[That was a valid reason. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to her, but she could accept it. She looked at the horse again who was just watching Charlie in the same calm way he did when Charlie was younger and this was somehow reassuring to the firestarter.] You're going to spoil me, just warning you now.
[Not that she minded terribly. She just hoped the next time Merlin surprised her, it didn't involve the deities. She pulled away from Merlin, squeezing his hand briefly before heading towards the horse by herself.
She stayed a couple feet away from him, holding a hand out and waiting and sure enough, Necromancer walked over, nosing her hand for a moment before looking at her. She was happy to run her fingers through his mane for a moment before looking at Merlin.]
So how curious are you as to why I said Necromancer was the highlight of my childhood?
[Merlin just keeps grinning because he really does not mind the idea of spoiling Charlie. Far from it; he loves that idea, even, because he thinks Charlie deserves every bit of it, and he is more than happy to give her everything he can.
He would gladly do something like this again, without much hesitation.]
Would I be a bad person if I said very?
[It's a lot a case of wanting to know everything about Charlie, though. The good and the bad. So of course he's curious.]
Quite the opposite, actually. I'd sort of wonder what you were doing with me if you didn't want to know a thing about me. Just...don't be surprised if it takes time for me to tell you anything? It's a lot. It's mostly bad and I'm only just figuring out talking about it with people who care about me is okay.
[Necromancer gets her attention for a moment. her smile is gone and her eyebrows are sort of furrowed as she tries to figure out where to start.]
I am quite literally the only person like me at home. No one else has any kind of extra ability and when I was a kid, this made me very important to some very bad people. Which, considering it's because of something they did before I was born, sort of makes sense. They chased my dad and I all over the country I was born in and when they finally got us, they kept us separated.
[Merlin can relate. He's used to hiding things, used to keeping quiet and waving things off and he finds it difficult to talk about things as it is, already. He's been getting a little better about it in the City, although...
He does wonder, sometimes, if that's really such a good thing.
He listens quietly, staying fairly close but lets her be, with Necromancer, not too close just in case but still very much there if she would feel he needs him to be. Which she probably does, he guesses.
My dad had me convinced my ability was a Very Bad Thing. They hoped that the separation would make it easier for them to get me to show them what I could do.
[A shrug, a smirk and she turns to look at Merlin. Necromancer nudges her shoulder with his nose, clearly not a fan of the shift in attention from his Human.]
They didn't count on me being insanely stubborn. I tried refusing to eat. I tried not talking. I tried all kinds of things and all I ever said to them when I started to talk again was I wanted my dad. I didn't want to do anything without him. At one point, one of them gained my trust enough where he convinced me to start bargaining with them. He was pretending to just be a maintenance worker so I didn't really suspect him of anything.
Necromancer was one of the bribes. I could visit him as much as I wanted, I just had to show off a bit for them.
[At first, he frowns because he's really not sure what to think of anyone teaching someone abilities like that are Very Bad. He has seen what that can do to people, has felt it himself and he doesn't like it. No matter how much it may make sense, that just...
No, he can't think that's okay no matter how amazing Charlie's dad might have been otherwise, how much it may have been to protect her... He just can't.
Still, he pushes that down, at least for the moment because that's not the important thing right now. He does think it very important, but for now, it's about Necromancer, so he'll stay quiet.]
Not a bad deal, really, huh? How... did that turn out?
[Because it also sounds like it could turn out bad.]
Not at all. What little girl doesn't want to ride a horse whenever they feel like? I thought it was pretty awesome. I didn't mind so much when they had me set fire to different things because I thought eventually I'd get to see my dad.
[Oh, Merlin. How right you are. This is where she starts looking uncomfortable but she started down this road already, there was really no choice was there but to continue. He wanted to know about Necromancer and why the horse was important. And he wanted to know about her.] It was taking too long and my father managed to get someone to get a note to me. He had this whole escape planned and it almost worked but the man I told you about? The one who acted like he was my friend? He tried stopping us. My father ended up dying because of this guy and the last time I saw Necromancer, he and the other horses were running from a barn I'd set fire to after that same guy tried to kill me.
[When Charlie's expression changes, Merlin's already reaching out for her out of complete impulse and when he notices, he doesn't stop himself even if he very briefly considers it. He really doesn't see why she would mind it, really - that's just a rather stupid thought because she's never denied his comfort before - and so he places his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it gently.
