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From: [personal profile] broodbound
Wholly unprepared for Aymeric's boldness, Estinien laughs, quick and bright -- a far different sound than the harsh rushes of air that had escaped him in the tavern the day before. It sets his features alight, first in amusement, and then, with fire -- baldly excited by what's to come.

"Aye," Estinien drops his stance, "Let's see your skill with a blade."

An inexperienced swordsman against a young man who'd spent nearly half his life with spear in hand -- Estinien expects their clash to be brief.

It is not.

Though clearly unmatched in trained skill with his chosen weapon, Aymeric more than meets Estinien in sheer relentlessness. Each time it seems Estinien nearly has him, Aymeric comes back at him twice as fierce. He wants this, badly, even Estinien can tell. And it only makes the flame beneath his own skin burn hotter. Still, though. He won't give victory away -- not today.

They're both nearly spent when Estinien finally disarms him. The fight ends with Aymeric on the ground and Estinien crouched over him, breathing heavily, lance point to neck.

Aymeric is maddeningly beautiful with his face flush, sweat damp dark hair stuck to his forehead. The gathered crowd -- which had only grown in number once their fight had begun -- erupts in cheers, but Estinien doesn't even notice. For the first time since gray had become red and green and blue and gold, he thinks... this, the bleed of color into his life had been worth it for this.

He stows his lance and offers his arm to help Aymeric up. He has three questions to ask him now, three chances to learn more, but what he blurts instead is, "Rematch. In five days."

Re: No it's perfect <3

Date: 2024-04-10 04:22 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
Estinien shoots him an incredulous look, grin wry, but expression warm and amused. Even he must admit to himself, beyond mere physical attraction, there is much to admire about Aymeric. Not least of all, his tenacity. But... those are things to be noticed in private. Not in front of a crowd. He points a gloved thumb over his shoulder, toward the still assembled onlookers, "Let's at least get away from this lot, first. I can barely hear myself think."

He's never cared for crowds, for attention, for anything remotely like adulation. Attentive gazes, hushed whispers -- he doesn't know what to do with them, and so he balks. Turns on his heel, ready to leave the training field behind, but... he doesn't just go. He waits, to be sure Aymeric is following, and doesn't speak until he's fetched his waterskin and a fresh towel from a nearby bench.

The skin, he offers to Aymeric, along with his first question, "You're House Borel, right?" He towels the sweat from his brow. "What're your grand plans once you've finished obligatory service? Politics? Clergy? Leisure?"

Re: No it's perfect <3

Date: 2024-04-11 05:04 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
Estinien has never had real cause to banter before. It feels like such an odd fit on him, such a waste of time, when there's training to do, revenge to be had, and wars to be won. But... there is something so easy and quick about Aymeric's voice, something so infuriatingly, obnoxiously charming about his smiles. Not to be dramatic, but earning one -- even a smirk like that -- gives the same sort of jolt to Estinien's nervous system as planting his lance in a dragon's side.

He rolls his eyes.

"Pff. So much sass from you, Ser Aymeric," Estinien teases, brows beetled. He is no good at this, and lands somewhere between impressed and appalled. "Seems to me, you might also have a future as a headmaster. Nitpicking grammar and posture."

He complains, but Aymeric's real answer had not gone unheard. The knight aspires to greatness, but in a way that most little lordlings don't. No real certainty, no bloviating, no mention of the dreaded, 'my father'. Aymeric is... honest, realistic, intriguing. Fun.

Estinien rolls his shoulders and rights himself, pretending he's not just showing off his physique, "Shall I stand up straighter for you, Professor?" A pause, then a grin, "That's not my second question, either."

Re: No it's perfect <3

Date: 2024-04-12 01:16 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
You wouldn't know it by looking at him, grin fixed in place as it is, but Estinien does, with absolute crystal clarity and not a hint of doubt (as is his way), think to himself, there are other things I'd have you polish, as well.

Thankfully, he has the wherewithal not to blurt such rubbish, though it has the positive side effect of also stopping him from too sharply denying that etiquette is of any use to him. He has no designs on greatness. Wants only to go as far as it will take to slay the foul wyrm Nidhogg and put an end to all this godsforsaken slaughter. And is far too young yet to realize how foolish he is for thinking those things.

His mood threatens to sour, but admittedly, Aymeric's attention is something of a salve for his anger. Or, at least, the desire to keep that attention at this moment is far stronger than anything else simmering away inside of him.

He drapes his towel around the back of his neck, gripping each end with both hands so that he can lean into it. It makes him look a little lazy. "My second question, then. Why..." Estinien's gaze flicks past Aymeric, just a moment, to focus on the dwindling crowd of onlookers, before settling on him again. His eyes narrow. "...do the lot of them treat you like that?"

Now that he's been given reason to look at all, Estinien can't help but notice the way the other knights whisper. It isn't always a kindly sound. He'd noticed one of them snickering early in their bout, the first time Estinien had parried Aymeric's blade.

Re: No it's perfect <3

Date: 2024-04-13 04:22 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
Estinien levels his gaze at Aymeric, expression unreadable, brow heavy from thought. It is ludicrous, in his estimation, that the other temple knights should be so preoccupied with the birth of a peer who had already proven himself otherwise capable -- even superlative.

