[P] All I Want Is To See You Smile

[Ares Knight]

It was really happening, it was not simply a possibility that were being talked of so much but now and after all that had happened in recent weeks it were now a reality. Cercatori D'Arte had officially disbanded and those who wished to were relocating to a new - hopefully safer - home, but with the number of pack member's dwindling and the murders - and attempted ones - that had occured it were little doubt that such a thing as this were happening. Better to find a 'home' that was safe for it's members and had plenty of food for all compared to harm always coming to them and not having to also compete for a steady food supply either, hopefully then everything will start to improve. Until then though it were the task of packing up all their things that would be taken to their destination that would consume everyone's time until the day arrived that they would need to move on. Not that Ares had much trouble with his meagre belongings, luckily the majority of which - aside from his banjo, bow & arrows - were generally small items; enough so that he were capable of storing them within the fabric in which served as the grey male's bag for the trip.

It had been after he had taken the short time in which to sort out his own things that Ares dared to allow himself to consider just where he may be of use next, though it had not taken much thought for his mind to wander to a couple of others in particular who may just appreciate such an offer. His mind had wandered to Elsie and her aunt, Ares could only imagine that both Henamin females had quite a lot of things in which to pack up so it wouldn't hurt to offer such a thing right? Well; that was what Ares kept had kept telling himself at the very least, over the last few days he had noticed a surprising change in behavior in Elsie towards him which not only surprised Ares but - strange as it was - saddened the knight male in some way.

It had actually seemed that Elsie were seemingly angered at Ares for some reason of her own, one which even he struggled to find out just what had been the cause of such a thing. Though, Ares knew that after his mother had found out about his multiple meetings with that loner at the borders she had alerted others to this to avoid the same misunderstanding - but that could not be the reason for the younger Hennamin female to be angry at him could it? Well at the very least that was what Ares hoped as he traversed the distance to his own home to that of the Hennamin pair, only becoming somewhat more cautious as he grew closer to their home and climbed the steps iun which led to the door. Only upon reaching the door did did Ares raise a forepaw and knock upon the wooden structure; mostly in the hopes that either someone was home or if not somewhere close enough to have noticed his pressence. "Hello? Elsie? Are you home?" Ares called, albeit with a certain degree of nervousness evident in his voice. Of course he did dread to think just what may or may not happen but then again Ares just hoped he were over reacting.

There was only one way to find out right?

[Elsie Hennamin]

OOC: Esther will go take a nap at some point so they can actually talk. x3

IC:
Packing. Lots and lots of packing. Elsie was doing her best to focus on getting Esther's things packed because it kept her mind off of other things, namely Ares's apparent relationship with a loner. At least, that's what Elsie guessed it was if a loner was allowed into the pack lands because of him.

She sighed and focused on her task. Luckily the Elder had lots of old crates she could use, although the cats seemed less than pleased to have their blanket-lined beds taken away from them, even though it was only temporary. Elsie tried to explain what was going on to her cat, Copper, who had learned some high speech from Crowley before he and Skylee left. All the cats seemed uneasy due to the commotion, but it needed to be done, although Penny, in turn, explained things to them. There was a clowder in the corner, and several pairs of eyes glared as the canines moved things around.

There were piles of stuff everywhere, and Elsie felt like she was not actually making any progress. Esther was not particularly helpful, becoming annoyed at the prospect of leaving things behind, even things she had not used in years. Elsie knew it was difficult to leave ones home, but there was no way the pair of them could stay here when the others were moving on.

"I can't leave that," Esther said as Elsie tried to add a bit of old, moldy cloth to the '
leave behind' pile.

"It's moldy and it stinks," Elsie informed her. "That whole drawer does." It was true. She had no plants to move that junk with them. Esther stared at it for a few moments, and her cloudy eyes seemed to glaze over a bit.

"Oh fine," Esther sighed and Elsie tipped the cloth and other drawer contents onto the pile. Their work was then interrupted by a voice outside and Elsie's large ears flattened against her skull. Ares. She lifted them and turned away from the door as Esther shuffled over.

"Hello, dear," Esther greeted him with a smile, ushering him inside. The chilly air swept through the room before she closed the door again. "How are you? Come to help us?" Elsie flinched at the question and began rummaging through another cupboard with overdone purpose.

