The Half Moon Inn and Fest Hall- Part Two!

[Talwyn Aureliano]

I choose to ignore her commenst about surrender for the moment. I knew she was in a playful mood but I wanted to finish the job that I statred.

[color=orange:l4ikbmk0][b:l4ikbmk0]"T'riss, I am sorry but I don't like leaving things half not done. I'm responsible for maintaining my equipment and as a paladin, we have to ensure that it is in the best condition possible. So I have to finish this as I need it to wear when we go out today,"[/b:l4ikbmk0][/color:l4ikbmk0] I explained as gently as I could.

I could see that wasn't going down to well by the way she folded her arms and gave me that level even stare.

[T'risstree Helviiryn]

She was indeed not that pleased with his excuses as she stared at him with her arms folded and her lips set into a flat line.

[color=indigo:38dwcnz5]"So you think that having clean shiny armor is more important than forfilling your promise to take me, a lady, out riding and a picnic then hmm? I really hope that that isn't the case otherwise my opinion of paladins being dashing chivalrous men who would lay down their cape in a puddle for a lady to cross is obviously all wrong. Well, is it? Is your promise to me just a way of getting my hopes up? Are you just toying with my feelings like some l'puul ssin'urninness hmm? Well? What's it to be then?"[/color:38dwcnz5]

She stood there calmly with an eyebrow raised and a challenging look in her eyes.

I hope he isn't trying to weasel out of this she thought with a grim look.

[Talwyn Aureliano]

I held up my hands trying to calm her down.

[color=orange:3np89ilg][b:3np89ilg]"Please T'risstree. I am not making up excuses. I am trying to tell you that I need to have my armour clean and ready in case I am needed to go into battle. Be preapred for all contingencies and ready for anything we are taught and I [u:3np89ilg]must[/u:3np89ilg] obey that rule. I will honour my promise to you as breakingoath only shames myself in Torms eyes and I will have let you down badly." [/b:3np89ilg][/color:3np89ilg]

I stood firm but I was in a quandry as to how to get the job done and still have time to go riding with her.

[T'risstree Helviiryn]

She let out a loud sigh and walked over to Talwyn. She stood in front of him and looked up in to his eyes, sensing his dilema and not wanting to upset him any further.

[color=indigo:39emz27f]"I understand you have obligations and must obey your rules but think for a moment Tal, we are going out on a picnic, not riding off to war. You don't need to be suited up in your armour to take me out to wherever we're going. Look, if you stay here and polish the armour then we will have missed the rest of the day and you WILL have broken your promise to me. I have a suggestion. We leave this mess for now,[/color:39emz27f]" she held up her hand to stop him interrupting her as she continued,[color=indigo:39emz27f] "and we go and get ourselves ready for a lovely picnic. Then, when we come back, I will help you finish this job. Besides, you are doing it all wrong anyway, you should soak the plates in water first. That way the burn marks and stains will come off much quicker. See, I should have told you that earlier. Now then, are you happy with that? Is that good enough for Torm?"[/color:39emz27f] she asked with a teasing smile.

[Talwyn Aureliano]

I nodded.

[color=orange:3qqrba7z][b:3qqrba7z]"Alright T'riss, your way does sound more reasonable And you are right, taking a lady out on a day ride with me in full plate armour would not be very comfortable for you being on the same horse as me. I'll do as you suggest and put the armour into soak and we'll deal with it when we return later on. I am sorry if I upset you. I just sometimes forget that there are simple and elegant solutions to problems. Will you forgive me?"[/b:3qqrba7z][/color:3qqrba7z] I asked her humbly.

[T'risstree Helviiryn]

She pretended to consider his request for a minute.

[color=indigo:14zbpnb3]"Well if I DO forgive you, you have to promise to teach me to ride properly AND[/color:14zbpnb3]," she held up her hand again stopping him from agreeing, [color=indigo:14zbpnb3]"you must be in a good mood, you must not start any fights unless you have no choice and you must promise be my adoring humble loving servant for the rest of the day. Then I might consider forgiving you,"[/color:14zbpnb3]she said primly as she looked at him with a teasing challenging gleam in her golden eyes.

