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The easiest way to win over a girl? Let her find out you're into kissy novels! Or something. idk.
GIVING A SUMMARY ON THIS BEFORE WE BOTH FORGET IN THE NEAR FUTURE:
(a) Rossellyn travels out to Shadowmoon Valley or whatever it's called (it's 5AM and I'm not looking this shit up), and Warcul eventually follows her because he's concerned. Days later, she gets a broken leg and various other injuries, and Warcul ports her back to Shattrath City to find a healer. After her leg is healed and bandaged up (and Warcul paces like a fool and worries about her), they have a talk about her morality, which shakes her up a bit.
(b) Days later, her leg isn't quite healed yet but Rossellyn is already feeling antsy and snapping at Warcul while he's in the middle of reading something. Roz asks him to replace her bandages. While he's doing that, she chances a glance at his book, and discovers that it isn't quite what she was expecting. IT WAS A KISSY NOVEL. And somehow they talk about Roz's past relationships/romances, and she tells him (kinda sadly) that men only seemed to take an interest in her because of her beauty and strength, and nothing else. Warcul basically goes EFF THEM, THEY WERE MORONS, YOU'RE THAT AND MORE <3, and leaves her speechless.
Annnnnnd here's the rest.
Warcul was glad to see her smile. Frankly, he wouldn't hesitate to tell her everything else he admired about her if she wanted to know. Instead, he said no more, unless she was willing to pry, but he leaned in and pressed a kiss on her forehead for extra emphasis. "How does your leg feel now?" he asked. "Any better?"
Roz was not one to ask for further compliments, and she felt good enough just having Warcul reassure her; and the kiss helped. "Yes, thank you," she said, leaning forward before he could pull away, and tilted her head up to kiss him. "You know, I am still terribly bored here, though. Maybe..." She reached for the book once again, handing it back to him, and moved over so she was sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder. "tell me what your book is about."
Warcul kissed her back, and he expected her to insist on walking around on her leg when she mentioned her boredom. Then she moved closer, resting her head on his shoulder, and asked him to tell her what the book was about. She made a request that he simply couldn't refuse.
"It's actually a collection of different stories.. quite a few of them are famous love epics of our people," Warcul started to explain. He flipped through a few pages to show her; the picture she found wasn't the only one included with the book. There are several other images every fifty pages or so, each paired up with a new story. "The one I was reading was about a paladin, who was blinded by his rage and commits a heinous crime against an innocent. He was forced out of the Hand of Argus and forbidden to wield the Light, and he only finds the path towards redemption when he falls in love with a priestess." That story accompanied the image that Rossellyn discovered when she opened the book.
Of course the images are what draw her in the most, but his description of the story pique's her interest as well. "It does sound like a good story... does the priestess return his feelings? I imagine it would take awhile if he had harmed and innocent. Was it on purpose, or an accident?"
"I suppose you can call it an accident. A demonic influence drove him to do it, but it was fueled by a lingering hatred inside of him. If he hadn't carried it with him, he wouldn't have felt it was right to take the innocent's life. Either way, it didn't matter. It was his intent that ruined him." Warcul was a little surprised to hear that she was interested in the story itself. He could see why, though. It was one of his personal favorites. "That's a good guess. He stayed out of the Order for awhile, and he never once thought to seek redemption for his actions, until the day he met her. It was love at first sight... at least for him. She heard the story surrounding his past, and she was quick to reject him. She insisted that the only way he could win her heart is if he proved himself worthy of it. That's when he makes the decision to seek forgiveness from the innocent's family."
She listens quietly as he tells her about the story, letting her hand rest over his as he holds the book open. "Demonic influence.. in a paladin." That sounded familiar, and her tone of voice probably reflected that. Nonetheless, she shook her head, pushing the thought out of her mind to focus on the story. "What happened when he went to see the family?"
Warcul noticed the tone in her voice, but then she asked him to continue with the story. "The family didn't believe him. So much time had passed, and never once did he try to make up for what he did, and he was never sincere with his apologies. On top of that, their loved one wasn't resting easy. You see, before the Legion found us, death was a rare occurrence with my people. The souls of the departed always have a difficult time coming to terms with the loss. The family would only forgive him if he could figure out a way to ease their loved one's pain... so he took them up on that challenge." He shrugegd. "The rest of the story explains the different trials he went through: the path he needed to travel to get to her resting place, the danger that lied ahead of him, the things he needed to collect to honor her... he wasn't alone, though. The priestess agreed to go with him."
She nodded; if he was insincere before, why would they believe him now? When he explains how the paladin had to go through trials, and that the priestess agreed to travel with him, she smiled a bit. "You've read this before then, haven't you?" She asked, glancing up at him. "You have a lot of it memorized, it seems."
He smileed sheepishly when she asked him that. "I remember everything I read! After the first few times I've read it," he admitted. "This version is slightly different, though. I never got to read this author's take on the story before, but so far it's ... much more tragic than what I remember." He looked very concerned about this! What if it doesn't end well?
"There's nothing wrong with this version... I guess." Warcul didn't sound too convinced when he said that. He even sighed a little. "In fact, many people preferred this author's take on the story. They thought it was 'more interesting'." After thumbing the edge of the page a little, he told her the rest of the story. "In the original, once they're finished with the trials, the paladin discovers the spirit of the innocent he murdered, and he begs her for forgiveness. Not only does the innocent gain the closure she needed, but the priestess was so moved by his actions and his sincerity that she fell in love with him. He earned back his title as a paldin, and they were married."
