After the Fall

[Sven & Hermes]

DATE & TIME : 21st July, afternoon
WEATHER CONDITIONS : cloudy
CHARACTERS INVOLVED : Sven + Kenna
PREVIOUS THREADS ? False Convictions

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Sven had returned from a mini-expedition on the other side of the island to study some of the more sneaky, elusive dragons in more detail. After a quick wash and an inspection from Hermes, they finally returned to the village after a hearty absence.

Hermes landed in the central plaza with a clattering of scales as she did so. As soon as Sven got off she snorted and once her saddle was removed, she clucked and flew off almost immediately. Sven wasn't bothered too much by her abrupt departure this time - he was glad to be back in civilisation, even if he didn't look quite the part, for he was slightly ragged and weather beaten, even after his wash. At least he didn't smell as bad.

He thought about restocking on supplies, especially on food, as from the trip he only had stores he brought with him, and making do with what nature provided, though he wasn't a great herbologist or hunter to get anything decent from that.

Instead he decided he would pay a visit to Kenna, however. Not only was her house closest right now, but also she was a great source of social information of the goings on in the village, of which Sven didn't really have time or interest to gather himself - but still found useful just in case he had to avoid certain people or inversely keep an eye on. He'd been gone for a while so he was curious. Also Kenna was one of those few on Berk he could have an intelligent conversation with. He couldn't wait to share the adventures he had on his trip out.

He went up to the wooden door and knocked. He knew he didn't have to and could simply enter without being seen as rude, but years and years of etiquette stomped into him trumped every time. It took longer than usual for Kenna to respond. Perhaps she was busy tinkering on another project.

"Hey Kenna, it's been a while!" He grinned at the blacksmith, glad to see a familiar face again. He then noticed she looked slightly off. Had something happened whilst he had been gone? His ragged face quickly turned to concern. "Are you okay?" He asked.

[Kenna & Fenrir]

Kenna was inside her house, trying to be productive. She’d cleaned out the outside work area of all the broken items and cluttered them in the front room. She’d get to them eventually and all her failed inventions would be back where they had been soon enough. But for now Kenna still didn’t have the drive to do any of them.

So she was in the back room doing some ordering of her tools and made weapons. It was pointless but it had at least a feel of having a reason to it and so Kenna did it. Fenrir watched her as she did this, wondering how long his master would be like this. They both froze when they heard the knock. Kenna smiled slightly as Fenrir scuttled off to the front door, Sven she thought to herself, she liked how stubborn he was about knocking on the door that she now had got into the habit of opening it for him.

Slowly she put the item she’d been moving in its place and walked to the door. The bell rung as it opened and there was the dragonologist. He looked like he’d been through quite a bit over the past few days, though that probably just meant he’d been looking at dragons. She liked the way he looked right now.

“Hi Sven,” she said, trying to make the smile she had not look as off as she knew it would, “Yeah, it’s good to see you. Come in.” She directed him in, “Sorry about the mess,” she said looking over at the pile of broken rubbish in the corner of the front room, “a lot of my outside stuff got destroyed a few days ago and I need to get round to fixing some of it.”

Fenrir was circling round Sven’s feet as the young man walked, “Hey there kid, been a while since you last turned up. Kenna’s not been social recently after all the-”[/color]

“Quiet Fenrir,” Kenna interrupted her dragon as she turned round and sat on the table in the front room. She didn’t want Fenrir to be gossiping about her, especially in front of her, “Sorry about that, what brings you here?”

[Sven & Hermes]

Sven looked around as he noticed the mess in the main room. It looked like something had happened whilst he had gone, but what Sven couldn't fathom. As he walked in Fenrir slalomed around his feet like a house cat would do, so he tried his best not to trip over the little dragon, before crouching down to stroke the creature and greeting him.

Curiosity was getting the better of him as Fenrir blurted something that Kenna obviously didn't want to be shared right then, but Sven knew to hold that thought until a better time. He got up again (with or without a Fenrir around his shoulders) to see Kenna had sat herself on the table.

