regency au } { of words and descriptions

[impetere]

Stiles: [ and it took him most of the night to write the letter, trying to make it sound a lot more proper than his first few drafts, and in the morning he sends the servant to deliver it to Cora as he will be taking his breakfast in his room since he's not had much sleep the night before]

Cora: [she reads it over and over again, trying to let the words sink in as though they will somehow tell her what to do, and in some ways it is. It's telling her to go to him, to let him, but she's still hesitant. Still scared. Still unsure what she should do. She hates being uncertain of anything, but this is something so delicate that she can't come at it with her usual force. She's wandering the grounds when she finds him, his letter still in hand, and when she looks up at him, she's still visibly torn] I didn't feel nothing. [the words just fall out of her, but from her expression it's unclear as to whether or not she thinks that's a good thing]

Stiles: [it's afternoon by then, and he's prepping Thor for a ride when she finds him. He stops, looking at her softly] May I ask what you did feel? If you can find the words to explain it?

Cora: [glances down at the paper in her hands again] I am not as good with words as you are.

Stiles: I'm not good speaking words. That's why I write. You get to crumple the paper up when the words aren't right and keep trying until they are.

Cora: I am not good with writing them either. [there's a half laugh, her eyes remaining on her hands] The only time I am able to manage a degree of eloquence seems to be when I am angry and I am not angry with you, Stiles. I could never be angry with you.

Stiles: [he smiles a bit at that] Well, that is a good thing to know. I would hate for you to turn your anger on me. I've seen it, and it is scary.

Cora: [there's a small smile, but she still won't look him in the eye] I don't know what to do.

Stiles: [thinks a moment, then looks at Thor] Would you like to go for a ride with me?

Cora: [glances from him to the horse for a moment, before nodding]

Stiles: Saddle or no saddle? [he tended to ride without a saddle on his own, but he wasn't sure what Cora would be more comfortable with in her current gown]

Cora: A saddle would be best.

Stiles: Give me a moment then. [and he will go off to fetch one for her, one that would accommodate them both on Thor's back. Because why would he prep a second horse, right?]

Cora: [she doesn't mind. It's not as though she hasn't done it with Derek before]

Stiles: [and once he has the saddle on, he will offer a hand to help Cora up, and then he will climb up behind her and lead Thor out to the grounds at a slow trot] I find sometimes the air up here is just a bit clearer than the air when I'm walking. Lets me clear my head a bit.

Cora: [she nods, not saying anything right away and just holding on as they start to ride]

Stiles: [and he keeps his arms wrapped around her gently, only tight enough to assure that she wasn't about to fall off the horse as they made their way across the open land towards the forest and lake area] When the tutor was teaching me vocabulary to be able to catch up to Lord Jackson's reading level, there was a game he used to play with me. He would hold up an object, and I was to describe it with a word using every letter in the alphabet if I could. So for instance, he would hold up an apple and I would reply. "Apple, bright, crisp, delicious, eat, fresh, grew..." and let me tell you, I never hated the letters q, x and z as I did in those moments.

Cora: [laughs softly] I can imagine.

Stiles: As I got older, it got harder. I was told I couldn't use words less than four letters, or words that meant the same thing. It was fun sometimes, and frustrating at others, but it really helped in the end

Cora: I'm sure it did.

Stiles: Do you think perhaps we could try and see if we could play that game and see if you can use it to help you find words?

Cora: [she laughs again] I do not think it would help.

Stiles: You won't know until you try, m'lady.

Cora: I don't think I have that many words.

Stiles: You may surprise yourself.

Cora: I don't need that many words.

Stiles: [he licked his lips a moment] Twenty six words is too much for you to hold onto?

Cora: To describe the same thing?

Stiles: Well, you're describing different aspects of it. Like for instance, if I was going to do you, I would probably start with admirable... and obviously beautiful...

Cora: [she blushes a bit at that, her head ducking]

Stiles: [grins] And then I would cheat and C would be Cora, since that is who you are. D... [he thinks a moment]

Cora: [she's just going to wait patiently for him to fill in the words.]

Stiles: ... Determined. Eloquent. Friendly. [pauses on G a moment] Generous. Hale. [cheating again] Indecisive. [and he smirks a bit at that]

Cora: [that makes her roll her eyes a bit]

Stiles: [laughs] You cannot tell me it is not true though.

Cora: Yes, but I do not need you to rub it in.

Stiles: My apologies, my lady.

Cora: [sighs] Well. You were on J.

Stiles: I know, and J is a hard one. I only have a few J words, and none fit you.

Cora: [eyebrow raise] You don't find me joyous or jubilant?

Stiles: [and his head fell back] It seems your vocabulary is better than mine, even limited as you feel it is. Yes, joyous. Kind. [and he paused] Loveable. Magnificent. Nurturing.

Cora: O will probably be difficult.

Stiles: Observant. Pleasant. Quaint.

Cora: [nods as she listens]

Stiles: Reliant, Soothing, Tenacious. Understanding. Versatile. Womanly...

Cora: [womanly also makes her blush]

Stiles: ... Xenadochial.

Cora: .... What does that mean?

Stiles: One who is friendly to strangers. I told you, X was hard. There are only 13 adjectives in the English language that begin with X. I hated that letter, so I learned them all.

Cora: I see.

Stiles: [he looks at her, and thankfully he's saved by her dress] Yellow. [he is a horrible cheater] And Zestful.

Cora: Color me impressed.

Stiles: Thank you. I took great pride in being able to beat Jackson at this game for most of our youth.

Cora: I would as well.

Stiles: Do you want to try? You don't have to hit all the letters your first time through.

