SoulGemmed Mailbox

[oathshackledbird]

You have found the Mailbox of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Lancer).  If you have business with me, please leave a message and I will return it as soon as possible.

Comments

[crosslaced]

[Diarmuid appears both sympathetic and angry. Man and horse, lacking either brain capacity or social experience to understand this upset, are both flummoxed. Laurent reaches to pat his horse, to calm her down, though his own hard expression suggests an unwillingness to do the same.]

So this is my fault.

[The blonde is silent for a while, his blue eyes vacant with thought, one hand perfectly still in a vicegrip on Maribelle’s reins.]

Let us outside, and I'll give you an answer.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid shakes his head and sighs. As he does, the house shifts once more so that the three are suddenly standing only a few feet from the door.]

Does it really have to be someone's fault? It was an accident, even if it was one that could have been avoided.

[With a small wave of his hand, the door swings open. Best to let the jumpy man with the horse go first.]

After you.

[crosslaced]

[He quickly leads Maribelle out of the house, out if the yard, and onto the street before turning back. Interestingly, his position puts him squarely between Diarmuid and the horse.]

Don't touch me.

[Is that it….]

You can figure out the rest as we go along. Don't worry, I'm not some weepy royal child who cries at the sight of an insult.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid raises an eyebrow at him.]

I wasn't going to?

[He can't he but sign when he hears Laurent's 'solution,' though. Really, he should have expected it, but what does he say in response? Diarmuid isn't sure and so his response is soft, almost tentative.]

You realize this is about more than you, right? You may not weep, but that doesn't mean my heart won't weep for you each time I stumble into something that pains you.

[crosslaced]

[Momentarily Laurent's expression is readable. It reads ‘blindsided?? and,, confused???????’.

(There's a slight flush too, obvious on his pale skin, that suggests he might be the least bit affected [and furiously denying it.]) ]

I can't- I'm not a good person to be around. [The words are pushed out, with effort.] If it affects you that badly you should leave.

[emotions are so hard…...]

And- I meant, I don't like being touched. You asked.

[oathshackledbird]

I remember the dream--what happened to him--and I still don't believe that about you.

[Slowly, Diarmuid makes his way down the front stairs bringing himself a little closer to Laurent and the horse. Closer, but not too close. He couldn't reach out and touch either of them even if he tried.]

Bad things happen to good people, and sometimes, they even twist those people into things they never wanted to be. I won't hold that against you no matter how much you want me to.

I won't touch you if you don't want it, but a world without touch is a lonely place, a place no one deserves to be no matter what they have done.

cw: some sexual language?

[crosslaced]

No-

[no. The word is soft, distinctly agitated.

I still don't believe that about you.

no-

The last time someone had said that- he is false, and you are true- it had almost cost him his life, it had cost Laurent a wish. Too much cost. It could happen again.

Maribelle broadcasts his emotion for him, her ears pricked and twitching nervously. Something is wrong with her human. But perhaps even at that distance Diarmuid can pick it up himself- that's what empath means, right- distress.]

Are you suggesting we fuck? I get that a lot-

[He’s not thinking.]

I- I have to go.

[Awful excuse. If anything, he's freed up his schedule in anticipation of dying. He's getting on Maribelle and fleeing if he's not interrupted.

Disaster. What a disaster. He can't think, not after whatever the fuck that was. It frightens him.]

[oathshackledbird]

[The distress rolls into Diarmuid's mind like some kind of fog. At first, he thinks someone else nearby must be the cause. After all, he can't imagine why his words would have caused such a reaction from Laurent. This is doubly true considering how much the blond tends to hide behind his walls. Why distress? Why so strong it borders on fear?

When Laurent finally speaks--finally moves--there is no doubt that the emotion is coming from him. That realization in and of itself is enough to shock Diarmuid into stillness, then the meaning of the other man's words hit him and Diarmuid's mind completely derails.]

W-what are you talking about?

[The question comes too late, though. Whether it only took seconds or minutes for Diarmuid to finally get the words out of his mouth, Laurent has already gone. Climbed on his horse in a blink of an eye and gone.

Diarmuid blinks at the sudden departure, hand rubbing over his mouth as he tries and fails to figure out what just happened. Where had he gone wrong? Why...]

Why does kindness scare him so?

[The words are whispered for no one in particular. Even so, Diarmuid really wishes an answer would come. There is no answer, though. Only silence.]