Spectating had been all fine and well with the women as long as he'd been a referee, but of course as soon as the fight is done and they both spill into the water, of course he's not allowed to laugh. Or heckle. Or do what it is that people who are dry when others are not do. Instead he'd managed to dash a good twenty or so feet before Rosheen had managed to get a hold of him and as he'd writhed and twisted in her grip as best he could, Cairma had launched herself at him and he'd been taken to ground quicker than a duck takes to water. Well, if you ignore the painful bit, that had hurt.

 

Rosheen had been in there at one point, he distinctly remembered her poking and prodding him rather painfully in the ribs while Cairma had gone for his feet. Thrashing as best he could so she couldn't get at his boots, he'd been relatively defenceless against Rosheen but somewhere along the line Rosheen decided to show a bit of mercy and let him free. Of course, Cairma wasn't nearly so forgiving and even as Rosheen was walking away he had to deal with her straddled ontop of him and trying to twist his arms so she could better pin him and get at him.

 

Without Rosheen about, there was definitely a chance for him to get back at her. Managing to slip get his hands free, they darted straight under her shirt and at her ribs. The look of shock on her face only lasted a moment as she fell backward and began thrashing herself as she tried to get free. Hah! Revenge! After this attempt, not to mention a certain incident on the yards sometime before involving Lyssa and Kalush, it was time for him to get his own back. Leaning over her as she tried to dislodge his hands, each new prod and stroke of her ribs brought another shriek of laughter and a renewed attempt to try and win free. Each time he called for her to give in and say mercy, my how sweet it was for the tables to be turned.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

Laughter.

 

True laughter, no the cheap fake laugh that you hid behind because your uncomfortable. Not the laughter you fake so not to give away that your not part of the whole picture. But a true laughter of acceptance and belonging. One that finds itself start at the tip of you toes and works your way up through the spine, tingling through the tips of your fingers only to release a clear sounding laugher.

 

It had been a challenging Spar, and Cairma was quite cetain that she wouldn't win, but Luck had been on her side. She had held her own and as she fell, she brought Rosheen with her, in which laughter ensued. True Laughter. However, what broke their moment then was the fact that Aran laughed at them both and shot off like a coward. Far be it from them for him to get away with not getting wet when they were drenched from head to toe!

 

Tackling him not even yards away Rosheen started the poking. But than she informed her of one small secret. That Aran was quite ticklish. Workign off his boots, Both Rosheen and Cairma were merciless in thier attack. Taking a seat on him to keep him put, Cairma was left stranded. Rosheen walked away in show of mercy. (Since when should mercy be shown on Aran? Aran did not show mercy to any other... ) But the tides change as Cairma felt the first of a true laughter and an unknown weakness.

 

When her guard was down, apparently she was also ticklish. Cairma had not expected this. She had not been ticked before.

 

She howled in laghter as Aran's hands moved expertly along her skin, finding every crevice of sensitive skin along her torso. Fire bruned in her throat as she started to find it harder and harder to breath as laugher escaped her lips. She wanted to say stop, she tried to say stop.. but she couldn't she just couldn't... and she laughed all the harder and her only retaliation was to try and get him back. She would not let him get the better of her, she just wouldn't!

 

 

Cairma Vishnu

Ooc: I'll let you make the first move. ;) It's your Req.

"No! Aaaargh!"

 

Rolling back, Aran flailed about as best he could to try and get Cairma's hands off him. Her fingers ravaging his ribs even as he tried to roll free. Her thighs like iron, she'd managed to latch on before he'd started to thrash and roll about so those efforts were of little use. All that was left was to fight back and hope she gave in first. One hand at her ribs, the other just above one her knees, the squeal he got from her was almost enough to make up for almost crying from what she'd unleashed upon him.

 

Not that she would give up, oh no that would just be the sensible thing for her to do and admit defeat. He couldn't give up because he'd gotten so far before without doing so, she on the otherhand could but was being difficult. As they rolled about, there would be an occasional lapse where the pair of them stopped because they needed a moment to rest. Breathing hard as they tried to get their wind back, either he or her would start it up again to try and win once and for all but either way both of them would end up breathless, mind numbed and tingling all over again.