So her father had tried to protect her... and died. And Merlin's throat goes tight because his father died protecting him, and she got to see him die at such a young age, and... God.]
I'm sorry.
[It feels like such a ridiculous thing to say, really, but to him, at least... it's come to mean a great deal.]
[Charlie leans into his touch automatically, smiling slightly. There's no reason for her to push him away and she welcomes his attempts. And from what she knows of Balinor from that curse a while back, she knows he understands. She wouldn't bother shrugging his affections off, not at such a stressful moment for her.]
Basically, there I was, a scared little kid separated from the only friendly face she's known for years. Everything was unimaginably miserable. And then there was Necromancer and as long as I had a way to get to him, I was fine.
[She slides her arms around Merlin's waist, looking at him for a moment, just studying him and tilting her head slightly. She was content to hold him just like this, Necromancer standing nearby and watching everything.]
[Merlin gives Charlie a soft smile. He can understand that situation. While his childhood was considerably better in comparison, he only really found comfort in his mother and Will and as long as he had them, he had been sure he would be fine no matter what.
He moves his hand from Charlie's shoulder to her opposite arm and rubs that instead, studying the horse - it really is gorgeous - when she asks her question. Oh...
Welp... He's not sure he wants to say...
But maybe she deserves to know at least some. However that goes.
He looks back at her, with a very slight frown, and swallows.]
Memories. Of someone. It's just for six weeks, so it'll be over before we know it.
[And there's a flash of guilt on Charlie's face. The deities never took insignificant memories so she wondered who he gave up just for her horse. Six weeks sounded like an awful long time. And it made her feel significantly more important than she thought she was. What a conflicting set of emotions. She pushes those emotions down for no and smiled up at him just a little.]
When you get those memories back, I want you to promise me you'll tell me everything you can about them. Every detail, every fondest moment and every most embarrassing situation.
[And she's hugging him again, arms around his shoulders as she stands on her tiptoes. She'd felt the faintest prickling in the corners of her eyes and wasn't exactly sure which emotion was causing it. She just knew she wanted to hold Merlin for hours and not let him go.]
[At that flash, Merlin parts his lips to tell her not to feel guilty about it, but then she keeps talking and is hugging him and he forgets briefly about it as he returns it with a soft smile. Everything he can?
He exhales a puff of breath, sort of like a form of laughter.]
I think that might be a lot to tell. But, okay, I'll try.
[Gently, he places his hand at the back of her head and leans his cheek against it.]
Then you need to promise me not to feel even a little bad about this; it was my choice.
[She manages a small laugh, sighing and closing her eyes and just leaning against him ever so slightly. Don't feel guilty? That's going to be so difficult. With the way Merlin speaks of people, they're all important. Damn the deities and their rather disturbing requests.
But she didn't want to upset Merlin. He'd done something so amazing for her. It would be horribly ungrateful of her to feel bad about it. Like he said, it was his choice. She could push aside her mistrust of the deities for him.
She straightened and looked at him, her eyes on his and her hands resting on his shoulders and she nodded once.]
[It's not like it doesn't make sense for her to feel bad. Honestly, he probably would in her place, a little, so this is a "do as I say, not as I do" sort of situation.
He smiles, and leans down to give her a quick, light kiss.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[action]
[Not that she minded terribly. She just hoped the next time Merlin surprised her, it didn't involve the deities. She pulled away from Merlin, squeezing his hand briefly before heading towards the horse by herself.
She stayed a couple feet away from him, holding a hand out and waiting and sure enough, Necromancer walked over, nosing her hand for a moment before looking at her. She was happy to run her fingers through his mane for a moment before looking at Merlin.]
So how curious are you as to why I said Necromancer was the highlight of my childhood?
[action]
He would gladly do something like this again, without much hesitation.]
Would I be a bad person if I said very?
[It's a lot a case of wanting to know everything about Charlie, though. The good and the bad. So of course he's curious.]
[action]
[Necromancer gets her attention for a moment. her smile is gone and her eyebrows are sort of furrowed as she tries to figure out where to start.]
I am quite literally the only person like me at home. No one else has any kind of extra ability and when I was a kid, this made me very important to some very bad people. Which, considering it's because of something they did before I was born, sort of makes sense. They chased my dad and I all over the country I was born in and when they finally got us, they kept us separated.
