Stuck In A Limb[o]

[Arien Albarn]

Arien sighed, he had been right, this girl did have a sad story.
"I'm sorry."
He said quietly, even though it wouldn't do anything to help her now. He felt that the least he could do was tell her of his own life, she had offered something of herself and now it was only fair that he do the same.
"I never once lived in a house, you know. My mother was eighteen when she had me, she had been raped by some stranger in an alley. Her parents kicked her out and she was living on the streets when I was born. We lived together, trying to make enough money on our own to survive, she looked after me like any mother should. That is, until she finally found a job."
He shifted a little on the grass and took a deeper breath before continuing.
"She worked as a bar maid at a tavern, I don't remember the town name, I dont' want to. As soon as she started getting paid, she began to drown out her sorrows in liquor, her sorrows and me. Eventually, she drank so much into debt, that she had no money to buy anything. All the time she was drunk, she didn't even know who I was. Finally, to get some more money to buy more alcohol, she sold me to a slave trader who was passing through. I was six and she sold me into slavery, her own son."
He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes.
"I was bought by a rich family pretty soon, I did everything for them. I slept outside in a dog kennel with their hunting dogs. One day, I found Legacy who was just a puppy then, she was starving so I took care of her. My Master found out and whipped me because I wouldn't let her go. I put Legacy in hiding and raised her in secret, then finally when I was eleven I ran away and tried to make a life for myself. I threw everything I had into becoming a knight and forgetting my past, but you can't outrun everything."
He still had the scars to prove it.

[Maxilene Flock]

Max would have put a reassuring hand on Arien's shoulder had her legs not been cramped by a sleep Legacy, no pun intended.
"The world can be cruel. But ti also had beauty if you know where to look." she reached behind her to pluck a daffodil from the grass. It's yellow plume was similar to the sun, the bright color that made you smile when you saw it.
Maxi smiled, "There is a thing as true happiness. But only it chooses who gets to find it." she said.
Seriously, she should have been a philosopher. She got like that sometimes; speaking words no one else seemed to understand.
Max laughed embarrassed to be caught in the act, "Don't mind me, I'm just speaking gibberish." she rubbed the back of her neck, the warmth their covered over by her much cooler hand.
"But there is no reason to be sorry. Just think, if none of it had happened, we wouldn't have met." she concluded in a smile.

[Arien Albarn]

He laughed and sat up, conceding.
"Ok, you have a point."
After all, he was glad that he had met Max. Of course the damn sun wasn't
helping his mood at the moment. It was still as hot as ever and he was starting
to get sweaty, he may be a guy, but he has some standards.
Besides, Max already knew about his past so really it made no difference if she saw his scars now, besides, she was a tough girl. He wouldn't be surprised if she had a few scars of her own.
Tugging off his shirt, he tossed it to the side quickly, sighing in the freedom the lack of material gave. His back and shoulders were covered in criss-crossed scars from a whip, but he figured that since he was facing her, Max wouldn't be able to see unless he turned around or she stood up.
"Do you want me to get Legacy off you?"

[Maxilene Flock]

She laid on her back, watching the clouds as Arien took off his shirt. "Your lucky man, I gotta keep my shirt on." she laughed aloud as her arms crossed to make her head more comfortable.
Her legs was a bit cramped, but who knew the next time shed see a dog?
"No, I'm fine." she curled around Legacy. She had a thing for dogs.
Zero was a sweetheart of course, but he was a horse. Horses weren't exactly someone she could count on for a snuggle.
"You got anyone else besides Legacy? How do you get around?" she asked, her gold eyes switching to fix on Arien.
Some maidens might have turned at least a hundred shades of red at the sight of a bare chest, but Max had a high tolerance level. She didn't care for junk like that either.

[Arien Albarn]

Laughing, he pushed his snow hair out of his eyes.
"I don't know, you can take your shirt off if you really want to. I wont object."
He wasn't flirting or horny or an ass, he was really just teasing her. Arien grinned and rolled onto his side so he could look over at her.
"I walk, I've never really been good at riding horses, though I used to care for the ones that my-"
He broke off as he realised how close he came to saying 'my master'. Shaking his head, he tried again.
"No horses, but I have two more dogs around here someplace. They just sort of turn up whenever they get lonely."

[Maxilene Flock]

"Yes, because I'm so comfortable in nothing but my undergarments." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head but smiling all the same. "Never had a horse huh? Would you ever want to ride? I could teach you." she suggested, plucking a blade of grass and sticking it in her mouth.
Her teeth grinded slowly against it, the punching taste of everything grass consisted of.
She didn't say anything abut his cutoff sentence, it was part of that, be respectful thing. She fumbled around with the threads of her pants, her eyes blazing as she listened to his tales of two other dogs. "Do they have names? Or are they just lonesome strays?" she asked curiously.

