Leaves of Time [Maccenna]

[Maccenna]

Maccenna lost her composture when she heard Poker's words and fell off the bench onto the crisp leaf bedded grass. She knew something like this was coming, but it struck her harder when he said it.. "I- what?" she asked looking up at him from the ground. Her face was extreemly red now, partly from embrrassment and partly from a very secret happiness that filled her and though she felt rather elated from it, she hid it well under a mask of shock.

She brushed the hair that had fallen over her face back and quickly recovered herself,standing up and dusting herself off. "Well I- um..." She did not know really what to say. They had just met and she found herself at a loss for words.

Instead, she came around to the bench and sat down next to him.. "Well.. um... thank you, Poker." She gave him a rather embarrassed smile .

Her eyes studied him as she thought about what he had said. When he stuttered, she knew that he was greatly regretting what he had just told her. It must have been more embarrassing for him than it was for her to tell her how he felt. She seceretively did not mind his admiring her, but all the same it felt strange to her.

After a moment or so, she decided upon something that she had never done before. She leaned over and kissed him on his right cheek. It was more polite than anything else, but it had to mean something to him.

[Poker]

Poker didn't know what to think as Maccenna fell off the bench. Part of him found it humourous, another part wondered if he should feel hurt, another part again wanted to land beside her, laughing at her, or with her. But for some reason, this was someone Poker would have trouble poking fun at.

He should have done something, but instead he merely sat there, looking at Maccenna in a half-flirtatious, half-questioning look. Whatever it was about, Maccenna falling off the chair had made the atmosphere far more comfortable.

Finally, after a moment of looking at each other, Maccenna had kissed Poker on the cheek. He could have hoped for much more from her, he thought, aware of her body, but he knew this was a great start. He smiled and shifted closer, laying one of his hands over hers and looked up at her.

He could smell her from here, and it suddenly seemed the greatest thing he had ever smelt.

There faces were almost touching now and Poker could hear her breathing. Now was as good a time as any, Poker thought.

So in a spir-of-the-moment pluck of courage, Poker leaned further and pressed his mouth against Maccenna's.

[Maccenna]

[Gah! What to write... what to write... I don't know]

It was at that moment that Maccenna would forevever be lost to Poker. When he put his hand over hers, she flinched a little. They were just aquaintances after all and she did not know how to act. Then he leaned in close to her and kissed her. At first Maccenna wanted to fight. She gripped the seat with her hands but when she tried to pull away, she found that she couldn't. It was not because he held her there, but because she was suddenly entranced by him and could not pull away even if she wanted to. Her tightened hold loosened and soon all the tension, all the awekwardness she felt about the situation dissapeared. All she felt was Poker's passion as he kissed her and the world seemed to evaporate from her sight.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head back a little, letting her long golden locks fall so that they almost touched the bench and then, she was kissing him back. It was something that she wanted never to end; something she wanted never to forget.

Wether it was because it was the first time she had ever kissed anyone like this or whether there was just some instinct that told her that they should be together, she had never felt so elated or lifted in all her life. Only a vague thought that lingerd in her mind kept Maccenna from wrapping her arms around Poker's neck for she rembered his wound.

[Well, that was challenging...]

[Poker]

[ooc: Sorry to drag you into this. I'm just going through a phase of improving my romance writing. . . you wait soon I'll go into a war phase! XD At least we'll get some laughs out of this.]

Poker wrapped one hand around Maccenna, holding her waist, and pulled her closer to himself. He was suddenly very aware of the curves of her body pressed against his own. Her lips were moist and the taste of her mouth was the sweetest thing that Poker had ever tasted. Rum seemed bitter and dry in comparison to her lips and tongue.

Poker lifted his other hand to Maccenna's neck, underneath her hair. They were almost lying down now, and Poker hardly even noticed as the two of them over-balanced.

Until he was falling, and pulling her with him.

Poker landed on his back on the leaves laughing. For once he didn't feel embarrased. Just happy. All he could see was Maccenna, framed by the leaves falling from the sunlit canopy high above them, and Poker could imagine no sight more beautiful.