[Talwyn Aureliano]

She was being almost annoying but she was very adorable at the same time. I admired her spirit as I never really was interested in passive women. They aren't that much fun in the end.

I shook my head with a rueful grin and hoped that I wouldn't end up regreting this later on.

[color=orange:22f2wyaw][b:22f2wyaw]"Very well your ladyship. If that is what I must do to earn your forgiveness then I shall be your humble and most adoring subject this day," [/b:22f2wyaw][/color:22f2wyaw] I said with a courtly bow and flourish to her. That seemed to amuse her somewhat.

[color=orange:22f2wyaw][b:22f2wyaw]"I humbly suggest that you go and arrange with the cooks what you would like to take on the picnic. Please dear lady T'risstree, could you make sure there are some bottles of cold beer as well as wine in the cold bag? I enjoy beer with bread and cheese at lunch. I will clean up here and meet you out by the stables. I think that you need to change and wear something more suitable for riding. That dress you're in won't do for such activities."[/b:22f2wyaw][/color:22f2wyaw] I smiled at her then turned about and started packing things up so as not to waste any further time.

She was still wearing her lovely blue dress and I didn't have a side saddle so her sitting on the horse in the dress would mean she'd have to hitch it right up over her thighs and that would lead to her legs getting chaffed which isn't all that pleasant.

[T'risstree Helviiryn]

[color=indigo:2edi2k08]"See that wasn't so difficult now was it Talwyn?[/color:2edi2k08]" she said with a soft smile as he started to pack up his armor and place it into on of the large wash troughs out the back of the kitchen.

[color=indigo:2edi2k08]"I'll go and get the picnic thing as you said and get changed. Yes, my dress wouldn't be the best thing to go riding in, I'll change into something more comfortable,"[/color:2edi2k08] she smiled at him, giggled and then skipped off back inside the kitchen to get the things she wanted for the picnic.

[Talwyn Aureliano]

I quickly got myself ready after packing everything up.

I washed and changed into riding pants and put on a blue shirt and a coat of mail.

I made my way back downstairs and out to the stables.

It didn't take long to get Spotty ready, saddled up with a couple of extra blankets for us to sit on later.

I led the warhorse out of the stables to the front of the Inn, waiting for T'risstree to join us.

[Aylstra Illianniis]

He began setting out the food while Zzadrina opened up the wine, and then belatedly remembered he'd brought no silverware for the food.

"Mmm, be right back- forgot something!" he said, leaping up to dash back to the kitchens for the utensils, plates, and the potato salad he'd left behind. <I'm an idiot,> he thought, wondering what had his mind so distracted. Then again, it wasn't so hard to figure out, after all. Somehow the prospect of a pleasant afternoon with a beautiful female- especially one who wasn't dragging him off to perform unspeakable acts for hours on end without one word of assent from him- had his brain all a-twitter. Twitter-pated.

He raced back to the garden with the items in hand, and noticed that she still had the creme on her nose. With a grin, he bent down and kissed it off. "Miss me?" he said with a sly smirk, then set about putting the meal together.

[Zzadrina Kel'Shri]

Drina rolled her eyes, and sent him a long-suffering smile.
[color=darkblue:2lmbdwmf]" Perhaps. I certainly can't eat all this food myself, so I suppose your prescene can be of some use."[/color:2lmbdwmf] She sniffed derisively before snickering and breaking the illusion of a petulant matron. She poured a glass of the strawberry wine-the tethyrian was much richer, so they'd save that for afters- and handed it to him before pouring some for herself.

[Aylstra Illianniis]

He rolled his eyes at her comment, then replied- completely deadpan- "You know, I could go back home if I wanted to be treated like a servant." He pretended to be annoyed for a moment, then grinned again, taking the wine.

He hands her a plate of food- meat and cheese between pieces of bread, with some potato salad and fruit. They enjoy the simple meal for a while in companionable silence.

