true, the guy was muddy, but Rico honestly did not care.  They were at the archery lanes, not a royal ball.  Rico hardly judged on immediate mud issues, all the more considering it was a cart splashing mud all over Matthew which got them talking in the first place.

It reminded him to keep an open mind about everything.

A cheery disposition might help too.

The bow truly did look like a nice one, even if it was broken now.  Rico tried thinking of how it could have been broken.  He had no clue, really.  He\'d heard the snap but not cared to look.  Why did he care now?  Perhaps it was the change of pace.  Talking to a random stranger without it having to do with the weapons business was definitely a breath of fresh air.

"Anything I can help with?" Rico stood, smoothing out his pants as he did so.  They were in severely different clothing, now that he took note of it.  Rico was wearing stuff for comfort, whereas there seemed to be a great deal of fashion and thought put into this man\'s attire. "Maybe put a smile back on your face?"

If nothing else, this came easily to him.  Speaking with people was a breeze, as was entertaining them.  He was a bard, after all.  He had to be charismatic.

[DoTheLimbo]

Robin looked over to the area where the rest of his equipment was. He started walking over there but after a couple steps, he realized that he would show the stranger his backside. This wouldn’t be a problem normally, but right now his tunic was covered in mud. This was more than embarrassing. Especially since he had spent so much time picking out today’s outfit and here it was ruined. The deep red tunic trimmed with gold wasn’t his favorite tunic but it had been one that he spent a high price on. In retrospect, Robin realized he should have been prepared for the mud and worn a cheaper outfit. Yet due to his terrible morning, he had wanted to try and make the day better by dressing up. Dressing in expensive clothing usually lifted his spirits. He had a gold hair ribbon that was trimmed with thin red lace and even his shoes matched. Underneath his tunic was a black shirt with tight sleeves. The tightness of the fabric revealed Robin’s well-defined yet lithe arms. It was one of his favorite shirts, his mother had made it for him.  

Giving up on walking away, he began to brush off the back of his tunic with one hand. His other hand was occupied with holding the pieces of his bow. His hand was met with wet mud and he quickly gave up. Grayish sludge-like liquid dripped off his pale hand as he lifted it away from his tunic. He stared down at it before making a disgusted face. Robin tried to rub the mud off on the front of his tunic only to make more of a mess. A sad sigh left his glossed lips. His hazel eyes looked away from his sullied hand to the man. If he wasn’t already flushed from everything else, it would have been very obvious that Rico’s good-natured questions made Robin blush. He placed a hand on his hot cheek and looked down to the ground in a coy manner. The next second he realized he just had placed mud onto his red cheek. Lifting his hand away, unknown to Robin, he had made an almost perfect imprint of a muddy handprint on his cheek. He started to rub the mud off onto his tunic again as he responded to the man, still keeping his gaze firmly on the ground.

“Oh my.” Robin stated softly, “Aren’t you a kind stranger.” His words were in no way sarcastic, and in fact very grateful sounding. A nervous giggle escaped from him and the corner of his lips twitched upwards. Now that his hand was somewhat clean, Robin checked that his hair ribbon was in place correctly. His thin fingers gently stroked the silk ribbon and rotated it an inch or two before returning to holding the pieces of his bow with both hands. A little bit of dried mud had stuck to his blond hair, but Robin wasn’t aware of that or the handprint on his cheek. His gaze swiftly left the ground and went to meet Rico‘s eyes wherever they were looking. His lashes fluttered before he quickly looked away towards the targets.

“Hm…” He hesitated, trying to decide on a plan of action, “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind letting me use your bow?” Robin asked. The shy smile became more prominent on his lips, “I haven’t been able to fire any arrows and this was the only bow I brought with me.” This was only a little white lie. Robin did have another bow, brought for his student, but it was hidden deep in the equipment bag and was much too small for him to use. “I bet today would become so much better if you’d be able to help me out.” Out of curiosity, he wanted to see if this stranger would be generous towards him. Robin had a feeling he would be.

“Oh, my name is Mister Robin Chaput, by the way. May I have the comfort of knowing your name?” His smile brightened only a little to be polite. Besides there was nothing that made him dislike this stranger. If it had been anyone else, the situation could be a lot more awkward and way less pleasant. Robin thanked Adora for granting him with such a kind stranger, even if the man was seeing him all dirty.

[Kysis]

It was obvious this man did not recognize him, even vaguely, for which Rico was actually partially thankful.  He was quite tired of people pausing to ask him how the lovely couple was doing and when their baby was due, and what it was like working for them, and all of that.  None of them knew anything about anything when it came to that couple, it seemed, and they always hoped for him to talk about it.  He was a bard, after all.  Wasn\'t it his job to gossip?

No.  It wasn\'t.  He was supposed to help gloss over any spots on his lord\'s reputation, not dirty it more.

So, Rico relaxed slightly, not that he wasn\'t already comfortable in this situation.  It was interesting how this man had been so glum and muddy, tried covering up the muddy, and in being coy only made himself worse.  It was endearing in a way, and kept Rico\'s smile sincere, real.  He couldn\'t help but smile.

In a preemptive strike, he got a handkerchief in his hand, discretely slipping it from a pocket and holding it where the motion would not have gone noticed.  Rico was rather good at such discrete, slight of hand motions, could have made a great crook if he went that route, but luckily he had an easy life and had no such need.

"Oh, sure.  Here." Rico easily offered out the bow, holding it so this man could easily use it.  Rico was normally this friendly, unless it was an enemy of the Liari Family, or, initially, Lam.  Whom he could mildly stand now, if he was trying.

"Rico Licosa, Retainer to the Lord Liari.  Pleasure to meet you." Rico gave Robin a quick look over, and then a short bow.  The clothing Robin was wearing, though ruined, seemed quite a bit more expensive than what Rico was using, even if the young Retainer\'s attire was by no means cheap.  At this point, he offered up the handkerchief, looking at Robin\'s cheek. "Got some mud on your cheek."

