Take a Break

"Take a Break" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Verdandi looks down at the sword in her hand, debating the wisdom of sharpening it yet again. The cloud of stress hanging over both herself and Liam is almost a visible thing, and all at once she decides they need to take a break. A couple hours won’t make a difference at this stage in raid planning; it may actually be a benefit.
She pokes her head through the doorway. “Liam?”
@tree-the-cat
tree-the-cat
“Yhh?” Liam’s teeth were full of leather strips as he leaned over the longer of his two knives, re-binding the handle to replace the wear it had gained over the years. The strings were tangled up in his claws and he careful set the knife down, splaying out the strips across the bed to be done up later. “What?”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“We should take a break,” she says. “There’s not much more we can do before the raid, and, well… I thought we could, maybe, um…” Verdandi trails off, blushing. “Maybe we could go on a date?” she suggests in a soft voice.
tree-the-cat
The leather dropped out of his mouth and he quickly wiped at his lips, embarrassed. “Wh-whuh? Now? In the middle of everything?”
aroleplayingcephalopod
She shrugs. “At this point I think we might be doing more harm than good if we keep trying to prepare. At least stopping for a little while and doing something else would probably be good for us?” 
tree-the-cat
He fumbled with his own paws, looking down, and also looking very inclined to disagree, but not because he thought she was wrong. “U-um…sure, yeah. We can do that. Um.” Liam’s cheeks were warm. He hardly felt in any state to do something nice like a date. “What did you have in mind?”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“Maybe we could head up to the watchtower? No one else really goes up there, even on patrols.” Verdandi rocks back and forth on her heels while she thinks. “We could bring some food and have a bit of a picnic. Just for an hour or two.”
tree-the-cat
“Y-yeah. Yeah, that sounds…great.”
Getting to his feet, Liam shuffled up to Verdandi in the doorway and fumbled with his forearms, on the fence about whether to give her a hug or not, but he ended up clearing his throat and mussing his own hair, slipping out into the hallway. “We’re not doing…any actual watchtower-ing, right?”
aroleplayingcephalopod
Seeing the hesitation, Verdandi watches Liam for a moment before pulling him into a quick hug. She lets go before saying, “No, of course not. This is meant to be giving us a break.” 
She makes her way to the kitchen, pulling together a quick meal with a familiar efficiency and packing it into her bag. She still grabs her bow and quiver, just in case. “Dates are supposed to be fun, you know.”
tree-the-cat
“No, yeah, yeah, they are. I’ve just…” He trailed behind Verdandi as they left the house and began setting off for the edge of the village. “Listen. I’ve never been on a date,” he finally admitted. “But don’t give me shit for it,” he added in a warning tone, born of pessimistic defense. “I just never got the chance.”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“I understand,” Verdandi murmurs. “I never did, either.” She offers Liam a crooked smile. “I guess it’s another thing we can muddle through together.”
tree-the-cat
He looked quite relieved. “Oh, okay. Yeah. We’ll just…we’ll just do it, then. Sorry,” he added.
They walked a few minutes in companionable silence before Liam piped up again. “How’s the nightmare-vision-thingies?” he asked. “Better or worse?”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“They’re a bit better, I think. Talking with Darien really helped, actually.” She blows out a breath. “Did I ever tell you that he recognized the woman I saw? I can’t remember if I did. I feel… less like I’m going insane, at least.” Verdandi chuckles. “Not that that feeling’s gone away entirely.”
tree-the-cat
“Huh.” Liam’s brows drew down into a discomforted, thoughtful look. “Anytime that douche recognizes someone, they can’t be good news. Well…as long as you feel better.”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“He’s not so bad,” Verdandi protests. “Anyway. Thanks for checking.” She smiles up at Liam. “How are you doing?”
tree-the-cat
He puffed out his cheeks and looked away at the ground. “Pfffh. Uh, great. About to storm a dungeon next to my dad. Little worried I might bust out into the shadow stuff again if things get nasty. With the dungeon.” He swung his arms by his sides as he thought for a few more seconds. “I think that’s it. Wait. Yeah, I’m hungry. Okay, now that’s it.”
aroleplayingcephalopod
She can’t help it – at Liam’s final statement, she lets out a peal of laughter. “Well, at least we’ve got lunch.” On a more serious note, she adds, “And I’m going to be right next to you the whole time.” 
By this point, they’ve nearly reached the watchtower, so Verdandi slows her pace a little and adjusts her grip on her bag.
tree-the-cat
Liam began climbing the spiraling stairs upwards to the high platform, feeling the wind push around him and through his hair, ruffling the tufts of fur poking out of his shirt. “Only used to a demon doing that for me,” he said conversationally. “So…thanks, I guess.”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“This is an improvement,” Verdandi says hesitantly. “Isn’t it?”
She sets her bag down and begins pulling out the lunch she’d packed for the both of them. 
tree-the-cat
He grinned a little, baring the points of his teeth while he squatted back on his heels and watched her set out the food. “Depends. Anyone would say a valkyrie is better than a demon, but that doesn’t really seem to be the case. I mean, Odin and his army all turned out to be giant dicks, while Nala would kill anything in our way. We really care about each other.” Liam gazed at her, noting her eyes, and the slight shift in color that had occurred. “But at the same time…you’re also definitely not a dick. Which is a good thing. ” He hesitated before adding, “Feels kind of safe, honestly. Even if I don’t trust valkyries.”
aroleplayingcephalopod
Verdandi blushes, glancing up at Liam through her eyelashes. “Well, uh.” She clears her throat and tries to arrange her expression into something a little less besotted. “I, um, I feel safe around you, too.”
