Leaves of Time [Maccenna]

[Poker]

Poker sat on the bench of the park. It was one of the most quiet places in the city, and Poker found it the best place to think when he was sober.

With a sigh, he lay down on the bench, looking up at the tree above him. The leaves were falling off it and floating down onto the ground. He could hear them rustling across the ground, dancing lightly as they were caught in a long tango with the slight breeze drifting up from the ocean.

Poker could feel his neck, but for once, he didn't care. He felt himself over it, and regretted how he had acted before. He forced the thought out of his head and closed his eyes. Listening to the leaves on the ground. So insignificant, just floating through life and time, never noticed, never wept for.

Poker smiled slightly, but it was a sad smile. He was having one of his deepest moments of thought. One he hadn't had since the Basilisk, and Poker was loving his mind's freedom.

Poker only opened his eyes again when the sound of cracking leaves by the end of the bench caught his attention. He craned his neck so that he was looking upside down at the person who had walked into the park.

[Maccenna]

There was a stillness around her that Maccenna had never felt before; a serene peace beyond the life she knew. It felt as if there was no conflict in the world when she stepped into the park, as if it's boundaries protected her from the hate and lies that she heard every day.

She put her hand against the trunk of a thick oak that marked the park's entrance and looked up into it's tangled boughs and branches. The leaves that conected to them hung in a delicate balance between the ground and the air, shifting ever so slightly as the cool Ocean breeze, filled with the boundless scents of salt and the wispy smell of the beach wood and the marine world, lifted itself off the coast and up the park to play with the leaves that lay lonely on the ground.

She gave as sigh as she continued forward. Why was she a pirate? What was it that kept her one? She did not drink or enjoy drinking and her speech showed signs of amenity and politeness- by far the opposite of the slured and tangled speech of a pirate. Her eyes looked to the clouds in the sky. Far beyond, she could see the fine line of the horizon, and could even make out a few specks that could pass as clippers or sloops. The cries of gulls could be heard, distant, but vibrent with the joy of being free. Freedom. That was why she was a pirate. The freedom to roam without bonds to the earth or the imprisoning order of laws and refinment; the freedom to do what she wanted when she wanted and however she wanted, without feeling guilt or regret- this was why she was here Tritern. To sail through the sea to the ends of the earth and to battle the rageful elements of the wind and rain- it was what she lived for...

Maccenna found a bench and began to head over to it when she saw it was already being occupied by another who took the pleasures of stretching across the whole thing. He craned his neck so that he was looking upside down at her. It looked rather ridiculous to Maccenna and she smiled. She bent over so that she could see his face clearly.

"Hello." She looked around and found no other benches around her. What good was a park if it only had one bench? Maccenna rolled her eyes at whatever genius designed it.

"I'm sorry... but," She felt like she was rather intruding on the boy's personal space and decided to drop the subject. Asking him to move was rather rude, so she found a tree next to the bench and sat down infront of it, hugging her knees as she leaned against it's rough surface.

"What brings you here?" She asked. She was not one for bringing up conversation. She was more content to sit and listen to communions, quarrles and agreements others had only voicing her opinions when she felt strongly about something or she was asked for imput. She looked at the boy who was still pleasurably layed across the bench.

[Poker]

Poker tried not to laugh as the girl went and sat by the trunk of the tree. He did smile though, even if it could have been considered sly. He sat up on the end of the bench so he was looking directly at the girl now sitting by the tree. She couldn't have been much older than him, but she walked with the maturity of an adult.

"I come to the park to think." Poker said, not really anserwing much of what she had asked. He didn't need to explain his neck and the basilisk to this girl. He didn't want to talk about it and he doubted she wanted to hear it. The throb in his neck was present, but Poker pushed it to the back of his mind while talking to this girl.

"Do you want to sit here?" Poker asked, aloofly moving his hand towards the now unoccupied part of the bench.

[Maccenna]

"Actually, that would be really nice." answered Maccenna to his rather detatched offer. She rose from underneath the base of the tree she was sitting under and dusted herself off before walking around to the other side of the bench that was open and sitting upon its very edge.

"So you come here to think?" Maccenna reflected, rapping her fingers upon her knees. She never really went anywhere to think. She found it easy to think when ever and where ever she was. Actually, it was only a passing fancy that had brought her by this park at all for she never visited parks or monuments or temples. They never really struck her as interesting. She looked up at the leaves falling from the canopy of trees above. Maccenna had thought it would be nice to see a presumably more peaceful side of the rougish town Tritern before she headed back to the seas and into another battle. For a while, shhe remained quiet as she looked about her and watched the clouds roll through the sky.

When she looked back at the boy sitting next to her, she noticed a scar on his neck. Her eyes flickered with curiosity, but she decided not to ask any questions about it- not yet. If Poker thought she was not interested, he was dead wrong. Maccenna was an intently curious person. She wanted to know about anything that looked remotely interesting. Sometimes, she could get herself into a tight mess because of her curiosity, but it was always worth it in the end.

