"...don't you agree?"
His mouth was dry. He could hear the blood coursing through his veins with each beat of his heart. In the hazy periphery that had formed in his vision, he saw the slightly nervous movements of the ladies he'd been speaking to. With a blink, Enzo shook his head slightly, allowing his well practiced smile to take a slightly bashful tone as he tore his eyes away from the black carriage that had just approached the line.
"My apologies, Lady Portia. I was just so dazzled by your lovely earrings. May I?" he asked, stepping forward as the lady blushed slightly. Moving to her side, he gently grasped the dangling pearl, ensuring that his finger just slightly grazed the skin of her neck. Turning to the other ladies, each old enough to be his mother. "They bring out her eyes, do they not?" he asked, eliciting nods from all. "Your husband is a lucky man. Oh, and I see he has come to collect you."
Enzo took Lady Portia's gloved hand and hovered a kiss over the knuckles. He then bid farewell to the ladies and turned back to the line of carriages, eyes searching quickly. But it had gone. Or perhaps it had never been there at all. Had he imagined it? The clock at the opposite end of the square chimed the hour and Enzo found himself desperately scanning the faces of all who turned to walk inside. He could already be in there, Enzo thought. Or... Had he imagined it? A man, turned away too quickly, but with just the same cut to his beard as Tiberius has worn.
Enzo stepped quickly to follow the crowd inside, trying to catch sight of the man once again. There, beyond a family parading their line of newly of age daughters like so many ducks on their way to a pond. The right height and build. The same color hair. Speaking with a very round and red nosed old man. Enzo circled, hands straightening imagined wrinkles from his doublet, until the man's face came into view and his steps stopped abruptly.
Had time stopped in all the rest of Thedas, leaving only Tevinter to age while the barrier stood. Time had not touched Tiberius. Much of the tension that had been holding Enzo rigid melted off of him and he breathed deeply as an unconscious smile pulled at the corners of his lips. Six years... He'd not known if Tiberius was alive or dead, if he was happy. The round old man was walking away now and gravity pulled Enzo closer.
"Has Orlais been hiding a fountain of youth?" Enzo said, his gaze starting at Tiberius' boots and climbing upward until he gazed into his face, smile pulling one side of his mouth up slightly. "If so, blight be damned, we should invade tomorrow.
His mouth was dry. He could hear the blood coursing through his veins with each beat of his heart. In the hazy periphery that had formed in his vision, he saw the slightly nervous movements of the ladies he'd been speaking to. With a blink, Enzo shook his head slightly, allowing his well practiced smile to take a slightly bashful tone as he tore his eyes away from the black carriage that had just approached the line.
"My apologies, Lady Portia. I was just so dazzled by your lovely earrings. May I?" he asked, stepping forward as the lady blushed slightly. Moving to her side, he gently grasped the dangling pearl, ensuring that his finger just slightly grazed the skin of her neck. Turning to the other ladies, each old enough to be his mother. "They bring out her eyes, do they not?" he asked, eliciting nods from all. "Your husband is a lucky man. Oh, and I see he has come to collect you."
Enzo took Lady Portia's gloved hand and hovered a kiss over the knuckles. He then bid farewell to the ladies and turned back to the line of carriages, eyes searching quickly. But it had gone. Or perhaps it had never been there at all. Had he imagined it? The clock at the opposite end of the square chimed the hour and Enzo found himself desperately scanning the faces of all who turned to walk inside. He could already be in there, Enzo thought. Or... Had he imagined it? A man, turned away too quickly, but with just the same cut to his beard as Tiberius has worn.
Enzo stepped quickly to follow the crowd inside, trying to catch sight of the man once again. There, beyond a family parading their line of newly of age daughters like so many ducks on their way to a pond. The right height and build. The same color hair. Speaking with a very round and red nosed old man. Enzo circled, hands straightening imagined wrinkles from his doublet, until the man's face came into view and his steps stopped abruptly.
Had time stopped in all the rest of Thedas, leaving only Tevinter to age while the barrier stood. Time had not touched Tiberius. Much of the tension that had been holding Enzo rigid melted off of him and he breathed deeply as an unconscious smile pulled at the corners of his lips. Six years... He'd not known if Tiberius was alive or dead, if he was happy. The round old man was walking away now and gravity pulled Enzo closer.
"Has Orlais been hiding a fountain of youth?" Enzo said, his gaze starting at Tiberius' boots and climbing upward until he gazed into his face, smile pulling one side of his mouth up slightly. "If so, blight be damned, we should invade tomorrow.
04-29-2024, 09:31 AM
