Hey everyone! Well, school's in session and I couldn't be happier! Thank god vacation's over!
...Yeah, I just felt like opening that way. (*twitchspasm*) Seemed better than griping about going back, y'know?
So anyway...Yes, it's really chapter 7, not some caffiene-enduced hallucination. Amazed? So am I. I know it took a while...A couple of months, in fact...And I'm really sorry I took so long. But please bear with me, okay? Future chapters might be slow too, but never much more than a month or two. Now, the question on everyone's mind: why is Pheep so very slow these days? Well, we're not entirely sure, though I think that my muse might be cheating on me. It just seems so distant lately...*sniff*
(Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 6 - I'm very glad you liked it! Well, hope you like this too.)
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Daybreak
Chapter 7 - Madness
+ + +
That afternoon, Dom and his squad went on patrol with Merric's group. Riding Rhapsody through the still-snowy woods surrounding New Hope, Dom wondered about his war-horse, Ash, a large gray gelding that he had entrusted in Fort Steadfast's care until his return in spring. He had been injured recently, and even though he had almost fully recovered when their squad had left, Dom hadn't wanted to risk his charge's health out in the snow.
'Hope he's given Raoul a good kick for me...' he thought cynically, and steered his current steed clear of a fallen branch. After the hardship and suffering he had been forced to endure, it would be a quite a long while before he forgave his dear commander.
The two squads continued on, talking idly with one another, their attention only half-focused on the task of patrolling. New Hope had been remarkably peaceful for the past couple of months, as well as Tortall on the whole; Dom imagined that the weather must be devastating up north, for Scanra to suddenly have such a long lapse in attacking.
'But they'll be back eventually. Maybe with some of their new mages...And with such little training...'
Frowning slightly, Dom shrugged these dark thoughts as best as he could. No use in brooding. His mind wandered for a while, picking up bits of conversations going on around him. Someone was striking a bet with his friend...another was commenting on the snow likely to come later that night - Dom looked up, now noticing the gray clouds in the sky. A third man was yattering on about a Midwinter party he was invited to...Dom blinked thoughtfully, his mind jumping subjects before he could stop it - Midwinter. Presents. Kel. And finally, Kel's hands. Recalling the events of that morning clearly in his mind, he shifted nervously in his seat. He was worried. Irrationally worried. He wished it would stop. Kel was a tough girl, after all - and that was putting it mildly. She had put up with far worse than torn up hands in the past. And Neal had healed them that morning, right in front of him. He knew this. He did.
And yet he worried. It was strange, but he couldn't help it. And so he gave in, not for the first time that day, and pondered over the same questions all over again. What could have happened? Why had she been trying to hide it? And it was only her hands, as far as he could tell...Though perhaps some of her arms as well, they had been covered by her clothes...
He then remembered his remark on the baby griffin Kel had nurtured in her years as a squire. Oh, Mithros. She couldn't have really found another one of the damned things, could she?!
Dom held back the smile that came a second later. What was he thinking? This was just silly. He needed to stop thinking about it so much. About her...But whenever he tried, it just got worse. He had Kel on the brain.
Not that thinking of her was unpleasant. It was just troubling that suddenly she was all that he thought about. After all, it wasn't as though he was...interested in Kel or anything like...like that. Oh no. She was just a friend. A close...friend.
...And oh, he was blushing now. He knew he was. Not good...Not good at all.
'No, no, no...' Dom thought desperately, and shook his head a little to try and clear his thoughts, though it wasn't working. This was going too far. Far too far. Far, far too far. Far, far, far--
Dom sighed, rubbing his temples wearily. This was working wonders for his sanity, it really was. Then again, he guessed it was to be expected. It wasn't every day that you realized you felt this way about your best female friend and-- Gods! What had he gotten himself into? This was Kel, for goodness sake! She was his friend, his comrade - he'd known her since she was just a squire. This was madness. Complete madness.
Besides, she'd never feel the same way.
"Oh, great. Snow."
