Elyna had backed up against the table at the sight of him, or perhaps just to relax, and Malcolm found himself indirectly looking at her, a scolded dog with his eye on the ball. Was it wrong of him to still be so attracted to her even in her current state? He imagined closing the distance between them with haste and lifting her to sit her down on the tabletop, and undressing hurriedly to have his way with her. The tips of his ears and the back of his neck burned at the thought, the heat of his desire then undone by the noble woman's words. Get his bags? Did she want him to go back to the city? Had he outlived his usefulness to her?
Sense came with her continued words, Elyna was offering that he take the spare room and Malcolm felt his mind sing at the prospect of waking up in a real bed again. He had never left the house in such a hurry, only after agreeing to her cooking first. He packed his things in the dark and returned to the house a few minutes later. Most of his things could have done with a wash, a task for him tomorrow, as for now, he was more concerned about cleaning himself up before dinner. Malcolm ran a shallow bath and washed his body and hair, scrubbing the smell of straw, dust, and dirt from his skin. He dried and snuck into the guest room in a towel and went through his bag to see what clean clothes he still had.
Malcolm sat down at the dinner table in a light shirt and brown, leather tabard with matching pants. His hair was long and slicked back from his face, defiant little curls springing up as his hair dried with the heat of the fire behind him, which he basked in like a stray cat that had managed to sneak in without the house owner realising. Malcolm hadn't noticed the easy smile he wore, holding his head up in one hand as he waited for Elyna to join him at the dinner table, the lids of his eyes heavy, while he himself was content.
“You like the new room? We can switch the beds around of you would prefer the new one? A new mattress might be better for your back.”
Last edited by Malcolm on Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 396
It was harder to hunt with the cold cycle spinning over them and so Elyna had asked Kathryn to bring supplied back from the city when she could. So it was a larger amount of meat that she was able to cook on the oven. The pie was made with a rich gravy and the beef seasoned with pepper and other spices for flavour. She’d found herself smiling at Malcolm’s rapid departure, pleased that he would stay. Happier that he would come into the house. She suspected that he was still sleeping in the straw and the thought made her heart ache. She felt awful, truly awful that the man was sleeping rough when she was tucked up in a nice warm bed. A bed she wasn’t prepared to share with him but still…
She had been envious of the work he and Ben were able to do together. Wanting to help and feeling useless and for the first time in her life, incapable of a physical task. Other people read or wrote or were able to do mathematics. Elyna was an active person and lived through her actions and the things she made, or did or stitched. It was hard to be denied those things or the chance to learn and be helpful by her own body. She could cook though, and at least serve a half-decent meal. The woman looked up as Malcolm returned and offered him a smile. One that wasn’t returned in his haste to clean up and change. Not that she could blame him. He returned as a new man, in fresh clothes and more relaxed than she had seen him in days. Guilt came in layers. Dropped over her shoulders like blankets. Vegetables were steamed in a pan and she served up two plates.
Elyna sank into the chair opposite, the pie had a thick crust that had been glazed to bring it to a shine. She’d split it in two and given Malcolm the larger half. Food, surely food was the way back to his heart?
The candle flickered between them and she looked up from her meal. Fork scraping over the plate between mouthfuls. “It’s perfect,” she answered before shaking her head, “…thank you for the offer but no,” a faint smile pulled at her features, “I like our- ” the word held on her tongue before she looked down. She pushed a piece of carrot through the gravy. A boat on the ocean, “I like the mattress I’ve got, thank you.” It was comfortable and sometimes, though she knew it couldn’t be the case, the sheets still smelt of him.
“I hope you’ll be more comfortable,” she glanced up again, “I can’t believe you were still sleeping in the straw,” she chided, careful. Her eyes were caught and she was reminded of the meal they’d attempted in a tavern once. It had been a disaster. They’d been so eager to vanish into a bedroom together that they hadn’t noticed Ben and Heath arriving. A frown pulled at her features. The woman didn’t want to think about Heath.
