Post by infinite on Apr 26, 2011 11:40:20 GMT 10
Title: Cleavings
Rating: G
Word Count: 388
Pairing: Gary/Raoul – Team Moustache Curtains
Round/Fight: 2/C
Summary: Kel muses about the nature of friendship.
It was true, Kel didn’t know Sir Gareth well, but even so, his friendship with Raoul was puzzling. They seemed to have little in common. They had been pages together, Kel was aware. They had both been friends of the Lioness, and of the King. But their paths had diverged, and if there had been similarities to begin with, Kel couldn’t see them now. Sir Raoul was the kind of knight she wanted to be; Sir Gareth personified a future she had dreaded. In the most obvious way, Raoul was hard with muscle, and Gareth was not. Raoul had the senses of a warrior: battle ready, eyes and ears open to attack at any time. Even at home, he couldn’t turn off that part of himself. Gary, who had spent his life behind a desk, had gone soft. He seemed always absorbed in himself, or if that was too harsh, perhaps just his thoughts. Not in his surroundings, at any rate. Not in Kel, when he spoke to her on those irregular occasions. Despite all he had witnessed, Raoul had retained – or perhaps gained along the way – his presence. He was never absent; he engaged genuinely with the people he talked to.
Raoul had eschewed the trappings of courtly life, where Gary had fallen for every one of them: a comfortable appointment, a demure wife, a sufficient number of heirs. He did work for his income, and that was more than could be said for many of similar lineage. She shouldn’t make presumptions, she knew that. She didn’t know Gary well enough to come to any conclusions. But the contrast between the two men was inescapable. She witnessed the strained relationship between Raoul and the King, and she knew they had been close once. Why had such a rift not fractured Raoul’s friendship with Sir Gareth?
It was none of her business, but when she saw Raoul and Gareth together, she thought she sensed a kind of familiar intimacy, or a casual tenderness. An unquestioned willingness to tease and be teased, confront and be confronted, trust and be trusted in kind. A knowing and accepting. They were equals, she realised. They didn’t try to change each other. Perhaps that was the answer. Once, she mentioned the contradiction to Neal, who seemed amused: “If our friendship makes sense, why wouldn't theirs?”
QC by PeroxidePirate
Rating: G
Word Count: 388
Pairing: Gary/Raoul – Team Moustache Curtains
Round/Fight: 2/C
Summary: Kel muses about the nature of friendship.
It was true, Kel didn’t know Sir Gareth well, but even so, his friendship with Raoul was puzzling. They seemed to have little in common. They had been pages together, Kel was aware. They had both been friends of the Lioness, and of the King. But their paths had diverged, and if there had been similarities to begin with, Kel couldn’t see them now. Sir Raoul was the kind of knight she wanted to be; Sir Gareth personified a future she had dreaded. In the most obvious way, Raoul was hard with muscle, and Gareth was not. Raoul had the senses of a warrior: battle ready, eyes and ears open to attack at any time. Even at home, he couldn’t turn off that part of himself. Gary, who had spent his life behind a desk, had gone soft. He seemed always absorbed in himself, or if that was too harsh, perhaps just his thoughts. Not in his surroundings, at any rate. Not in Kel, when he spoke to her on those irregular occasions. Despite all he had witnessed, Raoul had retained – or perhaps gained along the way – his presence. He was never absent; he engaged genuinely with the people he talked to.
Raoul had eschewed the trappings of courtly life, where Gary had fallen for every one of them: a comfortable appointment, a demure wife, a sufficient number of heirs. He did work for his income, and that was more than could be said for many of similar lineage. She shouldn’t make presumptions, she knew that. She didn’t know Gary well enough to come to any conclusions. But the contrast between the two men was inescapable. She witnessed the strained relationship between Raoul and the King, and she knew they had been close once. Why had such a rift not fractured Raoul’s friendship with Sir Gareth?
It was none of her business, but when she saw Raoul and Gareth together, she thought she sensed a kind of familiar intimacy, or a casual tenderness. An unquestioned willingness to tease and be teased, confront and be confronted, trust and be trusted in kind. A knowing and accepting. They were equals, she realised. They didn’t try to change each other. Perhaps that was the answer. Once, she mentioned the contradiction to Neal, who seemed amused: “If our friendship makes sense, why wouldn't theirs?”
QC by PeroxidePirate