In his sorry state of mind, Dom had completely failed to notice the change in weather. Glancing about, he now saw the white flecks drifting down from the sky, and suppressed a groan. That was all he needed. 'Is the world making everyone miserable today', he wondered, 'or am I just special?' Another brief look around made him decide on the first idea; none of the men looked very happy at the idea of trotting around in the snow for the rest of the afternoon.
"Lovely weather, isn't it?" Garet, one of Dom's men, rode up to him. He quirked a brow at the sergeant, a gloomy sort of humor on his face.
Dom hmmed in reply. "Quite lovely. Maybe I'll even get a nice tan to impress the ladies..." he said bitterly.
Garet chuckled. "And how would you accomplish that, by riding out to the desert?"
"Well, it would be warmer there."
"...Good point."
They rode in silence for a while, and the snow covered the ground like a white veil. Frost crunched under horses' hooves, and several of the eighteen other men grumbled to themselves or each other. Dom, who had been briefly distracted from his troubles, sank back into them, losing himself in thought.
And so he was a little startled when he heard Garet's voice again. "The other Steadfast squads are arriving today. Did you hear?"
Dom blinked. He hadn't. "Really."
Garet smiled ruefully. "Yes...And to think we could have been with them..."
"If we only hadn't given him a party, I know..." Dom said heavily, placing a hand to his forehead and pushing back damp hair. "We really need to stop being so nice. There must be a way to get back at him..."
"I'll second that." Garet said immediately, raising an arm. Dom glanced at him, surprised. He hadn't expected that reaction.
"I'll third." the two turned their heads, and there was Roalden a few feet away, grinning wolfishly at them.
Dom grinned back. "Well! I didn't know someone was listening in on us."
"Well, someone was." This time it was Wolset who spoke, riding at Fulcher's side. "We're all terribly bored, you know. Count me in, too."
They all seemed rather excited by the idea. Dom just stared at them, amazed. So he hadn't been the only one to hold a grudge...
Slowly, a dark smile spread across his face.
"Any ideas, men?..."
+++
Later that day, Dom sat on his bed, a wall of boxes, bright paper and ribbon spools clustered around him. He was hurrying to finish wrapping midwinter gifts; on the floor at the foot of his bed, a small pile of presents that were already wrapped had gathered in a heap.
Dom struggled with a bright green ribbon, and wrestled it into a pleasant-looking bow over the box that lay in front of him. Giving the present a triumphant smirk, he tossed it over the side of his bed to join the others, and listened as it hit the ground with a dull thunk. Satisfied, he turned back to the work that remained, and pulled the next present into his lap.
Roughly half an hour later, he stood up, towering over the cluster of wrapped objects on the floor, finished at last. Nodding in an approving way down at his work, he gathered the gifts up and laid them out in a slightly neater pile on his desk.
Dom's eyes fell on one gift in particular: a large rectangular box, wrapped in green with a filmy gray ribbon. He stared down at it a while thoughtfully, then picked it up and walked out of the room, tucking it under one arm.
Descending the stairs to the second floor, Dom felt some of the old paranoia over choosing the right present returning. He stomped it down quickly. No turning back now, the thing was already wrapped. Besides, he was sure she would like it. Fairly sure, anyway.
He walked up to Kel's door and knocked quietly, then stood there for a while, feeling foolish. Was she even in? He knocked again, louder this time.
"It's open!"
Dom swung the door open, poking his head in and glancing around. The room was a shambles - wrapping paper and ribbon everywhere. And there, sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, was Kel, determinedly wrapping a large, stuffy-looking book. The scene was so unexpected, Dom couldn't help but laugh.
Kel glanced up, looking surprised and then, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, Dom, hello--um...Come in. Sorry about the mess." She said, and smiled apologetically.
"Oh, it's fine." He assured her, taking careful steps into the room so not to step on anything. "My room's the same way."
Kel nodded, then grunted in annoyance and glared down at the book. "You know, I hate wrapping. Next year, I'm just getting everyone a card."