Cora: [shifts, straightening up more] I think I can try.

Stiles: Okay. Have at me.

Cora: Adaptable. Bright. Capable. Diplomatic. Earnest.

Stiles: Thank you. [he grins, but still blushing a bit because he is still getting used to being compliments.]

Cora: You're welcome. [she pauses before continuing] Funny. Genteel. Humble. Imaginative. Jolly.

Stiles: So much better at J's than I am.

Cora: [grins] Keen. Loving. Masculine. Natural. Open.

Stiles: [and yup, as she blushed at womanly, he blushes at masculine]

Cora: [still smiling] Peculiar. Questioning. Respectful. [there's a pause on S before she settles on] Safe.

Stiles: [and he smiles at that, his arms shifting just to hold her a bit more, making sure she was truly safe from falling off in his arms]

Cora: [doesn't notice at first, as she is thinking] Tall. Unique. Verbose. Wily. Xenophilic.

Stiles: Nice one.

Cora: Thank you. Youthful and Zealous.

Stiles: See, you have more words then you give yourself credit for.

Cora: I suppose I do.

Stiles: And you didn't even cheat once.

Cora: No I did not.

Stiles: [and by now, they are in the forest, riding along the river] So, in the words you picked, which ones did you not think you would have chosen until you said it?

Cora: I don't know. I didn't really think ahead for any of them.

Stiles: Well, did any of the ones I said about you make you happy?

Cora: [she considers for a moment before nodding]

Stiles: Which ones?

Cora: [her head ducks as she blushes again]

Stiles: Well, you did that at both Beautiful and Womanly. [small smile]

Cora: [there's a look before she glances away] Yes, I did.

Stiles: You are both. [he took the risk, moving his reins to one hand and the other reaching up to gently stroke her cheek a bit.]

Cora: [her eyes turn back to him with the draw of his hand, pulling her attention back to his face] Am I.

Stiles: [he's taking in her face and smiles softly] You are very beautiful.

Cora: [the attention gets to be a bit too much and she glances away again] Thank you.

Stiles: [he slowly drops his hand, letting her retreat for now. Taking his time, taking it slow] I will admit, I'm happy to know you feel safe with me.

Cora: Why wouldn't I?

Stiles: After the last few days... I wasn't sure you would anymore.

Cora: I've always felt safe with you Stiles. That has never changed. My concerns were that I would hurt you.

Stiles: I have that same concern too... that I would hurt you. But I don't plan to, but I know sometimes, in friendships or in love... you can hurt the other within intention.

Cora: Yes. And you are very important to me, and I do not want to risk our friendship.

Stiles: I swear to you, Cora... no matter what happens... you will never lose my friendship.

Cora: You don't know that for sure. You can't. [there is no certainty in this world as far as she's concerned]

Stiles: And you don't know that either. I mean, would you rather deny yourself something better in fear of changing what you have now? I can only see that taking you to have many regrets in your life.

Cora: Regret is easier to manage than grief. Regret doesn't ... tear at you the way loss does.

Stiles: ..... You do know I'm not dying anytime soon, yes?

Cora: You also don't know that.

Stiles: And again, neither do you. But I like to think in positives, and what could be in that way. If you only look at the pain and loss... you can't see the good side.

Cora: [she glances away from him at that, eyes falling on the river. She wasn't supposed to have a choice in this. She was supposed to marry Jackson and while she may have longed for a choice of her own, now that she had it, it was too much pressure and too much potential for her to lose.]

Stiles: [he lets her watch the river, and he's going to just softly sing a song that he learned from Parrish] Walking out from Cheapside, my fortunes for to seek, I passed along the River Thames, its waters did they reek, ‘Twas there I met a pretty lass, she said her name was Nell...

Cora: [closes her eyes as she listens, leaning into him gently so that her head is resting against his shoulder without her realizing it. She wants this. She does. But she doesn't know if she could bear to have it and then lose it - she wouldn't be able to survive it]

Stiles: [he smiles a bit to himself, continuing to sing as they rode, but his arms adjusted to keep her closer to his chest. When he was done, he looked over at her and smiled a bit. He really wanted her, so badly, forever as long as God made forever be] M'lady. Will you run again if I ask to kiss you?

Cora: [she glances up, watching him again for a moment before shaking her head]

Stiles: [and he's going to bring Thor to a stop, draping the reins over the saddle horn before taking a hand up to cup her cheek before he turned his head to give her a gentle kiss]

Cora: [she closes her eyes and kisses him back, sinking into it for a moment as she tries to push past all of her fears and misgivings and focus on the way it feels, and for a moment she can, but it doesn't stop the way her chest tightens, that flight instinct still there]

Stiles: [and he only gives it to her a moment before he pulls back, giving her that same small smile. And then he's going to just pick up the reins and start Thor moving again. If he had to take his time to get her there... he had a year.]

Cora: [she keeps her eyes closed as she continues to lean against him, settling to enjoy the rest of the ride in silence]

Stiles: [he keeps one arm around her waist, keeping her against him and he's totally smiling to himself. And then they are back at the manor and he jumps off the horse first before helping her down.] Perhaps we should do this more often? It's nicer when I don't ride alone.

Cora: [she glances from him to the horse for a moment, before slowly nodding her agreement. She can do that. She hopes] Yes. That would be nice.

Stiles: Thank you again for the ride, m'lady. I will see you at supper?

Cora: [nods again, and with that she will turn and head back to her room which is where she will probably stay for a while]

Stiles: [and when she is out of sight, smug little grin as he goes to brush Thor down.] That went a lot better this time, didn't it boy?