"Well that sounds like a perfectly good eneding right there," she said, raising an eyebrow. "It is a bit sappy, but that's rather the point of most romance stories, I thought. What happens in this version?"
"In this version, he was only seeking the family's forgiveness so he could win the priestess' affections, and he never stops to think of the innocent herself. The priestess was unaware of his intentions, growing to love him throughout their jouney... but the spirit of the innocent knew. She saw him as the selfish man that he was, and she told the ex-paladin that she preferred to wander the world in agony rather than accept a half-hearted apology. That caused him to lose the priestess' love for him... and only then does he see the darkness in him and wish to fix it. He endured the trials again, earned the innocent's forgiveness, and became a paladin once more... but the priestess never trusts him again." Warcul can't help but sound a little disappointed about that.
"It's not a bad ending.... though it is a bit more dissapointing," she agrees. She shook her head. "My mother wouldn't like this version, either. She told me stories like these all the time when I was young. My father would give her a hard time for only telling me fairytales and love stories, saying they weren't realistic enough. He told good stories too, actually... he was very dramatic. Usually he retold stories about his adventures in his youth, or battles he had been in... And he wondered why I wanted to be like him.." She shakes her head, laughing a bit. "Still.. sometimes all you want in a story is a good ending."
Warcul's disappointment was replaced by a brightened mood as she talked about her parents. "I think that's the first positive thing I've ever heard you mention about your father," he said with some amusement. "I suppose it's funny how parents can influence you like that. Neither of my parents read much, but sometimes my mother would talk about the days before we found Draenor. She wasn't much of a storyteller, but she was always so animated about it. The enthusiasm tends to rub off on you." He looked back at the pages of the book, at the text and the images, and he nods in agreement with Rossellyn's words about happy endings, chuckling a bit. "True. That's why I read these stories. I know this version is a bit more meaningful, but... well, if I wanted realism, I wouldn't be reading."
She paused for a moment, then laughed a bit. "It probably is, now that you mention it. They were both good storytellers in their own ways.. my mother read to me, and she conveyed a lot of emotion from the story very well.. with longer stories that were too much for one night, I'd beg her to read another page or two," she said, smiling a bit, curling her fingers with Warcul's. "What about adventure stories, or maybe history? I know this is where your home was, where you grew up.. but what else made you want to travel?"
"Your mother sounds like a lovely woman... especially if she has the patience to read to you," he told her with a smile, and he seemed content as their fingers curled together. "At some point it became my job to read to my little sister after she was born, whenever my parents were too busy to do it themselves. I never complained, but sometimes she would keep me awake just to get to the end of a story." Ah, those were the days, when the last thing he wanted to hear was 'one more time'!
Warcul was a little taken aback by her question, and he thought about it. It never occurred to him before. "I ... I'm not sure," he said, after a moment. "I enjoyed our adventure stories enough, but a lot of them were about battle-worn soldiers, or escaping a demon's clutches. It was difficult to relate to them. I didn't really want to travel on Draenor until I started studying magic, but it only became a desire when...well, when I arrived on Azeroth. It would've been a bit senseless to ignore an entire whole world around you."
Warcul really wasn't sure how to tell her that he didn't truly want to travel outside of their isle until they met, so he didn't say anything.
"Heh... my brother was terrible at telling stories. he was like me.. he didn't have the patience to read, but if he tried to tell a story, he often forgot things, or left parts out to make it shorter.. Unless it was a joke, or something else humourous, forget it."
She tilted her head when he tells her about the adventure stories, smiling a bit. "I don't know, to me those sound just as good as the romance stories," she admitted. "But I suppose by now you can guess what's easier for me to relate to." When he mentioned travelling on Azeroth, her smile only grew some more. "Oh, there's so many more places I can think to take you. I mentioned Winterspring already, though the cold is terrible. Then there's Moonglade.. I'll have to take you to the Lunar Festival next year. There's also Brewfest, but... that's near Ironforge, so...." she shakes her head. "Well, never mind."
"That reminds me of Lenaale," he said, thinking of one of his older sisters, "except you couldn't get a coherent story out of her unless it pertained to her in some way."
Warcul figured Rossellyn would like the sound of the adventure stories. "Well, that's because you can look a demon in the eye and attack them as a bear!" he said, somewhat teasing her, but he's getting to an important point, really. "Nobody ever writes an adventure story about a mage, unless they're sidekicks or love interests... and a lot of them end with the mages turning evil or dying, anyway." He shook his head; not every mage was weak or secretly demented!
All of the places she listed off sounded fascinating. He only heard of those areas in passing a few times, either from her or other Draenei whom were fortunate enough to travel further into Azeroth and return to the Exodar. "I've never heard of the Lunar Festival, or Brewfest," he said, curious. "What's wrong with Ironforge, though?"
"I've had my share of friends like that," Roz chuckled.
"True enough," she smirked. "I suppose it makes sense, the turning evil part anyways, given that magic is what attracted the Burning Legion to both our worlds. But to always portray them as weak or having them die is ridiculous," she scoffed. She did not comment on the love interest part.