[Ares Knight]

OOC: *pokes Ares* you better start thinking of a good apology now boy! lol
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Now that he were actually standing before the door to the Hennamin home a sense of nervousness was starting to take hold over Ares, to the point in which the large grey had begun shuffling from one paw to the other. Already he had begun debating whether such a thing as this were actually a good idea, so many concerns already forcing their way into jis mind - just how angry was Elsie with him? Would she be able to find a way in which to forgive him? Would he even be able to redeem himself in some way? Wow; now he was actually starting to behave like some nervous pup who has done something wrong band been sent to their parent for their respective punishment - if only that were the case, it would no doubt be preferable to the situation that he were currently involved in.

It was all so bizarre, the very fact that he were so worried about ELsie and what she thought of him - it was certainly a strange and foreign sensation. It had been this that nearly got Ares leaving the Henamin home - or should that be ex-home? - in order to give her any time in which she would need to accept all that had happened. But there was just something that would not allow Ares to wait and despite his desire to leave and wait for another time, so when the door opened revealing the elder Hennamin female and in turn inviting him inside Ares was glad this had happened before it were too late. A small smile just about managing to form upon Ares' features and remaining for a few moments as ears flattened against his skull and back pressed against the wall for a time before finally nodding in silent response to Esther's question.

"Hello Esther, guess i'm ok - how are you doing?" Ares answered, though not completely cheerfully but just about enough to avoid the elder Hennamin female worrying too much - that was the last thing in which he wanted to do. "Try and help at least - unless you ladies don't need or want my help." he added, olive eyes flicking over to Elsie nervously - her reaction to her Aunt's question hadn't gone completely unnoticed. But he wasn't about to react too much to it, for all he knew there was just that chance that Ares may end up doing or saying something in which he may regret.

[Elsie Hennamin]

OOC: haha poor guy!

IC:
Help was certainly welcome. Help in the form of Ares... Elsie thought that right now, she could afford to be picky. She was sure Jace would be willing to help them instead, although at the same time, Elsie knew she was being silly; he probably had no idea that she had a crush on him at all, and yet she couldn’t help but feel hurt. She thought he had been flirting with her at one point, specifically when they were on the porch planning a possible trade trip, which had now been pushed back by the move.

Before Elsie could say anything Esther was nodding in her wobbly way, reaching out to tug on Ares arm in an attempt to lead him across the room to some cupboards near Elsie. The younger Hennamin glanced over before continuing what she was doing, moving some things to the table so that she could sort them.

“Help is always welcome, dear,” Esther said as she opened the door of the cupboard and pointed up with a shaky hand. “There’s some stuff up high there that we’ll need help getting down.” Elsie honestly wasn’t sure how that stuff got up there and she really hoped that it had something to do with Thomas and not Esther standing on something unsteady.

As Elsie still had not said a word, Esther glanced over at her with a frown, fiddling with her shawl. With a nod, she took a step away from Ares and Elsie looked over at her with a questioning look.

“Well turnips, it looks like you’ve got this under control. I think I’ll have a nap.” With that sudden announcement, Esther turned and shuffled off towards her bedroom and closed the door. Elsie watched her go and sighed before finally turning to Ares.

“Thanks for helping,” she told him, unsure of what else to say.

[Ares Knight]

OOC: *laughs evily* oh well, its got to be done though right?
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Now this was certainly a - relatively - good start, at the very least he wasn't being met with some form of resistance but at the same time the sansation of being ignored wasn't a pleasant thing. Even if there was a good reason behind it all, Ares would just have to deal with that and in turn make attempts in which to make thigns right again. Though before he were even able to allow himself to think more fully about this Ares allowed himself to be tugged along to just where the elder Hennamin female wanted him to go, olive eyes lifting to where his attention was being directed.

"Sure, i'll get those down. Can't let one of you two get yourself hurt." It was with this that Ares could not help but allow his eyes to drift over to Elsie momentarily before taking a step forward and retrieve all that was at the top of the cupboard, only thern turning to se tthem down upon the nearest availiable surface. Though Ares did not take note of the look in which Esther directed to her niece, the feeling of being watched was more than enough for the large grey to lift his attention, head tilting to one side as he watched her and in turn listen to her words. All he could do was find himself silently nodding and watching as the elder female shuffled off to her room for her aforementioned nap, only then was he startled by Eslie's words being directed towards him.