But, were sympathy wanted at all, and Estinien isn't even sure that it is, he wouldn't even know how to begin to express it. So, instead, he says, "How boring. There is much more about you worth finding fascinating."

A pause, he lets his attention trace the outline of Aymeric's perfect form, haloed as it is by the bright noon sun. "Does it bother you?"

Whatever his answer, Estinien decides that he will see to it that the whispers stop. On his own time. Without Aymeric noticing.
Edited Date: 2024-04-13 04:23 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
Were twenty-year-old Estinien Varlineau capable of feeling shame, he might've blushed, even looked away. Aymeric's gaze is as keen as it is lovely, and having it unsettles everything beneath his skin. Makes him want to move -- in and away both, at the same time.

Young Estinien doesn't have much in the way of shame, though. And so, he stares back, both pleased with being the center of Aymeric's attention and bothered with the fact that he likes it so much. He can tell that much must be going on behind those eyes, but can't fathom what it might be. And that bothers him, too.

Everything about Aymeric de Borel bothers Estinien immensely -- but he wants it. The attention, the puckish smiles, the unrelenting intensity of his gaze. Damn. He needs to go or he's going to do something stupid.

"That was my third question, yes," Estinien replies, straightening and tucking his towel under his arm, "Must save some questions for when I best you next."

He doesn't wait for a reply. Gathers up his composure and brushes past Aymeric with the sort of brusque nonchalance that he's known for. He doesn't look back as he leaves the field, though he does call, "Five days, Ser Aymeric. Best hone those blade skills."
broodbound: (Default)
From: [personal profile] broodbound
Five days come and go, and it's entirely too long a wait. Estinien is near chomping at the bit to meet Aymeric on the field again. It makes him messy.

Though not messy enough.

This one ends with Aymeric on the ground again, Estinien's boot on his chest, and he's damn near feral looking down at that beautiful Borel boy. Wanting, but not taking.

Three questions, three answers. And five days is far too long, so they mark the next bout in four.

He's more collected this time, but Aymeric's much improved. The gathering crowd's grown, too. Knights and cadets and a handful of tittering sisters, who might've lent a comical bent to their fight had Estinien not been wholly preoccupied with his opponent. Today, it ends with Aymeric's sword in Estinien's hand, and Estinien's lance pointed at that delectable adam's apple.

Three more questions, three more answers. It goes on like this twice more. Each time, it's a match harder fought, victory less cleanly taken. Each time, their crowd of onlookers grows along with the cloud of rumors that follow. Each time, Estinien expects he'll run out of questions, but always, a new one comes to mind. A new thing he wants to know, a new reason to eke out a few more moments of Aymeric's attention without seeming too obvious.

Too obvious. Gods damn it. It wasn't supposed to take this long. Aymeric was to be a craving satisfied, not a brand upon his mind. The memory of him sweat-soaked and breathless, is nigh all Estinien can think about as their sixth match draws near. And worse, he finds himself thinking over his questions, wondering not just at how Aymeric will respond, but what he might find most amusing to talk of.

It rains all that morning, a cold downpour that lightens to a miserable drizzle by the time they meet on the muddy field. The foul weather, far too foggy to see anything well, has kept all but the most rapt of their audience away. Again, Estinien doesn't notice. Because even in the relentlessly drab afternoon mist, Aymeric is beautiful -- almost incandescent, the way the rain glazes all of his most vibrant colors and deepens the dark ones. Looking at him, Estinien can't help but think to himself, what if I just...lost?

And, oh, that will not do.

"Hold."

Before Aymeric can draw his blade, Estinien's feet carry him to the object of his obsession quite without his permission. Lance at his side, he sets in right away on the first thoughts that comes to mind, "We needn't make a contest of this any longer. I'm half mad, thinking of you and my mind will not rest 'til I've had you."

Re: better*

Date: 2024-04-18 06:19 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
A hot little ember burns to life in Estinien's stomach when Aymeric answers his exasperation with one of his smooth, perfect little smiles is most assuredly not shame. And the blasted tilt of his chin only makes it worse.

He isn't sure what exactly he'd call the feeling, though. Only knows that it burns all the hotter when Aymeric confirms what he's long suspected -- that the adopted scion of House Borel is just as consumed by thoughts of the two of them together as he is. And when he answers, so perfectly collected, as though he's hardly bothered by the feeling at all?

Oh, those seconds of silence drive Estinien absolutely mad.

"The Fury take you, Borel," Estinien curses, annoyed with himself and his impatience, with the fog and the rain and the cold...but not with Aymeric.

No, because Aymeric is unrelentingly honorable. Never once has he complained about their matches, about the way Estinien fights, or the oft rudely worded questions that come after a match. He has only ever been indefatigably driven toward his goal.

Estinien tamps the mud from his boots with the blunt end of his lance and decides that, no, actually he is furious with the perfect Ser Aymeric de Borel. All his distracting little details. The smiles, the honor, those warm winter eyes, that blasted flawless composure.

