Mortus Caligere | Tilly, Lekalis, Courcy

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
He turned slightly, to face Tilly; her smile and touch... More than enough warmth to bear his own. Lekalis reached out and rubbed her chilled cheek before nodding and clearing his throat.
"When we get back, I'll get a good doublet..." He arched a brow at her as he sat up, looking to her with a shrug.
"... I'll let you pick?" He offered as he looked off to Courcy with some fret, before looking back to Tilly;

"I'd meant to tell you of her... offer in the morning. I hadn't thought it right to mention it that evening... exhaustion has a way of griming up most folk's minds." He explained almost apologetically, as he reached out and idly pulled at the back of her knees so she might join him on the ground.
\\

[Vanitypirate]

Tilly followed his gaze, nodding, before she settled in to sit beside him. She smoothed the front of her coat.

"I didn't believe it anyways. It was a poorly lie, y'know." Shrugged Tilly, teasingly, as she looked towards Courcy,
"But it all turned out the best, I think. She just needed a bit of care."


She paused, running her thumbs beneath her lapels, "She knows about us being... er, connected, and all. I told her."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
"Oh..." He looked at her with a waking surprise; he felt like he 'ought to be more stirred but... In the dreary morning, all he could do was chuckle and shake his head as he reached out and around her, pulling her close and mimicking her hand's motions.
"... Well, that's good."

"You've a much better grasp on how to talk to her... Though, it doesn't help she thinks I murdered Roderick." Lekalis frowned, looking to Tilly. A moment of concern crossed his face and his voice dropped to a whisper,
"Don't tell her of Florence's involvement... Doctors and witches get flogged just as easily." He added sternly.
\\

[Vanitypirate]

"I told her that I wanted to leave Roderick, and that he tried to kill you for it. And I told her about the funeral-- nothing about your Florence." Tilly assured at a whisper, nodding, wrapping an arm around him so that she might lean up against Lekalis, slipping her hand between his back and his cloak.

Her brows furrowed suddenly and she gave him an odd look.

"But... she thought that? Why didn't you tell me..." With her free hand, she rubbed her brow.
"I could've talked to her earlier. You really should've told me."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
"The moment didn't rightly arise... I kept forgetting, too I... I apologize." He shrugged and looked out to the daunting fog as the sun rose ever higher, slowly escaping the fogsome veil.
"I thought I could convince her but... She didn't believe me when I told her of your mind." He chuckled, Lekalis brought a hand about to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly.

"It makes sense, though... Why she didn't believe me. I would've told you sooner but... Yeah" He reached around Tilly's face and gave her cheek a light tug.
"Forgot... Sorry." He gave her a quick smile and cleared his throat.

"So, how was last watch?" Lekalis moved on, raising a brow after his features relaxed...
\\

[Vanitypirate]

You need to be careful; that'd be awful dangerous if someone else thought you killed him." Warned Tilly, in all seriousness, despite the playful tugging at her cheek.
It occurred to her that Courcy propositioned him, while still believing he was a murderer. Tilly found this to be a truly terrible sign.
She batted the hand away, and made to snake her fingers in between his.

"It went fine enough; I didn't see anything. Just felt seasick near the entire time." She shrugged, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I'm rather sick of being sick, you know? You're the only bloody thing in the whole estate that doesn't smell foul."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
"Pretty sure I'm the only thing that still bathes in this whole estate." He scoffed in a brief moment of rather genuine pomposity. Though, he chuckled as he seemed to realize it and let Tilly's fingers weave inbetween his.

"And aye... I can imagine; I've been lucky enough not to be so stricken with illness throughout my life. Hopefully it will pass; Florence mentioned nausea is meant to occur while you're--" He paused, looking to Tilly now, then her belly knowingly, then back to her mossy eyes as Lekalis' arched his own brows with a catty grin.
"--Well, you know." he moved a free hand over to lightly pat her stomach before looking off and to the fog again.

A stoic, Lordly look fell upon him as he shifted and made to unbind himself from her, at least halfwise preemptively.
"Do you think you're well enough to go out?"
\\

[Vanitypirate]

"Oh, yes, she told me about that, and everything else, in the most grotesque detail you could imagine." Tilly complained with a little, pained smile, making to sit more comfortably with her legs folded under her.
She took their interlinked hands and flattened another palm over it, bringing it close to her chest as though it were precious treasure.

"I've been healthy as a horse-- most of the time, at least; 'course I'll be well enough to go on out. I wouldn't have brought back all of those goodies if I wasn't." She assured with a nod, when her eyes widened and she seemed to remember something urgent.

"Oh! By-the-by, I ran into your... step-niece, Taas? During that raid and all."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
The color almost visibly drained from his face, though thankfully the rising sun brought some flush to it and he seemed to buy himself some time in finding a way to avoid the glare of the sun; hiking up the collar of his cloak and shifting so Tilly was more in the way of the dawn's light.
"Ahhah! You did, did you..?" He exclaimed with a nervous chuckle,
"... That's... Good?" He repeated, yawning as his eyes scrunched up; he brought his hands back to himself to rub away the sleep.

"... W-what's she... Did she say why she's here? She talks a lot about her bounties..." Lekalis sighed, the way he rubbed his brow worriedly seemed to imply that he rather knew what sort of bounty she had.
"... You didn't-- Like, you know; tell her we're-- or... Or kill her or?" His luster seemed to come back to his cheeks as he began to stumble over his words...
\\

[Vanitypirate]

"Come now: it's only your hunter. Chin up!" Came a sarcastic jest, though Tilly did clasp a hand on his shoulder as she moved to turn him to face her in some attempt to soothe him.
There was probably a better way to mention it, though she did think that he rightly deserved it for not bringing it up to her.