[Arien Albarn]

He grunted as he sat up and crossed his legs.
His eyes glittered when she offered to teach him, things might be getting interesting soon, he wasn't the most coordinated person around.
"Fine. If you think you can handle me, give it your best shot."
Standing up, he offered her his hand with a grin.
"One of my dogs is Legacy, who you've met. There is a black wolf named Shade. The last is only a puppy that I rescued off the streets. You can name him, considering he'll be your reward for teaching me how to ride."
He eyed her playfully.
"If you think you can, that is."

[Maxilene Flock]

Max scoffed at him, taking his hand and slowly coming up to stand. She felt bad for moving Legacy, but for dog?
Move Legacy!
She smiled, "I think I can handle it dogbreath." she teased, poking his arm before taking the rest of the way to the stables.
"To start, you should meet Zero. Eventually, I'll scrounge up one for yourself. But today, you get to interact." She explained. This would get interesting.
The stables was on the edge of town, well, last time she checked anyways. All the while as she walked, dreams of her new dog danced through her head. What would she name him? Would Zero approve? Would the dog like her? She was freaking out silently.
"I think I know what to name it." She had always picked out a name for a dog, it's been engraved into her brain since she could remember.
"What about Hero?" she said looking back at Arien.

[Arien Albarn]

Arien hurried to pick up his shirt before following after her, Legacy trotting at his heals.
"Ok. Interaction. That sounds easy enough."
Catching up to walk beside her, Arien smiled when the building came into view.
"I think Hero is a great name. Especially if you train him to protect you."
Slinging his shirt over his shoulder, he decided to leave it off for now in the heat of the day, after all, his back still wasn't turned to Max so it was ok.

[Maxilene Flock]

Max smiled as well as the tall wooden stable came out into view. Something only few people could do, she put her fingers to her lips and whistled. The shouts from inside brought joy to her as the black and white horse trotted merrily through the street to greet her.
The horse stopped a few feet away, it's black eyes glancing from Arien to Max as if to ask.
What is that?
Max beckoned to him and the stallion trotted up, deciding for the better that this other human was alright. "Zero, Arien. Arien, Zero."
Max bent down on her knee and Zero did the same. He could do other stuff, Zero was like a dog only much larger and...faster.
"He's pretty neat." she beamed at her companion. Her hand stroked Zero's neck and she cooed to him as if he was a child.

[Arien Albarn]

Arien smiled nervously and sort of held his hand out, not sure what to do.
"He's.......................big."
At a loss for words, Arien's less creative side came forward as he examined the giant pack of speed, muscle and heart. He could tell that Max cared about this horse, so he was going to try and get along with it as well.

[Maxilene Flock]

Max laughed, "No, really? I thought we were about the same size. I mean, I've been trying to do something about all this chub." she puffed out her cheeks.
Seeing how slow moving this was going, Max took action. She took Arien's hand and moved it onto Zero's cheek. "He won't bite you....maybe." she a goodhearted laugh. Zero was being so good, patience was something she never had. "Just pet him, explore!" She exclaimed.

[Arien Albarn]

Arien raised and eyebrow skeptically and moved his fingers over the horses face then down his neck. With growing curiosity he made sure to run his hands of everything, only avoiding the rear end which he had no interest in going near. His coat was soft under Arien's hands as he scratched his withers gently.
"He's more patient then I am actually."
He remarked with a smile.

It was only after he had finished examining Zero that he realised that he had put his back to Max for a while now, something which he had avoided down. He knew without looking that this whole shoulder and back area were criss-crossed with scars from being flayed by a whip, and though he knew after Max's story that she was bound to have scars of her own, he knew that his were severe. The wounds themselves had been life threatening.
Cursing his stupidity he waited for screaming or accusaitons or running away, all things that had happened in the past. He stood with his hand still on Zero without turning around to face her, scared of what he might see.

[Maxilene Flock]

Max nodded in approval, "Yeah there you go!" she cheered, clamping her hands together. This was child's play! The great knight was timid about a horse. Ha!
Zero snorted, every so often and looked around to watch Arien as he touch most of Zero's places.
Max couldn't help but giggle. At first, she didn't take notice of the scars, she didn't really care. But with further inspections, they looked like just lines. Shaking her head she waited for him to do something. Much to her surprise, she found him frozen. Was he waiting for her?
Then she realized how often something like that might have happened. The situation going from bad to worse.
No, Max didn't say anything. But with a sigh she turned her own back and lifted her shirt of partially. Her back had multiple lines running around her body. Burns, cuts, some more major than others, but nothing that was fatal.

[Arien Albarn]

Arien kept his back to her but turned his head to look.
Frowning when he saw her own scars, he shook his head in disgust.
"I'm sorry."
An apology probably wasn't something commonly heard, but he still felt bad about the way he had reacted, and the way that she had obviously been treated.
Turning on his heel, he walked slowly over and placed the tips of his fingers on the part of her back that lay bare, tracing the scars.
"How did you get these? No one should ever have a scar on their back."