Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20140702211641/@comment-3293219-20140703211618

Set stood in his tent, staring at his wrist and noticing that the skin looked slightly irritated, like he had a rash or something. It made his wrists rather sensitive to the touch but he didn’t care about that, he was just confused about how they got so rope burned, when he did little to fight back against his restraints.

He was enjoying this tent so far, it was a large tent, that was almost like a house. It only had one room of course but that didn’t bother Set as he didn’t plan on having company any time soon. He didn’t plan to share it with his two brothers, mother and father again. It was strange though, because he got that exact same feeling, when he stood inside. The mountain air, the sound of the birds, the hustling and bustling of the camp outside…

It was like his life was symmetrical and that he was returning to his roots, a thought that made him less comfortable with his tent. He sighed and looked around, seeing the few things he owned now, a chest, a sleeping bag and a table, with two chairs. Set always preferred the minimalist lifestyle, too much clutter could weigh a person down or drag him down with it…

He heard his tent flap fly up, prompting him to turn around and notice that a young Dunmer girl had entered his tent, he turned to face her, not knowing what to expect.

“Set Oakvale?” She asked, though she knew that the answer was ‘yes.’

Set nodded, still taken aback by her sudden appearance, out of nowhere, he stood back, to avoid intimidating her. It seemed to work as the Dunmer stepped deeper into his tent, glancing around at his furnishings before looking back to him.

“My name is Lilith; do you know why I’m here?”

Set just shook his head, folding his arms as he got ready for it, not knowing what to expect from her at this point. He turned to his right and approached his table and chair, taking a seat as he got ready for the explanation.

“Well, do you know what a courtesan is?”

This got the Bosmer to look up in surprise, he’d heard of the term before but had no idea what it meant or where he’d heard it but after a few seconds, it came back to him, hitting him hard, like a wrecking ball.

“Yeah… I know what one is…” He muttered, somewhat embittered by the fact that he was reminded of that day, the woman noticed his tone and felt a little bit uneasy but she could tell that his anger wasn’t at her.

“Well…” She began, hesitantly as she stepped closer to the other chair, sitting down and reaching across the table, to place her hands on his arm.

“It’s my job to make sure that you’re… Happy here. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make that so.” She informed him, gently stroking his arm, down to his wrist and eventually taking hold of his hand. Set pulled his hand away, not really appreciating any part of her gesture, not the tone in her voice or the fact that she was…

So much like her…

“I think that you should go…” He muttered, getting up and walking away from the Dunmer, leaving her more than a little confused as he got up and wandered over to his sleeping bag, standing on it as he faced the opposite wall, with his back to her.

“Set… I think that we got off on the wrong foot…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I said… I think you should go…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lilith backed away, bringing her hand to her chest as she looked down to the ground in defeat, she needed this and she wasn’t going to give it up, without a fight.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Is there… Something wrong with me?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Bosmer narrowed his eyes and frowned, somewhat baffled by the question as he didn’t wish to insinuate that, which prompted him to turn back to her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No, it’s just… I’m okay for a… ‘Courtesan’…” He muttered, his face softened as he began to look to the ground again and shake his head.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I’m not… that kind of guy, y’know?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lilith nodded before swallowing; she hadn’t expected it as he didn’t look like the type to turn such services down. As she began to think focussed on that fact, she noticed that he was walking away; she ran forward and reached out for him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well… We don’t have to do that we can… talk or…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I said… I’m fine, thank you…” He wandered over to his tent and pulled the flap back, gesturing for her to leave.

<p class="MsoNormal">“P-Please, Oakvale…” This got his attention and he turned back to her, all confidence seemed to have faded and she sounded as if she was going to drop to her knees and beg him, which would be humiliating for the both of them.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Can I… Sleep in here? I won’t cause any trouble I… I can’t go back empty handed…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why not?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I don’t have a tent; I’d have to sleep outside…” She paused and glanced away feeling incredibly embarrassed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I don’t want to have to sleep outside tonight, it’s cold and… Uncomfortable…”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Bosmer began to grumble, this ‘job’ was becoming more trouble than it was worth but then again, it wasn’t really this girl’s fault. She had it shitty enough, without him denying her a roof over her head.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Fine… You can sleep in here tonight…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Thank you.” Set nodded as he climbed into his sleeping bag and lay down, staring up to the ceiling, with a sigh as she tip toed around his head, rather sheepishly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Can I…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You can use the sleepin’ bag…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Thanks.”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Dunmer stepped over his head, prompting him to roll his eye a second time as she knelt down beside him and slithered into the space next to him, due to the fact that it was a big sleeping bag and that they were both on the skinny side, there was a lot of space in between them. Lilith sighed, happily as she tried not to look at Set but he was the only thing of interest in the room, due to his many burns and scars and the eyepatch…

