Slow and steady wins the race (Griff)

[Caitrin de Archer]

The more that Griflet tried to explain about his past the more confused Caitrin became. She tried to make some sense of why he had been disowned in the first place. She wanted to ask who the lack of love came from, but she assumed it was the woman, and decided she didn’t want to press Griflet on the topic anymore. He struck Caitrin as the kind of man who would bounce back from a broken relationship, perhaps he left a strand of broken hearts in whichever town he visited. It was an amusing thought. She just nodded silently, she didn’t condone or condemn what had happened, for all she knew Griflet could be making it up; she had decided the present was more pressing for the time being. There would be time for reminiscing at a later date; probably.

“Because it’s a lot more fun.”

So Griflet had been toying and teasing with her for a bit of fun? She kept her arms folded and raised her eyebrows, she didn’t allow herself to get angry. If Griflet was winding her up for his enjoyment she wasn’t going to play to his rules anymore, and dangling that tease in front of her would have been perfect bait for her temper in his eyes. Caitrin regained her stance as Griflet changed his to lean casually on the tree behind him. He looked annoyingly cocky, as if he knew something Caitrin didn’t.

The tone of his voice caught her off guard, he was expecting a harsher response given the rant she had previously given him. Her stare faltered. She considered the question as she felt a small smile creep into the side of her mouth and tried to banish it. She was determined not to play to Griflet’s tune and fall head over heels in love with him as she supposed he expected her to do.

Caitrin looked Griflet up and down and relaxed slightly with his stance, letting her arms drop to the sides casually, as if to show she was no longer angry. Instead of stepping back towards the tree she stepped towards him; when he was leaning he was only slightly taller and his eye line was easy to catch. “Enjoy the moment with you?” Her voice was little more than a whisper but loud enough to be heard, she was so close to Griflet her breath was warming his cheeks and she gave him a small smile then continued, “But are you sure enjoy is the correct word?” She gave him a quick wink and stepped backwards away from him. Keeping her eyes more or less on Griflet she copied his stance on the tree opposite; two could play at this game.

[Griff Aubert]

Not that he was showing it, he had far too much control over himself to show it, but he was rather surprised by Caitrin’s reaction to his words. He had been expecting another rant, another outburst of anger, but she was flirting with him. True, it was flirting taken from her anger, something he wasn’t sure he’d experienced before and that was always exciting, but still, she was flirting with him. So, in a roundabout sort of way – it had worked. For all her ranting and raving and questioning and arm folding she was copying his tree leaning and flirting. He allowed himself a quick moment of self-appreciation (not that there was really a time without self-appreciation) before he replied to her. “Enjoy, take pleasure in, benefit from (and he was certain she would benefit from what he had to offer), the choice is yours.”

He left the tree – it had been a rather one sided relationship at best, and he rather thought that they’d grown apart emotionally – and returned to hers. It was a position they had both been in only minutes ago, but somehow it had been given a new feeling, a new atmosphere. Maybe because Griff was now in control rather than seeking to grasp it or maybe it was because he had been given a new confidence. Either way, when he approached her it felt different. He was looking down at her again, only this time a hand was pressed against the tree and he was rather acutely aware of just how close they were, he could almost feel the hairs on her arms against his own. “But this moment is just that –, one single moment in time before it is gone forever.” He cocked his head, “Do you really want to waste that?” It wasn’t the best of lines, not by far, but with her inexperience and his proximity it was bound to do something in his favour.

[Caitrin de Archer]

As Griflet spoke Caitrin’s eyes weren’t on him, they were scanning over her surroundings. The events with Griflet had quite blocked the beauty of her surroundings from her eyes. The sun was still shining in the sky thankfully because she couldn’t think of anything worse than being in the middle of nowhere, with Griflet, soaking wet. “Benefit?” She repeated suddenly, half blurting it out as it caught her off guard. She stared back at him, her hands on the tree trunk behind her, “How would I benefit from this situation?” Caitrin wasn’t going to let Griflet away with such ambiguous statements, she thought she deserved clarity especially as his statement was about her. She couldn’t believe how cocky his stance was, as if he did this kind of thing everyday.