 

He wasn't quite sure how it happened, one moment they were tickling each other and then his lips brushed hers. Just a touch, but it was enough. Everything stopped, for just one moment while he looked up at Cairma and she looked back down at him. Reaching up to her as she lowered her face to his, their rough play was put aside for something far more tender.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

And if I told you that I loved you

Youd maybe think theres something wrong

Im not a man of too many faces

The mask I wear is one

Those who speak know nothing

And find out to their cost

Like those who curse their luck in too many places

And those who smile are lost

"Shape of My Heart" - Sting

 

It was a barest of moments that touched a thousand of hers, sending her soaring through a torrent of feelings that she locked away, denying their very existance. Because a simple truth would have hurt too much. She didn't want to be those other women, chasing a man in hopes of love of one night, or just a physical desire. She wanted more, much more. She craved it. If she were to have a family, she would want it to be truely real. Loving. Like one that she never was given the chance to have. And in that barest brush of his lips, intentional or not, sent one simple but profound emotion cascading over her as the rest followed like a tidalwave. Hope.

 

She couldn't. But as his hand reached up to touch her cheek, a far more tender look than she had ever seen in his eyes, her breath was lost to that simplist hope. She never denied that she didn't desire him. His insatiable arrogance and free spirit and far deeper and hidden love for things drew women to him. Did he know the effect? Implications? But she didn't care anymore. What would one night be? Satisfying? Most likely. Healing? Possibly. Relieving? She could only hope that by taking one chance... jumping on that one hope she could know that he was not for her and be able to walk away. A taste, all she wanted was a taste.

 

Closing her eyes to the touch of his hand through her hair, she leaned down and kissed him, locking her lips with his as her breath already shallow and her mind dizzy from their previous activities. Astride him she enjoyed the touch of his kiss, lossing a small part of herself that she would never admit. It was true, she did in some way love Aran. But he would never know. Light.. she could never tell him, or anyone....

 

It was a forbidden fruit, a tiny part of Aran far in the back of his mind would have told him that if it was capable of speech. As it was, there was very little thinking going on and a lot of kissing and hand wandering instead along with feeling pretty good about it all. He'd said once before if they kissed again then he wouldn't be able to stop, and he was about right. He'd deliberately put it out of his mind and now his mind was occupied with her. Except... Was this the right thing to be doing? It had to be, felt right.

 

It started out as a chaste kiss. A simple brush of the lips. Teasing, or taunting. As her heart ached, she wanted more from him lke a craving of magnitute she had merely touched before as the kiss became more intimate. She should stop, and ever part of her knew exactly why, but she couldn't deny the feelings that played over her skin as her fingers softly moved against his cheek to feel his skin, richly thicker hair, memorizing. Something she wanted but could never chain and keep. And he must not know as her kiss grew intensely richer as a soft sigh escaped and betrayed her pleasure of even the innocent kiss.

 

 

 

Cairma Vishnu

TG

Responding to her sigh with with another kiss as his hands ran along her, part of him was in shock that this was actually happening. They had been so long, he had deliberately put aside any feelings he could entertain of having her, it had to wait until she was ready. Now that she was ready, a part of him wasn't sure if he was ready at all. But it didn't matter, she'd decided and he was going to go through with it. One part of his mind was concerned with that at least, the rest of him was concerned with Cairma and her every touch and breath. Rolling ontop of her, her hands freed themselves from his hair even as his lips began to work their way down from her own.

 

Unsure if it was just her own sensitivity or his expert hand, or was it something entirely different, Cairma's mind plummeted into a chasm of heat like burning coals as her whole body reacted as it never had before. It was edging beyond familiar lines as Aran kneeled on top of her the way she had wanted to imagine so many times before. She wanted this, and despite her doubts, she was ready for this and for him. Although she would never say the word out loud, she waited for love... The fingers that were softly caressing his jaw line moved slowly down his clothed chest with soft fingers that stepped over each inch as her right hand moved lower down his torso towards his belt. She felt her own breath intake sharply with anticipation, but pauses in mid-stroke. Her kiss pauses from the mere surprise as her eyes open with a clarity that border-lined confusion. He couldn't. Not after all this. Not with a kiss like this. Did he not care? Was she not something that he might have wanted? Her eyes searched as the confusion in his eyes shifted drastically as feelings in her heart caved deeper into near heartbreak, threatening anger if she were even able to choose any emotion.