But even then Ares could not quite bring himself to meet her gaze, instead lowering olive eyes even further to remain upon the ground and his feet while physically turning to face Elsie. "Elsie . . . . . listen, i'm really sorry. For everything. For whatever I did, I didn't mean to upset you or anything." Ares spoke softly, shuffling awkwardly as he spoke before in turn withdrawing into silence. As strange as it may sound he felt genuine regret for making Elsie upset in any way, though he were still truly struggling with just how he felt for Elsie especially since the time they spent with each other so recently.

It was strange, despite having all those meetings with that loner - though it did outwardly appear as if it were more than likely going to lead to something more it never had. It had felt like something more akin to simply being friends; but the 'relationship' [could he call it that?] between him and Elsie sure seemed to be something different, well that's what it felt to him at least. "I just want to make things better - try fix things with you." It more than likely sounded as if he were ramblinb now, but Ares couldn't help himself really.

[Elsie Hennamin]

OOC: yup! Haha

IC:
For once in her life, Elsie had nothing she wanted to say. She didn’t want to chatter to fill the silence, even though she did not like the silence. She found it uncomfortable, in fact, not like how she and Esther were sometimes able to sit and knit all afternoon with only a smattering of conversation. No, this caused her to feel tense, which was not something Elsie was used to feeling. She hoped keeping her hands busy with sorting things would help but it didn’t.

The silence didn’t last long and Elsie flinched as Ares started apologizing. She swallowed, avoiding looking at him by continuing to pack things, which currently meant folding some cloth that was in decent enough shape to be taken with them. Her ears tucked back as he spoke and she sighed, trying to figure out what to say as he continued, and then she frowned.

Fix things with her? How did he plan on doing that? Elsie was not the type to be someone’s bit on the side, nor was she okay with a polyamorous type of relationship. Then again, she wasn’t even sure if Ares knew she liked him as more than a friend, since he did not seem know what he had done to upset her. Maybe he just meant wanting to fix their friendship. She clenched her jaw and then quietly sighed again.

“What exactly are you looking to fix?” She finally answered quietly, still without looking at him again. She took the cloth she had folded over to the ‘keep’ pile and set it down carefully so it didn’t become a mess. “And besides... I don’t know if your loner would like that.” This statement was even quieter than the previous one and Elsie wondered if she should have just bitten her tongue and told him it was fine.

[Ares Knight]

OOC: Good boy Ares, now you start feeling something for little Elsie. lol.
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Did it sound strange that he were actually starting to miss hearing Elsie's voice? It were certainly bizarre how such a thing as this was slowly starting to depress Ares to the point that even just the smallest of sounds would have been more than enough to settle the larger grey male. It was odd how somethign as small as this had such an effect upon him, even on those times in which Ares simply found himself listening to all that the coywolf female liked to talk of that had never bothered him - but to not hear a single thing from her? But instead all that he found meeting his words were complete silence, that hurt more than anything else that could have been thrown his way.

It was this combined with Elsie's reaction to his words that showed him just how painfully obvious it was that his words alone would not be enough to make the coywolf female for the moment feel any differently to him. Maybe he really should have chosen his words more carefully? It was obvious that there was something more that were bothering the younger Hennamin female tha the simple fact that he'd had been meeting up with a loner / visitor on a fairly regular basis. Maybe the same thing that were bothering him and so often over recent times fuelled his desire to spend as much time with her as were possible especially given the circumstances.

Though when Elsie finally did speak, it was Ares turn to flinch - granted it was not as if she had spoken harshly or allowed her voice to raise about the quiet tones in which she were using. But in truth she really didn't need to sound angry or even shout at him; the strength of her words alone were more than enough to cause the guilt he felt intensify considerably. He simply remained silent since he could not easily find something of a suitable answer in way of how he hoped to fix things between them - hopefully though with a bit of time he might just be able to. But it were before Ares were even able to think about such things that ears flicked at the sounds of her next comment, only then did something close to a pained look form upon his features before a brief flicker of slight defiance form upon Ares features. "If I cared what she thought then why am I here? With you? . . . . " Ares had to force himself to stop and take a deep breath mostly to avoid saying something in which he would later regret, especially given the brief moment of irritation in which had taken a grip over him at hearing Elsie's words.