Dom chuckled. "Great idea." He said, and sat down at the edge of her bed, looking around curiously. Odd that he'd never been in this room before. Elegant Yamani paintings hung on the walls; a row of colorful porcelain cats sat on a desk, each waving with a single paw. It was a nice room, despite the mess, and looked as though it might have belonged to a Yamani court lady - excepting the large assembly of weapons hanging on the wall. And, he noted with a small smile, the collection of food dishes sitting on the windowsill.
A soft curse - at least, it was most likely a curse, though Dom couldn't swear in Yamani - brought him back to reality. Glancing over at Kel, he saw her tugging at a lopsided-looking bow. Smiling to himself, he began to study her silently. Her hair fought to escape the ponytail it was pulled back in, and a few pale brown wisps had already fallen to frame her face. She wasn't 'pretty', not exactly, but there was something about her that was attractive all the same...
Kel's eyes gazed down steadily as she worked, and Dom focused on this with interest. He had never noticed before, but he saw now that they were a soft hazel brown, blended with green and deceptively dreamy-looking. Details. Things he had overlooked before.
And then, at the most inopportune of moments, his cousin's face appeared in the back of his head. Dom blinked, frowning. Suddenly, he realized that this had been a subconscious warning. There he was, gawking at the poor girl like a lovesick prat - or worse, like Meathead might have over a pretty court lady before he met Yuki - and completely forgetting the reason he had come down there in the first place. Brilliant.
Lifting the package onto his lap, he was about to clear his throat - loudly, perhaps, to make her jump a little - when another idea formed in his head. Raising his eyebrows thoughtfully, he stared hard at Kel for a moment, watching her head for signs of movement. She remained absorbed in her work. He moved over to the end of the bed, trying to get at the best angle.
Kel's back now faced him. Slowly, carefully, he arched forward, his hands braced against the bed and taking most of his weight. Making as little noise as possible, he had soon leaned in right by the side of Kel's neck; the closeness made him lightheaded, but he ignored it, and a devious smile flickered across his face as he spoke quietly into her ear. "...Are you quite through yet?"
Kel jumped much higher than Dom had even hoped. He was about to pull back, when Kel's head jerked over her shoulder to glare at him. Another inch and their noses might have touched.
They both reared back. It took a moment, but Dom was still able to pull off a good, infuriating grin, even if his face was rather flushed. Kel, blinking slowly and almost as red as Dom, snapped out of her shock just in time to return the grin with a weak glare.
"Idiot..." she scolded. "That was dirty..." Realizing the double meaning of these words, her blush deepened slightly, and Dom felt his grin widening. This was an unexpected treat - he couldn't remember the last time he had seen Kel this flustered.
"Oh, but it was worth it," he told her, and laughed a little, half to relieve nervousness, half out of sheer amusement. Kel fixed him with another glare. Moving the wrapped book off of her lap with a brisk sweep of her hand, she turned around fully to sit facing him. "Well, you have my attention now. What is it?" she snapped. Regretting her harsh tone a moment later, she glanced down and muttered an apology.
Dom just shrugged, a smile tugging at his mouth. He held out the wrapped package to her, and Kel stared at it, startled, before taking it. Carefully removing the paper and ribbon, a plain wooden box was revealed underneath; she lifted the lid, and her eyes widened. Inside the box there laid a folded kimono. It was a soft blue color, embroidered with white and silver birds resembling doves - there was also a light gray inner kimono, and a wide silver obi.
Dom watched her curiously from the bed, and Kel turned her head towards him, pointing to the box's contents. "Where did..."
He grinned. "Yuki."
Kel nodded and looked back to the kimono, then lifted it up out of the box with her hands. "It's lovely." She said, traces of awe in her tone.
Dom's grin brightened, then turned into a wry smile. "Glad you think so. Now, will you ever actually wear it, or keep it stashed away in your closet forevermore as a keepsake?"
She glanced at him, suddenly wary. "There won't be any peace for me if I say the closet, will there?" she asked.
Dom shrugged his shoulders innocently. "Well, I don't know. We are in a war..."
Kel sighed, letting the kimono slip out of her hands and back into the box. She got to her feet, picking the box up as she stood. "Might as well get this over with, then." She said morosely, and stalked off into her dressing room before Dom could reply.