 

Looking at Cairma who broke away sharply and looked down, Aran wasn't sure what had happened. Had he done something wrong? What was wrong? Following her gaze, his eyes went wide just as something deep within him died. Apart from something else which had clearly already passed away. Moving back so he was sitting on his heels, he couldn't understand it. Nothing like this had happened before, couldn't happen, happened to other men, not him. Looking up at Cairma who was looking rather upset, his mouth worked as he tried to apologise, tried to explain he didn't know why, but nothing was coming out. He couldn't say anything, didn't know what to say.

 

With a sharp push, Cairma removed herself from under Aran and got up. Brushing herself off she took one last look to Aran with now colder eyes. Turning, she walked away without a word.

 

Looking at Cairma as she left, all Aran could manage was a mental blank. It was a few minutes after she left that it occured to him that his breeches were still loose. Standing, he pulled them up and buckled his belt back before he began walking. He wanted to be somewhere other than where he was right now, he needed to think, except thought wasn't coming to him at all. It was unthinkable, unacceptable, it did not happen to him. Could not happen to him. Didn't, couldn't have, did not. It...

 

He wandered.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

 

Cairma

Tower Guard

Lost in myself thoughts goes around

Floats in a mind hard to understand

Paralyzed by dreams impossible to reach

Far away but yet so near

A burning light far within me

I want to burn but it might die

Disappointed at life I struggle on

Lacuna Coil

 

The one singular emotion that drove Cairma far from Aran and away from their makeshift campsite was Cold. Cold bled into sadness, and sadness into pain and pain into betrayal. How in the Light could that man NOT .... No, she couldn't even say it let along think of it. She was pretty, or thoguht she was. She saw the look on his face those years ago when she wore that beautiful blue domani silk dress. The man had probably slept with many women. And yet she didn't do it for him? Not that she ever tried to activly jump the man but she could have sworn that he may, at one moment, wanted her.

 

It was in that moment that Cairma laughed out loud, at her self and at the world. What a fool she was. Why would he want her anyways. He was her friend and one of the few t hat she trusted. And despite appearances Aran was trustable. Or so she thought.

 

She slowly picked her ways through the trees as the thoughts in her mind were flowing in incoherent trains that pushed her own control near breaking. If there was one thing that she had learned in her time in the yard that the void was bad, and hiding away her emotions was more destructive than helpful. Cairma paused midstep as soft whispers echoed... Shaking her head and continued walking. No.. Aran was not going to do that to her. She could not be this upset! She would not allow 'It' back in anywhere. Years without knowing that particular pain and it wsa threatening to come to the surface again.

 

In her mind water flowed through her eyes as the emotions swept through her and brought her to a point of rational thought. The cold swept away with her insecure feelings as a small relief lifted off her shoulders. But she couldn't shake the painful feeling that she lost something from Aran in that small exchange. Maybe she had no right by it, be she felt a little betrayed.. more than a little, by this particular exchange.

 

It was a few hours that she stumbled into the campsite and took a seat at the fire with an unsettling silence and without word. Completely disregardig her disheveled appearance and silent nature. And Rosheens presence.

 

 

 

Cairma

(post got better near the end, however.. i'm tired..)

For a while the little tumble with Aran and Cairma had been fun. A welcome distraction to the fact that she had neither won nor lost the spar, and that she was no closer to gaining some much needed relaxation from their little vacation trip. While it was good to be away from the White Tower, Rosheen had begun to realise that she had been there too long to ever be completely free of it again. It was in her blood. She had long ceased to be Rosheen of nowhere, she had become Rosheen of Tar Valon. When or how that happened mattered little. It was true, and therefore it was something she could accept. She had family in Tar Valon now, and not just the family tied to her by blood. There was a family that was tied to her by duty and friendship.

 

These thoughts distracted her from the tickle-fest that had started after the spar. After a few moments she withdrew from it, watching for a moment as Aran continued to defend himself against Cairma’s eager hands. A little too eager perhaps. Both missed the fond look Rosheen gave them before she turned and walked back to the campsite. They’d return soon enough, no doubt looking a little more satisfied when they did. This too had been a long time coming, and Rosheen was both proud of and amazed by Aran’s ability to not go too far with Cairma. The other woman was finally crawling out of her shell, and Rosheen felt that she would be a welcome addition to her Tar Valon family one day. Perhaps soon.