"Nothing. It's a nice enough place for being in a mountain, I suppose. Dwarves are just very... surly sometimes. Especially when they drink. And along with some other races, they seem to perciev my people as a bunch of 'tree hugging weaklings.' " The last part is almost a growl, as if someone actually called her people this before. "Dwarves don't like it when you prove them wrong. Or manage to drink more than them." She coughs. "Or beat them senseless."
"Magic is dangerous," Warcul agreed, nodding. "I suppose a lot of people are suspicious of mages no matter what side they're on. Still, it's even reflected in fiction! It would be nice to see more positive stories about us." With that, he huffed a bit. This was one of his major pet peeves.
"Tree hugging...?" Warcul laughed, only because of the way it sounded. "Now that's absolutely ridiculous." Tried as hard as he might, he simply couldn't imagine Rossellyn hugging trees, let alone imagine her as a weakling, and he didn't see what was wrong with either of those things anyway. (Although he would always bring up the frolicking, just because.) He stopped, though, and listened when she mentioned drinking more than dwarves and beating them senseless. It didn't take much to put two and two together. He smirked a bit. "Let me guess: you know from personal experience?"
She smirked. "I'll just say yes, and we'll leave it at that."
She let go of his hand and stood up after a moment, grabbing some pillows off one of the nearby beds. She tossed one at him playfully, hitting him in the chest with it, before going back over to sit near him. She setup her pillows so she could lay down on the bearskin rug comfortably, her leg also propped up on a pillow. With another smirk, she snatched the pillow she hit Warcul with, and propped it up behind him. She placed her hand against his chest, perhaps oirginally planning to push him back on the pillow, but her fingers were soon distracted by one of his tendrils. She could wait for him to lay down on his own.
"So when you decided to come back here, how come you didn't go with any of the other draenei? We've run into plenty from the Exodar."
For a moment, when she let go of his hand and stood up, Warcul wondered if he pried too much into something he wasn't supposed to know. What could be so bad about Ironforge and a couple of dwarves? Then the pillow hits him in the chest unexpectedly and sits down next to him, preparing the pillows so she could lie down. He was expecting her to push him on his pillow when she got distracted by the tendril. Taking the cue from there, he slowly lied down on his own, trying to think of a way to answer her question.
"I suppose traveling here with other draenei would make sense...but I didn't want to go with them," Warcul said. He paused, the thought from earlier crossing his mind before, and he knew there was no avoiding it. "I didn't want to leave the Exodar until I met you."
Satisfied that he took the hint, her fingers still curled in his tendrils. She began to lean in closer, her free hand moving up to his sideburns, stroking them affectionately.
When he tells her why though, she freezes for a moment, looking surprised. "Me? Why?"
Warcul got himself comfortable on the pillow, or as much as he could considering he was revealing something vital to her, and the way she froze when he said that made him worry. It was too late to back out, though. "Well...life was a blur before we met. All I ever did was sit inside the Exodar and occupy myself with any sort of work. But you, you were always traveling somewhere, and some of the things you did, or you said you did, it made me curious."
He paused again, feeling shy. "I know it's strange, since we didn't exactly get along at first," he said, and he knew that was his fault. Now Warcul could never understand how he ever mistook her for a blood elf, and he nearly cringed at the memory. "But it didn't last that way for long...and you always fascinated me."
That made sense, given that he lost his family before he left Draenor; keeping busy was the best way to keep yourself from reliving those things. She knew that all too well.
"I... can be a bit hard to get along with. I was honestly surprised that you wanted to keep in touch the first time I left," she admitted. "I am glad that we-" Oh. He had -always- been attracted to her? "Well... I wasn't aware of that." She said with a small smile, stroking his sideburns once more. "At first I didn't really think of you that way.. I hadn't really thought of anyone like that in many years. But after traveling together for awhile.. " She leaned in a bit closer, giving him a soft kiss, letting her actions speak for her. But after a moment, she looked at him, puzzled by his expression. "...did I say something wrong?"
Warcul would've told her that he was surprised at himself; they hardly saw eye-to-eye with each other when they met, and he was sure that she didn't think too highly of him after he thought her to be a blood elf of all things. Then she said that, picking up something completely different from what he was trying to say, and all of the sudden it hit him like a blow to his gut: he wasn't sure how to correct her. He couldn't even take pride in knowing she was attracted to him after so many years of being without anyone; the last impression he wanted to give her was -that-, like that was all he could see in her, not when he tried to tell her differently.
"That... that wasn't what I meant," he said awkwardly, looking away. "It was never my intention to.. it's just.." He was just making it worst, wasn't it? What did he even WANT to tell her? Why did he always get so confused around her? Did he have to spell it out so clearly to her when he couldn't even make sense out of it himself? No matter, he was going to try; if this was going to blow up in his face, he was going to try his hardest to let some things be known. "I-It's not just that," he added with an air of nervousness; even he couldn't deny that he found her attracted from the start, and really, there was no harm in her knowing that. He raised his own hand to hers, which was still resting on his face, and held it there, tentatively. "I never met anyone like you before, someone who was so... clever, and sure of herself, and brave, and.. someone I could trust. I admired all of those things." He squeezed her hand a bit. "I admired you, Roz. I still do.. now more than ever."