[Maccenna]

Maccena felt his hand come around her waist and with gentle strength, she felt him pull her into him so that she fit the curve of his body. She tilted her head back as his other hand rough and warm on her skin, came around to the back of her neck. IT was sudden when they fell off the bench and onto the crsip leaf riddled grass, but Maccenna hardly noticed for she had landed upon it softly. A feeling that started from her feet and spread through her entire body-one of which she never felt before- mande her feel weak and feverish.

She was still above him, laying on him, his hand still around her waist, gentle and firm, holding her to him. As average as he looked in other's eyes, Maccenna couldn't find him looking any less attractive than the sun itself. Her hands were on his chest as she looked down at him, her long hair trikling over her shoulders and ending to rest on Poker. She could feel his breathing and his pulse slow and steady while her own was fast and exhilerated. She suddenly stiffened in self conciousness ans Poker's luagh rippled through her own body. She lifted her head and looked around, "What?" she asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Her eyes came to rest on Poker's.

[Poker]

Poker felt so much more relaxed then he had five minutes ago. It seemed that he had known Maccenna for so long. They were old friends, perhaps in a past life, and their kinship had been rekindled.

Poker could feel her body against his own. Her body felt warm, and he fancied he could hear the beat of her heart, or was it just the beat of his own? He found it hard to move his eyes away from those of Maccenna, the beautiful form supportind herself on his own chest. Her hair was cascading down onto him, and her hands were on his chest, the warm feeling was invited by Poker.

He felt her stiffen, and didn't need to wait long to find out the answer as she asked the question of why he had laughed.

"Because. . ." Poker said, looking up at her, smiling with a mix of slyness and flirtation drifting across his face. Poker rolled over, effectively rolling himself and Maccenna in a circle where he was now above her, looking down upon her as she lay in the ground. Poker's voice lowered, and he leaned in closer. "I found myself so infatuated with you, I failed to notice us falling off a bench. What I see in you. . . it makes me laugh." Poker smiled, not unkindly and leaned further, to press his lips against hers again.

[Maccenna]

Maccenna felt his strength as he rolled her over to the ground. Now she was looking into his bright blue eyes, so intense compared to her own dark ones, her hair spread out around her head in the crisp grass. She listened to him, breathing softly, as he reflected on having fallen off the bench. She gave a quiet laugh as he dipped his head to kiss her again. "Well I fell off twice. That has to mean something..."she said softly. She lifted her head, only slightly, covering the distance between Poker's lips and her own kissing him gently before she laid her head back down on the ground, tilting it to the side so that the world before her was skewed to a strange angle.

"We're kissing in a park..." she wandered. For Maccenna, this was strange. It was a new sensation for her to be held or loved by another. She'd never kissed anyone before and on top of that, she had just met Poker. They were mere acquaintances and yet they acted like old friends. She didn't quite understand how or why they had ended up like this so fast on the ground together and not only that, she realized that they were kissing where anyone and everyone could see them or watch them which made her slightly uncomfortable.

[Poker]

Poker shook his head and laughed. "It's a skill." He said jokingly as she commented on falling off benches. But again he found himself silent for a while as he looked down at her. Silenced by her beauty. He sighed, not unhappily. To the contrary he was quite content to be laying with her as he was. Worrying about nothing and caring about less. The world was suddenly limited to the park, Poker and Maccenna. Poker didn't need to worry about Khalora, or the Ice Warriors, or his neck. None of it mattered.

Poker grinned slyly as she spoke again. "We could go somewhere else." Poker said, with every word dripping flirtation. "Somewhere more private perhaps?" Poker made no attempt to hide the innuendos in what he was saying. He trusted Maccenna would pick up on them too.

[Maccenna]

(I am a cruel person.. You'll have to wait it out... Mwhahaha!!!Your gonna have to work to get her hehe......)

Maccenna heard Poker's implied words as if he had said them plainly to her. She was perhaps oblivious to flirtation before she had met him but this time she could see it as clear as the day and shifted uncomfortably underneath him. Her voice became very serious. She treasured her body, and would not submit it willingly to just anyone. She looked away from him into the dewy blades of grass as she spoke.