 

Rosheen let go of those thoughts as she settled against a tree, and napped for an hour or two. Peace at last, or so it had seemed when she left Aran and Cairma behind. When she woke again and found that neither had returned, it dawned on her that things might not have been as easy as they had seemed. “I don’t even know why I’m still surprised.” She muttered, before starting a fire, and setting the two rabbits they’d caught earlier to roast above it. Either way, Aran and Cairma would be hungry when they returned.

 

If they returned. An hour later the rabbits were done, but there was still no sight of either of them. Rosheen had wrapped herself in the Spring, listening attentively for sounds of their arrival, while eating most of one of the rabbits. They might not be tempted by food just yet, but she was hungry. Finally the sound of footsteps echoed within the Spring. Cairma returned, looking appropriately dishevelled. Or perhaps not. She looked… bleak. Cold. Drawn within herself. What had Aran done? Rosheen watched as Cairma stumbled over to the fire and sat down, seemingly trying to warm herself, but still looking cold all the same. Rosheen walked over to the fire, and sat opposite to Cairma on the other side of it. She didn’t look any better from that vantage point. “It was not what you expected?” she asked, wondering where Aran was.

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

Her head tilted and saw Rosheen for the first time in a way she didn't expect. Sure, the woman was a formidable opponant and of good nature, but the way she looked at her with concern got Cairma thinking. Although her previous thoughts werwe surfacing on her tongue and she could not help but blurt the words out as they all tumbled like a raging river from her mouth.

 

"He couldn't get it Up. I mean.. For a man that is always sleeping around, you would think that even a kiss, a simple one, he's be able to .. you know.. but no.. he couldn't.. or maybe he didn't want it.. Or me... Do you think he.. no... maybe he just couldn't... If he couldn't, wouldn't he have Told me?! But... " She paused in mid verbal garble and looked to Rosheen with surrprisingly confused eyes. "Is Aran impotant? I mean, Like, is he diseased? Or am I not his type?"

 

And truthfully, she wasn't sure which she would rather have answered..Or not answered at all. But the sheer innocent of her nature shone in that one moment leaving her defenseless and completely at the mercy of Rosheen and Cairma was far too confused to know the difference.

 

 

 

Cairma Vishnu

Tower Guard

The only sign that Rosheen was in some way affected by Cairma’s speech was a slight quivering of her lips. Perhaps there was a very mild quirking of the corners of her mouth, which could have been mistaken for a smile. She drew a hand over her mouth, almost as if to wipe the impending smirk away. Aran couldn’t get it up. This was news that she, as a friend and almost sibling could deal with. Surely there were thousands of friends all around the world who got to hear the exact same thing about their womanising, and sometimes manising friends. Rosheen tried to picture how they would deal with such things. Unfortunately the mental images of all those thousands of friends all pointed and laughed at the exact same time.

 

Finally she managed to form something of a coherent sentence. Or a word, at least. Or rather, it was more of a sound. “Oh.”, which was then promptly followed by an “Ehm.”. what to say to this. Was Aran impotent? “Well…” there were no words. None. Well, there were words, but none that seemed adequate right now. “No, I don’t think…” if only she weren’t thinking. The mental images were killing her. “Maybe he is sick? I mean, I’m pretty sure that… ehm…”

 

Rosheen gave up there and then, putting her head in her hands and groaning. “Light burn him.” She muttered, thinking of how Aran had gotten her into this situation. This was something that Lyv could have dealt with. Or Ginae. Or… well… Aran. Not Rosheen. Rosheen wasn’t the person people went to when they wanted to discuss these kinds of things. After a moment, Rosheen looked up again, only to find that Cairma was looking at her intently. As if she had all the answers. “Last time we talked about… er… things like these, Aran was still very fond of you. I mean, that kind of fond. So… I don’t know why he couldn’t… I mean, I’m not a man, so maybe… he just couldn’t. you know, maybe he wanted to, but he was unable to.”