"Oh.. I'm sorry!" Said Maccenna, not liking the silence that preceded. "I forgot! My name is Maccenna." She smiled at him. "I don't think we have met yet."

[Poker]

Poker smiled, contently watching her look up at the canopy. He should have been feeling insanely nervous, but for some reason he felt at peace. Perhaps it was because he had been so peaceful before. Or perhaps it was just her.

When she looked back at him, he quickly diverted his eyes, suddenly fascinated by a leaf on the ground. He didn't want to creep her out by eyeballing her. But the fact that she was looking at him made him feel self-conscience. He fought the force of habit to pull his collar higher, above his scars. He didn't want attention drawn to them.

Maccenna. Poker thought. It was a beautiful name, to go with a beautiful face, but Poker couldn't bring the compliment out. They were caught uncomfortably in his throat.

So instead, he held out his hand to shake. "I'm Poker."

[Maccenna]

Maccenna looked at his hand a second and then shook it. She smiled kindly at him again and then looked away toward the horizon.Maccenna, though most of the times quiet, was very stubborn. Even when she did not conciously know it, she was stubborn and thus one could call her stubbornly oblivious now.

She had been around men all her life, but she had been around men as if she were a man. She was never treated differently from the crew, and she had very little female influence thrust upon her. Hence, she lacked in alot of the strong female intuition that most others had. Maccenna had a strong sence for danger but she could not have guessed Poker's thoughts even if they were revealed on his face as plainly as the sky above them.

"so..." She was running out of things to say. As mentioned earlier, she wasn't one for starting conversations. It was quite a strain of her for she hardly ever did speak to anyone unless it involved planning or schemeing, battles or sailing.

For a while, she sat there in silence and then turned to him again." Sorry, Poker... I'm not one for speeking too much... if you know what I mean. It doesn't look like you like to speak much either.."

She drifted off wondering if he would take that as a compliment or insult and half wishing she hadn't said it at all. But one can never take back their words once they have spoken them.

[Poker]

Poker shifted closer to her, almost inconspicuously, not sure whether he wanted Maccenna to notice or not. He wasn't quite sure why he was suddenly having feelings that were growing stronger concerning her. It was doubtless begun with her physical attraction. Her body had intriqued Poker, to say the least.

Now that he was talking to her, even scantly, she seemed to be growing more attractive. Her voice was music. So rich and sweet.

But all these things that Poker could have said were lost in his head, never reaching his lips and the ears of the girl sitting just across the bench from him.

"It's alright." He said, looking at her when she looked away. Her eyes were beautiful. "Sometimes people don't need to talk. . ." He could have continued with that train of words, but his tongue suddenly became numb. So instead he just smiled and looked down, at a loss of what else he could say.

Why was stringing words together so hard?

[Maccenna]

Maccenna heard the bench creak as Poker moved alittle closer to her, but did not look at him as she stared off into the sky, her eyes tracing the whispy clouds as she thought about the words Poker had just said. Sometimes you don't need to talk...

She repeated it over and over in her head, but the thought still seemed distant to her. Maccenna had always used her voice to comunicate. She never used her eyes or her body language to speak for her, though she may have used it to re- affirm her speech. She never thought about not speaking to voice something. It seemed utterly foriegn, but at the same time, Poker's thought seemed very deep to her and she felt it though she could not quite understand it.

"That was a very deep thought." She said to him after a moment of returning the words in her head. No man she had ever met spoke so deep. Geddo was a pratical man. He was clever and cunning and had a mind for ruling but but he never thought about things that were still a mystery or a wonder to man Kind. Allessio Khalora was a strong man:just and kind and Maccenna was pretty sure he could have thought up something like that but his mind was always bent on military and fighting tactics. There were others she met who acted the same way.

She didn't meen to stereotype her own kin, but it seemed as if most pirates were more shallow thinking and looking to the day ahead, or else their minds were just too diluted. Live life and love it was how she learned it.

[Poker]

Poker could have sword out loud as the chair creaked when he moved closer. Just his luck, subtle movements made obvious by a shoddy bench. He was sure Maccenna must have noticed, but if she did she hid it well. Poker didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Thank you. . ." Poker said, not knowing what else he could say. He had never thought of himself as someone who said things deeply, he just spoke what came to mind.

The conversation felt awkward, at least it did for Poker, he couldn't have told what Maccenna was thinking, even if he had sat and looked at her eyes were the rest of the day. Her emotions were well hidden beneath her faultless face.

Poker smiled sadly as, at the most inopportune time, his mind went completely blank as of what to say. Finally, an obvious question came to mind.

"Have you lived in Tritern your whole life?"