"Well, I..." she faltered a bit, trying to carefully plan her words. It was not that she didn't want to be with Poker and do everything he asked. She did love him in a way, but she was completely and utterly afraid, afraid to give up her greatest gift to someone just yet. She was still young even though that perhaps in this era, most girls were married off and becoming women at her age. She gave a sigh. "I well-I-we just met..."

She wanted to give her body to him, but her mind screamed and pleaded against it, begging her to wiat and to think. She knew pirates all too well and though her heart didn't want to believe it, she wanted to make sure that she wasn't just a play thing to him. She did not want to be loved and then tossed aside as if she were meer entertainment, perhaps forced to take care of a child on her own. She had to make sure Poker was loyal to her first.

"Give me time to think..." she answered him softly. "Lets go somewhere and lets get something to eat... and then I'll give you an answer."

She highy doubted that her answer would change from her refusal now, but one could never know unless he tried. Perhaps by then, Maccenna would change her mind. It depended on charm and shows of loyalty. It would not take much to sway her....

[Poker]

[ooc: Hard to get xP xD]

Poker leaned back a bit as she began faltering for words and instantly knew he had chosen his own words poorly. He looked away from Maccenna's eyes and nodded as she spoke. Cursing silently at himself over and over again. What a stupid thing to say. He hadn't even known her an hour yet.

"I," Poker said, speaking slowly, taking so much more care to choose his words and keep his voice as impassive as possible. "I understand."

Poker submitted to what she wanted, knowing that what she wanted he had to give. He was not going to force her to do something. But he couldn't help that think that the outcome would have been otherwise if he had only spoke differently. He rolled off her, and stood up, offering his hand to pull her up with him. Poker noticed his collar had been moved during his frolicking, and hurridely lifted it again, hiding the scars that had been obvious. He could only hope she hadn't seen them. Poker tried desperately to find something to say to destroy the awkward silence descending rapidly towards them.

"Where do you like to eat?"

[Maccenna]

[yup... Haha! Embarrasing Poker is fun...]

Maccenna grabbed Poker's hand and pulled herself up, acting as if nothing previously had happend. She patted stray peices of grass and leaves off of her cloths and quickly braided her hair. It was almost second nature for her, but it was not until her fingers were at the end of the braid that she realized she had nothing to hold it in place, the blue sash she normally wore having been ripped and rendered useless. With an exasperated look, she let it fall down and it loosed as it fell past her shoulders. "Well.. that was pointless..." Maccenna's voice wondered off as she watched Poker swiftly cover his neck with a cuff.
"Why- what are you hiding??" she suddenly asked him. She came up a little closer. "Why are you wearing that dreary cloak?"

Maccenna gave him a concerned look and put her hands on her hips as she gave him a curious glare, half of her wanting to know what it was he was hiding, the other half wanting to know why he was hiding it from her.

[Poker]

Poker stood idly, wondering what he could do as she was braiding her hair. He felt he should be saying something to her, but nothing was forming in his mind, let alone making it's way down to his mouth.

Finally, he just smiled at her, on the verge of laughing when she figured out that she had nothing to hold it with.

But the smile passed as quickly as winter sunlight as she noticed his neck and stepped closer. Poker, out of instinct, stepped back. Away from questions. Away from Maccenna. Away from weakness and admitting it.

"It's nothing." Poker said, perhaps a little too quickly. All of a sudden, the pain in his neck that had gone unnoticed during his time with Maccenna came flooding back to him. Hot daggers filled his neck, stabbing from the inside, where Poker could not reach them. He frowned, not in anger but in pain. Why?

Poker forced himself to begin walking towards the market side of Tritern, where they could easily get food, and so his face was not turned to Maccenna. So she could not see the pain etched across his face, his weakness.

"So," Poker said, and even to him his voice sounded croaky. "Where do you want to eat?"

