That One Time

"[THREAD TITLE]" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread started on [IRL DATE] and finished on [IRL DATE].
==Summary ==
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==Full Text==
Stonegit: Hel had left, sinking back into the depths of her home, leaving behind the vast caverns under the Grounded Dungeon for the rebels to explore, and make home. She had been good enough to construct and leave behind walkways, crudely made stairs and overhangs, but the rest the rebels would have to make. They would have to carve out and build this Kingdom themselves. This wasn’t a problem though, there would be many months were they would have to remain underground to avoid the scuffles of Odin, Loki, and the other rambunctious gods. So Stonegit figured they may as well build things while they waited.
It was high noon now, a few days after he had made the first step for peace with the Warden, and now he stood beside the King’s, taking a long drink from a leather skin water flask and breathing a sigh. Since Haddock wasn’t moving around excessively now, Stonegit actually took some time to help build the makeshift shelters in the caverns, and move supplies. Blunt came up the long set of stairs that led underground, and was using his removed shirt to whip sweat from his brow. Upon seeing Stonegit he quickly pulled it on, clicking his fingers and winking once at the King in recognition, it was the most formal way of showing respect Blunt knew of. “Your majesty,” he said, knowing perfectly well he should be avoiding infiltrating the King’s temporary quarters unnecessarily. Blunt then gave a small smile towards the guard. “Stones.”     
Haddock: Haddock inclined his head briefly toward Blunt, also treating the man formally, though with a bit more respect than he had in the past. Blunt had come back, after all, with warriors to fight in Ragnarok. That still did not mean Haddock had to enjoy his company, but he would… suffer through it… at least… even if he were not all too pleased at the man’s presence. “Blunt Donz,” he returned, just as informatively.     
Blunt: “Please…” Blunt said. “Just call me Blunt.”     
“What can we do for you?” Stonegit asked politely. “I take it construction is going well.”
“That it is,” Blunt said, cracking his knuckles. “So! I was pondering the depths of education, I hear his majesty is quite learned, just as I happen to be,” he added with a quirk of an eyebrow.
“Oh jeez,” Stonegit said. “Blunt…”
“There for I only think it appropriate that I challenge his majesty to a competition of the arts.”
Haddock: The king raised his eyebrows, baffled. “….pardon?” he asked. “A…. competition of the arts? To what end?”
Stonegit: “How about you go finishing making that throne room and I’ll talk with you later about all your talents?” Stonegit said.
“Nonsense!” Blunt declared. “King Haddock, anything from poetry to sciences, whatever knowledge you possess I will either match or better.”
Haddock: Haddock’s expression of complete and utter bafflement continued to grow. “Stonegit does have a rather good suggestion,” the king remarked. “And there is no point to the competition, anyhow.”
Blunt: “I suppose that is true,” Blunt said confidently. “After all I cannot comfortably say that I would best you in reguards to fine writing and knowledge of many histories,” he stretched his arms. “But! What I do have is superior physical physique… that and I’d probably win at dancing,”
Water splashed in his face and he blinked, looking at Stonegit, who gave him a withering look. Blunt squinted at him, and then his eyes slowly widened as he looked at Haddock, and then back at Stonegit.
“Oh…” he said.
“Yeah, oh!” Stonegit said back. 
“Ho-ly CRAP!” Blunt said, staggering backwards and tripping over himself as realization of what he had said dawned on him.  
Haddock: Haddock groaned, putting his head in his hand, exasperated at what Blunt had just said. It was a good thing Mera was not around; she would have found it rather funny. “It’s fine,” he said, trying not to sound bitter. And then he responded, almost entertained at his own comeback: “Looks like you lost your chance to try to compete in dance when you were brawling at Clover and Tezz’s wedding.”  
Blunt: Blunt opened his mouth, holding up a finger, and then swallowed the words. For once he was actually embarrassed at his own loose tongue. It would be a lesson he would remember. “Absolutely,” he said, bowing his head quickly, and then trotting back down the stairs in haste.  
Stonegit sighed exasperatedly, and closed the doors to the room so that the King had more privacy. “He always means well,” he said to Haddock, stepping up beside where Haddock as seated and carefully moving his ankles so that his feet were propped up in a more comfortable position. “But he likes being an ass…” 
Stonegit bit his lip slightly, his mind obviously turning over something. 
Haddock: Haddock exhaled loudly once through the nose. “Fair enough. Blunt meant no ill. And I shall take no ill so long as he doesn’t suggest such a competition again.” He glanced at Stonegit, then, noticing his pensive expression. “Something on your mind?” he asked. 
Stonegit: Stonegit’s eyes shifted a few times, and then he gently reached over, rubbing his arm as he shrugged a little. “Well my King…” he said carefully. “I’m in a bit of an awkward spot. I feel as though only you would be able to help me with it, but I don’t necessarily know how well you would stand with my issue…for various reasons.”  
