Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Mike and Ralen - Meet Cute

Mike coughed at the compliment and tried to keep from blushing. "Quiet around here," she said. "Hey, Ralen," she called across the soup pot, "We both had a turn, why don't you give us a song to keep the quiet away?" she asked the well off man.

A wet drop plinked off Caleb's helm and it started to drizzle. The fire hissed and Mike slid a lid on top of the soup top to keep it from getting watered down. "I think that's the signal to go to bed," the wizard said as she looked up at the dark sky. She blinked as she caught a rain drop in her eye.

"Sure!" Ralen was more than happy to join in. His deeper baritone offsetting Mike's lighter voice.

He started a popular drinking song that no doubt he'd heard and picked up from his various stays at different taverns, and was halfway through it when the sky opened up.

"Ah drats," he muttered, looking up at the clouds, when an idea stirred. He looked at Mike. "Hey, you can control water, right? Have you tried controlling falling water...so that it doesn't fall on us?" It was worth a try.

Mike rubbed at her eyes and lifted her arms high toward the heavens. It took several minute before the clouds slowly began to part above them, leaving a small clear patch of sky over head. Mike's arms fell down and she slumped in her seat. Moving water laden clouds was not easy and the wizard was sure that the storm would move on taking the gap she'd made with it or even close it as the clouds were pushed across the sky. "To answer your question, no," she said wearily. "It's just water, it shouldn't effect your singing too much, your ladyship," she told Ralen.

Turning to Caleb she made motions with her hands. Monks and nuns had a strict rule about not talking during meals. They used form of hand sign language when they need to talk while eating. The story about almost being a nun that Mike had half mentioned was true and she made use of this skill which she had taught her brother. The down side was that sons of some rich men were also schooled by monks and Mike was hoping Ralen hadn't been.

Mike smiled at Ralen as she signed to Caleb ''Cae, I bet you ten gold I can get our host here in my bed before we reach his father's house.' Caleb snorted and signed back a bit slower, 'But then where would you sleep?'
Caleb looked over at Ralen and said, "I'm not telling what he said. ... I'd tell you later when he's asleep if he ever slept."

Mike glared at her brother and signed something very rude to him. "Then I'll go get changed for bed," the warrior grumbled not liking what his big brother had said. The warrior stood up and as he was walking off to check on the horses he called back "I'll leave you two alone if that's what you want. In the rain."

"Thanks a lot ...," Mike muttered tiredly not amused by her brother's attempt at humor.

Ralen watched the sign language going on between the two, his face a study of confusion as he tried to make out what they were signing. He'd had training with the monks, but that had been for a brief stint of time, and their signing was a little different.

"Something about potatoes and hares?" he guessed. "Never mind, I probably don't want to know. And thanks for that little cloud trick."

He stretched his hand out like he was reaching for a branch, but it was way out of reach. That didn't stop him, as he closed his hand like he was grabbing hold of a branch and then pulled it towards him--them. A grimace crossed his face as the tree a few feet away, groaned, and then finally bent. He repeated the process with his other hand for a different tree, until the trees' canopies overlapped, and formed an umbrella over them, which at least deterred most of the raindrops.

Ralen was sweating when he finally released his magic enough to drop his hands. "There. Now we can at least sleep semi-dry." And the firewood wouldn't be utterly drenched either. He hoped.

"Good night, Caleb," he called as the warrior started off for his tent. Now it was just him and Mike...

Yes just the two of them alone, again. Mike yawned and looked up at the trees Ralen had bound together. "Nice work," she said slowly. "While I would love to stay here and vex you further," she said as she laid her bowl aside, "I got maybe a few hours sleep last night and I hope to try and get a bit more tonight if I can," she said as she stood up, "I'll get Cae to do the washing up since you already washed the dishes once today and I'm not in any shape to tackle them myself." The wizard stretched her arms up over her head lazily. With a lightly wiggle of her fingers the flames under the soup pot flickered and danced a bit before settling down.

Ralen nodded. "Fare thee well, then, I bid thee goodnight." He stayed up for a little bit longer, enjoying the tree cover he had concocted, before rinsing out the dishes himself. He'd made that mistake once before and had had a whole bunch of raccoons and a bear come investigate his sleeping quarters the following morning. It had not been fun.

After checking on the horses to see they were fine, he headed for his own tent, pulling off his tunic in order to let it dry out some.