[Maccenna]

((Eat??? Uhhh.... Did they even have places to go and eat in those times???))

Maccenna scowled when Poker shrugged off her question and crossed her arms much like a child would do. The way he hurried his answer and explained nothing upset her greatly. It was not enough to feed her gnawing curiosity, and stubbornly, she glared at him. She noticed how pale he had gotten but ignored it. "Well I am not going anywhere until you tell me what that is." She was especially angry that he wouldn't tell her after what they had just been through. She did not pity him at all. She despised that either his lack in pride or his pride all together, held him back from something that did not seem shameful to her. Maccenna supposed it was a scar of some sort but why and how he got it was still a mystery to her. If she had a scar upon her, she would not have hidden it but would have worn it proudly, for most scars came from a show of bravery and, in her opinion, it definitely didn't show any signs of weakness.

She tapped her foot on the ground and thuogh Poker seemed to want to leave, she would not budge. "I can wait and eat later, Poker. I can last the whole night and the next if I have to. Don't hide it from me. I already know its a scar of some sort."

She threw her hair behind her shoulders, "For god's sake, uncover it and show it to me! IT is nothing to be ashamed of!"

[Poker]

[ooc: yeah. . . Markets existed. . . just not restuarants as such.]

"It's a scar!" Poker said, his voice raised and growing louder. His wide eyes glared over at Maccenna. "It doesn't matter how it got there!" Poker shook his head, and looked back down at the ground. His throat was on fire, and his voice was croaky. He suddenly regretted yelling, but he couldn't apologise. In Poker's mind he had done nothing wrong. She was prying.

Poker looked back up at Maccenna, his eyes no longer glaring, but quickly taking on a stony appearance, hiding whatever emotions he was thinking at the time. He still couldn't apologise, even after looking back up at her. He breathed in and let a long sigh escape from his nose. His throat hurt too much to bother talking much anymore so he kept his words simple. He often wondered if it would ever stop hurting to talk, yelling did not help him.

"If you aren't going to go." Poker said, almost coldly, "Then I guess I'll see you around some time." He was too proud to say anything else, to stubborn to sit with her as she pried, to secretive to tell her his past, and he loved her too much to continue yelling. There was nothing else he could do.

Poker nodded, wanting to say something, but nothing seemed suitable to say anymore. He diverted his eyes from her face and turned on his heel.

[Maccenna]

Maccenna cast her eyes to the ground when Poker yelled at her, slightly ashamed of herself. She hadn't realized how sensitive Poker was. She herself was not sensitive- at least she didn't think so. Part of her admired him for it, the other part disgusting him for it, but most of her was lost in a state of confusion that spanned halfway between admiration and more or less pity.It did not seem that Poker viewed some of the same things the same way that she did. The way she saw things in this situation were simple, but apparently not to Poker.

It would be wrong to say, though, that Maccenna saw everything simply. She only viewed somethings simply. All in all, Maccenna was a very deep thinker when she put her mind to it, her thoughts gnawing on wide worldly scopes that she did not quite understand as she tried to figure out their purposes. Little things, though, seemed to bemuse her. Little conflicts, that could be easily seen and sorted out in her mind had simple conclusions- simple resolutions. If she had been Poker, she would not have hidden it, but she would have worn it proudly-a scar- and tell the story that marked her with it.

But Maccenna was young and she had little pride. Poker may be the same age as herself, though she wasn't quite sure, but he certainly seemed to have a better view on the world than herself and perhaps, he had pride, unlike her to protect. She wouldn't have known how difficult it would have been to throw it away. IT was a matter of Maccenna's stubbornness that kept her in a haughty resistance to Poker. anger soon broiled within her.

"See me around sometime? See me around sometime?" She flared angrily. "Well fine! You're just so- so self absorbed in your own little world of self pity, you won't even tell me what's the matter! You're not the only person who suffers!" It was a horrible thing to say and a horrible comeback at that, but she didn't know what else to say. Maccenna stamped her foot, her eyes beginning to fill with hot tears. She looked away, and half thought about leaving. "It was just a question..." she said bitterly.