Disclaimer : The BBC owns Robin Hood. Unfortunately. I want to steal Will away from them.
Rating: K
Summary : Will tries to compare Djaq to a flower. Will/Djaq fluff. Fluff fluff fluff.
Author's Note : I can't stay away from Will and Djaq fluff for long!
Flowers
With a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure he was not being watched, Will deposited a leather pouch filled with coins on a windowsill. A grateful face appeared in the window and a wrinkled old hand squeezed his with a whispered thank you.
Will smiled at the old woman, his stomach clenching with that feeling of warm delight that came with knowing he was doing good, doing something helpful. Ducking around the corner of the house he reached into the sack he was carrying and pulled out a few small pieces of carved wood. There were a couple of dolls for the little girls, along with a spinning top engraved with simple designs that would swirl into a pattern when the toy was spun. There were two slender pieces of smoothed wood joined by a piece of rope, for when the children played their skipping games. Two more pieces of wood, planed into flat paddles, with which the children could hit a ball back and forth.
There was a meadow to the rear of the house where Will expected the children to be playing. Looking up from the gifts he carried he came to an abrupt halt, a couple of the toys spilling from his hands.
The children were indeed in the meadow, but they were not alone. They were gathered around Djaq who was kneeling amongst the wildflowers, giggling at whatever she was saying in her unusual voice. They had been scared of her at first, wary of her darker skin and lilting accent, but soon come to love her kind words and gentle teasing as Will had done. They loved her because she was fun; she would play with them, spinning them round in circles until they were dizzy or showing them how to skim stones across the surface of the pond.
Almost subconsciously Will stepped backwards into the shadows of the house, wanting to watch but fearful that she would catch him staring. As he watched, one of the small girls plucked a daisy from the meadow and tucked it behind Djaq's ear.
A fond smile spread across Will's face as she laughed and touched the flower. The white petals stood out against her skin and dark hair, and contrasted with her fingers as her fingertips brushed against the flower.
Djaq was a bit like a daisy, he mused. She was small; the smallest outlaw, as the daisy was one of the smallest wildflowers. She was not delicate though. Her slender fingers were delicate when they tended to a scratch on his arm, or when they brushed against his as he handed her a plate of food, but they were strong and unforgiving when they wielded a sword. A daisy could be crushed by the slightest grip; Will believed it would take an entire army to crush Djaq's body and spirit.
If not a daisy, then what? A buttercup? Speedwell? No, they were similarly too delicate. He needed something beautiful, something soft and gentle, but something that was also strong and fierce.
Clover? Foxglove? Nothing was right.
A rose perhaps. Beautiful, striking, with petals of soft velvet. But if you caught the wrong part of the rose, the thorns would hurt you. Will shook his head. No, a rose was not right either. It was far too English, not exotic enough to represent Djaq. Marian would be a rose, a beautiful English rose that could be attractive and bewitching but was also fully capable of defending itself.
A dandelion? Exotic in colour, but far too fluffy.
Perhaps the problem was that he was thinking of English flowers. Djaq was far too exotic to be compared to anything that grew on English soil; she was special, mysterious, something of an unknown quantity. She deserved to be likened to something extraordinary, something that Will knew nothing of. He did not know of the beautiful or mysterious plants that grew in foreign lands, as he did not know anything of where Djaq came from.
Maybe he should not be thinking of flowers. Will's brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to think of something else, maybe something that grew in the forest and was as at home there as Djaq was.
The first thing that came to mind was a conker. Covered in prickles, a small thing that could cause damage to the toughest of skins. But no – he knew that that was not right either. Djaq wasn't bristling with sharpness – she was tough, yes, but not dangerous and cruel. The inside of a conker was wrong too – when you broke open a conker it was hard inside as well. If you got to know Djaq, she was loving and caring and soft on the inside.
Will's heart jumped in his chest as Djaq's eyes locked with his. She smiled at him, encouraging him towards her, and Will immediately felt like the gawky, awkward teenager he would have been had the Gods of fate not turned his life into that of an outlaw.
His face flushed with embarrassment as he fumbled with the toys in his hands, trying to pick up those that had fallen to the ground whilst not dropping the ones he still carried.
The children squealed with delight as he padded through the long grass towards them and they spotted the toys in his hands. Will smiled down at the excited faces as he distributed the toys between them. "Remember to share!" he called after them as they sped away on little legs to enjoy their new playthings.
Will offered Djaq a hand, hoping his palm did not sweat as her smaller hand grasped his. He stared at the contrast of their skin tones and the way her hand was a perfect fit in his. Realising he had frozen he mentally shook himself and pulled Djaq to her feet.
"I see the children had fun with you." He gestured towards the flower still tucked behind her ear. Djaq's hand flew to the blossom self-consciously. "I like it," he added reassuringly, through a mouth that was suddenly dry.
Djaq smiled, then her eyes began to sparkle and she stooped, plucking another daisy from the grass. Straightening up again she reached up and tucked the bloom behind Will's ear. The young carpenter turned an even brighter red as her fingertips brushed against his cheek.
"That's better," she told him with a smile. "Now we both look silly."
The pair were distracted by the return of the little girl who had first placed the daisy behind Djaq's ear. She was carrying a fistful of blossoms, a mixture of daisies and clovers and chicory. Stopping in front of them she looked up at Djaq with wide blue eyes, through a tangle of blonde hair. "Are you two married?" she asked bluntly.
Will's face was now on fire. He couldn't look at Djaq, but heard her laugh. "No," she told the girl. "We're friends."
The girl considered them. "I think you should get married," she told them. She handed the bunch of flowers to Djaq then skipped off again.
Will dared a glance at Djaq and the picture of her standing there with a bouquet of flowers made his heart hammer against his ribcage. His mind was filled with a sudden vision of the woman in the meadow with the same bunch of flowers, but wearing a white dress with a wreath of flowers encircling her head.
"Will?" Djaq's voice brought him back to the present and he rubbed a hand viciously across his eyes, trying to erase the image of his and Djaq's wedding that had sprung unbidden to his mind. "We should probably leave."
Will nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak as they turned and headed towards the safety of the forest. As they walked Will reached up and smiled softly as his fingers brushed against the petals of the daisy that was nestled against his hair. His smile widened as he noticed that Djaq was still clutching her bunch of flowers.
A/N: Please let me know what you think!