Mike laughed, "Shut up, Ralen," as she pointed at him and shot a few tiny sparks in his direction that fizzled out harmlessly in the rain. The wizard retired to her tent after giving the mules a quick look over to make sure they would be fine until morning. She tired to guilt Caleb into helping wash up but he was already asleep. Mike rolled her eyes and peeked out of the tent as she shed her tunic and shirt. It seemed Ralen was taking of things. She felt a little bad that he was washing dishes twice in one day, but she was much to tired to go help him and figured it wasn't that important who did it as long as it got done. The woman tossed her pants on the floor with her shirt and tunic and sat down on her mattress. It was a bit warm still, too warm for her to need a blanket. She loosened the cloth from around her waist and chest and wadded it up before tossing it on the pile of discarded clothes she had going in the corner. The wizard looked down at her self now stripped down to linen drawers and a shirt that had donated its sleeves to other uses. She'd outgrown the shirt years ago, but a knife's edge down the front and a bit of ribbon to lace it back up with had allowed her to keep it for quite a while. Mike laid down on her back and closed her eyes. She laid there listening to her brother's deep droning snores and the soft tap of rain against the roof of the tent for a long time before sleep took her.

Ralen lay on the floor of his tent, staring up at the roof as the rain pattered down on the fabric. It was a soothing sound, not unlike hearing the rain on panes of glass.

He closed his eyes and dreamed for the first time in a long while. His brothers were up to no good, pranking each other with their magical gifts and even Arien was there. What was Arien doing in the dream? But his brother remained as he had seen him--a young kid with black hair and a spit-fire personality. Ralen rolled a little in his sleep, as the dream took on a more ominous tone. They were all ganging up on Arien. He saw it now.

He woke up sometime in the early morning, pre-dawn, staring at nothing. A slight sheen of sweat covered him. Had he really been that cruel to his brother? Was that why Arien had left--not just the fact he was ungifted magically, or because their father had disowned him? Was it to protect him?

Ralen had no answers, and he finally emerged from his tent, forgetting to don his tunic. There was no point. The rain had stopped and the cooler morning air wasn't unpleasant. He went over to the burned-out fire and sat down, trying to coax the damp wood ash back into a fire, his thoughts still preoccupied with the dream.

Mike had slept through the night, only waking once to use the privy. After Ralen, Caleb was the next to really wake up. He wasn't the used to so much quiet. The fighter pulled off his night shirt and put on the same yellow shirt he'd worn the day before and the same pants before heading out of his tent. He left his armor laying on the floor for now. It was heavy and he spent too much time in it according to Mike.

"Morning," he called quietly to Ralen, "You alright?" The other man looked a bit ill and Cae hoped they wouldn't be delayed getting to the next town. A town meant a proper bed to sleep on, for a fee, instead of borrowing the animal's bags of feed for mattresses. Also if memory served he and Mike had been through the up coming town some weeks before and certain set of twins maiden would be disappointed if Cae didn't visit them while passing by that way.

The fighter walked over and sat down by Ralen. "Mike should be up soon," he said, "If you don't get a fire started soon we can wake up. If he's not up before the sun we'll wake him anyway."

Ralen started a little when Caleb hailed him and he looked up, just in time to miss the smoke rising--and what brief flicker of flame had started, went out.

He sighed. "I'm fine. Didn't sleep too well, is all. But I've had worse." He returned to the fire, determined to start a fire before Mike got up.

"Did you fare all right last night?" Ralen asked, noting the lack of armor that Caleb wore and grinned. "You look like you weight eighty pounds less than yesterday."

"That's funny," the fighter said, "Think this is the first time in months I haven't fallen asleep to sounds of Mike puttering around doing something. Good for him to get some sleep once in a while. Shame you didn't, though." The young man laughed and nodded, "I just might have. I don't remember how much all that stuff weighs anymore. Had to modify it some. Real knights have a squire or somebody to help them get it all on. Normally you can't up it on yourself. Had to fix that not long after I got it. Still takes a while to get it all on though."

Mike woke an hour later. She washed her face with a bit of water from one of her waterskins and quickly began reassembling her disguise. One part out of place could cause her to be found out. And many places held a death penalty for women who lived their lives pretending to be men. She wasn't sure if the punishment was as high for men pretending to be women, but doubted those places thought much of that either. The wizard whistled a cheery tune to herself as she exited her tent. "Good morning," she called to the two men seated around the fire pit. "Need any help getting breakfast started?" she asked them.

Ralen smiled at Caleb. "You never know; you seem to be clever with your hands at least."

By the time Mike got up, Ralen had a fire going. He gestured at the flickering flames proudly. "Hey look, I got it going. We could use water though." They could always use more water. It was ridiculous. "If Caleb watches the fire, I'll get breakfast going." Since Mike cooked last night, he'd offer to take breakfast.

He grabbed some dried meat, bacon surprisingly enough, and cheese and bread, settling it in a pan to fry up. "Seems like you slept well," he said to Mike with a tentative smile.

“How are you children getting along?” Mike joked as she came to sit down between the two men. She was a few months shy of being eight years older than Ralen and was thirteen years older than Cae which as a man earned her some respect and plenty of excuse to pick on her brother and their host. For a woman she’d be an old maid, but she rarely though about that sort of thing. Though it had crossed her mind more often since she’d began to plot against Ralen and dress up like a girl once they got to a town.