Rossellyn tilted her head when he said that wasn't what he met, patiently waiting for him to get past whatever was making him nervous. She lifted her thumb to stroke his hand that he laid on top of hers, though soon her eyes were a bit wide and her thumb stopped moving. “Oh. I… I see,” she said glancing away from him anxiously. “I… I don’t know what to say,” she muttered honestly. Now she felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. She knew that he trusted her, and that clearly he saw more in her than just her beauty and her strength, but for him to say all those things so openly, she was left speechless. Here she had merely said she developed an attraction to him over time. I can’t believe I said something so stupid, she thought to herself angrily.
The mage however, was a concerned over her silence and the look on her face as her eyes left his. I knew this would blow up in my face, he thought sadly. “I… suppose maybe I should have kept it to myself,” he said awkwardly, his hand drifting from hers.
That got her attention again; she looked back to him, frowning. “Why?”
“Because it was foolish. I just made you feel awkward and embarrassed myself.”
Roz raised an eyebrow at him. “So… you didn’t mean it? Those things you just said?”
“Of course I meant them!” He sighed, aggravated at the accusation in her voice. “I just meant perhaps I shouldn’t have said them since it made things so uncomfortable.”
“Oh,” she said softly, looking away again. “I don’t mean to seem ungrateful, I just… No one’s ever really said those things to me. I’m more often told I’m arrogant and foolish, not… confident and brave,” she admitted.
He frowned at her; that hadn’t been what he was expecting to hear from her at all. He bit his lip, and hesitantly stroked her cheek until she looked at him again. “If I didn’t admire you for more than your looks, why else would I have slept with you?” He asked her softly
Roz chuckled this time. “Because I seduced you?” She teased. The mage furrowed his brow at her, and she frowned, instantly feeling guilty.
“Is that the only reason?” Warcul asked, and her frown deepened when she saw the hurt in his gentle, blue eyes.
“Of course not,” she murmured, leaning her forehead against his. She sighed, struggling to put his mind at ease, but words were not her strong point. “Even when we didn’t get along that well, you stuck with me, even when I was less than kind with my words. And as we travelled together, I felt responsible for you; I invited you to come, so I certainly wasn’t going to let anything happened to you. I wanted to protect you, to make sure you wouldn’t get hurt. Then we started to get along better, to get comfortable with each other... If we could trust each other with our lives, why not our bodies too?” she asked, giving him a coy smile. “I know I got impulsive, that we got carried away, but I don’t regret it; and the reason I don’t is because it was with you, Warcul.” Her golden eyes searched his as she leaned closer to him, hoping that he understood what she meant, that she hadn’t made him feel used.
He took in her words as she spoke, his lips slowly turning upwards as she reminded him how she wanted to keep him safe, how they had slowly become friends, the trust that had formed as they travelled together, and most importantly that she didn’t regret her time with him; she cared for him for more than his looks, trusted him so completely, just like he did her. He inhaled deeply, pulling her closer and buried his face against her neck, his sideburns tickling her. “I’m glad to hear that,” he murmured as he kissed her neck.
She wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes as he held her. “You really do worry too much,” she teased him gently, “After all this time together, you really thought I hadn’t grown fond of you for more than your looks?” She chuckled. “I suppose that’s my fault for my earlier comment.. I just… Like I said, no one’s ever really.. treated me the way you have before,” she said, nuzzling her cheek against his.
He grinned, pressing his nose against hers, teasing her back. “But I am still attractive, right?”
She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “Gorgeous,” she purred, brushing her lips against his.
Rossellyn tilted her head when he said that wasn't what he met, patiently waiting for him to get past whatever was making him nervous. She lifted her thumb to stroke his hand that he laid on type of hers, though soon her eyes were a bit wide and her thumb stopped moving. "Oh, I..." she sighed a bit to herself, her face a bit flushed. "I feel so stupid now, I didn't... I thought you just... Oh, Warcul." Her hand moved away from his face, but before he could get a chance to panic her arms were around his shoulders as she held him close, nuzzling her cheek against his. She was silent for awhile, still processing his words, and trying to figuring out how to respond; she was touched that he felt that way about her, and while it wasn't completely surprising given how close they were becoming, he still caught her off guard when he had said that.
She pulled away only slightly, now forehead-to-forehead instead of cheek-to-cheek with him, though after a second she nudged against his forehead playfully. "You have me at a disadvantage, I don't... I'm not very good at.. you know," she murmured, glancing away. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking, and she pressed another kiss against his lips. "You're sweet. Smart... sometimes you're as stubborn as I am," she said, laughing softly. "I know this journey has been hard at times... especially for you, but... I'm still glad you came with me. I can't tell you how happy it makes me just to be here with you," she admitted quietly, her golden eyes meeting his.
Rossellyn wasn't the only one who had to process those words. Warcul still didn't know what to make of what he'd just said. He knew he followed her for a reason. Partly, he wanted to find a new home outside of the Exodar, some place that didn't serve as a reminder of what'd happened to him or the other draenei. But even then, he always knew there was another reason, although he couldn't put a name on it back then. It was more apparent in that moment than ever before, ever since she was injured and he felt the overwhelming panic in the possibility that she wasn't going to make it.
Warcul felt another sort of panic go through him when she let go of his hand... but that didn't last long. When she held him close and nuzzled against him, he was surprised, as the violet flush in his cheeks revealed, but the relief that came with the surprise was even better. He listened to her, and smiled softly when she kissed him and admitted those things to him. It was nice to hear them. "I'm... happy to hear that," he told her, raising a hand to stroke her cheek with his thumb. "It has been difficult, but... I couldn't imagine coming out here with anyone else."