Haddock: “You may speak freely,” Haddock encouraged him. “I shall assist in the manner I can, if you wish me to.” 
Stonegit: Stonegit gave a tiny laugh and scratched the side of his head. “Well um…I think…I may have found a person who is…” he turned his head to the side as he thought about his words. “Kind and…engaging and…well, someone who has gone out of their way just to see to it that I am happy. And it’s um…it’s an odd feeling, my King.” 
Haddock: Haddock knew exactly of whom Stonegit was speaking. “But not a bad feeling, is it,” he answered, giving a nod and the slightest, slightest hint of a smile. 
Stonegit: “Um…no,” Stonegit said, and then stood up, pacing around a bit in front of Haddock, rubbing his fingers together to help calm his slight nerves. “It’s just that so rarely have I experienced what it is like to fall…to feel this. A-and the last time it happened well it uh,” he met Haddock’s eyes. “Well I found happiness with it…just not what my inner desires first longed for.” He shrugged yet again. “And of course, I would wager that you and Mera would hardly approve of a man such as he…being around…that is.”    
Haddock: “Worry not about what Mera and I would desire,” Haddock said encouragingly. “This is your life and your desires. It’s hardly criminal to want to be around him, or to pursue that.”        
Stonegit: Stonegit thought about that, the words of affirmation clearly making him more relaxed, but then one last glint of nervousness came to his eyes. “Thank you Haddock but…I don’t think I could- well I mean this man…” he stopped. “Blunt…” he said after a pause. “Blunt is deserving of many things.” he shook his head. “But I don’t think I could kiss him, I don’t think that he and I, could share one….first…that is…” he ducked his head, glancing once at Haddock nervously.
Haddock: “You don’t want him to be your first kiss,” Haddock summarized, picking up the young man’s meaning.
Stonegit: Stonegit reddened a little and he raised and then dropped his hands, trying to remain composed. “If such a juvenile term is applicable to this then yes but its…its more.” he pressed his hands together, taking a long breath. “Gareth…I loved, love you to such an extreme that I don’t care who I fall in love with in the future, or that you and I are King and guard, friend and friend. Even if such a gesture no longer holds any romance at all which I swear indeed is the case…
“I still could not think of a single person I could share true kiss with till I first shared one with you. Perhaps…it is the way I seek to truly move beyond the past to the next more possible present.”  
Haddock: Haddock looked up to Stonegit, eyebrows rising, but not out of any sense of questioning what Stonegit said or meant. A part of him just wanted to say, You know what would happen if Mera were in the room? But at the same time, he understood. He understood well enough. “As a friend…” he said slowly, carefully, “I would not be… opposed… to assisting you in moving forward in your life, and to end, as it were, a period in our lives we both knew could not be. I wish you well with him. And as far as what you ask now… that… that is fine.”
Stonegit: Stonegit let out all of his breath, folding his hands over the back of his neck and bending slightly. He then straightened, rubbing his face once. He paced back and forth a few times, and then heaved another sigh, sitting down next to Haddock and letting his hands rest in his lap. “Thank you…” he said, staring straight ahead. “I swore to your wife that I would no longer pose a threat. And I intend to keep that oath. It’s just that if this happens…it will be the first time it occurs while we are both thinking properly.”
Haddock: “Quit talking,” Gareth said. “You don’t need to elaborate on justifications. And as far as thinking properly, all that’s fine and well so long as you don’t overthink it. Well then?” He tipped his head to one side alongside the question.
Stonegit: Stonegit turned to look at Haddock when he spoke, and then smiled, ducking his head and snorting a laugh, bringing up a hand to rub his forehead. It was the first time Haddock had spoken to him in such informality. He raised his head, shaking it a little as he smiled, and then he reached over, quickly cupping either side of Haddock’s face and kissing him on the front of the lips, intent on making it quick.
Haddock: Haddock returned it, neither lingering nor rushing.
When he pulled away, he looked at Stonegit, nodded gently, and asked him, “Well then, are you ready to spend some time with Blunt? Or are you just going to keep staring at him from the distance?”
Stonegit: Brushing back his hair once as he leaned back, Stonegit licked his lips once, looking back towards the door. “That obvious?” he asked.
Haddock: “That obvious,” his friend confirmed.
Stonegit: Stonegit huffed once, made sure Snag was curled comfortably in the corner of the room and then set eyes on the door that led bellow. “I think I’ll go help downstairs again… just to make sure Blunt isn’t making a mess or anything.”
Haddock: “He is. You don’t have to check. But go anyway.”
Stonegit: Stonegit slid one foot across the floor, nodding a few times with a smile. “Good bye Haddock,” he said gently, pausing for a moment. “I’ll report back in by the hours end,”
Eyes not wavering from his King, Stonegit backed up a few paces, and then turned, opening the basement door and trotting inside. 
Category:BOTGD
Category:Season 5
Category:Events
Category:Gareth Ragnar Haddock the Second
Category:Stonegit Brotchurn Elmiss