"Well, I've finally returned from a trip on the other side of the island, I was studying some elusive species, notably following a feisty pack of Thunder Drums. I would've stayed longer, but ah, I ran out of resources..."[/color] He explained, making his way to sit down on a stool nearby. The resources he was speaking about was of course food... and writing mediums. "So I thought since it has been a while I'd drop by to say hi, whilst I'm here."[/color]

He glanced back at the pile of mess and broken contraptions. It seemed as if a Gronckle had run into a potter's hut! "You know, I could help fix your things if you wanted... What happened? Did you get burgaled or something... If that's even possible around here?"[/color]

[Kenna & Fenrir]

Kenna watched as Fenrir scuttled up Sven and perched on both shoulders as the dragonologist explained where he’d been the past few days. He sat down on a nearby stool and mentioned his lack of resources. Kenna smiled when he said he’d just decided to come and say hi. She was rather flattered that he’d thought of her, no one had really come round over the previous few days.

Yes it had been quickly known about the damage Scratchet had caused and that it’d be a few days before the blacksmith’s would be back working again, but Kenna still wished that someone would come round once in a while even if they weren’t going to get anything smithbased from coming. It made her feel like the only reason people cared about her were her skills.

He then asked her if she wanted help fixing her things, and how they got broken. “No,” Kenna muttered, “we didn’t get burgled. Scratchet decided to have a bit of fun with my stuff.” She thought for a few moments, “and sure, I could use the help in sorting it if nothing else. Could you pile them all what they’re made of.” She then described the combinations that she wanted, the separate types of metal, what if they’re made of multiple types of material and so on.

“Understand?” she asked, and then once he did, “I’ll just get some things sorted in the other room then I’ll join you.” She got up and then walked through to the other room, she had nearly done on sorting her tools in here, so she just moved the last few things. She saw the shield placed by the wall as she was just finishing and felt the emotions well up again.

Kenna had gotten back a few of the shields the dragon had thrown, but most of them had go into the water and she wasn’t going to get back. Shields now had two memories of Scratchet to them, the joy she had had when she’d gotten to actually have a conversation with the nadder, and the pain of how futile that joy had been.

Kenna wiped her eyes and tried to keep herself straight. She couldn’t show herself like this to Sven. She needed to be her normal self to him. Once she felt she’d look okay again, she walked back into the front room. She looked down at Sven from the doorway. She was happy he’d decided see her. She felt like she needed to be around someone.

[Sven & Hermes]

Sven raised his eyebrows as Kenna explained the actual reason for the mess. "Ah, I see." As the Dragonologist didn't spend too much of a prolonged time in the village, he wasn't around enough to fully grasp what Scratchet was like, though he had had several run ins when she would steal fish and he would almost get run over by a horde of angry vikings chasing after her.

How ever the dragon was a Nadder, so he could judge that much, and make a good enough guess of the dragon's temperament. He definitely knew that Scratchet didn't usually dabble in vandalism. He was in his musings when Kenna then asked him to sort the broken pieces.

Sven smiled, ready to help a friend. "Sure, just show me what is what and I'll get on with it."[/color] So Kenna proceeded to show him the different kinds of metals, before letting him be. She disappeared for a moment to fix things in the other room, so Sven sat himself on the floor in front of the small pile of rubbish and began sorting.

As he began he noticed not all the things were completely broken. Some mechanisms were still connected and could half-work, so Sven lost a little time in his own curiosity, playing with the broken pieces and wondering what kind of things Kenna had tried to make.

Though the mechanisms were broken and it was no use trying to fit things back together as they were, Sven began trying to separate the differnt materials when he could, though part of him felt a little guilty inside for dismantling Kenna's work that she had toiled on for probably quite some time.

