In the Woods: Loni & Glom

(Earthsleep 18th, 10019 ADW, Night – Forest outside Eldon's Hill, Lagunis)

Glom stood there in disbelief; he could fight a gang of angry humans, he could stare down a demon out of the pits of Hell and not flinch but he didn’t know how to react to a woman crying like this. "Calm yourself woman." he said gruffly, "The human will be fine, ye need to worry about yerself at a time like this."

“Ah am calm!” Loni wailed into her hands, vainly trying to deny the fact she was so upset. She shook a few times with hiccuping sobs before trying to wipe at her eyes with the cuffs of her blouse, wet sniffling sounds piercing the quiet of the forest as she cleaned the saltwater and running nose. When she looked up at Glom again, her eyes were red rimmed, puffy and her nose a cherry red, her lips quivering as she did her best to met his stare. It lasted for a good half-moment before her chin dimpled again and her mouth twisted back into a silent sob, clamping her hands back over her face tightly. “Ah’m naye the une’s thaet’s gunna get ‘ung o’er thae nearest tree! (sob) Pur Chika! Thaey’ll pluck ‘er lil wings off an’ stick ‘er in a jar!!!”

Glom shook his head, "From what I saw the mephit could take care of erself, I wouldnt be worrying your pretty little self over them if I were ye." Glom grumbled, "I dont have a clue where we are or how to get us back on a path to anywhere, I just charged into the woods to get away from those buggers." It wasnt completely true but he was trying to give her something else to focus on."

“Whach means w’r also lost!” The Halfling blurted aloud a her head darted up again, back stiffening and blue eyes frightened. Now the peaches and cream complexion of her rosy-cheeked face was blotchy and rather distressed. “Whaet if we ne’er find…. Waitahminut’… Dud ye jest call meh ‘pretty’, Glom?”

Loni seemed to have forgotten all about crying for the moment, her face slack with a stupefied expression while the blinked the fresh tears from her eyes. It took a moment to sink in before her face went through a myriad of expressions all at once; surprise, abashment, confusion and then finally her brows pulled sharply down into anger.

She jumped up on her feet and stalked over to the Dwarf planting a pointed finger right in the middle of his broad chest. “Ia thaet yer idea o’ a joke at a time luk this? Ah’ll ‘ave ye knaew thaet’s naye very funny!”

Glom smirked, "Well lass at least your not crying anymore, and no we’re not lost I have a good idea where we are, but I wanted you to quit that blasted blubbering so I could think for a minute."

“Ye mean, grumpy bast’rd!” Loni cried , looking none too impressed by his last comment! “Ah’m worried ‘bout thae oth’rs an’ ye gae sayin’ sumthin’ luk thaet jest tae git mae tae stop cryin’?! Ah wish ah ‘ah o’ bin left tae thae mob instead o’ bein’ out ‘ere wit a cruel blutherskite luk ye!”

Incised, the Halfling spun so sharply on her heel that her boots kicked up the leaf litter around her and she began to storm off in a random direction out of the small clearing, presumably trying to head back the way they had come.

Glom didnt care to have to chase her back to town and he needed some quiet to think for a few moments before they moved out. He quietly pulled out one of his throwing axes and flinged it past her ear, she was never in trouble he was deadly accurate at a close range like this. It was just to get her attention. "Hold your horses lass, I ave no intention of leaving them to the mob, but for heavens sake give a dwarf a chance to think before you go blithering off into the forest."

Loni hadn’t been even remotely suspicious of the possibility that Glom was planning to throw an axe past her head and as the great weapon shot over her shoulder with a whump of passing air, she shrieked a cry which caused an owl to take off in the trees somewhere nearby, hooting into the night. “Ye crazy bluddy…. bluddy!…” she spluttered, turning around to stare at him with a blanched face, looking harrowed. “Ye thraew anthin’ luk thaet at meh ‘gain an’ ah’ll grind ye face inta thaey dirt, ye hear meh?!” she shouted, livid now and completely ignorant of whatever he had just said regarding a chance to think.

Glom had just about had enough at this point, he couldn,t have her running off into the woods and getting lost, that would double his troubles. So he charged her before she could see it coming. He reached out with one meaty hand and grabbed the collar of her shirt. He jerked her back into his chest and hefted her over his shoulder once again. "Alirght lass if you wont listen to me I'll just make you do the right thing by force."

The Halfling squealed, which was about all the time for reaction she had as Glom closed the distance between them fast, before she felt thick hands clamp onto the collar of her blouse and she was lifted bodily off the ground, landing hard on his shoulder. “EY! EY!! PUT MAE DAEWN!!” she bellowed and started to kick as hard as her short legs were worth, trying to stab the toes of her boots into his midsection while she grabbed ahold of his plait and gave it a good haul.

Glom sat her down under a tree and glared at her, "Now sit still and let me think for a moment, you blasted woman." He wasn’t looking forward to trying to find Cereth but he seemed to be left with no choice at the moment, "We will find your beloved Cereth, even though I don’t claim to understand why you care about a man who tried to have his way with you."

“He’s naet mae beloved!” the Halfling retorted immediately. She folded her arms under her bust and stuck out her bottom lip as her cheeks flared, her ears burning with the blush. “An’ fer yer information, ‘e was jest a lil’ naye ‘imself b’cause o’ thae ale… An’ a guess ah’d bin askin’ fer it tae at thae bonfire…”

Glom shook his head and scratched at his chin, at the moment he didn’t care what the circumstances were. "Whatever ye wish to think lass, right now we have to worry about finding the others and staying alive at the same time."

Now more then a little embarrassed, the three foot feisty Bard sat there against the base of the tree, drawing her knees up under her chin as she leant forward and thought silently. A quiet settled on the clearing in which she became aware of the eerie night time sounds of the woods, the strange snap of twigs all around her and the chill of the night air. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, clutching her upper arms and tucking her elbows in between her body and her thighs. Despite the fact she had been fighting him tooth and claw not a minute before, the Halfling now wished she was still slung over his shoulder. At least that unseen bogeyman which felt like he almost had his hands on the back of her neck wouldn’t dare touch her then.

Of course, stubborn pride, something Loni Brandybuck had been famous for in Meadowshire, even a little girl, kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want the cranky blacksmith getting any ideas that she needed him or anything. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t even be out there in the cold night…

That was exactly right, wasn’t it? The thought hit her with a pang of shame in the next moment, her conscious reminding her pointedly with a sting that she hadn’t even thanked him for carrying her all this way.

“ T’anks…” she muttered.

Glom shook his head, "You wont want to thank me later, now come on we need to move if we are going to find them before the sun comes up." Glom turned and grabbed the axe he had thrown a few moments before and started slowly making his way back into the trees.

“Dinnae, leave mae tae far b’hind…” Loni squeaked, jumping up in his wake to follow, reaching forward and grabbing the hem of his bearskin cloak as he passed into the trees in an attempt to stick close behind.

"Well move yer legs then Lass, we don’t have time to waste." he said not glancing back at her. He didn’t like the idea of having to drag her along but he knew she wouldn’t stay behind.

“Ah’m movin’, ah’m movin’, ye grumpy heap o’ scrap metal…” she muttered under her breath, the placid moment of dependency fleeing to be replaced by her usual temper once more. She did not let go of his cloak, however….