Elyna put knife and fork down and stood up, finished. Her pulse beat an uneasy rhythm against her wrist. This was becoming dangerous. Too many thoughts of the past were bringing back memories of long languid nights by candle light. Head bowed she excused herself, mumbling that she’d clean up in the morning as she crossed the floor to the bedroom. Reaching the door frame she turned again, fingers curled around the frame.
“You look good, Mal.”
The smell of the pie made his stomach rumble and when it was set down on the table in front of him, Malcolm thought he might drowned in his own drool. The pie looked and smelled amazing, and when he finally tasted it, the man groaned, a satisfied sound if ever he had made one. The only thing stopping him from putting his fork down and using his hands to shovel the pie into his mouth as quickly as possible was the woman sitting across from him, and his respect for her and the effort she had gone to in making such a lovely meal for the two of them. The smile he wore between bites threatened to leave him with sore cheeks, the gesture only undone as Elyna finished and retreated to her bedroom, his gaze holding hers for a few long second as she parted with a kind remark and the door behind her.
Malcolm put his fork down on the table and bit his lower lip, eyeing up the pie dish that sat on the counter-top in the kitchen. Quiet footfalls took him to the dish and he picked it clean with his fingers before seeing what his tongue could reach of the edges. Was it okay to be this excited by food? As the bowl was basically clean, he decided to do the dishes and save Elyna the job of doing them in the morning, stacking everything away in its rightful place once it was dry. Malcolm had always been a very organised, clean individual, and it was only when his life felt out of sorts that the mess and clutter would start to pile up.
A look around the room, and he still felt a stranger in his own house, assigned to a new room that had never been apart of the original plan. He walked into the room after setting his boots near the fire to dry out, and left the bedroom door open in case Elyna called out during the night, wary after the bandit attack they had been through, mindful too that things were getting harder and harder for Elyna to do on her own. Malcolm pulled off his tabard and trousers, and put himself to bed in the tunic he had worn. Maybe it was worth getting a dog, he thought, after all it would be winter soon, and nobody hated the cold quite like he did.
Last edited by Malcolm on Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 407
Climbing: entering houses through windows.
Cooking: A light breakfast
Cooking: Brick ovens are much more efficient.
Construction: Tiling a roof.
Construction: Insulating walls
Carpentry: Fixing squeaky floorboards
Strength: Furniture lifting is a good work out.
Elyna: Believes she is responsible for the death of a child
Elyna: The story of how Bjorn died
Elyna: Drank something that slowed her heart
Loot:
NA
Fame:
+3 (timely delivery of needed goods), +1 (building the spare room), +1 (fixing the floorboard)
Magic:
These points may NOT be used for arcana
Elyna
Points!:
Story: 5/5 Collaboration: 5/ 5 Structure: 5/ 5
Knowledge:
Cooking: Making gravy
Cooking: Seasoning beef
Sewing: Baby clothes are quite quick to make
Sewing: Embroidery
Endurance: Later stages of pregnancy puts a strain on your body
Malcolm: Says he hated Ne'haer
Malcolm: Lied about hating Ne'haer somehow.
Loot:
NA
Fame:
+1 (cooking), +1 (offering your spare bed), +1(keeping the workers warm with drinks!)
Magic:
These points may NOT be used for arcana
Overview:
General comments. A lovely little story -I really hoped that maybe they were about to get back together for a minute! But slow movement forward is better than movement backwards! There is a very real sense from both of them that they are just doing their best to look after each other and try to make sense of a different world view. An awesome read! Story Lovely - I love how you manage to make the adding of a room somehow seem like it's an allegory for the baby that's on the way and the changing shape of the house is like the changing shape of their relationship. But it's still fundamentally that house and still fundamentally them. Love it! Structure No issues!
Please do PM me if you think I've missed anything or you have any questions!
word count: 318
~~Red in hoof and claw... ~~
Current Status:
Working on a New User Guide - feel free to feed back in the thread!