That was what found olive eyes dropping away from the coywolf female and simply staring at nothing in particular for what seemed like an eternity. "Besides, that loner was only a friend. Feel nothing else for her . . . . . . Not when I know someone else who is a bit more special." Ares muttered, attention finally turning back to the things he had retrieved from the cupboards and begin shifting through it all. Of course he felt something more for Elsie than a simple friendship, especially considering the most recent time in which they spent together.

[Elsie Hennamin]

She shouldn't have said that. Elsie squeezed her eyes closed for a moment as she turned away, feeling foolish. Maybe she should just let it go and move on. It would probably be for the best to pretend everything was normal, that she didn’t wish they were more than friends, and that his apparent visits with the loner didn’t make her jealous.

It would be easy; she would simply force herself to focus everything on the move and distract herself that way while avoiding him. Elsie turned to tell him to forget it when Ares spoke instead and a confused look crossed her face. She supposed he could be here for any reason: he didn’t like her as more than a friend, and it made sense for a friend to come help them move, especially given Esther’s age. He looked away, but this time Elsie continued to look at him, mismatched eyes trying to take in his expression as he continued speaking before she could express her previous thoughts.

Elsie wasn’t sure if she believed him when he said he had no feelings for the loner. Jace had seemed to think she was his girlfriend. The frown on her face changed to a look of surprise at the last thing he said. She almost didn’t hear the muttered words. Elsie was smart enough to know he meant her, but she couldn’t quite allow herself to believe it, and continued to feel more foolish for what she had been thinking. Still what she had heard pointed to it being more than a friendship.

“I just... you never mentioned her, not even in passing. ‘Oh hey, I met this loner. She’s kind of interesting...’” Elsie trailed off. Maybe she was the only one who would jabber on about a new friend like that. “It seemed like it was meant to be some secret, and I couldn’t figure out why, other than, well.. she was more than a friend.”

[Ares Knight]

Maybe it had been pointless for him even having considered coming all the way here and make his attempts to make things right between him and Elsie, it were obvious now that his illusion that it would be so simple to make everything better was wrong. If anything maybe it would have been more suitable for Ares to have simply stayed away from Elsie for a while - or at least until they were forced into each others company during their upcoming trip to their new home - before even daring to try talk to her? Would that really have been much better? So many doubts and questions filtered their way into Ares mind during his attempt to keep his attention focused upon his current task, ot that it were working all too well. But what else could he do?

That was something even he were not sure of and for a time he were glad that they had fallen into a brief silence despite the fact that he could almost 'feel' the younger Hennamin's eyes upon him during the time he had diverted his own and spoken. Of course Ares could easily understand her reaction to the whole situation, who's to say that he would not react the same as she was? The temptation to make attempts to aplogize again and simply leave the Hennamin residence and give the younger cowolf the time - Ares assumed - that she would need to be able to either forgive him or at the very least talk to him even if she were unable to do anything more.

It had been with the small hope that this may work that Ares had been about to dare try that found his gaze being slowly lifted, only at hearing Elsie begin to speak did he think better of it - rather simply allowing himself to listen. Though her words did result in a small frown to form upon his features, of course now the damage had been done it did make sense to have mentioned it sooner - but then again sometimes these type of things didn't always work out well did they? It was her second comment that resulted in a sigh escaping the large grey male, olive eyes finally lifting enough to completely focusing upon Elsie, contemplating just how he would redeem himself. "Then i'm sorry for not telling you . . . . . But whoever told you and gave you THAT impression was wrong and it can't have been too many who could have." Ares insisted, the previously calm demeanour momentarily giving way to something close to hurt flickering across his features as ears flattened and tail tucking between his legs.

"Maybe then I was wrong coming here - I'm sorry Elsie, guess I just made things worse didn't I? As if things weren't bad enough." Now Ares simply found himself feeling worse, so much that he were unable to meet Elsie's gaze now but at the same time he was starting to accept the possibility that he would never be forgiven. But at the same time if that were to happen then what could be done about it? Ares would just accept any and all consequences.

[Elsie Hennamin]

OOC: Sorry for the delay! I figure we can wrap this one up and get going on the next one?