GIVING A SUMMARY ON THIS BEFORE WE BOTH FORGET IN THE NEAR FUTURE:
(a) Rossellyn travels out to Shadowmoon Valley or whatever it's called (it's 5AM and I'm not looking this shit up), and Warcul eventually follows her because he's concerned. Days later, she gets a broken leg and various other injuries, and Warcul ports her back to Shattrath City to find a healer. After her leg is healed and bandaged up (and Warcul paces like a fool and worries about her), they have a talk about her morality, which shakes her up a bit.
(b) Days later, her leg isn't quite healed yet but Rossellyn is already feeling antsy and snapping at Warcul while he's in the middle of reading something. Roz asks him to replace her bandages. While he's doing that, she chances a glance at his book, and discovers that it isn't quite what she was expecting. IT WAS A KISSY NOVEL. And somehow they talk about Roz's past relationships/romances, and she tells him (kinda sadly) that men only seemed to take an interest in her because of her beauty and strength, and nothing else. Warcul basically goes EFF THEM, THEY WERE MORONS, YOU'RE THAT AND MORE <3, and leaves her speechless.
Annnnnnd here's the rest.
Warcul was glad to see her smile. Frankly, he wouldn't hesitate to tell her everything else he admired about her if she wanted to know. Instead, he said no more, unless she was willing to pry, but he leaned in and pressed a kiss on her forehead for extra emphasis. "How does your leg feel now?" he asked. "Any better?"
Roz was not one to ask for further compliments, and she felt good enough just having Warcul reassure her; and the kiss helped. "Yes, thank you," she said, leaning forward before he could pull away, and tilted her head up to kiss him. "You know, I am still terribly bored here, though. Maybe..." She reached for the book once again, handing it back to him, and moved over so she was sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder. "tell me what your book is about."
Warcul kissed her back, and he expected her to insist on walking around on her leg when she mentioned her boredom. Then she moved closer, resting her head on his shoulder, and asked him to tell her what the book was about. She made a request that he simply couldn't refuse.
"It's actually a collection of different stories.. quite a few of them are famous love epics of our people," Warcul started to explain. He flipped through a few pages to show her; the picture she found wasn't the only one included with the book. There are several other images every fifty pages or so, each paired up with a new story. "The one I was reading was about a paladin, who was blinded by his rage and commits a heinous crime against an innocent. He was forced out of the Hand of Argus and forbidden to wield the Light, and he only finds the path towards redemption when he falls in love with a priestess." That story accompanied the image that Rossellyn discovered when she opened the book.
Of course the images are what draw her in the most, but his description of the story pique's her interest as well. "It does sound like a good story... does the priestess return his feelings? I imagine it would take awhile if he had harmed and innocent. Was it on purpose, or an accident?"
"I suppose you can call it an accident. A demonic influence drove him to do it, but it was fueled by a lingering hatred inside of him. If he hadn't carried it with him, he wouldn't have felt it was right to take the innocent's life. Either way, it didn't matter. It was his intent that ruined him." Warcul was a little surprised to hear that she was interested in the story itself. He could see why, though. It was one of his personal favorites. "That's a good guess. He stayed out of the Order for awhile, and he never once thought to seek redemption for his actions, until the day he met her. It was love at first sight... at least for him. She heard the story surrounding his past, and she was quick to reject him. She insisted that the only way he could win her heart is if he proved himself worthy of it. That's when he makes the decision to seek forgiveness from the innocent's family."
She listens quietly as he tells her about the story, letting her hand rest over his as he holds the book open. "Demonic influence.. in a paladin." That sounded familiar, and her tone of voice probably reflected that. Nonetheless, she shook her head, pushing the thought out of her mind to focus on the story. "What happened when he went to see the family?"
Warcul noticed the tone in her voice, but then she asked him to continue with the story. "The family didn't believe him. So much time had passed, and never once did he try to make up for what he did, and he was never sincere with his apologies. On top of that, their loved one wasn't resting easy. You see, before the Legion found us, death was a rare occurrence with my people. The souls of the departed always have a difficult time coming to terms with the loss. The family would only forgive him if he could figure out a way to ease their loved one's pain... so he took them up on that challenge." He shrugegd. "The rest of the story explains the different trials he went through: the path he needed to travel to get to her resting place, the danger that lied ahead of him, the things he needed to collect to honor her... he wasn't alone, though. The priestess agreed to go with him."
She nodded; if he was insincere before, why would they believe him now? When he explains how the paladin had to go through trials, and that the priestess agreed to travel with him, she smiled a bit. "You've read this before then, haven't you?" She asked, glancing up at him. "You have a lot of it memorized, it seems."
He smileed sheepishly when she asked him that. "I remember everything I read! After the first few times I've read it," he admitted. "This version is slightly different, though. I never got to read this author's take on the story before, but so far it's ... much more tragic than what I remember." He looked very concerned about this! What if it doesn't end well?
"There's nothing wrong with this version... I guess." Warcul didn't sound too convinced when he said that. He even sighed a little. "In fact, many people preferred this author's take on the story. They thought it was 'more interesting'." After thumbing the edge of the page a little, he told her the rest of the story. "In the original, once they're finished with the trials, the paladin discovers the spirit of the innocent he murdered, and he begs her for forgiveness. Not only does the innocent gain the closure she needed, but the priestess was so moved by his actions and his sincerity that she fell in love with him. He earned back his title as a paldin, and they were married."