If it is to be a match of wills, now, as well, so be it. They will drive each other mad, together.

"Come and try to earn what's yours, then," he grunts, trudging back to his starting spot and readying his lance, "But don't fool yourself into thinking I'll be giving myself away, now."

Re: better*

Date: 2024-04-19 04:07 pm (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
I know you wouldn't do that...

It's a strange thing, feeling so seen. Estinien has never considered himself complicated in the least, but...even Alberic, who is the closest thing to a father he's had these last eight years, never seems to fully grasp his moods and motivations. But Aymeric just...does, and with such appalling, intoxicating glibness.

He grins, "Good."

For the first time since it'd happened, standing here in the midst of all this gray fog, before the beacon of perfect vibrance that is Ser Aymeric de Borel, Estinien wonders if Aymeric isn't exactly the reason he's been given the blue he's so taken with.

He tells himself, as he leaps, weapon raised, that it doesn't matter, either way. Soulmates are for the sorts of people who have futures, and Estinien's will end with the war that plagues their people.

Their weapons clash with a clear ring that echoes off the nearby stone.

This fight is a fierce one, slippery with mud and rain, but no shorter for the precarious terrain. Try as he might, Estinien can't neatly disarm Aymeric this time. On the contrary, Aymeric trips him. Puts him on his back in a move that flares the flame low in his gut as much as stings his spine.

This is where their fight ends: Aymeric over him, blade to his neck, his lance to Aymeric's chest. "A draw," Estinien says, and something like pride shows in his expression, "You're much improved."
Edited (just fixing my grammar 12 hours later don't mind me) Date: 2024-04-20 03:16 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
"No questions this time..." Estinien wonders before taking the offered hand, the thought not quite a question, itself. It follows, if Aymeric has not won, then neither has Estinien, and they'll both leave empty handed. Except, it doesn't feel empty. Seeing the full extent of Aymeric's fighting talent on display, watching his skill with the blade flourish -- Estinien cannot deny that it feels like a taste of finer things to come.

He hefts himself up to his feet easily with Aymeric's help, and leans forward just as soon as he's standing, right into Aymeric's space.

"Two days," he says, low and matter-of-fact, and his stormy gaze flashes with an almost predatory hunger, "Best win this next one, Ser Aymeric. Otherwise, I plan to make each question I get excruciating for you to answer."

Date: 2024-04-24 05:52 am (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
"Aye, give me your all," says Estinien, locking his eyes with Aymeric for just a second, then shoring up every inch of his willpower to turn and leave, because the alternative would almost certainly jeopardize their little bet.

Even two days is almost too much, now. Estinien spends them in training, because it's the only thing he can do to keep that blue-eyed knight from haunting his mind. A part of him does still thinks himself bewitched, thinks this infatuation a madness that he will be cured just as soon as Estinien's had him. But... the thought settles uneven in his chest. Melancholy would be a word for it, were Estinien the sort to put names to his feelings. This must end, but does he want it to?

Want doesn't really figure into it, though. Whether it carries on or not is, he supposes, in Ayemric's hands, now. House Borel's ward is more than adept enough to best him at this point.

And, naturally, he does.

It is their longest and fiercest battle yet. Estinien may be relentless, peerless with lance in hand, but Aymeric is by far the greater tactician, the cleverer fighter. And when Aymeric finally knocks the lance from Estinien's hands and points his blade at his chest, the would-be dragoon can't help but grin. Panting, breathless, he moves to the side just enough to let the blade slip between his arm and torso, very nearly up to the hilt and certainly into Aymeric's space, a little like play fighting.

"You've won me, Ser Aymeric," he observes, the fire in his eyes not even slightly dimished for his exhaustion.

need to start writing less bad characters sigh

Date: 2024-04-24 08:35 pm (UTC)
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From: [personal profile] broodbound
Estinien furrows his brows, but there is a smile upon his lips when he replies, "Have we not waited long enough, already?"

He is neither the sort to be daunted by his own exhaustion nor deterred by a bit of sweat and mud. On the contrary, he can too easily imagine what the pretty, perfect Ser Aymeric de Borel must taste like when seasoned by salt and earth, what he must look like, peeled out of his armor, soft skin glowing with sweat, composure fissured. Gods, he is so close to finally having him. The realization hits Estinien again, and he can hardly believe how insistent a want it is. What had been, weeks ago, a mere craving, feels now almost possessive. Almost as urgent as his revenge.

Estinien shifts his weight from one leg to the other, hip pointing toward Aymeric. The middle of a training field, watched by the same gaggle of knights and clergy that have come to nearly every one of their duels, is entirely the wrong place to be letting his thoughts get away from him like this.

"I would have you now," he says carefully, trying his best to keep his voice even, unconcerned, to hide how hotly he burns. "But, if you feel you must freshen up first..." Estinien wets his lips with his tongue, "I could wait a bit longer, provided you allow me to watch."

i appreciate that you love this lad

From: [personal profile] broodbound - Date: 2024-04-25 01:23 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: i appreciate that you love this lad

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Re: <3

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just letting them have some fun

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probably ftb after this lmaooo sob sorry!!!

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Aymeric de Borel

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