As she had grown older, Kel had become less and less comfortable with the idea of getting dressed up. A simple shirt and breeches was much more to her tastes. Besides, she was a knight now. Knights didn't go prancing about in frilly dresses.
Kel snorted and put a hand to her mouth, choking down laughter. Well, of course they didn't. 'Unless there's something my friends aren't telling me...' she thought, and could no longer help cracking up at the mental images this had given her. She was glad that Dom was in the next room. He would have thought she'd gone mad.
'Then again, he probably wouldn't be that surprised,' she thought wryly, and tried to remember how to put on a kimono. 'It was bound to happen sometime.'
+++
When Kel entered the bedroom again, several minutes had passed - she had forgotten how complicated changing into a kimono could be. Looking over at Dom, she saw him sprawled out over her bed, gazing up at the ceiling and looking entirely too comfortable.
Closing the door behind her, Kel smiled at the image. "Comfy?" she asked.
Dom's head bobbed up from the pillow it was resting on. "Yes, very..." he trailed off, staring at her blankly. Sitting up, he swept his arm out dramatically, and bowed. This was a rather odd-looking gesture, seeing as he was sitting down.
"Might I say, my lady, that you look positively radiant?" he asked cordially, looking up at her and grinning in a way that made her feel a little faint.
Leaning against the door briefly, she recomposed herself and walked over to him, pointing her nose high. "Flattery will get you nowhere." She told him cooly.
Dom smiled broadly, his blue eyes crinkling. "You're so cold." He remarked, his gaze following her as she sat down beside him. Kel laughed, flashing him a cruel smile and leaning back on the bed.
Snow fell in crazy swirls outside. The sparrows flew in one by one through a window left half-open, huddling in warm corners and shaking the wet from their feathers. Sitting beside Dom, Kel started feeling a little self-conscious. She looked down at herself briefly, and realized with a sinking feeling that the obi probably made her look thick-waisted. That was how most sashes were on her. Although, that one gown she had worn to the wedding...That had a sash. Though it was a very loose sash, and translucent.
Thinking of the wedding, Kel actually smiled a little at the memory. The king had demanded that Raoul be wed at the palace, in order for him to witness it in the safety of his own home...And in order to torture his friend just a little. The knight commander was sulky at first, of course, but had soon grown quite happy with the idea of getting married at The Palace, instead of just at his fort. It had been nice to come back again; Lalasa's business was bigger than ever, so Kel had insisted that she focus on other orders instead of outfitting her specially in something. She had also tried to pay full price for her gown - not that she had succeeded.
The wedding itself hadn't been so bad either, actually...With Dom there to talk to, she had even had fun. Kel glanced over at him, and her face broke into a smile - Nari sat perched on his right knee, peeping up at him softly, and Dom stared down at her intently as though absorbed in a deep conversation. Looking up at Kel, he pointed to the small bird and said bluntly, "Now, I'm not sure, but I think she might be mocking me."
Nari ruffled her feathers indignantly, and Kel blinked and gave a startled laugh. Dom grinned, and Kel stared at him dumbly for a second, her heart doing a flip-flop that was starting to feel familiar. Gods, was she going to react this way whenever she saw him smile now? It was like she was a squire all over again...
'I am so fickle...'
"Kel?"
Coming back to reality, she blinked at Dom and smiled nervously. "Oh, um..."
Something scratched at the door. Kel, grateful for the interruption, quickly got up and went to open the door. In walked Jump, his white fur soggy from snow and old melting sludge. Hime the cat, much drier by comparison, slipped in after him, and stopped to sniff distastefully at the wet dog. Jump just wagged his tail.
Kel closed the door, shaking her head. Turning around, she saw that Dom was watching her, a faint smile on his face.
The nervous smile quirked onto her face again. "What is it..?"
Dom blinked and looked down, embarrassed that she had caught him staring. "Oh...You look very nice," he told her honestly, and his face slipped into a sheepish grin, not knowing what else to do with itself.
Kel looked down, eyes boring into the floor. "...Oh." she replied brilliantly. Coming up with nothing else to say, Kel stood rooted to the spot in embarrassed silence. This was pathetic! She was making a complete fool out of herself... 'Goddess, it's only Dom. I shouldn't be this nervous.'
