Post by Kris11 on Sept 16, 2011 16:07:03 GMT 10
Title: Within Reach
Rating: G
Word Count: 558
Card: Autumn
Bingo: Travel, Orchard, Youth, Choice, Harvest
Summary: Evin follows Miri into the orchard when their Rider groups stop to rest.
“We are not travelling for fun. We are supposed to be representing Queen and country, which means no wandering off on our own, getting lost in random apple orchards, having any fun at all... you do realize all this, right, Miri?”
“Like you are one to lecture me on professionalism.” Her voice drifted back to Evin through the rows of apple trees they were wandering through. The orchard was off the road their Rider groups were currently resting on, and seemed almost abandoned; the grass between the rows grew up to his knees in a thick autumn thicket that was more straw than anything, and the trees had yet to be harvested, so thick with branches laden with fruit, that it was impossible to see through each path.
Following her voice, Evin ducked under the branches of a tree, hearing some apples fall to the ground behind him as he disturbed their branches. He looked up and down the rows, but she was nowhere in sight.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied to the trees. “I am the epitome of professionalism.” He smiled as her laugh echoed through the trees and he began to walk further down the row of trees to follow it. The voices of their troops at rest were fading behind him.
“I think Sergeant Dom might have something to say about that. And Commander Buri. And Lord Raoul. And the entire twenty-third Company, who, I have heard, still have a slight tinge of blue to their skin.”
He turned and pushed between two over-burdened fruit trees, ducking his head to avoid getting hit in the face as he followed her voice through to another row. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re blue? You’re talking nonsense now, woman.”
He lifted his head as he pushed past the last branch and saw that he had found her. Her back was to him and she was up on her toes, turning an apple on its stem and twisting it upwards, snapping the fruit from its stem. Her other hand was curled around her back and she already held another apple there, with a bite taken from it; white flesh through its red skin. She laughed and he smiled because he had to, because her happiness was as contagious to him as always, because she was Miri and he was Evin and he could do anything – anything at all – and he would be happy to be there with her.
She turned to smile at him, the apple in her hand. Her mouth was open, on the cusp of making some comment, but she stopped on seeing him there with her. Instead of speaking, her lips closed and she gave him a beaming grin. “I knew you’d find me, Evin,” she said, and she offered him one of the apples in her hands, the one she had picked for him, on tiptoes because the apples closest to the ground weren’t quite good enough.
When they were younger, it had always seemed like moving forward meant that he was giving up something precious with her, that it meant giving up their friendship in order to pursue the feelings he had, and he had never been willing to take the risk.
Now, well, now the choice was simple. He could take a step and kiss her or he could not.
He looked into those too-blue eyes and thought that wasn’t a choice at all.
Both apples fell to the ground at their feet .
Rating: G
Word Count: 558
Card: Autumn
Bingo: Travel, Orchard, Youth, Choice, Harvest
Summary: Evin follows Miri into the orchard when their Rider groups stop to rest.
“We are not travelling for fun. We are supposed to be representing Queen and country, which means no wandering off on our own, getting lost in random apple orchards, having any fun at all... you do realize all this, right, Miri?”
“Like you are one to lecture me on professionalism.” Her voice drifted back to Evin through the rows of apple trees they were wandering through. The orchard was off the road their Rider groups were currently resting on, and seemed almost abandoned; the grass between the rows grew up to his knees in a thick autumn thicket that was more straw than anything, and the trees had yet to be harvested, so thick with branches laden with fruit, that it was impossible to see through each path.
Following her voice, Evin ducked under the branches of a tree, hearing some apples fall to the ground behind him as he disturbed their branches. He looked up and down the rows, but she was nowhere in sight.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied to the trees. “I am the epitome of professionalism.” He smiled as her laugh echoed through the trees and he began to walk further down the row of trees to follow it. The voices of their troops at rest were fading behind him.
“I think Sergeant Dom might have something to say about that. And Commander Buri. And Lord Raoul. And the entire twenty-third Company, who, I have heard, still have a slight tinge of blue to their skin.”
He turned and pushed between two over-burdened fruit trees, ducking his head to avoid getting hit in the face as he followed her voice through to another row. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re blue? You’re talking nonsense now, woman.”
He lifted his head as he pushed past the last branch and saw that he had found her. Her back was to him and she was up on her toes, turning an apple on its stem and twisting it upwards, snapping the fruit from its stem. Her other hand was curled around her back and she already held another apple there, with a bite taken from it; white flesh through its red skin. She laughed and he smiled because he had to, because her happiness was as contagious to him as always, because she was Miri and he was Evin and he could do anything – anything at all – and he would be happy to be there with her.
She turned to smile at him, the apple in her hand. Her mouth was open, on the cusp of making some comment, but she stopped on seeing him there with her. Instead of speaking, her lips closed and she gave him a beaming grin. “I knew you’d find me, Evin,” she said, and she offered him one of the apples in her hands, the one she had picked for him, on tiptoes because the apples closest to the ground weren’t quite good enough.
When they were younger, it had always seemed like moving forward meant that he was giving up something precious with her, that it meant giving up their friendship in order to pursue the feelings he had, and he had never been willing to take the risk.
Now, well, now the choice was simple. He could take a step and kiss her or he could not.
He looked into those too-blue eyes and thought that wasn’t a choice at all.
Both apples fell to the ground at their feet .