<p class="MsoNormal">-

<p class="MsoNormal">There was a long awkward silence that drifted long into the night, he didn’t want to speak and she didn’t have the courage to speak regardless. She wasn’t used to this, having to actually talk to the client. Neither of them could sleep at this point as they were both very self conscious about the position that they were in and worked up over what happened earlier. Lilith turned to look at Set, giving him a slight smile before noticing that he wasn’t paying attention.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Methral told me about Juliet…”

<p class="MsoNormal">This got Set’s attention; he slowly rolled his head over to the left and got her face into view, frowning sternly at her.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Julie… Her name was Julie and if you wanna stay in this sleepin’ bag or even in this tent, you’ll never bring her up again.” He then went back to staring at the ceiling, feeling somewhat bad about it but then again, he couldn’t risk talking about her. Lilith was likely a spy, with a sob story and a pretty face and a ‘desire’ for him. He knew the plan, he’d tell her everything and she’d go straight to Methral, with the good stuff.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Okay!” Lilith snapped, raising her hands as her eyes widened to bursting point as she backed away.

<p class="MsoNormal">“S-Sorry…” She whispered, as she got to the opposite end of the sleeping bag before resting her head on the ‘pillow.’

<p class="MsoNormal">Set continued to stare at her, until she backed down and backed away before turning his attention to the tent in front of him, sighing heavily as the flicker of the small flame, in a dish at the far side of the room caught his eye and distracted him. He took one glance to Lilith’s back before rolling over and facing the wall, slowly letting his eye close as he drifted off to sleep…

<p class="MsoNormal">-

<p class="MsoNormal">The door slammed shut in Set’s face as a terrified Julie got ready to face her punishment, a punishment devised for a complete bastard, to be taken on by the person closest to him, only to be taken on by the person closest to her…

<p class="MsoNormal">The Bosmer threw himself against the door as it closed, unable to take his eye off Julie, until the door separated him and his lover, blocking her off like a bouncer, keeping his prying eyes away from the ‘show’…

<p class="MsoNormal">Set repeatedly beat the door with his fist, screaming and baling in rage as tears of frustration and guilt rolled his face as he began to sob, for the first time in years, sliding down to the floor and curling up. He sat with his back against it; looking up to the ceiling and gritting his teeth as he repeatedly beat his head against it and tears ran down his face…

<p class="MsoNormal">He stayed until the end, until he heard no more movement and Julie’s projected screams stopped from echoing inside his head but they never went away. They echoed in his head as, what felt like a permanent reminder of what was happening to his lover…

<p class="MsoNormal">After some time had passed, the Bosmer got up and stumbled, almost drunkenly along the hallway as he made his way back to his room. He threw himself at the door and stumbled forward, grabbing hold of the bed pole and hanging his head, crying loudly as he fell onto the bed and pressed his face into the sheets, like he had done the night before…

<p class="MsoNormal">He lay there for several minutes, curling his fingers up as the reality of it sunk in. Julie was being raped and there was nothing that he could do to stop it…

<p class="MsoNormal">Nothing…

<p class="MsoNormal">After snapping out of it, he shakily got up and stumbled over to his katana, his old friend… He picked it up and unsheathed it, gazing longingly into it as it showed him the monster, that he wanted to kill but that wouldn’t solve anything…

<p class="MsoNormal">He wasn’t to blame, he knew that…

<p class="MsoNormal">Jack was to blame…

<p class="MsoNormal">Those… animals, they were to blame…

<p class="MsoNormal">Set was just a failure…

<p class="MsoNormal">-

<p class="MsoNormal">Set continued to stare into his sword, stood on the far side of the room as he couldn’t sleep after waking up from those… Gruesome images…

<p class="MsoNormal">He felt like he was looking in a mirror into the past as he saw himself looking back. He wanted to spit in his face, remind him that he still had Julie and that she needed him right now…

<p class="MsoNormal">He longed for that day, the day that she needed him, wanted him by her side…

<p class="MsoNormal">When it wasn’t so complicated, that he could return to his Dunmer after a long, shitty day and just… Embrace her and love every minute that they spent together, they’d lie in bed for hours, he’d give her massages, hold her, kiss her…

<p class="MsoNormal">Hear what was bothering her and try to help…

<p class="MsoNormal">Guess I’m not as good at that as I thought…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Set?” Lilith’s voice cut through, prompting him to lower his blade and spin around to face her, with a look of shock, he didn’t expect her to wake up. He turned and saw her sat up in his sleeping bag, slowly pulling herself to her feet, in her clothes, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, sleeping in her clothes. She was used to sleeping naked, it was incredibly comfortable compared to her clothes and this tent was incredibly warm, she didn’t know how Set managed to sleep with his clothes on but then again, he wasn’t managing to sleep at all...