IC:
The more Ares spoke, the more foolish Elsie felt. There was no other conclusion she could have come to, though, or at least, that was what she was going to keep telling herself. She would not have thought that, except that his friend was a secret. The younger Hennamin knew she shouldn’t feel betrayed, after all, she and Ares weren’t actually anything more than friends. Still, friends could feel betrayed over a secret, couldn’t they?

If only that was why she felt like that. Elsie knew it was because she liked Ares as more than a friend, and she also knew she had no right to feel any sort of territorialism over him or his time. He could be friends with anyone. It was thinking that he and this loner were more than friends that bothered her.

“No, it’s alright,” Elsie said quietly. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have just jumped to conclusions. I’m sorry.” Even as she apologized, she only felt more embarrassed about the whole thing, and Elsie rarely got embarrassed. Normally, she was able to simply laugh things off. The embarrassment only increased how awkward she now felt, unsure of what else there was to say. She wished she could crawl into a hole and just stay there until he left, or forget the whole thing happened. Even a few random mostly nonsensical statements from Esther would be good right about now. Anything for a distraction.

Suddenly so completely unsure of herself, Elsie turned away and started folding another pile of usable cloth. They had both apologized, yet it didn’t feel okay, and Elsie wasn’t sure it would be.

[Ares Knight]

OOC: Oh that's alright; don't you worry about that! But yes that sounds good, i can get it set up unless you manage to do it before me!
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Naturally considering how many other's no doubt knew of his loner friend Ares could certainly understand the reasoning behind the conclusion that Elsie had come to in that case; who wouldn't have come to that self same thought if given enough time or the wrong type of information? There was little doubt that whoever had been told by his mother had more than likely filled in the minor details of what were going on between Ares and the coyote loner - which was understandable, if roles had been reversed and he had heard such things about Elsie he more than likely would have assumed just as much as she. But there were many things changing now, so the whole situation came at a good time - if there were a good time for a fresh start with anything and everything in general then this was it even though in this particular case it will take time and work to mend the damage that had been done between him and the younger Hennamin.

It was as this were passing through the large grey males mind that his attention were swiftly diverted to Elsie at hearing her words, her apology did come as something of a surprise to Ares. It wasn't something in which he had truly expected to hear from her especially when for the most part it were his own fault for not having mentioned and explained everything much earlier rather than Elsie hearing of it second hand from another packmate, if he had done this then the 'relationship' [if it could be called that] between them would be slightly better right? It were this type of situation that was more awkward than anything else; oh why had Esther chosen now to go off for a nap? It sure would have been nicer if the older female had lingered for a while longer: but then again given the long journey they were going on the old female needed all the sleep she could get.

"No, it's not alright and not your fault. It's mine, I should have told you earlier instead of this happening." Ares murmured, the temptation to simply pull her into a hug of some kind was almost too much - but the thought that this was neither the time or place was all that it took to stop him rather Ares lightly and briefly allowed a forepaw to reach out and touch her for a matter of seconds. "But i'll go now yes? Let you get this done without me being in the way . . . . . Until the start of the trip anyway, might be of more use to you then." He offered, it were probably for the best that he left was't it? Better than Ares lingering and becoming something of an annoyance and considering they both had the oppertunity to speak to the other was good, better to get it out of the way instead of allowing it to continue for longer.

[Elsie Hennamin]

“Okay, that sounds good,” Elsie replied. She wasn’t sure she could simply keep packing with him around. It felt so awkward. She wished Esther hadn’t had her moment of clarity and gone for a nap, but at the same time, she knew it was probably for the better. She and Ares at least needed to talk a little bit, even if it did not seem to get anywhere.

“Thanks for your help, though,” she added before he could go. She and Esther certainly would have had some trouble reaching the things he had gotten down for them; Elsie would likely have to find more help later on to get some of the other things, but she was not too worried about that right now.

Elsie didn’t want to admit it because it felt mean, but she really wanted Ares to go, only so the awkwardness would end. She was not used to feeling embarrassed or awkward, and having it just end as soon as possible was what she wanted, then maybe she could forget any of it ever happened. The cats even seemed to sense that something serious had happened and remained quiet; even the more friendly cats simply watched the two canines interact without even trying to ‘help’ Elsie with the fabric.

“I’ll see you around,” she told him with a glance his way, figuring he could see himself out, then she turned back to the next pile of Esther’s belongings that she wanted to pack.