 

~Rosheen

She caught on quickly to Rosheen's frustration which did not help Cairma's confusion. Maybe it was her own insecurity, but.. “Oh.” She waited.. “Ehm.” .. And waited as Rosheen collected her thoughts. “Well…” .. was it that hard to explain? With a man they just have to get it up.. “No, I don’t think…” Or was her limited knowledge about how a man would work flawed and misinformmed.. was it possible.. “Maybe he is sick? I mean, I’m pretty sure that… ehm…” ..that a man could be as fickle as a woman's own ... drive?

 

Cairma looked to Rosheen with her wide eyes as a hopeless look shadowed Rosheens eyes. Her answer was far from what Cairma needed to hear. "How could ne not be 'able' to? I just don't get it!!" Cairma sighed heavily. "It's not like i'm any different then the other women he's taken to bed, not that i completely want him that way.... " Cairma grew silent as her cheeks rose to a very bright pink. "I mean, he has this horrible tendancy to get me to do just about anything, and he's constanly under my skin teasing me." She would say that he was like a brother, but she never was fond of her 5 older brothers who tortured her to the point of abuse. "Maybe he just didn't want me that badly, not that i blame him. I'm not as pretty as the Aes Sedai that are rumoured to sneak out of his quarters at night... "

 

She grew a little silent as her face softened a little. She had no answers for Aran and she wasn't about to start giving him excused. She couldn't deny that she was hurt, extremely so. This was a whole new form of rejection that she couldn't even grasp. Being out of reach, it was something she was not yet ready to handle, which would than come in time. And in the end she grew a little calmer. "Thanks Rosheen. You don't really need to answer, i doubt neither of us could understand him." She forced a small smile, "I'll be okay. I was just a .. shock... to say the least... "

 

 

 

Cairma Vishnu

Cairma was still looking very hurt, and though Rosheen fully understood why, she also had a lot of problems taking this as seriously as she should. “Well, you know, I’m pretty sure men can have … problems like that. I mean, if they’re tired, or… well, there could be a lot of reasons. I mean, if he could … er… get it up… with everyone, then we could never have a decent spar. Maybe he was just tired… or… well… there could be a lot of reasons.”

 

She glanced around, worried for a moment that Aran would be listening in. Rosheen very much doubted that the current conversation would help with whatever the reason was that kept his … parts… from responding to Cairma properly. It really was best if he never found out about it. Ever. Still, she was worried about him though. For Aran to fail in that area of his life… she hadn’t heard of him doing so before. For a brief moment she wished that she were Brand instead. Brand always knew what to say in situations like these, and then he’d give some kind of anecdote about things that no one really wanted to know about his personal life, and whatever the problem was, it was forgotten, or it would at least seem a lot less… problematic.

 

“I think I should go look for Aran. I mean, if he wanted to… and then couldn’t… then he might be… upset. He might need someone to talk to.” And Rosheen realised that that someone would have to be her, no matter how much she wished it wasn’t so. “And if… well, if he had other reasons for… failing… then I should at least be able to bring him back and then you two can… talk. That’s right, talk.” She glanced at Cairma again, before getting up. “So… I’ll be back.” She wandered off then, shaking her head and biting on her knuckles to keep from laughing out loud.

 

~Rosheen

Aran's wanderings had taken him somewhat afield, an aimless drifting that had sought a refuge somewhere without actively looking for it. It was sometime before he sat down, under the cover of a toppled tree. Feeling the back of the stump against his back, he subconsciously shuffled underneath the rest of the toppled tree before curling up his legs and wrapping his arms around them, hugging them close to him. There was small comfort in his own embrace though, even as he watched the sun slowly descend as a haze of incoherent thoughts passed through his head.

 

Within the maelstrom there were a few things that could be picked out. He had... failed! Never, never had it happened! Didn't matter who it was, short or tall, large or small, male or female. He could lay down with them whether they were young or old, bearded or barechested, bowlegged or broadshouldered, busty or flat. So many things he could handle, all without flinching or hesitation and of all the things he could have done, he had somehow managed to foul it up with someone he wanted!

 

Cairma, as much as he had ignored what feelings they had in favour of friendship it had always remained there. The trust was there, he liked her, she was willing and he most certainly had been. If he hadn't been he most certainly wouldn't have done as he did, it had been something that had been waiting a long time and he had gone for it. Why? Why of all times did that happen? He had wanted that for sometime and for it to just slip away, to not rise to the occasion due to some weakness!

