#scarsdale

***************************8

Through the trods, to home.

It is late morning by now, thanks to their few hours of stolen sleep in the park.

Earl moves with her, holding her hand, and trying not to let his upset show, though he can't fool her

"We can build a nest for the egg, nu? I have plenty of old books.."

"Some of the best. " He does smile at that, trying to stop blaming himself for falling asleep. "I wonder if it will be male or female? Drake or... what's the term for a female dragon?"

"I don't know, truth... queen? Queen seems right..."

"Mmm, it might." He moves "I just can't stop beating myself up for falling asleep" he confesses, "And yes, I know it was your idea to rest outside. I just... that thing, it's a mockery of us , our love. He watched you, us, learned what I called you, and he's tried to twist it for his own ends to set a trap for you. I think I hate this guy."

It's almost an embarrassment. He's not used to hate.

"We were up for a long, long time. It's okay you fell asleep. Please... stop. Stop that, okay? Stop blaming yourself."

"I will try." he says with a sheepish look, "I'll feel better when Emmit can tell us what it does. I'm guessing it's not anything I'll like. It's just... he had to make it a white hart? Oh this guy just involved me and if I ever get my hands on..." A deep breath "Right. Angry troll is no fun. Self angry troll is worse." A weak attempt at humor "Maybe next samhain I'll go as the hulk."

"I liked having my Hunter. My Herne."

"Besides, it is a hart, not a hind."

"I am yours, utterly and completely. But hunters hate folks poaching their grounds. We're jerks that way" He kisses her knuckles, "So Dragon females are queens maybe. Mmm maybe a Queenly name if it's a girl then? Can't go calling her 'Jill' or 'Babs'"

"Austen?"

"Or, oh, Bronte..." A sudden rasp of laughter. "Bronte-saurus..."

"I have a cousin named Austin, but with an I, and he's a guy, but if you mean like the .." he breaks out laughing at Bronte -Saurus "That's... that's both hilarious and clever."

"Oh, but not dignified!"

"maybe as a nickname if she will indulge us."

He suspects she's trying to get his mind off his darker thoughts, and he loves her for that.

"Aye. A dignified little queen..."

"Oh you think she'll take after you then," A gentle bump.

"Oh, aye! I am the words, thou art the pictures..."

"Well, okay, thou art also the poetry... why do you keep me around, then?"

"Because I can never find the poetry without you" He tells her and means it.

"So does that make me a muse?"

"You are certainly my muse," A stroke to her locks so white as they get closer to her home, "I think while I may not remember much with my mind, some of my paintings will have a slim pale woman on a bridge over the Thames with fogs of london swelling about her feet with faces in the mist"

"Oh! The soldier! We met a soldier..."

"We did? I... huh, I'll try to draw a soldier into the mist then, that does feel right. Yes, a pale girl and a faded soldier talking by the Thames." A pause "Should I be jealous?" teasing a bit "Girls and guys in uniforms , you know?"

She catches his hand. "We should go again, when we can remember... it's a delightful blur... but, oh, wreathed in so much fog."

"And I shall take my Herne in jeans and a blue shirt any day. How many of those do you have? As if I am one to talk..."

"we'll go back to London," He assures. Hell, to make her smile he'd try to invade the place if he had to, a smile of his own "I think I'll definitely be painting in casual, but a certain lady I know is definitely invited to help me spruce my wardrobe a bit. " A thought "I really should wear one of your favors with me at all times anyway"

"Know that thou are claimed?"

A grin, wolf teeth "If you had teeth I'd be positively marked, mi amour. "

"The one for tournaments is far too large for everyday... I could make something more subdued...." a sudden blush. "Oh, if I had, sir!"

"Give me anything and I will try to carry it, preferably close to the heart," He assures her, and delights at her blush. He loves making her blush, for the same reason many men love making women blush- it is the closest they are allowed to stirring a woman to a throw of passion in public. to make their blood rise, to catch their breath. A woman's blush is a moan or gasp in the eyes instead of spoken aloud. What man could not hope to illicit such?

"I shall find just the right thing..."

"I look forward to it," A smile, "Odd question? How did my head look in a Derby? or was it a Bowler? Are they the same thing?"

"I think they are the same... you looked fine, but far more handsome in your own face."

"Now who is the flatterer? " As they get closer to her home, he says to her "I hope your family forgives me for dragging you away for two samhains and then staying with you on top of that. then again, I have no idea how they spend Samhain. I suppose your uncles build amazing things and then wonder what the heck when they wake?"

"When I was little, they took me trick or treating. Hehe made my costumes. When I was seven, I was a recliner.... it even worked!"

"I don't know what they did this year.... the Forge usually has a party." She unlatches the kitchen door.

"Must be loud, all those hammers" he follows.

"Too loud." Agreeing. "Mama, I'm home... Earl's here."

He enters in, "Ma'am," He takes his hunter's head gear off as he comes in.

"Earl, you want to get breakfast? I need to shower and change...."

"I'm not really that hungry, but thank you," he says. OOC: Is anyone but them here that he can see?

((looks like no))

BIC: "I could wash your back" Boldly

okay, whispered and boldly