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TRAINING GROUNDS - AFTERNOON
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Brunilda wipes her brow with a towel after giving another thorough trashing to an unlucky training dummy, setting her halberd aside as she sits down on one of the makeshift benches. She's felt like distracting herself a lot lately, and one can't just spend all afternoon reading when thus distracted...
Nesseth approaches Brunilda from the direction of the archery targets, wincing lightly as he rolls one of his shoulders. He stopped by the range today to try and get back into the routine of practicing his marksmanship, figuring his arms were more or less fully healed, only to find out that no they were not. To distract himself, he spent the last few minutes watching Brun thrash a training dummy, but now that she's taking a break, he's making his way over to the bench. "Hey there, Brun. How are y-- ow... how are thing?"
Brunilda looks up, slightly surprised from her temporary reverie: "Oh. Hey, Nesseth. Fine I guess. How are you holding up?"
Nesseth grimaces a little as he gives his shoulder another slow roll. "Could be better, right now. Pretty sure Plume's going to get on my case for stressing my shoulders before I completely recovered..."
Brunilda gives a wry smile, shifting her shoulders as she sits: "Yep, they do that don't they?"
Nesseth nods, trying to smile in turn as he continues to stretch his shoulders a bit. "Once in a while... yeah." He looks towards the dummy that's nothing more than a pile of splinters on the ground nearby, "So... the dummy badmouth you or something? Poor thing didn't stand a chance."
Brunilda looks at the dummy's remains, then glances away: "...something like that. Just... bit frustrated."
Nesseth tilts his head as he takes a seat on the bench as well. "Oh? Anything I can help with?"
Brunilda looks down: "Well... maybe." She looks up at Nesseth: "You're with Plume... how did that come to be?"
Nesseth blinks. "Me and Plume? Like, how we ended up together, you mean?"
Brunilda nods: "Yeah... it seems so... almost arcane, to me, how one just finds someone else like that."
Nesseth takes a moment to rub his chin in thought. "Well... honestly, it was Plume that made the first move. I'd found them to be interesting beforehand, but I didn't think to act on it or anything, even though we'd interacted a fair bit not long after they arrived."
Brunilda hums, musing on this: "So... it just 'sort of happened'?" She makes air quotes with her fingers: "Like, if... if I had my eye on someone, all I can do is hope?" She frowns a bit, hmmh'ing.
Nesseth shakes his head. "Not really. Plume was the one that made the first move, between us. From my side of things, it 'just happened', but from Plume's side, they had to build up a lot of courage to ask to... well, kiss me. And after that, it kind of flew by." He smiles a little at Brun, "Someone's always got to take initiative."
Brunilda nods, looking down. She lowers her voice a bit: "...I'm not really one to do that, am I?"
Nesseth shrugs. "I can't say for certain, Brun. If you've got your eyes on someone, and they don't know it, you just gotta take that step yourself. Nothing happens, otherwise."
Brunilda nods again, thinking: "Yeah... I don't think she's noticed at all."
Nesseth nods. "In that case, yup, you'll have to make that first step. It doesn't really 'just happen' like two people bump into each other and suddenly, boom, love. One side will always have to make the first step of... propositioning... no, that's not the word.... proposing a date, or at least seeing each other in a more... significant way."
Brunilda looks aside, not really catching Nesseth's slip-up: "...y-yeah, got to figure something. I'm just... what if I screw up?"
Nesseth raises an eyebrow. "Screw up, how so?"
Brunilda shrugs: "I don't know. Make things worse."
Nesseth shrugs. "Not sure how you could make things worse when there's nothing there at the start. If you want something, you gotta try for it."
Brunilda gives a bit of a frown, but nods: "Guess so." She looks back to Nesseth: "How do you know? Like... it's just a crush, right?"
Nesseth shrugs again. "Depends. What is it that you like about her?"
Brunilda looks at the destroyed dummy: "She's... fierce. Forward. Adventurous... all that I'm not."
Nesseth likewise looks at the dummy. "Well... I dunno about you not being fierce, if that's anything to go by." He looks back at Brun with a bit of a smile, "But, well... would you be able to stand being around them all the time?"
Brunilda tilts her head slightly, considering: "...I'd like to try, at least."
Nesseth chuckles. "That's a good attitude to take. But if she's not paying attention, you'll have to catch her attention."
Brunilda nods, humming a bit. She then blinks and looks back up: "...how would I do that?"
Nesseth hums thoughtfully. "Well... you could do what Plume did with me and just ask to kiss them out of nowhere. Or you could... I dunno, maybe do something she enjoys, and maybe bond over that?"
Brunilda looks at the training field again: "Well... I know we share one interest..."
Nesseth tilts his head. "And that is?"
Brunilda chuckles softly and points at the remains of the training dummy: "Combat."
Nesseth looks over at the pile of splinters again. "Really? I mean... if you think you two could bond over that, it might be worth a shot? Are they one of the guards?"
Brunilda shakes her head: "She's a bounty hunter. But in town for other reasons. And... well, it might be worth a try."
Nesseth nods. "You won't know either way until you do try. Only other option is to just continue being frustrated about them not noticing."
Brunilda chuckles wryly: "Story of my life."
Nesseth chuckles a little as well. "So, why not take the opportunity to write a new chapter, then?"
Brunilda nods, smile find its' way to her face: "Yeah... maybe I should."
Nesseth smiles in turn. "Besides, if she's just not paying attention, but does return that interest, maybe the first step is all you have to take, and she'll lead the way after that."
Brunilda nods: "Guess I'll have to find out."
Nesseth: "It's the only way to put your worries to rest for good, either way."
Brunilda hums in agreement, then starts getting up: "That's what I have to do... then. Do something." She pauses, looking about the field: "...whatever that exactly is."
Nesseth shrugs again. "Whatever you think you should do. What worked for me and Plume, or Louma and May won't necessarily work for others. It might, but it might not."
Brunilda cracks her neck slightly: "Yeah... I'll figure it out. Probably."
Nesseth reaches over and pats Brun on the shoulder. "I'm sure you will, Brun."
Brunilda gives Nesseth a smile: "Thank you. Here's... well, here's hoping." She then steps away to pick up her halberd: "Think I'm gonna head to the Minnow, think about this."
Nesseth gives Brun a little salute as he stands up again. "Well, I wish you luck, Brun. If you need to chat some more for whatever reason, you're welcome to find me or Plume around town."
Brunilda nods with a smile: "Yeah, I'm... I'm pretty sure more will come. One way or another, as I have no idea what I'm doing."
Nesseth chuckles. "One of life's numerous adventures, and one we all go into completely blind."
Brunilda smiles: "Maybe you're right. I'll see what comes, then."
Nesseth waves as he turns to make his way out of the training area. "Then I'll let you get to it, Brun. Good luck!"
Brunilda waves to Nesseth before turning to head to the Thirsty Minnow, her mind racing on potential things to do and not do...