[T'risstree Helviiryn]

T'risstree came out of the front door of the Inn with two leather satchels. One had the drinks and was enchanted to stay cold for hours and the other enchanted too, to stay coll and protect the contents inside. It was loaded up with food and picnic things like plates and glasses, all carefully wrapped in cloth and the other bag had 3 large bottles of beer and a nice bottle of white wine

She'd selected the things she thought Tal might like to eat plus a few things for herself. There were two sticks of fresh bread, a big wedge of cheese, a jar of sweet strawberry jelly which was one of her weaknesses, slices of ham and beef, sweet relish and pickles, those red little fruits called tomatos and nuts and dried fruit. There was plenty of food for both of them she thought.

She saw Talwyn waiting for here with Spotty. She smiled and skipped down the stairs and hurried over to him.

[color=indigo:eu36h3ld]"Ok handsome, shall we go now?[/color:eu36h3ld]" she asked with a grin.

[color=orange:eu36h3ld][b:eu36h3ld]"As you wish milday,"[/b:eu36h3ld][/color:eu36h3ld] he replied with a fond smile.

[color=indigo:eu36h3ld]"Not you Tal, I was talking to the horse!"[/color:eu36h3ld] she grinned with a sly wink then giggled at him. He shook his head with a smile and helped her load up the bags onto the saddle.

After a few go's at trying to get her to sit behind him once he'd mounted up, they decided it was better if she sat on his lap in front of him. She much prefered that as she could see a lot more and didn't feel very comfortable sitting with her legs in an cramped position for a long period of time.

Talwyn gently nudged Spotty with his heels and they trotted off to the east and the Ardeep Forest. She felt very excited and happy. This was the first time she was being romanced and she found she liked it very much.

OOC: you can follow what happened on their date in the Ardeep Forest [url=http://www.eilistraee.com//forums/viewt ... 8:eu36h3ld][b:eu36h3ld]HERE[/b:eu36h3ld][/url:eu36h3ld]

They will be away from the Inn for the next 5 hours or so

[Aylstra Illianniis]

Lothir finished his lunch, and sat back watching the clouds rolling slowly across the sky. "I hope you like everything. I've never done this before, so I'm not really sure what a picnic is supposed to be like."

He kicked off his boots, and removed the ankle-sheaths for his blades, and wiggled his bare feet in the grass. "Hmm, this is nice. The only thing better would be if we could go for a swim. Is there a pond or small river around here? Or do you think it's a bad idea?"

He glanced at Zzadrina anxiously, wondering if she was happy with the picnic. She hadn't said anything for a while, and he was starting to worry. Was it too much? Not enough? He pulled one of the daggers out, and started idly playing with it, twirlinf and flipping it about with a practiced ease, still unsure what to do next.

After a moment, he took out the second one as well, and moved away just far enough to avoid accidentally hitting her, then began to juggle them back and forth, first sitting, then slowly getting up and trying more daring tricks, like flipping them around his back, or under a raised knee, or reversing the direction.

"You know, the trick to this is not to let them get too slow or too fast. I can do it with as many as four, but that starts to get a bit dangerous. I usually just use two though, since it's easier to keep track of."

After a moment, he caught them, then sat back down with a soft sigh. He hoped she wasn' getting bored, but it was starting to seem as though Zzadrina wasn't as interested in the picnic as he had hoped. What to do?

[Tobias Black]

The sun was just starting to get hot when I finally found an inn to rest at.

Half-Moon Inn, or something like that. I wasn't one hundred percent positive I could read at the moment.

Might have been all the alcohol earlier...

nah, I wasn't drunk.

I spent five minutes or so just trying to wrap a hand around the doorknob. After my fingers failed to grab it for the fifth time I just glared at my spasming hand.

[i:2i3ul54f]first thing to go is always the fine motor functions.[/i:2i3ul54f]
Finally I just slammed my fist loudly against the door. I rapped it probably ten or twelve times before I stepped back, caught my boot on a flagstone, and promtply fell on my rump.

[i:2i3ul54f]Alright, maybe I'd had just a little too much alcohol earlier[/i:2i3ul54f]