"Well that sounds like a perfectly good eneding right there," she said, raising an eyebrow. "It is a bit sappy, but that's rather the point of most romance stories, I thought. What happens in this version?"
"In this version, he was only seeking the family's forgiveness so he could win the priestess' affections, and he never stops to think of the innocent herself. The priestess was unaware of his intentions, growing to love him throughout their jouney... but the spirit of the innocent knew. She saw him as the selfish man that he was, and she told the ex-paladin that she preferred to wander the world in agony rather than accept a half-hearted apology. That caused him to lose the priestess' love for him... and only then does he see the darkness in him and wish to fix it. He endured the trials again, earned the innocent's forgiveness, and became a paladin once more... but the priestess never trusts him again." Warcul can't help but sound a little disappointed about that.
"It's not a bad ending.... though it is a bit more dissapointing," she agrees. She shook her head. "My mother wouldn't like this version, either. She told me stories like these all the time when I was young. My father would give her a hard time for only telling me fairytales and love stories, saying they weren't realistic enough. He told good stories too, actually... he was very dramatic. Usually he retold stories about his adventures in his youth, or battles he had been in... And he wondered why I wanted to be like him.." She shakes her head, laughing a bit. "Still.. sometimes all you want in a story is a good ending."
Warcul's disappointment was replaced by a brightened mood as she talked about her parents. "I think that's the first positive thing I've ever heard you mention about your father," he said with some amusement. "I suppose it's funny how parents can influence you like that. Neither of my parents read much, but sometimes my mother would talk about the days before we found Draenor. She wasn't much of a storyteller, but she was always so animated about it. The enthusiasm tends to rub off on you." He looked back at the pages of the book, at the text and the images, and he nods in agreement with Rossellyn's words about happy endings, chuckling a bit. "True. That's why I read these stories. I know this version is a bit more meaningful, but... well, if I wanted realism, I wouldn't be reading."
She paused for a moment, then laughed a bit. "It probably is, now that you mention it. They were both good storytellers in their own ways.. my mother read to me, and she conveyed a lot of emotion from the story very well.. with longer stories that were too much for one night, I'd beg her to read another page or two," she said, smiling a bit, curling her fingers with Warcul's. "What about adventure stories, or maybe history? I know this is where your home was, where you grew up.. but what else made you want to travel?"
"Your mother sounds like a lovely woman... especially if she has the patience to read to you," he told her with a smile, and he seemed content as their fingers curled together. "At some point it became my job to read to my little sister after she was born, whenever my parents were too busy to do it themselves. I never complained, but sometimes she would keep me awake just to get to the end of a story." Ah, those were the days, when the last thing he wanted to hear was 'one more time'!
Warcul was a little taken aback by her question, and he thought about it. It never occurred to him before. "I ... I'm not sure," he said, after a moment. "I enjoyed our adventure stories enough, but a lot of them were about battle-worn soldiers, or escaping a demon's clutches. It was difficult to relate to them. I didn't really want to travel on Draenor until I started studying magic, but it only became a desire when...well, when I arrived on Azeroth. It would've been a bit senseless to ignore an entire whole world around you."
Warcul really wasn't sure how to tell her that he didn't truly want to travel outside of their isle until they met, so he didn't say anything.
"Heh... my brother was terrible at telling stories. he was like me.. he didn't have the patience to read, but if he tried to tell a story, he often forgot things, or left parts out to make it shorter.. Unless it was a joke, or something else humourous, forget it."
She tilted her head when he tells her about the adventure stories, smiling a bit. "I don't know, to me those sound just as good as the romance stories," she admitted. "But I suppose by now you can guess what's easier for me to relate to." When he mentioned travelling on Azeroth, her smile only grew some more. "Oh, there's so many more places I can think to take you. I mentioned Winterspring already, though the cold is terrible. Then there's Moonglade.. I'll have to take you to the Lunar Festival next year. There's also Brewfest, but... that's near Ironforge, so...." she shakes her head. "Well, never mind."
"That reminds me of Lenaale," he said, thinking of one of his older sisters, "except you couldn't get a coherent story out of her unless it pertained to her in some way."
Warcul figured Rossellyn would like the sound of the adventure stories. "Well, that's because you can look a demon in the eye and attack them as a bear!" he said, somewhat teasing her, but he's getting to an important point, really. "Nobody ever writes an adventure story about a mage, unless they're sidekicks or love interests... and a lot of them end with the mages turning evil or dying, anyway." He shook his head; not every mage was weak or secretly demented!
All of the places she listed off sounded fascinating. He only heard of those areas in passing a few times, either from her or other Draenei whom were fortunate enough to travel further into Azeroth and return to the Exodar. "I've never heard of the Lunar Festival, or Brewfest," he said, curious. "What's wrong with Ironforge, though?"
"I've had my share of friends like that," Roz chuckled.
"True enough," she smirked. "I suppose it makes sense, the turning evil part anyways, given that magic is what attracted the Burning Legion to both our worlds. But to always portray them as weak or having them die is ridiculous," she scoffed. She did not comment on the love interest part.