[action]
He does wonder, sometimes, if that's really such a good thing.
He listens quietly, staying fairly close but lets her be, with Necromancer, not too close just in case but still very much there if she would feel he needs him to be. Which she probably does, he guesses.
It does all make sense, aside from one thing.]
Why did they do that...?
[action]
[A shrug, a smirk and she turns to look at Merlin. Necromancer nudges her shoulder with his nose, clearly not a fan of the shift in attention from his Human.]
They didn't count on me being insanely stubborn. I tried refusing to eat. I tried not talking. I tried all kinds of things and all I ever said to them when I started to talk again was I wanted my dad. I didn't want to do anything without him. At one point, one of them gained my trust enough where he convinced me to start bargaining with them. He was pretending to just be a maintenance worker so I didn't really suspect him of anything.
Necromancer was one of the bribes. I could visit him as much as I wanted, I just had to show off a bit for them.
[action]
No, he can't think that's okay no matter how amazing Charlie's dad might have been otherwise, how much it may have been to protect her... He just can't.
Still, he pushes that down, at least for the moment because that's not the important thing right now. He does think it very important, but for now, it's about Necromancer, so he'll stay quiet.]
Not a bad deal, really, huh? How... did that turn out?
[Because it also sounds like it could turn out bad.]
Re: [action]
[Oh, Merlin. How right you are. This is where she starts looking uncomfortable but she started down this road already, there was really no choice was there but to continue. He wanted to know about Necromancer and why the horse was important. And he wanted to know about her.] It was taking too long and my father managed to get someone to get a note to me. He had this whole escape planned and it almost worked but the man I told you about? The one who acted like he was my friend? He tried stopping us. My father ended up dying because of this guy and the last time I saw Necromancer, he and the other horses were running from a barn I'd set fire to after that same guy tried to kill me.
[action]
So her father had tried to protect her... and died. And Merlin's throat goes tight because his father died protecting him, and she got to see him die at such a young age, and... God.]
I'm sorry.
[It feels like such a ridiculous thing to say, really, but to him, at least... it's come to mean a great deal.]
[action]
Basically, there I was, a scared little kid separated from the only friendly face she's known for years. Everything was unimaginably miserable. And then there was Necromancer and as long as I had a way to get to him, I was fine.
[She slides her arms around Merlin's waist, looking at him for a moment, just studying him and tilting her head slightly. She was content to hold him just like this, Necromancer standing nearby and watching everything.]
What did you trade? If that's okay to ask.
[action]
He moves his hand from Charlie's shoulder to her opposite arm and rubs that instead, studying the horse - it really is gorgeous - when she asks her question. Oh...
Welp... He's not sure he wants to say...
But maybe she deserves to know at least some. However that goes.
He looks back at her, with a very slight frown, and swallows.]
Memories. Of someone. It's just for six weeks, so it'll be over before we know it.
Re: [action]
[And there's a flash of guilt on Charlie's face. The deities never took insignificant memories so she wondered who he gave up just for her horse. Six weeks sounded like an awful long time. And it made her feel significantly more important than she thought she was. What a conflicting set of emotions. She pushes those emotions down for no and smiled up at him just a little.]
When you get those memories back, I want you to promise me you'll tell me everything you can about them. Every detail, every fondest moment and every most embarrassing situation.
[And she's hugging him again, arms around his shoulders as she stands on her tiptoes. She'd felt the faintest prickling in the corners of her eyes and wasn't exactly sure which emotion was causing it. She just knew she wanted to hold Merlin for hours and not let him go.]
[action]
He exhales a puff of breath, sort of like a form of laughter.]
I think that might be a lot to tell. But, okay, I'll try.
[Gently, he places his hand at the back of her head and leans his cheek against it.]
Then you need to promise me not to feel even a little bad about this; it was my choice.
[action]
But she didn't want to upset Merlin. He'd done something so amazing for her. It would be horribly ungrateful of her to feel bad about it. Like he said, it was his choice. She could push aside her mistrust of the deities for him.
She straightened and looked at him, her eyes on his and her hands resting on his shoulders and she nodded once.]
I promise.
[action]
He smiles, and leans down to give her a quick, light kiss.]
Then it's a deal.