<p class="MsoNormal">“Just… Go back to sleep Lilith…” He grumbled, sheathing his sword and marching back to his bed, he sat down before swivelling around and burying himself under his covers. Lilith managed to defy him but not by choice, the way that he was looking at his own reflection in his blade…

<p class="MsoNormal">Was he going mad?

<p class="MsoNormal">“Set… Do you want to talk about anything?” She asked, rather nervously as he closed his eye and tried to go to sleep.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No…”

<p class="MsoNormal">She timidly put her hand on his shoulder, prompting him to instantly wince as he pulled away.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I said no…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lilith pulled her hand away before glancing to the quilt of the sleeping bag and slowly retracting to her half of the bed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sorry… Just… Trying to help, you know?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Set sighed, heavily as he began to see how much of an ‘asshole’ he was being, this wasn’t the Dunmer’s fault. He slowly rolled over onto his back and looked to the ceiling, feeling somewhat defeated at this point as he looked over to her, she was propped up on her elbow, attentive as ever.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Look… There’s nothin’ to say, I’ve just lost everythin’ and I ain’t exactly happy about it, y’know?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“When Julie left you?”

<p class="MsoNormal">He scowled, remembering specifically telling her not to bring her up; still there wasn’t that much harm in it. He thought he’d cave in and cry at the mention of her name but he managed to hold it together rather well.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, Julie left me, because I’m a fuck-up and… She took everythin’ that was good about my life with her, okay?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You didn’t have any other friends? Family?” Lilith quizzed, prompting him to close his eye and swallow hard as a wave of regret came over him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah, I did…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Where are they now?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Some are dead… Others are… Getting’ on with their lives, my brother has a wife and a kid on the way, everythin’ that I don’t have basically…

<p class="MsoNormal">Then there’s R- My ex girlfriend…

<p class="MsoNormal">Her kids, who are like my own kin…

<p class="MsoNormal">Then there’s Geofry and Marcia and… Fia… And… basically, everyone else…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sounds like a big group…” Lilith noted, pulling closer to him and wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder, he would protest but his depression made him… weak. He couldn’t lift his arms or do anything, like he was some sort of barely functioning reanimated corpse.

<p class="MsoNormal">“It was… We were like you people, just… tryin’ to get by…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why didn’t you go back to them?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Set didn’t answer, he asked himself this question as well but to go back to them was to return empty handed and admit to everyone that he was a ‘fuck up.’ He couldn’t handle that, he couldn’t handle the thought of having to return to his brother and Sister-in-law, a girl he considered to be his own daughter and watch them as they got the happiness that he was robbed of.

<p class="MsoNormal">“They’re better off without me…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Lilith gently began to brush his chest, with her fingers, glancing up to his face as he spoke.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Set… Your family might be looking for you; they might think that you’re…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Dead? Good… I want ‘em to think that, then they can get me out of their lives and do well for once…” He gave a long, drawn out exhale as he began to frown, glaring angrily ahead of himself as he reflected on it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“They’ll miss you though, your brother, your sister-in-law, your old girlfriend? They’ll…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Be much better off without me…”

<p class="MsoNormal">With that, Set closed his eye again and focussed on going to sleep as Lilith began to rub his stomach, not knowing what to say.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well… You have us now…” She whispered, with a smile, prompting him to open his eye and turn his head to face her, getting her to chuckle for the first time since she entered the tent, she pulled herself up and kissed him on the lips.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You might find that we aren’t so bad…” She added, gently stroking his face and kissing him again.

<p class="MsoNormal">As she kissed him deeply, Set felt himself feeling overwhelmed by two urges, the urge to push her away and the urge to embrace her…

<p class="MsoNormal">Why was he resisting this? Julie’s gone, Maria had Jack and he’d started a new life…

<p class="MsoNormal">A better life…

<p class="MsoNormal">Starting now…