“Pffsh, what?” Liam’s cheek were flushing, too, mostly with shock. “You saw me during that sparring match. I’m a walking, ticking time bomb.”
She waves a hand. “You’ve been helping me stay safe, one way or another, pretty much since we first met.” Verdandi finishes setting out the food and she sits down in front of it, twisting her fingers together. “So, you know… thanks.”
“Mhm, yeah.” Flustered, Liam shoved a large hunk of bread in his mouth to keep himself from saying something that would ruin the moment, as he usually did. He’d never been as conscious of his words as he was around Verdandi. He was used to being coarse, vulgar and carefree in a sea of overly nice, excitable rebels. Now that the desire to speak in such a way was repressed by the nerves in his stomach, he found himself with less to say than usual. But that bothered him, so he thought hard as he chewed, avoiding eye contact with his new girlfriend.
Similarly flustered, Verdandi picks up an apple and bites into it as she looks out toward the sea. “It’s peaceful up here,” she murmurs. “Kind of like it’s detached from everything else.”
“I live for shit like this. Places where it’s quiet, and nobody can find me. I don’t know how people stand living in big cities, like in the South and East. Even here on the island it feels too crowded sometimes.”
“I don’t mind having people all around, but it’s good to take a break from all of that, too. Especially when you have a view like this,” she adds, gesturing to the waves rolling across the surface of the water.
He nodded, wiping the corner of his mouth as he ate. “You ever think about what it would be like to run away?” he said pensively. “Grab a dragon and ditch the mainland?” Liam moved his scruffy chin to indicate the shimmering waves that stretched endlessly across the horizon. “I wonder what’s out there, like, if it’d be worth it. If it’s worse than all this Central garbage.”
“I did that once,” she muses. “It’s lonely. And I think you’re like me. You can’t leave well enough alone.” Verdandi chuckles, looking over at him. “Not that that’s a bad thing.”
She’s got me there.
He shrugged. “Yeah…Nala’s hellbent on protecting everything and everyone and it’s not like I’m gonna let her do it alone. I just wonder sometimes, if it were possible to get everyone to just leave and never come back. Set up on an archipelago where the soldiers and kings can’t find us and make our own land. I’d do it, if I could.” He bit into a rind of pork almost grumpily, breaking it down as he frowned out at the sea. “Everything just sucks here.”
“That makes for a good retirement plan.” She takes the last bite of her apple and tosses the core aside. “There are some good things here, too. We’ve got this place, for one. And you don’t have to do everything alone. We don’t.”
Liam looked at her curiously, the beginnings of gratitude shining in his eyes. “What are your plans for now, then?” he asked, dusting the crumbs off his paws. “You’re not a messenger anymore, right? You gonna stick with the hot new rebellion?”
Verdandi can’t help but snicker at his description of the rebellion. “Well, I at least want to see the raid through. But I’ll probably stay for as long as I can.” She shuffles closer to Liam, until their shoulders are almost touching. “Truthfully, I don’t think I could live with myself if I left now.”
He looked at her scooting closer out of the corner of his eye and twisted his expression a little, the dark circles under his eyes and shaggy unkempt hair and dirtied, tanned skin making him look almost threatening for a moment, but a grin managed to crack through at the sound of her giggle and he ducked his head almost bashfully, ears twitching, and reached out to put an arm around her shoulders. “Gross,” he said in a deadpan voice, betrayed by another flush of his cheeks.
She lets out a full laugh at that, leaning into Liam. “You like it,” she teases in a voice still tinged with laughter.
“I fuckin’ do not.” He dropped a paw down to rest on her waist.
“You do too.” Verdandi leans up to press a kiss against his jaw.
Liam’s shoulders crept up by the sides of his face, and he reddened considerably, making a muffled sound that wasn’t distinguishable as any kind of audible word. His ears were twitching rapidly and he felt like he was in the middle of a footrace, between his quick heartbeat and shallow breathing. Gods, I hope Nala can’t see me right now.
She pulls away a little with concern flashing across her features. “Sorry,” she mutters.
“No, it’s…” He struggled to pull words together with fumbling lips. “It’s…it’s fine. Really.” He gave an expected uncomfortable chuckle. “I’m just an idiot with…with all this. With you.”
“I guess it’s another thing to practice, right?” Verdandi asks, leaning in close again. She pauses, looking up at him. “I won’t force you to do anything, though.”
tree-the-cat
“Okay. Uh…” He tried to take a deep breath, but his pulse remained high and fast. “We should…you should try that one again, then.”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“Okay,” she breathes. She presses her lips against his jaw again, pressing a few kisses along his jawline until she can capture his lips with her own.
tree-the-cat
Liam breathed her in as they kissed, still vibrating with nerves, but he shoved them aside and took in the moment, breathing between the touch of their lips and holding her face close, and just enjoying her. He wasn’t used to feeling so warm and…well, loved, but he supposed he could get used to it.
aroleplayingcephalopod
Reluctantly, Verdandi pulls back just enough to break the kiss. She looks into Liam’s eyes with a shy smile.
tree-the-cat
Liam gave a small smirk back, just as hesitant and quiet. Gods, she’s adorable.
“Can’t be gone too long,” he murmured. “You know how rumors fly around here.”
aroleplayingcephalopod
“I don’t really mind,” she murmurs. “We can go back if you want, though.”
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act I
Category:Verdandi Østergård
Category:Liam Arnason