"She'd come up to me and tried to buddy-up, and she kept asking about you, acting like she didn't know you. I thought she was some... ex-lover of yours, or the like, so I asked and she told me that she was supposed to axe you. I told her she couldn't do that, and I... sorta panicked, maybe a tad, and told her we were set to get married and that we'd a wee mite on the way. And... she got all touchy-feely and emotional when I told her that."
She squeezed his shoulder; her voice was quiet and whispering, but she spoke quickly.

"She never wanted to kill you; she said she just came over to make sure no one else who wanted to could, to see if you'd changed. She still cares about you and all."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
"O-oh! That's... Wow, I, ah.." He blinked hard, his brows furrowed and he shook his head; a hand came and clasped over his mouth. Again, he seemed to be in a veritable storm of thoughts as he nigh tangibly chewed on what she was saying; his jaw working on some invisible boot leather. His brows knotted... then unknotted, then knotted again before he looked to Tilly.
"... She knows we've a... Oh, Oh that's..." Lekalis sighed hard, and rubbed his hands together; his voice had risen for a bit, and he now spoke in a hushed, controlled manner.

"This... I-I've told you that... I killed people in my Keep, right? The stories of... 20 men, slain, the lot of it." His eyes seemed to focus for a moment, on Tilly,
"Taas was with me before they stormed my Keep... She might... She might remember!" He laughed lightly, exasperated as he shook his head, looking out to the fog. A hand covered his mouth, and he closed his eyes; his emotions being pulled back into check.
"You've helped so much in but a glimpse of my life..." He mumbled incredulously, his eyes seemed wet before he wiped away more sleep.
"... Things are... Are going good--" He seemed to tell himself, before looking to Tilly again.
"-- Thank you, Tilly. But... But we need to focus. I need to focus." Lekalis rolled his shoulders and made to rise.

He paused, and raised a hand in pause;
"Just to double check... White hair, amber eye, scars on her face... Ax?"

[Vanitypirate]

"Aye; along with a big, ol' pauldron up on her shoulder, bandages over her other eye..." Tilly confirmed softly, but she watched him process this new information with utmost glee; it was not often she had good enough news to share that it elicited in its listener such euphoria.
She rose with him, tugged at his hand, as to reign in his focus.

"She knows you've become a... different person, since then. She's just been worried you'd react poorly once you saw her-- but you're still her family, to her." She told him, leaning in, if only to whisk the stray hairs out of his face.
"It's going to all be alright, Lekalis. Everything's going to turn out just fine."

She was beaming.

"Taas said she'd like to meet up with you again, sometime, maybe after our bout here? She wasn't trying to scare you away by showing up out of the blue."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
"She is rather scary..." He muttered, looking to her as she rose with him. The Ex-Lord chewed on his lip as she paid him compliments, he nodded along slowly, understandably before she slipped her fingers about his face.
"... That does sound rather good, after this expedition, there'll be lots to do." He mused, almost loathing the thought before he brought his hands up to palm his temples.

"We've not even begun on our expedition!" He whispered incredulously, shaking his head before he chuckled and nodded;
"But aye, don't fret... I know it'll turn out right. Still gotta be careful though." Lekalis sighed the last, raising a brow at her as he began to walk off and onto the flotsam-riddled beach...
\\

[Vanitypirate]

Tilly gave a glance back at Courcy's direction, before making to scamper off towards Lekalis as he began to leave.
Back onto a beach again...

"'Course! Of course..." She nodded hastily, ever-nervous to leave the remaining compatriot, alone, behind even in the smallest of distances-- they couldn't have gone more than fifteen feet.
She righted her Beansprout-topped hat on her head and looked to Lekalis, as though to scry any emotion from his expression, so strangely neutral after that brief bout of joy.

"It's all rather exciting, I think! You should've seen her when I told her-- she was so happy and excited for you when I told her. It was lovely."

[Bloodtrailkiller]

/Lekalis/
The Red Lord cast a glance over his shoulder as he paused; seeming to both look at Tilly, and gauge how far they'd wandered. Indeed, fifteen-ish feet was a fair distance when he broke off at a tangent from his line to the beach. Setting in a light circle, a light-hearted patrol for some privacy.
"Aye..." He agreed somberly, as he ran his hands over one another.

"... Taas... Taas always was such a jolly girl; I'm glad she's here under amicable terms." He offered a twitch of a smile before he nodded, clearing his throat and lightly touching the scar on his throat. He rose a brow, as he eyed the curious dagger in her hat; its pommel seemed to writhe for a moment, before resting. It was enough to have a look of surprise pass over him, before he shook his head and settled his eyes on Tilly again.

"She always wanted the best for me; she got me my first bottle of wine, y'know? On a pier along a lofty, crowded, merchant's channel. A lot of the happiness I've today, I weigh on her." He nodded again,
"I'm happy she's not decided to slay me!" He chuckled tersely, forced, as he furrowed his brow;
"I just... I was happy to leave everything behind. When all that was left of my history is ash and daggers and hunters, it makes it easy to run away from. Made the letting go easy." For a moment, panic passed over his eyes as he looked to Tilly and ran a hand through his hair,
"What else have I left behind that... That doesn't hate me? That doesn't want to forget me?", The moment passed and he shook his head.

"Ah... I'm... Rambling; I don't think it wise to ponder those things on the precipice of--" He looked out to the fog and motioned to it,
"-- That" he scoffed and smirked with some levity as he walked a bit closer to Tilly again; his hand reaching out to hold hers.