[Maccenna]

Maccenna laughed to herself at the thought of living in one place. She smiled at him and answered simply, "I don't really have a home that I have stayed in for too long, so no... I have not lived here my whole life." She turned to face him and tilted her head upwards as she thought about what she was going to say before voicing it slowly, "I don't really know where I came from. I traveled to many places and I left my parents and my own home with them when I was nine. Before that, we were always moving. My father seemed to attract the guard where ever he went, and even if we didn't want to leave, he would make us go with him. Before that time when I was nine and I left my father and family forever, I was nothing but a thieving waif. Origin and the meaning of where I was born and who I was never mattered to me then. It could have been possible that I was born here though, but chances are slim."

"Have you lived here all your life Poker?" She asked a little tentively when she noticed a strange look in his eyes and suddenly fell quiet and turned away.

[OOC: Sorry.. Short, lame post... xp]

[Poker]

[ooc: XD A lot of lame posts will appear in this thread most like. . . hahaha]

Poker smiled, having finally got her talking. He tried to divert his eyes, so he didn't come off as creepy, but he couldn't manage it. When she smiled, he felt a warm rush rising in his body and finally looked away for a moment, smiling in what he felt was a stupid grin.

He looked back when she tilted her head upwards, giving him a view of her neck. . . and her chest.

Poker listened to Maccenna's history intently, wanting to know more and more about her, for reasons he couldn't have explained. When it was his turn to speak, Poker breathed in and began talking about his own, slightly less interesting history.

"I've always lived here." Poker said airily, remembering his past. "I can't really remember my parents, I don't think I was a wanted child so I grew up helping people where I could to earn my way through life. If you could call the barkeepers or farmers I worked for parents than they were my own. I never spared much thought for my true heritage. People say I might have Ice Warrior blood in me, because of my eyes, but I don't believe it. I'm a pirate, through and through."

Poker suddenly realised that Maccenna was purposely looking away because of the look he was giving. Great. Poker forced the smile to leave, trying to act normal around her.

[Maccenna]

Maccenna chanced a quick glance over her shoulder as Poker began his brief story, but it seemed hardly a glance at all. It only lasted for a quick second as Maccenna quickly studied him and turned away. She got a strange feeling that Poker was treating her alittle differently than other aquaintances would and she had a feeling for what it was but quickly covered up a subject deep in her mind with another intersting thought brought up by their conversation.

It had occurred to her how many people who were pirates now, lived a less privileged life as a child. She wondered if this was why so many pirates were unruly and slightly rude- because their educatioon limited them, and wondered if others suffered familiar childhoods as well. While she thaught about this, she became more and more conciously aware of Poker and she suddenly was afraid to look him in the eyes. That strange thought nagged in the corners of her mind, the one she had tried to forget by thinking of pirates and their childhoods, but could not get rid of. Was there something more to her in the eyes of Poker?

She did not know and she did not want to ask, but not knowing was perhaps more awkward to her than knowing for she knew his thoughts that way and was safe from unsureness.

The lines on the palm of her hands suddenly became very interesting and Maccenna began to trace them with her eyes, afraid to speak yet.

[Poker]

[ooc: It's okay. You aren't that bad.]

Poker finished his story and sat in silence. The world around them seemed to have become less interesting. The wind had died down, the sounds of the town were dim and distant. There were no other living creatures save for Poker and Maccenna, sitting in silence in the park of drifting leaves.

Poker couldn't help but look at her. Her skin seemed to radiant light itself as she looked down at her hand. Her lips were full, her hair long and beautiful and her eyes were so beautiful Poker soon found himself drowned within them.

He was smiling again, and he couldn't make the smile leave. No words had been spoken for a while, and he wasn't sure that words were needed anymore. He was quite content to just look into her eyes.

Poker inched his way closer, trying to make it more inconspicuous this time, though he wasn't sure if he wanted her to notice or not.

[Maccenna]

Maccenna chanced a swift look at Poker and then turned away only to look at him again and this time, fully.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked. Maccenna had a feeling she knew what it was, but she would have rather not asumed it to be true. She became extreemly nervous and looked away again.

The sky was starting to turn a tinted pink as the sun began to set, but Maccenna did not watch the silohettes of seagulls wheeling about in the sky, like she would have done, for her mind was somewhere else and it wondered further and further away from how she usually acted.

She suddenly became extreemly self concious; something she had never been before....

[another shorty.. sorry X ]

[Poker]

Poker breathed in slightly before answering her question. he couldn't think of a decent answer. Some many things he wanted to say rushed through his mind, but suddenly the distance between his mind and his mouth was too long.

"Why am I smiling?" He repeated, looking down at the ground before looking back up at Maccenna's eyes. "I often smile at the things I find beautiful."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Poker realised how stupid they sounded to him. The answers that had been forming in his mind instantly became random curses.

"I-er," Poker smiled, biting his lower lip in a mix of frustration and nervousness. He didn't know what to say.