That's right. It was only Dom. She just had to calm down, and...Wait. Dom. Dom's present. Kel kicked herself mentally. Of course! How could she forget, when he had come down just to give her her present?
"I-I have something for you, too," she said quickly, then turned and started walking over to her desk, on which various wrapped gifts were piled.
"Oh, you shouldn't have." Dom drawled, grinning. He watched as Kel stopped at her desk, sliding open a side drawer and pulling out a long wrapped box, then walked back over to him and held the present out. Dom took it, and she watched anxiously was he tore away the paper.
Now it was Dom's eyes that widened. Inside the box was a longbow, apparently homemade. The wood it was made with was knobbly and awkwardly cut, though its shape was surprisingly well curved. A bowstring was securely tied to it, and probably came from Kel's own supply of them.
The thing that stood out most about this bow, by far, was the feathers. Six feathers, some bright copper and some brindled gold and black, were bound tightly by plain brown cord to both ends of the bow, three on each end. It was obvious to him what kind of bird they had came from.
Dom stared at Kel for a long moment, and then at the bow - and then at Kel's hands, and then back at the bow. He took the weapon into his hands and ran a finger over the bumps in the wood, understanding clear on his face, then looked back up at Kel. "You made it..." He said, more as a statement than a question.
Kel hesitated, then nodded. Dom stared at her in disbelief, then did the opposite and slowly began to shake his head. "You're mad."
She remained silent, and the two of them engaged in a staring contest of sorts. After a few seconds Kel sighed, breaking eye contact and flopping down beside him on the bed. "But I thought I might be able to handle a bow...They're just these little curved sticks, after all..." she began feebly. "And I thought maybe I'd be better at it now..." Realizing that she was making excuses, she closed her mouth, lowering her head.
Dom laughed, and Kel glanced up from under her lashes to see him smiling. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I love it." He told her warmly, the gratitude on his face too genuine for Kel to suspect him even for a moment.
Kel's stare quickly turned to the floor, suddenly feeling woozy. She also knew she was blushing very deeply, if the burning feeling on her cheeks was any indication, though she couldn't fathom why. Perhaps it was that word... 'Love.' She repeated to herself, as a test. Something welled up inside her, responding, and it was almost frightening in a way. Especially as she recognized what it meant.
Her shoulder felt cold. Cold, and tingly. Looking up, she realized that Dom had taken his hand away. He was standing now, and had started on another careful walk across the room, his feet weaving their way through the sea of wrapping materials. "Well, I'm afraid I should be going now...My squad and I have a meeting planned that started about ten minutes ago. More of a party, really, but meeting sounds much more impressive..."
Kel put on a grin, hoping her disappointment didn't show through it. "See you."
He flashed her a quick smile back and nodded, and then he was out the door, closing it behind him with a soft slam.
Kel gazed at the door for a while in a daze. After about a minute she closed her eyes, let out a long breath, and laid down on her bed wearily. Her mind was swimming, and she was suddenly exhausted, but not at all sleepy. And who could sleep, with something as overwhelming as love to consider?
And there was that word again. She was starting to wonder where she'd brought up the nerve to use it so often. After all, who was to say that this wasn't just another crush, like the one she had had when she was a squire?
But who's to say it wasn't just a crush back then either? The romantic in Kel reasoned. For a second she was taken aback - this was a side of her that had not surfaced in a long time. The moment passed, though, and she was soon debating with herself. And losing.
I think I can tell the difference between the two. She countered.
The romantic ignored this, and continued on mercilessly. You never really fell out of love with him, either - you had to force yourself to suppress those feelings because of Cleon.
Kel was cornered. This was a very good point. She had naturally lost all romantic feelings for both Neal and Cleon, the only other people that she had ever thought of in that way. But Dom...
Dom...
The door swung open with a creak. Kel opened her eyes at the noise, frowning slightly. The person hadn't even thought to knock.
"Kel?"
Kel sat up with a jolt. Dom stood in the doorway, holding up the bow in one hand and looking slightly winded.
