"Of... of course." He seemed thus far incapable of conveying what he meant to, consistently conveying offense instead. "I did not mean to be dismissive of your motives. To learn more about a culture and its practices is of course admirable. I only meant to say that you should not allow your ignorance to cause you anxiety. Which is not to say that you are ignorant, but rather, there are many things here that you do not yet know. Which is why you seek to learn them. Which is admirable."
Things like this were why it was a bad idea to talk in libraries.
It was only after his departure that it occurred to him that the swiftness of it might cause offense. He didn't mean to make her think he wanted to be away from her.
Though he did. Not because of anything she'd done. He just preferred to avoid people around whom he made an ass of himself. Which was most people, but Sophiana in particular seemed to be causing him difficulty. Because she was so foreign, maybe, or because she was such a fragile thing. Arjun did not deal well with the fragile.
He could have sworn they'd had more chairs. Most of them seemed to be larger than he remembered, heavier, not suited to be moved. He considered moving one anyway. That would look ridiculous, wouldn't it? Coming back with some great big heavy thing?
Even chairs were too difficult a decision for him to handle with grace, now.
Finally he found something that seemed acceptable, a slender wooden thing similar to the chair already at his desk. His return was alternately too fast and too slow. He couldn't decide if it was more uncomfortable to leave her waiting or to sit with her.
"Here," he said as he returned, setting the chair across the desk from his. That seemed like a safe choice. It would allow her to watch what he did while keeping a respectable distance between them. And a desk. A desk would also be between them. "I apologize for the delay," he added, his hands sliding along her back and beneath her legs to pick her up off the desk. "In the future I will attempt to plan better for such eventualities." He set her down into the chair, and tried to arrange her various scarves and so on in a manner that seemed more comfortable.
Which... was actually... very rude...
"My apologies again," he said stiffly as he stood. "I forget myself. I did not intend to disrespect your personal space." He returned to his chair on the other side of the desk before he could do anything else foolish. Not that it was likely to stop him. He could always do something foolish.
Things like this were why it was a bad idea to talk in libraries.
It was only after his departure that it occurred to him that the swiftness of it might cause offense. He didn't mean to make her think he wanted to be away from her.
Though he did. Not because of anything she'd done. He just preferred to avoid people around whom he made an ass of himself. Which was most people, but Sophiana in particular seemed to be causing him difficulty. Because she was so foreign, maybe, or because she was such a fragile thing. Arjun did not deal well with the fragile.
He could have sworn they'd had more chairs. Most of them seemed to be larger than he remembered, heavier, not suited to be moved. He considered moving one anyway. That would look ridiculous, wouldn't it? Coming back with some great big heavy thing?
Even chairs were too difficult a decision for him to handle with grace, now.
Finally he found something that seemed acceptable, a slender wooden thing similar to the chair already at his desk. His return was alternately too fast and too slow. He couldn't decide if it was more uncomfortable to leave her waiting or to sit with her.
"Here," he said as he returned, setting the chair across the desk from his. That seemed like a safe choice. It would allow her to watch what he did while keeping a respectable distance between them. And a desk. A desk would also be between them. "I apologize for the delay," he added, his hands sliding along her back and beneath her legs to pick her up off the desk. "In the future I will attempt to plan better for such eventualities." He set her down into the chair, and tried to arrange her various scarves and so on in a manner that seemed more comfortable.
Which... was actually... very rude...
"My apologies again," he said stiffly as he stood. "I forget myself. I did not intend to disrespect your personal space." He returned to his chair on the other side of the desk before he could do anything else foolish. Not that it was likely to stop him. He could always do something foolish.
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 11-08-2014, 12:09 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 11-08-2014, 03:17 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 11-10-2014, 06:25 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 11-10-2014, 11:28 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 11-12-2014, 02:04 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 11-13-2014, 02:34 AM
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Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 11-30-2014, 02:57 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 11-30-2014, 07:09 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 12-06-2014, 06:19 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 12-10-2014, 03:25 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 12-28-2014, 08:27 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 01-04-2015, 05:56 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 01-15-2015, 02:32 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 01-24-2015, 05:20 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 01-27-2015, 12:03 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 02-05-2015, 03:09 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 02-18-2015, 03:42 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 02-23-2015, 11:41 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 03-28-2015, 11:45 PM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 04-05-2015, 01:59 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by tindome - 07-05-2015, 01:51 AM
Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 08-13-2015, 04:10 PM
RE: Guest of the King [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-06-2015, 10:34 PM
RE: Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 12-05-2015, 08:25 PM
RE: Guest of the King [Closed] - by Tindome - 01-17-2016, 08:00 AM
RE: Guest of the King [Closed] - by Hobo_Bob - 03-10-2016, 08:45 PM
RE: Guest of the King [Closed] - by Tindome - 06-27-2016, 03:06 PM