29 May 2012
"Umm..." "Look, I'm sorry for what happened back there..." "Please, don't mention it..." "No, really, I need to apologise..." "I need to apologise as well, you know..." "So..." "Sorry." "Sorry." That was easier than expected. Yet why did I still feel so empty? It felt as of I still needed to do something... but what? I was unable to ponder because then... "Lily!" Oh dear. I recognised that voice. "Thalia, please, not now." Thalia, although she was my best friend, was an absolute gossip, and definitely not the most comprehensive thinker in the clan. She, through jut a few words, was able to break even the most long-term of partnerships, and cause them to come crashing down about her ears. She didn't mean to do it, she was a nice girl, but as I said, not a deep thinker. And she was a bit random. "Why not? It's such a nice day, and I wanted to talk to you and him" she said, indicating Samuel. "Anyway, I saw what happened in the First's tent, and I thought it was so sweet that you made up so soon after that I had to come over and congratulate you." "What? You're congratulating us for settling our differences?" Samuel was incredulous. "Of course! When some elves have serious arguments like that they don't speak for months afterwards, simmering and simmering in their own anger until the First makes them formally apologise! It's enough to make you yearn for straight talking, which is exactly what you two lovebirds have just done." "What?" It was my turn to be incredulous now. "How did you come to that conclusion? That we're, as you so eloquently put it, lovebirds?" "Oh, not through any physical understanding, but let me tell you," she said conspiratorially, "that my ear hears more than what is said, and that I can definitely hear a bright future for you two..." She left the sentence hanging. Samuel raised an eyebrow. "Well, anyway, it was nice talking to you. I now need to see an elf about a goat..." And with that she skipped off, leaving the two of us absolutely bewildered.
I looked at Samuel. He looked at me. He smirked. I snorted. He smiled. I giggled. He guffawed. We burst out laughing. What had just passed was so absurd that we just couldn't contain ourselves. It was that simple. How she could hear that we were going to become "lovebirds"? We hated each other. Or at least we did. By the time we stopped laughing I had figured that my attitude towards him was mellowed enough to allow me to try and get to know him better. And this I did. I invited him into my tent, and for the next hour we talked, chatted and laughed our way through embarrassing stories that included him being covered from head to toe in filth, and me being ambushed by a particularly randy billy goat (trust me, you don't want to know).
It was fun, and we would have continued like that if it wasn't for an annoying messenger telling us that we were required in the presence of First Hollar. Now.
An Apology • Opuss № I