Griflet surprised her with his actions, she didn’t think he would try to close in on her again, nevertheless it seemed like that was his intention. This time there was no trembling as he approached her, she merely watched him casually keeping her stance. Caitrin felt more confident this time as he closed in on her. His arm allowed him to lean in towards her closer, so much so there were mere centimetres between them. She breathed out slowly, not allowing herself to become dazed by this new situation. She watched him closely as he spoke. Although his voice sounded soft and quiet there were twinges of confidence seeping out; it matched his ego. As he looked down at her, waiting for her reply she managed a small smile and kept her gaze with him. It felt different, like she wasn’t being trapped, it felt like she was merely embracing the situation in her own way. She bit her lip softly and began to speak slowly, matching his volume, “Well,” Caitrin looked Griflet up and down quickly then continued, “That would depend if you could prove there was something in the moment to waste.” It wasn’t her best comeback by a mile, but her only alternative was to fly off the handle again into a blind rage, and that only seemed to fuel Griflet’s teasing. She knew she was flirting, it was overt enough, shouting at Griflet wasn’t working, and there was more than one way to tease a man.

[Griff Aubert]

Was he really going to have to explain his meaning to her? He had thought that much was obvious, clearly not. Caitrin’s inexperience with situations such as this was obvious, but now Griff was questioning just how inexperienced she was, and whether this would be classed as taking advantage of her. It was all turning into too much of a moral dilemma for him. She was naive, yes, but she was also trying desperately to be anything other than that. It was here that his dilemma presented itself – he’d never taken advantage of a girl in his life and he certainly wasn’t about to start doing so now. His decision, therefore, was to continue his flirtation, at least until he decided whether she was inexperienced as he thought. “It would further your education of course.” He replied, hoping she would understand. It was a more subtle reply than he had been giving her, but then if she did understand then continuing wouldn’t be taking advantage at all.

She was biting her lip again. Was she even aware she was doing it? It occurred to him that he was staring at said lip so quickly cast his eyes upwards, looking into hers. This was not the time to start staring at people’s lips, no matter how lovely they were.

“That would depend if you could prove there was something in the moment to waste.”

It would have been a simple enough task to simply answer her vocally. A satisfactory line had already come into his head, as they often did. But then again, he’d tried plenty of lines on Caitrin and so far they were stood against a tree. Not a bad tree as trees go, but it wasn’t a desired situation. Without taking his eyes away from hers he used his index finger to tilt her chin up, leant forward and kissed her. She was either going to attack him, or kiss him back, either way, the situation was going to progress.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin was nearly insulted he thought she needed to increase her education, however she supposed in his eyes she did. She had few experiences with men being so upfront, and of them all Griflet was certainly taking it the furthest.

Griflet had fallen silent again and she watched him curiously, also staying silent. It felt as if the tone of things had changed without her being aware of it. She felt different and felt her nails digging into the bark of the tree as he raised his hand to her face. Caitrin felt herself becoming irritated with her own silence and let Griflet guide her chin in his grip. His touch felt different, and she could feel her stomach tightening and turning within her body. She realised what was about to happen a few moments too late and felt Griflets lips press softly against her own. She closed her eyes with instinct. It didn't feel as if it was her body any more, it was as if it was someone else's body and she could just see it happening. She felt her kiss him back without realising what she was doing and her eyes flew open, as if she'd only just realised what had happened. Her hands flew up to Griflet's chest and she pushed him backwards quickly, but kept on looking into his eyes.

It was always going to be an awkward silence and everytime Caitrin went to explain why she had done what she had her mind went blank until she finally managed, "No, Griflet I can't." It was weak, feeble and she hated it, she hated him at the moment; that was the next emotion. How had he made her feel like this? How had she let him. Her body was still catching up from the kiss and she felt like she was staring at Griflet. Caitin realised her hands were still on his chest and threw them down to her sides quickly, breaking off her gaze with him. She went towards her horse, turning her back on him, "I'm going back to my Uncles." It wasn't a loud statement and still showed her disbelief at what had happened, she couldn't look at him, she focussed on her horse, reaching for the ropes she had tied the mare around the tree with. She was starting to form a plan in her mind, she would go back to her Uncle Rouland's lands, Griflet wouldn't follow her there, even if he did her Uncle would see him off. She no longer cared that she was getting back earlier than usual, or the taunts her Uncle would give her, she just knew she was worried about what would happen here if she remained much longer.

[Griff Aubert]

Griff was expecting a slap any second, but he was still kissing her and then it occurred to him that she was kissing him. He was smirking against her mouth and debating whether or not his arm should drop from against the tree to around her waist. He decided not, after all, he didn’t want to come on to strong after all. And anyway, why rush anything. Her hands were on his che-

His eyes flew open, the sudden shock of being pushed almost made him loose his footing. He stumbled back a few steps before finding his balance again. That wasn’t part of the plan. While he had been expecting a slap, and he probably deserved it, she had kissed him back so it was rather bad manners on her part to kiss him and then push him away. Almost instinctively he ran a hand through his hair, which was weird because he never did anything without planning it beforehand, but there he was. He didn’t like it.

"No, Griflet I can't."