"I needed to ask you..."
Kel got to her feet, walking towards him with all the grace of a drunkard as she slipped and stumbled over the mess carpeting the floor. "W...What is it?" she said, and was appalled to find that she sounded breathless herself. Why was she getting so excited? Surely he wasn't...
Dom pointed to the bow. "These feathers. They aren't...new, are they?"
She blinked, calming down for the most part, and raised an eyebrow at him quizzically. The feathers had, in fact, come from her old stash of them that had been given to her by the baby griffin's parents. "What do you mean?"
"I mean did you...Oh, never mind." He laughed. "It was a dumb question anyway." He said, letting the hand that clutched the bow fall to his side.
Kel stared at him curiously. "Alright...Uhm. Is that all?"
Dom glanced away. "I suppose so..." he admitted, shrugging his shoulders a little. He cleared his throat. "Well...guess I'll go, then."
Kel, disappointed again and barely repressing it this time, nodded and smiled up at him. "Good night, Dom."
Dom didn't move. Instead he stared at her for a long moment, looking torn, until something changed in his expression and he seemed to have come to a decision. He reached over and brushed back her bangs, then pressed his lips against her forehead. Kel's breath caught in her throat, then left in a shudder as Dom breathed into her hair. They stood like that for a while, leaning towards each other without realizing it until her head rested against his chest. An arm slipped around her, encircling her back. Confusion could wait - this was simply too comfortable.
Dom stroked Kel's hair absently, looking out over her head with an unfocused gaze. This had to be one of the most relaxing things he'd ever experienced. He was a lunatic to have tried it, of course, but he also was very glad that he had. Especially since she hadn't pulled away yet.
After another fifteen seconds or so, a saner part of Dom's mind began to nag at him. Sighing inwardly, he pulled back a little and tilted his head to look down at the lady knight, but her face was hidden from him. "...Kel." he whispered.
Kel stirred, and lifted her head. They stared at each other, and a wordless agreement passed between them. Dom's hand slid down to cup the side of her face, and his arm tightened around her back, pulling her against him. They kissed, and Kel wrapped her arms around Dom's waist, a silent thrill running through her veins as warm, comforting sweetness flooded into her.
A door opened and closed somewhere, and footsteps sounded on the floor above them...If the person were to come downstairs, they'd have a fairly good view of the scene that was taking place.
Kel and Dom were both very aware of this fact. They pulled away reluctantly after a moment, breathless and still holding onto each other in a loosening embrace. Dom glanced up at the ceiling and sighed, a rueful look on his face. "Figures..." he muttered hoarsely. His eyes traveled back to Kel. He stared at her for a few seconds, considering, then seemed to think better of whatever he had been planning and grudgingly released her from his arms. Kel did the same, forcing her own arms to fall flat against her sides. She didn't completely trust them at the moment.
"Well...Midwinter luck, Kel." Dom said, his voice still a little husky, and his face broke into a wide grin. He turned and walked off, glancing back at her over his shoulder several times before he finally vanished around a corner.
Kel stood there for quite a long time before she closed the door. She walked over to the window on watery legs, opened it as far as it would go, and stuck her head out into the cold, snowy night air. A minute later she pulled her head back in and closed the window, feeling a great deal more like herself. She had snow in her hair and her lips were turning blue, granted, but still very much more herself.
Still, she couldn't help but wish that a certain sergeant were there to warm her lips again.
+ + +
A/N: Oh my, that was a long chapter. A full 7 pages (in my teeny weeny font)! A new record! *cackles* And it's done! It's done it's done it's done...
...Ahem. Anyway. Clearly, from the staggering lateness, this chapter gave me a lot of grief. I think the reasons are obvious enough (*coughs, glances over meaningfully at the K/D label in the fic's summary*), so I won't bother going into them here. Reviews would be very, veeeery welcome.
~Pheep
(P.S.: Veeeery.)
(Another P.S.: I should have added this before, but this fic isn't over yet! We have another climax to get to! XP Well, I guess the fact that chapter 8 follows this in the menu now says that for me, but oh well...)