Doodle: Flirting on the Road
May. 1st, 2012 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kasihyaI wrote this whilst working on my geoscience paper. Tanwen, Mairwen, and Kieve goofing around, with bonus Rhys. 1,026 words.
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It's probably a consequence of spending way too much time with Kieve, but Mairwen is a lot better at flirting with girls than she is at fending off the advances of local boys. They come over pretending to look at the jewelry she sells, then don't bother to stare anywhere else but her face until she is forced to call over Uncle Owain or Rhys to get them to leave. 'How do you do it?' she grumbles to Tanwen, after her cousin sends away another Enwythau man away disappointed.
Tanwen rearranges the strings of jewelry that her would-be suitor disrupted when he leaned over them. 'I've got an Enwythau bodyguard standing two feet behind me and you don't. Sorry.' She grins at Mairwen.
'That is not fair,' says Mairwen, with a trace of discomfort. It's been years since Rhys joined them - Mairwen herself was only seven years old - but as she's grown older, the implications of the whole situation make her uneasy. Still, if Tanwen thinks that it's all right to joke about it, she won't deny her the ability to find humor in her situation.
'I could divide my attentions between you,' rumbles Rhys, whose voice belongs to someone several inches taller and broader than he. 'But I fear that it would decrease effectiveness with distance.'
'If Kieve were doing his job, then I wouldn't need you to,' says Mairwen. She looks around for her wayward cousin and finds him several people away, talking easily to a Tiroeth girl around his own age. She laughed at something he said, and shrugged her shoulders underneath thin, sun-bleached cloths. 'Kieve! What are you doing?' Mairwen yells.
Kieve turns around, the sunny smile he used for strangers transforming into the smirk he reserved for his family. 'I am talking to a customer, my dearest cousin,' he calls. 'You will have to wait your turn to bask in my radiance.'
'You are disgusting,' Mairwen says. 'Don't let him fool you, meriaid, he's all talk and no thought. You want someone to stay interesting once you've a mind to do more than banter, you'd better find someone else.'
'Ah, you wound me.' Kieve covers his face with his hand.
Meanwhile, the girl turns towards Mairwen, a laugh creasing her dark face. 'Do you have any suggestions?' she asks. 'I think this might be the best I am going to find here.'
Tanwen hums, nearly inaudibly, near Mairwen's ear. Mairwen slaps her on the arm. 'I myself can actually speak the same language as you,' she says, in the tiroeth dialect. 'And my interesting include more than just myself.'
'You are lying.' The girl wanders away from Kieve and rests her hands on the edge of Mairwen's table. 'Teithwyr aren't interested in anything but selling things.'
' I liked the Ballads of Twrch Trwyth so much that I made my cousin write them down for me,' says Mairwen, leaning forwards. 'I could recite one for you, but I'd rather know what on earth you were planning to do with a set of writing instruments.'
The girl's gaze flicks back towards Kieve, who has once again put a table between himself and the rest of the marketplace. As it should be, Mairwen thinks. 'I, um. You're going to think I'm a stupid methiant,' says the tiroeth girl.
'You didn't really know what he was trying to sell you.'
She smiles sheepishly.
'Don't worry. It happens, and like I said, he's a terrible person. He'd have sold you them, knowing you'd no use,' Mairwen continues, which is absolutely not the case. A flirt Kieve may be, but he has the same sense of fairness as Uncle Owain. 'I, on the other hand, will tell you up-front: you have no use for most of my jewelry, but it would look good on you anyway.'
The tiroeth girl meets Mairwen's eyes and giggles. 'I have no money for your jewelry, only money for your sister's silks.'
Mairwen sighs. 'That's a pity.' She switches back to the common Enwythau language to address Tanwen. 'Cousin, I cannot convince this pretty woman to buy my pretty jewelry. She only wants your silks.' And this is where Kieve's bad influence comes in, because Mairwen is a nice girl; she isn't the type to tilt her chin and lift her eyebrows in a way that suggests 'jewelry' and 'silks' are a euphemism for something else entirely. The tiroeth girl looks between them with an expression of amused comprehension.
'Well, then.' Tanwen takes all of the romance out of their conversation with her solemnly arranged features and flat affect. 'I would be pleased to help you, meriaid. And perhaps you can help me by taking my cousin off of our hands, in return.'
'Oh, no, I couldn't. My husband would be very displeased if I ran off with a teithwyr woman,' laughs the girl.
'I'm sure you could take me off their hands for a little while,' Mairwen suggests.
----------------------------------------------------
'Your face when she said yes.' Kieve brings the two ends of a bolt of silk together and hands it to Tanwen. 'It was the best thing I've ever seen.'
'Lies, you've seen the inside of the palace at Drygionus,' Mairwen snaps. Her face heats up.
‘Yeah, but Drygionus isn’t surprised when someone actually takes it up on its offer to sleep with it,’ he points out.
‘That doesn’t make sense. A city can’t sleep with anyone,’ says Tanwen. She picks up the next bolt of cloth and sets it into the chest on top of the others.
‘It’s a metaphor, Tan.’ Kieve snickers.
‘There was no way for me to know that she was serious,’ Mairwen says. Both of her cousins look at her until she throws up her hands. ‘What?’
‘You looked like you were about to announce your intentions towards her,’ Tanwen says. ‘It would be a difficult thing for her not to take you seriously.’
‘Poor girl. I’d have done it.’ Kieve sits down on the chest and clasps his hands over his knees.