"Nothing. It's a nice enough place for being in a mountain, I suppose. Dwarves are just very... surly sometimes. Especially when they drink. And along with some other races, they seem to perciev my people as a bunch of 'tree hugging weaklings.' " The last part is almost a growl, as if someone actually called her people this before. "Dwarves don't like it when you prove them wrong. Or manage to drink more than them." She coughs. "Or beat them senseless."
"Magic is dangerous," Warcul agreed, nodding. "I suppose a lot of people are suspicious of mages no matter what side they're on. Still, it's even reflected in fiction! It would be nice to see more positive stories about us." With that, he huffed a bit. This was one of his major pet peeves.
"Tree hugging...?" Warcul laughed, only because of the way it sounded. "Now that's absolutely ridiculous." Tried as hard as he might, he simply couldn't imagine Rossellyn hugging trees, let alone imagine her as a weakling, and he didn't see what was wrong with either of those things anyway. (Although he would always bring up the frolicking, just because.) He stopped, though, and listened when she mentioned drinking more than dwarves and beating them senseless. It didn't take much to put two and two together. He smirked a bit. "Let me guess: you know from personal experience?"
She smirked. "I'll just say yes, and we'll leave it at that."
She let go of his hand and stood up after a moment, grabbing some pillows off one of the nearby beds. She tossed one at him playfully, hitting him in the chest with it, before going back over to sit near him. She setup her pillows so she could lay down on the bearskin rug comfortably, her leg also propped up on a pillow. With another smirk, she snatched the pillow she hit Warcul with, and propped it up behind him. She placed her hand against his chest, perhaps oirginally planning to push him back on the pillow, but her fingers were soon distracted by one of his tendrils. She could wait for him to lay down on his own.
"So when you decided to come back here, how come you didn't go with any of the other draenei? We've run into plenty from the Exodar."
For a moment, when she let go of his hand and stood up, Warcul wondered if he pried too much into something he wasn't supposed to know. What could be so bad about Ironforge and a couple of dwarves? Then the pillow hits him in the chest unexpectedly and sits down next to him, preparing the pillows so she could lie down. He was expecting her to push him on his pillow when she got distracted by the tendril. Taking the cue from there, he slowly lied down on his own, trying to think of a way to answer her question.
"I suppose traveling here with other draenei would make sense...but I didn't want to go with them," Warcul said. He paused, the thought from earlier crossing his mind before, and he knew there was no avoiding it. "I didn't want to leave the Exodar until I met you."
Satisfied that he took the hint, her fingers still curled in his tendrils. She began to lean in closer, her free hand moving up to his sideburns, stroking them affectionately.
When he tells her why though, she freezes for a moment, looking surprised. "Me? Why?"
Warcul got himself comfortable on the pillow, or as much as he could considering he was revealing something vital to her, and the way she froze when he said that made him worry. It was too late to back out, though. "Well...life was a blur before we met. All I ever did was sit inside the Exodar and occupy myself with any sort of work. But you, you were always traveling somewhere, and some of the things you did, or you said you did, it made me curious."
He paused again, feeling shy. "I know it's strange, since we didn't exactly get along at first," he said, and he knew that was his fault. Now Warcul could never understand how he ever mistook her for a blood elf, and he nearly cringed at the memory. "But it didn't last that way for long...and you always fascinated me."
That made sense, given that he lost his family before he left Draenor; keeping busy was the best way to keep yourself from reliving those things. She knew that all too well.
"I... can be a bit hard to get along with. I was honestly surprised that you wanted to keep in touch the first time I left," she admitted. "I am glad that we-" Oh. He had -always- been attracted to her? "Well... I wasn't aware of that." She said with a small smile, stroking his sideburns once more. "At first I didn't really think of you that way.. I hadn't really thought of anyone like that in many years. But after traveling together for awhile.. " She leaned in a bit closer, giving him a soft kiss, letting her actions speak for her. But after a moment, she looked at him, puzzled by his expression. "...did I say something wrong?"
Warcul would've told her that he was surprised at himself; they hardly saw eye-to-eye with each other when they met, and he was sure that she didn't think too highly of him after he thought her to be a blood elf of all things. Then she said that, picking up something completely different from what he was trying to say, and all of the sudden it hit him like a blow to his gut: he wasn't sure how to correct her. He couldn't even take pride in knowing she was attracted to him after so many years of being without anyone; the last impression he wanted to give her was -that-, like that was all he could see in her, not when he tried to tell her differently.
"That... that wasn't what I meant," he said awkwardly, looking away. "It was never my intention to.. it's just.." He was just making it worst, wasn't it? What did he even WANT to tell her? Why did he always get so confused around her? Did he have to spell it out so clearly to her when he couldn't even make sense out of it himself? No matter, he was going to try; if this was going to blow up in his face, he was going to try his hardest to let some things be known. "I-It's not just that," he added with an air of nervousness; even he couldn't deny that he found her attracted from the start, and really, there was no harm in her knowing that. He raised his own hand to hers, which was still resting on his face, and held it there, tentatively. "I never met anyone like you before, someone who was so... clever, and sure of herself, and brave, and.. someone I could trust. I admired all of those things." He squeezed her hand a bit. "I admired you, Roz. I still do.. now more than ever."
Rossellyn tilted her head when he said that wasn't what he met, patiently waiting for him to get past whatever was making him nervous. She lifted her thumb to stroke his hand that he laid on top of hers, though soon her eyes were a bit wide and her thumb stopped moving. “Oh. I… I see,” she said glancing away from him anxiously. “I… I don’t know what to say,” she muttered honestly. Now she felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. She knew that he trusted her, and that clearly he saw more in her than just her beauty and her strength, but for him to say all those things so openly, she was left speechless. Here she had merely said she developed an attraction to him over time. I can’t believe I said something so stupid, she thought to herself angrily.