“Not enough soup left or you saving that for lunch?” she asked seeing that Ralen was making more food. “Are we stopping at the next town for long or just passing through?” she asked the rich man. If they didn’t stop for long her plan would have to wait for the next town or she’d need to think of a new plan. She wasn’t looking for anything serious, just a little affectionate attention and since the man was going to be stuck with her for two weeks and didn’t seem to mind her picking on him he was already heads and shoulders above most other men she could have picked to try and have a womanly moment with.

“I slept quite well, actually. First time in ages,” she said cheerfully. “It was so quiet,” Cae told his sibling, “It was creepy.” Mike ignored her brother’s comment. “Where do you need water?” she asked Ralen.

"Well, the soup can wait until the next pit-stop to warm up there. Breakfast though will keep us moving until then."

As for the water comment, he grinned. "What, my royal prettiness needs a bath, lest the people in the next town smell me coming before we get there."

More seriously he added. "Although I guess with your water powers we probably don't need water from the stream." He flipped the bacon, bread and cheese over, hearing it sizzle. "And we'll stop for a night at the next town, if it's okay with you and Caleb. We'll need to restock our supplies some and," he grinned, "I miss my featherbed."

He dished out the breakfast. "Eat up," he said. "And then we'll move on out. And Mike, if you'd do the honors of putting out the fire...and Caleb the dishes?" Ta-da. Camping wasn't so hard after all!

“M’lady, I did not know you possessed such boldness, to offer to undress your pretty self before me,” Mike teased Ralen. “It wont harm anything to top off own waterskins before we leave,” she said more seriously. “You think you have it all figured out, don’t you?” she teased the rich man, “You’re forgetting a few things. We have to break down the camp. Pack up the tents, tend to the animals, feed, water and whatever else needs doing so they can carry us where we’re going. We’ll need a way to carry the soup without loosing it. And before we enter any towns,” she turned to her brother now, “Someone will need to take a bath or he wont get much wenching done.” The fighter blushed and gave his brother a rough shove causing her to bump against Ralen. “Do we all get featherbeds or will you be treating yourself better than us?” she asked him with a smile. She didn’t think she’d ever slept on a featherbed, but once many years ago and that was under an unusual situation.

Ralen laughed at Caleb's reaction before smirking. "Undress myself? We're all men, aren't we? Nothing any of us hasn't seen. But maybe for your delicate selves, I'll refrain from doing so. Besides that water was a little nippy."

But Mike was right. There was a little more to breaking camp than just leaving after the dishes were washed.

"I'll go get the horses ready in that case and...yes--or no, rather. Featherbeds for all of us. We deserve it after last night and tonight and tomorrow night. We'll probably have to make do with a single and double."

"I don't know, Mike's a bit mangled looking," Cae chuckled. Mike laid a hand on his neck and the young man yelped in pain and pulled away. He rubbed at the slightly burn on her neck and glared at his big brother. "Single and double rooms or beds?" Mike asked as she shoved a folded up strip of bacon in her mouth and set to washing the dishes. She tired not to sound nervous. If she had to share a room with the two of them she would have to sleep with all her clothes on and be extra sneaky for her plan to have any chance of working.

Ralen just laughed, making a face as Mike took vengeance on Caleb via a burn. He made a mental note not to make Mike too mad at him.

"Um, we'll price them and see what's cheaper. But generally we can get one room with two beds and one with one...unless we can find a triple--but those are near impossible to find. And cost a fortune. Why...are you tired of sharing a tent with Caleb?"

Caleb grinned, “I plan to spend the night with you two so it doesn’t matter what you spend your coin on. Sure I’ll be passing up a featherbed for a night, but I know two someones that will make up for that loss quite nicely.” Mike rolled her eyes at her brother. “Thanks for that mental image,” she grumbling making at face at him. “The Leaky Bucket is cheap if we’re going where I think we are, but it’s little better than a public house,” Mike told Ralen, “For too many undesirables for your ladyship to endure the presence of.” She fell silent and focused on cleaning the dishes without giving a reason for why she didn’t want to share a room. "If it's a matter of money," she said at last, "I'll pay for my own room." Caleb tilted his head at his big brother. "Really? I'd thought you'd be jumping for joy at getting to share a bed with Ralen," he teased. Mike blushed red unable to tell the warrior off. Caleb had a point, but no matter how fond she was becoming of their host - a night with him was not worth the price of her life.

Ralen snickered as they began to clean up the campsite. "Nothing wrong with that," he said, winking at Caleb. "Kid's smart at least--why pay for your bed when you can get one for free. But no, I'm not a skin-flint. If you want your own room, very well."

He added, half under his breath but loud enough for Mike to hear, "Besides that, I toss and turn a lot."

It took only a matter of minutes to break down the tent, as opposed to setting it up, and he shortly had it packed once again on his mare.