[DoTheLimbo]

Robin’s smile brightened when the bow was offered. It was an alright looking bow. Not the best, but one that told the class and wealth of the man in front of him. Robin was an expert in being able to decipher bows. A bow told a lot about a person. The quiver as well. Not like it was that hard to tell that the man in front of him was fortunate enough to have some sort of steady income. Rico’s clothes easily gave him away as one of wealth to the trained eye. Robin didn’t get the feeling that this man was a simple noble, however. The man in front of him had a different attitude than that. Perhaps he was a well-off tutor or part of the courts.

He nodded a thank you. Robin accepted the bow. He looked down at his hands. In one, he held the broken ruins of his old bow and in the other was the bow offered to him. Life and death, he thought to himself absently. He looked back up as Rico introduced himself. Robin fluttered his eyelashes again. It was somewhat of a habit when he was spoken to by attractive men. He felt like giggling again but suppressed it. Robin was unsure if this was one of those men that found Robin’s femininity offensive or not. He hoped not since this man seemed so kind.

Rico. Lord Liari. Robin searched his memories to find a mention of these names from before. He barely remembered an announcement involving Liari’s name, but he had forgotten what it was for. Robin was terrible at remembering events and noble’s affairs. He continued to smile as Rico bowed, before returning the bow with a small one himself. As he straightened, he noticed that Rico was holding a handkerchief. A confused expression appeared on his soft features before Rico explained.

“Oh.” Robin exclaimed. He hesitated, trying to figure out accept the handkerchief. His hands were full and there was no way he was using his shoulder to rub the dirt off. He looked at Rico with wide eyes, “Could you, perhaps help me?” He asked, glancing down at his hands to show that he couldn’t take the handkerchief. Robin took a couple steps closer to the man so it would be easier to exchange items. The steps easily destroyed the distance between the two and now the men were in each other’s arm reach. He turned his head as if to look at the mud on his cheek, when he realized he had forgotten what cheek the mud was on. “Uhm… what cheek is it on?”

[Kysis]

Rico smiled, having noticed how befuddled a situation they were in, and honestly wondering what the man before him would do.  A lot of men would just drop the broken bow, but it was quite obvious that this bow was important to Robin; he was clutching it as though his life depended on it.  That would have to change soon, otherwise he would not be able to fire the bow in the first place.

Taking a step even closer after Robin had bridged a great deal of their distance, Rico lifted one hand, turning Robin’s head so he could clean off the mud himself.  The handkerchief was a soft one, and he quickly wiped mud away, and then, with a clean spot of the handkerchief took most of the brown tinge off without rubbing the skin red or raw.

“All better.” Rico cast a glance down at the broken bow, before looking back up the cheek, just to make sure he was really done.  All of Robin seemed a touch muddy, but that couldn’t really be helped.  The man, wealthy from the looks of him, would have to go home and have one of his servants wash him down.  Rico only did the small bit he could. “Do you want me to hold the bow?  So it doesn’t get muddy?”

Though this had originally just been a blow off some steam session for him, Rico was curious to see how well Robin fired, considering.  Was this man a good enough archer for the bow that had been broken, or just another noble, buying more than they could handle.

[DoTheLimbo]

Robin’s eyes widened as Rico placed the handkerchief onto his cheek. He glanced towards the ground, not moving as if fearing that if he did Rico would react negatively. The handkerchief was soft and Rico’s gentle hand felt comforting. His features softened and his smile was subtle. Once Rico was finished, Robin brought his gaze back to the man.

“Thank you.” Robin continued to smile, a soft blush was evident on his now clean cheek. “That would be wonderful.” Robin answered Rico’s offer to hold his bow. He lifted his hand to give Rico the broken bow. “You’re a very sweet man, Rico.” Robin commented. Once Rico had taken the bow, Robin hesitated for a few seconds. He didn’t walk away quite yet, his gaze flickered down the other’s body. They were still very close to each other. Robin felt his body aching to give the other man a hug, but he restrained. Not only would that be inappropriate, but he was also still covered in mud. A hug would result in plenty of bad consequences. Finally, he gave a small nod, “If you’ll excuse me for a second.” He walked over to the area in which his equipment had been set up.

He reached down and picked up his quiver. Tying it onto his belt, he glanced at the three targets quite a distance down the way. He pulled out an arrow from the quiver and strung it upon the new bow. Robin absently pointed it downwards, examining the bow before lifting it up. His stance was skilled and nearly perfect. His fingers tensed around the string, pulling it backwards towards his earlobe. Feeling his muscles warming, he shifted his hips and shoulders to make sure he was in a correct stance. He relaxed his fingers, letting the string loose and the arrow went flying. It hit just a few inches off the target’s center. Robin altered his posture before he strung another arrow. He rolled his shoulders back, going through the same motions. This time the arrow hit the center. He didn’t spend a second to enjoy this victory as he strung another arrow. Robin’s feet swiftly moved to a new stance, his aim moving towards the target to the right of the original target. As soon as he was in place, he released the arrow. Without bothering to see it make the center of the target, he moved back to aim towards the original target. As he transitioned between the targets, he strung an arrow and let it go the instant he was in the correct stance. He repeated this, turning to the target on the left before returning to the middle and letting the last arrow fly. The arrow hit neatly in-between the two before it creating a cluster of three arrows in the very center of the middle target. The right target and left target both had one arrow each in the very center. Robin lowered his bow, his breathing only a little bit unsteady. He glanced over at Rico, a bright smile upon his face. His cheeks were flushed with a cheerful glow. “Thank you!” Robin exclaimed, “That was exactly what I needed.”