The mage however, was a concerned over her silence and the look on her face as her eyes left his. I knew this would blow up in my face, he thought sadly. “I… suppose maybe I should have kept it to myself,” he said awkwardly, his hand drifting from hers.
That got her attention again; she looked back to him, frowning. “Why?”
“Because it was foolish. I just made you feel awkward and embarrassed myself.”
Roz raised an eyebrow at him. “So… you didn’t mean it? Those things you just said?”
“Of course I meant them!” He sighed, aggravated at the accusation in her voice. “I just meant perhaps I shouldn’t have said them since it made things so uncomfortable.”
“Oh,” she said softly, looking away again. “I don’t mean to seem ungrateful, I just… No one’s ever really said those things to me. I’m more often told I’m arrogant and foolish, not… confident and brave,” she admitted.
He frowned at her; that hadn’t been what he was expecting to hear from her at all. He bit his lip, and hesitantly stroked her cheek until she looked at him again. “If I didn’t admire you for more than your looks, why else would I have slept with you?” He asked her softly
Roz chuckled this time. “Because I seduced you?” She teased. The mage furrowed his brow at her, and she frowned, instantly feeling guilty.
“Is that the only reason?” Warcul asked, and her frown deepened when she saw the hurt in his gentle, blue eyes.
“Of course not,” she murmured, leaning her forehead against his. She sighed, struggling to put his mind at ease, but words were not her strong point. “Even when we didn’t get along that well, you stuck with me, even when I was less than kind with my words. And as we travelled together, I felt responsible for you; I invited you to come, so I certainly wasn’t going to let anything happened to you. I wanted to protect you, to make sure you wouldn’t get hurt. Then we started to get along better, to get comfortable with each other... If we could trust each other with our lives, why not our bodies too?” she asked, giving him a coy smile. “I know I got impulsive, that we got carried away, but I don’t regret it; and the reason I don’t is because it was with you, Warcul.” Her golden eyes searched his as she leaned closer to him, hoping that he understood what she meant, that she hadn’t made him feel used.
He took in her words as she spoke, his lips slowly turning upwards as she reminded him how she wanted to keep him safe, how they had slowly become friends, the trust that had formed as they travelled together, and most importantly that she didn’t regret her time with him; she cared for him for more than his looks, trusted him so completely, just like he did her. He inhaled deeply, pulling her closer and buried his face against her neck, his sideburns tickling her. “I’m glad to hear that,” he murmured as he kissed her neck.
She wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes as he held her. “You really do worry too much,” she teased him gently, “After all this time together, you really thought I hadn’t grown fond of you for more than your looks?” She chuckled. “I suppose that’s my fault for my earlier comment.. I just… Like I said, no one’s ever really.. treated me the way you have before,” she said, nuzzling her cheek against his.
He grinned, pressing his nose against hers, teasing her back. “But I am still attractive, right?”
She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “Gorgeous,” she purred, brushing her lips against his.
Rossellyn tilted her head when he said that wasn't what he met, patiently waiting for him to get past whatever was making him nervous. She lifted her thumb to stroke his hand that he laid on type of hers, though soon her eyes were a bit wide and her thumb stopped moving. "Oh, I..." she sighed a bit to herself, her face a bit flushed. "I feel so stupid now, I didn't... I thought you just... Oh, Warcul." Her hand moved away from his face, but before he could get a chance to panic her arms were around his shoulders as she held him close, nuzzling her cheek against his. She was silent for awhile, still processing his words, and trying to figuring out how to respond; she was touched that he felt that way about her, and while it wasn't completely surprising given how close they were becoming, he still caught her off guard when he had said that.
She pulled away only slightly, now forehead-to-forehead instead of cheek-to-cheek with him, though after a second she nudged against his forehead playfully. "You have me at a disadvantage, I don't... I'm not very good at.. you know," she murmured, glancing away. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking, and she pressed another kiss against his lips. "You're sweet. Smart... sometimes you're as stubborn as I am," she said, laughing softly. "I know this journey has been hard at times... especially for you, but... I'm still glad you came with me. I can't tell you how happy it makes me just to be here with you," she admitted quietly, her golden eyes meeting his.
Rossellyn wasn't the only one who had to process those words. Warcul still didn't know what to make of what he'd just said. He knew he followed her for a reason. Partly, he wanted to find a new home outside of the Exodar, some place that didn't serve as a reminder of what'd happened to him or the other draenei. But even then, he always knew there was another reason, although he couldn't put a name on it back then. It was more apparent in that moment than ever before, ever since she was injured and he felt the overwhelming panic in the possibility that she wasn't going to make it.
Warcul felt another sort of panic go through him when she let go of his hand... but that didn't last long. When she held him close and nuzzled against him, he was surprised, as the violet flush in his cheeks revealed, but the relief that came with the surprise was even better. He listened to her, and smiled softly when she kissed him and admitted those things to him. It was nice to hear them. "I'm... happy to hear that," he told her, raising a hand to stroke her cheek with his thumb. "It has been difficult, but... I couldn't imagine coming out here with anyone else."