 

Misery was the only way to describe Aran, even as zoned out from what was around him and retreated inward. So lost in his thought was he that he did not even notice the company that was walking towards him. Or the fact that she was biting her knuckle, only on what had happened and a complete lack of understanding as to why.

 

And shame.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

It wasn’t particularly hard to find Aran, because he obviously hadn’t been trying to hard to cover his tracks. Rosheen reasoned that that was probably because he either wanted to be found, or because he had stopped caring. While neither sounded all that likely, it was the only explanation she could think of. After about an hour of searching for him, she found him sitting under a toppled tree. Hugging himself, apparently. Rosheen swallowed a giggle, which didn’t work half as well as she’d hoped, because then it came out as a snigger.

 

As a friend, she realised that this was the moment to sympathise with Aran. It probably wasn’t a small thing for a man to be unable to… at least, she thought it was. And how would she react, if Vasya ever… she shook her head and bit her knuckled again, staring down on Aran. On the other hand, there was obviously an explanation for this, and Aran just needed to stop being such a cry baby, and figure out what it was. Then perhaps Rosheen could point and laugh without feeling guilty.

 

She walked up to Aran and sat down next to him, giving him a little nudge to try to get him to acknowledge that she was there. It wasn’t working. “So…” she started, staring in front of her. Best not to look at Aran now. She’d probably start laughing, and never be able to stop again. If only Brand had been there. “I talked to Cairma.” She said, which earned her a flinch from Aran. “And… ehm… well…” not for the first time in her life, Rosheen found that she was at a complete loss for words. “I figured that… you know… if you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

 

~Rosheen

Flinching at the mention of Cairma's name, light, that meant that Rosheen knew then. The thought of the word spreading just made him want to shrivel up and die. Again. And now Rosheen wanted him to talk, nevermind that he didn't know what to say. He couldn't even figure out himself what had happened, so what was he meant to tell Rosheen? That he was dysfunctional? That he had been right on the cusp except for the fact he wasn't? Miserable, just completely miserable was what it was. Now he'd managed to hurt Cairma because of it no less, that made it even worse.

 

"What is there to talk about? We were playing about then all of a sudden we were kissing. Everything was just fine and then she loosened my breeches and fo-" Aran couldn't even bring himself to finish that sentence. It just felt cold all over even to think about it. "I wasn't too drunk, in fact I never have been too drunk. I haven't been with anyone since the start of this trip, I like Cairma a lot and for that to happen? Am I sick? Can't be anything I ate because we're all eating the same."

 

Hugging his legs even tighter to himself, Aran rambled on. "This doesn't happen to me. Doesn't matter when it is I'm fine. Must be something wrong with me, don't know what though. I'm too young to be impotent."

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

Aran was in a state, and there wasn’t anything Rosheen could do about it. She couldn’t very well prove to Aran that there was nothing wrong with him, because that would just be weird. She couldn’t laugh at him either, because he wouldn’t take that very well. She settled on talking to him instead, taking a seat on the ground opposite to him. Talking. She could do that. she could even do that without grinning, smirking, giggling or laughing. She just needed a moment, that was all.

 

And with Aran still staring in the distance with his arms wrapped around himself, she felt she could take that time. Rosheen thought he looked a little like the only survivor from a trolloc raid, as if he’d seen something he’d never expected to see, and never wanted to see again. She supposed that made sense, considering the fact that Aran’s prowess as a manly man was something he was rather proud of. “Ok… well, I guess we’ll just have to figure out what went wrong then, eh? I mean, you really are too young to be impotent, and I doubt you’ve been kicked in the crotch enough for that to do any permanent damage…”

 

Rosheen stared at her hands for a moment, as she pondered on what to say next. “So there has to be another reason. Why do men fail to… er… perform with women? Were you too tired to perform, or did you just… you know… right before Cairma and I had our spar? I mean, even you need some time to recover, I think. Or maybe it was just your inner Aran telling you that you shouldn’t sleep with Cairma just yet. I mean, stranger things have happened. You developed a conscience over the years, so maybe that was what kept you from… stuff.”