‘You’re a man, you’re allowed. Get up.’
‘Five more months,’ Mairwen reminds him, as he gets up with an almighty sigh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's probably a consequence of spending way too much time with Kieve, but Mairwen is a lot better at flirting with girls than she is at fending off the advances of local boys. They come over pretending to look at the jewelry she sells, then don't bother to stare anywhere else but her face until she is forced to call over Uncle Owain or Rhys to get them to leave. 'How do you do it?' she grumbles to Tanwen, after her cousin sends away another Enwythau man away disappointed.
Tanwen rearranges the strings of jewelry that her would-be suitor disrupted when he leaned over them. 'I've got an Enwythau bodyguard standing two feet behind me and you don't. Sorry.' She grins at Mairwen.
'That is not fair,' says Mairwen, with a trace of discomfort. It's been years since Rhys joined them - Mairwen herself was only seven years old - but as she's grown older, the implications of the whole situation make her uneasy. Still, if Tanwen thinks that it's all right to joke about it, she won't deny her the ability to find humor in her situation.
'I could divide my attentions between you,' rumbles Rhys, whose voice belongs to someone several inches taller and broader than he. 'But I fear that it would decrease effectiveness with distance.'
'If Kieve were doing his job, then I wouldn't need you to,' says Mairwen. She looks around for her wayward cousin and finds him several people away, talking easily to a Tiroeth girl around his own age. She laughed at something he said, and shrugged her shoulders underneath thin, sun-bleached cloths. 'Kieve! What are you doing?' Mairwen yells.
Kieve turns around, the sunny smile he used for strangers transforming into the smirk he reserved for his family. 'I am talking to a customer, my dearest cousin,' he calls. 'You will have to wait your turn to bask in my radiance.'
'You are disgusting,' Mairwen says. 'Don't let him fool you, meriaid, he's all talk and no thought. You want someone to stay interesting once you've a mind to do more than banter, you'd better find someone else.'
'Ah, you wound me.' Kieve covers his face with his hand.
Meanwhile, the girl turns towards Mairwen, a laugh creasing her dark face. 'Do you have any suggestions?' she asks. 'I think this might be the best I am going to find here.'
Tanwen hums, nearly inaudibly, near Mairwen's ear. Mairwen slaps her on the arm. 'I myself can actually speak the same language as you,' she says, in the tiroeth dialect. 'And my interesting include more than just myself.'
'You are lying.' The girl wanders away from Kieve and rests her hands on the edge of Mairwen's table. 'Teithwyr aren't interested in anything but selling things.'
' I liked the Ballads of Twrch Trwyth so much that I made my cousin write them down for me,' says Mairwen, leaning forwards. 'I could recite one for you, but I'd rather know what on earth you were planning to do with a set of writing instruments.'
The girl's gaze flicks back towards Kieve, who has once again put a table between himself and the rest of the marketplace. As it should be, Mairwen thinks. 'I, um. You're going to think I'm a stupid methiant,' says the tiroeth girl.
'You didn't really know what he was trying to sell you.'
She smiles sheepishly.
'Don't worry. It happens, and like I said, he's a terrible person. He'd have sold you them, knowing you'd no use,' Mairwen continues, which is absolutely not the case. A flirt Kieve may be, but he has the same sense of fairness as Uncle Owain. 'I, on the other hand, will tell you up-front: you have no use for most of my jewelry, but it would look good on you anyway.'
The tiroeth girl meets Mairwen's eyes and giggles. 'I have no money for your jewelry, only money for your sister's silks.'
Mairwen sighs. 'That's a pity.' She switches back to the common Enwythau language to address Tanwen. 'Cousin, I cannot convince this pretty woman to buy my pretty jewelry. She only wants your silks.' And this is where Kieve's bad influence comes in, because Mairwen is a nice girl; she isn't the type to tilt her chin and lift her eyebrows in a way that suggests 'jewelry' and 'silks' are a euphemism for something else entirely. The tiroeth girl looks between them with an expression of amused comprehension.
'Well, then.' Tanwen takes all of the romance out of their conversation with her solemnly arranged features and flat affect. 'I would be pleased to help you, meriaid. And perhaps you can help me by taking my cousin off of our hands, in return.'
'Oh, no, I couldn't. My husband would be very displeased if I ran off with a teithwyr woman,' laughs the girl.
'I'm sure you could take me off their hands for a little while,' Mairwen suggests.
----------------------------------------------------
'Your face when she said yes.' Kieve brings the two ends of a bolt of silk together and hands it to Tanwen. 'It was the best thing I've ever seen.'
'Lies, you've seen the inside of the palace at Drygionus,' Mairwen snaps. Her face heats up.
‘Yeah, but Drygionus isn’t surprised when someone actually takes it up on its offer to sleep with it,’ he points out.
‘That doesn’t make sense. A city can’t sleep with anyone,’ says Tanwen. She picks up the next bolt of cloth and sets it into the chest on top of the others.
‘It’s a metaphor, Tan.’ Kieve snickers.
‘There was no way for me to know that she was serious,’ Mairwen says. Both of her cousins look at her until she throws up her hands. ‘What?’
‘You looked like you were about to announce your intentions towards her,’ Tanwen says. ‘It would be a difficult thing for her not to take you seriously.’
‘Poor girl. I’d have done it.’ Kieve sits down on the chest and clasps his hands over his knees.
‘You’re a man, you’re allowed. Get up.’
‘Five more months,’ Mairwen reminds him, as he gets up with an almighty sigh.