Her voice was weak and small and unlike anything else she had said to him which had always been so confident, even if her body language had told Griff otherwise. He stared at her for a few moments, unsure of what to say, not noticing that her hands left his chest. Maybe he had been going too far too quickly, and he was shocked to find himself feeling guilty as a result.

Griff was still standing there, rather uselessly, staring at the tree where Caitrin had been standing. He didn’t know what to do and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. He turned around quickly and advanced towards the horse. She wasn’t going to leave without him saying anything. As he approached she was already reaching the ropes that attached the horse to a tree, but he managed to take them first. “That was inappropriate, and I’m sorry. Please, don’t just leave.” He should have stopped there; the situation wouldn’t have been made any worse if he’d have stopped there. But he didn’t. “But you were flirting with me. And I did say I like you.” So clearly that made everything acceptable, that was the plan anyway.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin didn't look at Griflet, she was looking past him to where the ropes were still tied around the tree. He had got to the ropes first and she could feel herself becoming annoyed, she just wanted to go. Caitrin wasn't usually the sort to just to just run off but this time she felt like she needed it. She hadn't meant to kiss him back, she had got caught up in the moment and that was it.

“That was inappropriate, and I’m sorry. Please, don’t just leave. But you were flirting with me. And I did say I like you.”

She finally looked back up at Griflet but felt nothing towards him, at least nothing positive. He was holding the ropes in his hand and she looked at them and then back at Griflet. It killed her to admit that she was in the wrong as well as Griflet but she knew she had been flirting with him. She hadn't expected it to lead anywhere, it never had before. Usually she just left men hanging or they lost interest. She pushed her eyes and lips together and groaned slightly inwardly, "I know I was flirting, and I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression Griflet." She possibly couldn't make the situation any worse than it already was. She sighed and held out her hands for the ropes, "I'm leaving." She was more assertive and her words were slightly aggressive, "Even if I have to walk back to my home." It still hurt her that he was asserting that he did like her, but he was being too quick with her which showed her he didn't really know her at all.

Caitrin was still waiting for the ropes so she could untie her mare and leave but she looked back at Griflet, starting to get more annoyed at him, "Give me the ropes Griflet. Don't worry I'll point you in the right direction of Camelot." Her words stung in her mouth but she was leaving no matter what; she had had enough of this and wanted to return to some normality.

[Griff Aubert]

It was often that he didn't know what to say to a woman, but somehow Caitrin was putting him in that very situation with every other thing she said. It gave him a feeling of lost control which he certainly didn't like. She was apologising - the first time since they'd met, he might add - so the only course of action he could pursue would be to accept it and then they would both move on. Only he wasn't sure he wanted to move on. He would rather she was shouting at him than leaving, but she was going to go anyway so they might as well part on good terms. "I accept your apology. We both got a little carried away." It was a rather uncharacteristic reply, it was a rarity that Griff would let a woman like Caitrin up and leave him, but it was the gentlemanly thing to do. His brother would be proud, irritatingly so.

He was about to hand her the ropes, but stopped, a thought presenting it to him. As he had mentioned many, many times, he did like Caitrin, rather a lot and was determined not to leave their relationship - such as it was - so bluntly. "On one condition: you have to promise we'll see each other again." Who needed charm when you had a horse as a bargaining tool? "Say yes and you can leave. I promise I won't follow you." He added with a grin, after all, his following her was what got them this far in the first place so he was fairly sure she wouldn't want him to do so again.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin smiled softly with twinges of sadness as Griflet accepted her apology. That was something she supposed, and he was right, they had both got carried away with each other. She should have known better, but then again so should he. She was suprised he was being so submissive after she had declared to leave, especially as his attitude throughout the entire conversation had been defensive and confident. She nodded softly to confirm his words but nothing more needed to be said on that topic because they'd both admitted their faults; that was something at least.

She still had her hands out for the ropes and was annoyed when he moved them out of her grasp, bargaining with her. She looked on at him wondering if he was serious about seeing her again but she could see nothing in his eyes to suggest he was jesting her. If this was the only way to get her mare back then so be it, she nodded quickly, "I promise." She said bluntly, she wasn't going to say when he could call upon her promise or how soon it would be until she did see him again but she agreed to see him again and that was all that mattered. He handed her the reigns and she gave him a small smile, sweeping into a low curtsy as she remembered her manners, "Until we meet again, Sir Griflet."

Caitrin didn't need Griflet's help to mount her mare, she'd done it enough times on her own so she got on her horse quickly before he could offer. Grasping her horses reigns she didn't smile at Griflet, she merely inclined her head and nudged her horse into a quick trot away from the lakeside and away from Griflet for what she could only hope was a long period of time.