 

~Rosheen Tahn Sakhr

"No, I didn't, and you have no idea how much its been driving me nuts. I was perfectly happy, after so long I was quite happy and I was ready to go, I thought I was." It was then that the rest of what Rosheen said permeated his thoughts. Conscience? If it were another time and another place, he might have laughed. Or taken the compliment, as it was it didn't seem quite right. It couldn't be it could it? That didn't affect men at all, but then there had been that nagging in his mind. No, or yes? "I don't know. There was this time years ago, we almot did but we decided to remain friends. And just, I dunno, after so long I guess I wasn't ready for it. We were just playing around then there was kissing and then just... I don't know."

 

The corners of Rosheen's mouth twitched again, but once again she was able to keep the laughter inside. If she were the type of person to do so, she’d pat her own back and compliment herself on her willpower. “I think it does happen to some men… I mean, if that sort of thing didn’t happen then every single man would just be a lying, cheating bastard.” She grinned briefly at that. “Maybe it was because you’ve been holding back with Cairma for so long. Maybe your subconscious was just scared of it, after all that time.”

 

The words made a bit of sense, though Aran had to wonder whether he was just hoping that was it. He had felt disquieted at the back of his mind now that he thought about it, but it had been such a small thing. It was just, well... No, that was just stupid, but it had never happened to him before either. Maybe that was it, Rosheen was right. It had just come out of nowhere and after the way they had left it before, he'd been trying not to set anything off because as much as he wanted to, he didn't want to hurt her either. So, he had failed because he hadn't wanted to hurt her, that made sense and almost made it forgivable. Almost. "I think you're right, I don't know, after so long it didn't seem like it would happen. And she's, well, you remember what she was like before she started talking to us all, don't want her to go back to that. How did you know? Has it happened to you before?"

 

“Actually, Isabella told me about it once. You know, girls night out, she talked a lot about Brand…” she shook her head. “Way too much information there, by the way. Anyway, it never happened to Brand, but there was one of the girls there, and whenever she had a… well… certain special friend over, he couldn’t… he tried it with another girl, and then he was fine, but with her he just couldn’t, and Isabella said that was because he was too nervous around her because he cared too much. It sounded weird at the time, but when you think about it, it kind of makes sense.”

 

What Rosheen said made sense, and if it came from Isabella then he knew it was true. That woman had as much experience as him if not more, and she was about as blunt and honest when it came to such things as they came. Uncurling his legs as he let his arms fall to his sides, Aran looked up at the sky as he spoke with quiet resignation. "I don't suppose there is any chance of you not mentioning this to anyone? I know you won't mention why, but no one really needs to know about this do they?"

 

Rosheen crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyes. Not mentioning this? This was the best thing she’d had to hold over Aran since… well… forever. Of course, Rosheen had a problem here. She had a conscience, not a newly developed one, but one that had been in place for many years. Even if she wanted to betray Aran’s shameful secret, she had Cairma to consider. “You will never mention anything about buckets and rainbow warrior princesses again. If I’m satisfied with the progress you’ve made in that area, I might just conveniently forget that you ever failed to get it up.”

 

It was the mention of certain things he'd almost forgotten about that helped restore him to his usual self. Curling his legs up again, he looked to Rosheen who was standing over him and grinned. He couldn't help it. "You seequet identity is safe with me, wosheen the wainbow wawwiow pwincess." Aran saluted her with a hand to heart as he laughed.

 

After a few moments of struggling with herself, Rosheen managed to regain her composure. Without giggling or sniggering or grinning, even. Well, she might have grinned briefly, but that was just because Aran was being a good for nothing bastard as usual. “You are a dirty son of a goat, and I don’t know why I keep on helping you out of sticky, or in this case soft situations.” With that said, Rosheen picked up a decent sized branch, and threw it at Aran. “Now move, Cairma is waiting for you to say you’re deeply sorry, it’s not her fault, she’s just not manly enough for your taste.”

 

Shielding himself with his arm as she tossed the branch at him, it bounced off his side only for Rosheen to then make a crack about something they didn't really talk about much. Getting to his feet, Aran fell into step with her as he retorted. "Is that jealousy I hear? You know, Vasya's always had a certain rugged charm." Laughing at the lack of response that got, Aran ceased his heckling even as the humour died. He needed to think of something to say to Cairma, a few things actually. It wasn't going to be easy.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard