Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Elves of All Kinds (1x1)

(Going to bed, I'll post before work tomorrow!)

Saelhil studied her. "Everything in your childhood was planned out, wasn't it? Your schooling, your etiquette, the people you could be friends with?" He tilted his head a bit. "Were you raised to not have a mind of your own?"

Raeliel stared at him when he posed his last question. "Yes, everything was planned out. Saelhil, a woman is never supposed to have a mind of her own. When she is a child, she must follow the rules of her father. When she is a woman, she must follow the rules of her husband. Those two men are the ones who make the decisions in her life. The only decisions she should make on her own are ones of housework." Saelhil would probably be surprised if she admitted that she had much more of a 'mind' than the other women in her town.

(Boop Your post! It's okay if you're busy, just making sure you knew I posted ^^)

{I'm so sorry for not being online the past week... School is a bit more hectic than I remember. This is probably how it's going to be all year, so I understand if you may want to leave, or at least take a hiatus from this until the summer. I'm so sorry ;;}

(It's totally okay! I'm having a busy first day too, it's been incredibly crazy. We can just keep it going and post as possible, it's okay if you get too busy to post for a while. Just post if you find yourself with the time, and I'll do the same Stay strong!)

"How horrid and discriminating..." Saelhil murmured, shaking his head slightly. He studied Raeliel for just a moment, then inhaled deeply. He supposed if you grew up in such a way, it would seem normal to not have to think for yourself. Had he been treated like her as a child, he might have turned out completely different, personality wise. He wouldn't be so adventurous and curious, he considered, if his parents had disciplined him to act in the way Raeliel had been raised.

This brought up another question in his mind... If and when he and Raeliel ever had a child or children, how would they raise it? In the way of the natural elves, or would Raeliel inherently treat the child as she had been treated? For a moment, Saelhil dreaded the thought of having a daughter, thinking of how Raeliel might treat her, or how Raeliel's father might react to his granddaughter should she had been raised as a natural elf. Would he reject the child? What if it was a boy? Would he be raised with the mannerisms of the men in Raeliel's town, or would he be rambunctious and outgoing, also earning disrespect from his maternal grandfather? Saelhil quickly shook his head, trying to clear his mind. It would be a long while until they had any children, if they ever did. They would deal with such things later.

Raelhil sighed and looked away at his words. "...in a way, yes." The silence that followed was very uncomfortable. While Saelhil's mind was on children, Raelhil's mind was on all the lies she had been fed through her whole life. When he started shaking his head, though, she looked over at him. "What? What is it?" What was he shaking his head at? Her? She couldn't help but wonder if maybe he held contempt for her. It was so very difficult for her to accept that he actually might care for her.

Saelhil watched her. "Hm?" She must have seen him shake his head. "Oh, well, nothing, I suppose. Nothing important, at least not for a while." He offered a small smile to her.

Raelhil looked at him carefully, scrutinizing, then she let it go. She turned her attention to the water that they were swimming in. It was nice, not cold but not hot. "So..." She looked at him. It was odd. Being together, just the two of them. What were they supposed to talk about? She honestly wasn't sure. "I wonder if it's always going to be like this. Being...at a loss for words, and not in such a good way."

"I don't think so," Saelhil said quietly, gliding a hand over the water for a moment, before widening his smile. "We did only meet about a week ago. That isn't much time to be comfortable with being married." He moved around in the water a bit, letting himself relax.

Raelhil gave a soft chuckle. "Has it really been only a week? I can't believe it. It feels like so much longer.." She looked down at the water, then at Saelhil as he moved around in the water. He was such an interesting person. "...So nothing of your life was planned for you, Saelhil? Until our marriage?" Since he was so shocked about her life being planned, that must be the case, she felt.

"That is correct." Saelhil moved easily through the water, but paused to look at her. "My parents let me do almost anything I wanted, as long as I didn't get myself killed..." He chuckled slightly. "Needless to say, I learned a lot of life lessons the hard way. In hindsight, it may not be the best way to raise a child, but my parents loved me, and they never let any serious harm come to me."

(LOL I just realized I've been spelling her name as 'Raelhil'... This is what school does to my brain.)

Raeliel listened to him and sighed wistfully. "That must have been wonderful. To do anything you wanted. Anything at all." She looked at him. "Life lessons? Well..I guess that makes sense. But it'd probably be better to learn them the hard way than by being told 'this is wrong, don't do it'. Because then you are always wondering if it's really as bad as they say." She sighed. "I was told not to climb trees because it's not lady-like. Then I climb one with you and nearly break your back." She drew her finger along the water. "Maybe they were right with that one."

"They weren't right," Saelhil said with a definite nod. "It was only your first time. You will be a natural at it in no time at all."

{Sorry for such short responses... My brain is so dead xD}

Raeliel listened to him. "If you say so." She watched him, then froze. "Sael!!" She reached over and grabbed him, pulling him down under the water with her. She surfaced after a moment and watched the large wave that just passed them. "Are you okay?"

Saelhil coughed a bit when he came up, having not taken a breath before being pulled down. He looked at the wave, then laughed cheerfully. "Mm! I'm fine. Thank you for saving me." He grinned at her, still chuckling. He coughed a bit more, and his nostrils burned a bit, but he honestly didn't really care, as he was used to such things. "Are you alright? The water gets a bit rough as the tide comes in."

Raeliel nodded, smiling a little when he asked about her. "I'm fi--" Like bad karma, she was suddenly flipped underwater by a smaller wave snatching up her legs in a tide. She would have surfaced fine, but another wave caught her and swirled her around before she could get to the surface. Uh-oh.

Saelhil was pushed forward a bit, but before the next wave could hit him he drew in a quick breath and dived down, reaching out to get Raeliel. His fingers reached out and grasped strongly around her wrist, attempting to pull her against the tug of the current, upwards to the surface.

Raeliel felt the strong hand around her wrist and she grasped onto it desperately. She was able to rise out of the water, choking and sputtering. "We should get out." she managed to breathe out at some point. Water wasn't exactly her strong point. She couldn't swim very well. And that just didn't match well with the rough waters that were starting to come in. If he agreed, she'd carefully try to get back to shore, still holding onto his hand to keep herself from going under again.