His train of thought went back to Scratchet again. He wondered if it was worth studying her, or if his constant stalking would end up with him recieving the same sort of treatment Kenna got, or worse... It was after a moment he realised Kenna was taking a little longer in the other room than expected, he turned slightly to look at the doorway the blacksmith had passed through, wondering what she was up to.

He then heard footsteps so he turned back to his work. There was a particularly tightly fitted gear here that wouldn't come off, it was smeared with grease making it a little difficult to dislodge. He quickly rumaged around in the pile of junk for a piece of scrap metal to wedge the cog off.

Kenna re-entered the room just as the gear flew off with a pinging sound, the little piece of metal flying somewhere back into the pile of metal. He heard her enter so he turned around again and gave a sheepish warm smile as he was progressing in his given task.

"You have some interesting bits and bobs here, what kind of things did you make?"[/color] He asked out of curiosity.

[Kenna & Fenrir]

Kenna saw the cog fly into the wrong metal pile. The young man looked up at her and gave her an embarrassed smile. It was a smile she couldn’t help but love, it made his face so adorable.

He then asked her about the stuff she made. Kenna thought about it as she walked over to him. “Well,” she started as she knelt down next to him and leaned over to pick up the cog, “I had a few attempts at timepieces, new weapons, new prosthetics, those kinds of things.”

She dropped the cog into the right pile, “Most of it was still flawed and broken even before Scratchet did her thing, so I’m trying to take all this as reason to start with a fresh outlook.” She then started to help Sven with the sorting, which he’d already done a good amount of as it was, if they did it together they’d probably get it done in no time.

“Thanks for this Sven,” she muttered, “I doubt it’d have gotten myself to do this today if I’d been on my own. It feels too daunting for one person.” That and she wouldn’t have had any reason to hold things in and therefore wouldn’t have been in a state to do. She did wonder how long she was going to be able to hold it in though. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of anyone.

Fenrir got bored of watching the two of them and left Sven to go into a different part of the house. (OOC: that can happen whenever you wish to have it happen)

[Sven & Hermes]

Sven listened as Kenna explained what she made, and he began to piece together what bits and pieces used to be. She knelt down beside him and started to help sort with him. She once again brought up Scratchet, which got him thinking again. Before he could say anything though, the blacksmith uttered thanks for his help. He looked at her again. It was obvious this damage from the Nadder had caused her a lot of pain. She was trying to hide it and be strong but she wasn't fooling the Dragonologist, used to having to detect the slightest shift in temperament in dragons, in case things took a turn for the worst.

Sven wasn't a bad person though. He'd let her keep her dignity, but he still wanted to show that he was a friend willing to help, without crossing any borders. "No problem at all." Sven smiled encouragingly again. "That's what friends are for, right?" He disconnected another mechanism as he said this, carefully putting things in the associated piles of junk.

"I'm very curious about Scratchet;" He said suddenly after a moment of working in silence. "From what I've heard she only really steals fish and causes minor bother, a craver of reactions from her victims. If she was known for causing damage I'm sure she would have been warded from the village a long time ago..." He threw a last bit of wood and string into some piles, and looked at Kenna, trying to figure it out. Scratchet was a dragon, and dragons were his speciality. He wasn't aware of Kenna's multiple attempt to train Scratchet, nor aware of what occured after this catastrope had happened.

"...If I'm intruding I'll stop, but... Have you somehow angered Scratchet? Mischief-makers never mean harm until they've been wronged... More or less. This is a Deadly Nadder we're talking about, the slightest thing could make them start seeing red, depending on the individual, of course."

[Kenna & Fenrir]

He smiled at her again in that cute way and courteously declined her thanks. “Yeah,” she muttered to his comment. She watched him more nimbly disassemble her apparatus and drop the parts in their respective piles, they were making good process.

He then started talking about Scratchet, commenting on the fact vandalism didn’t fit her type. “No, it’s fine,” Kenna lied when he said he’d stop, she knew what he was like and he’d be asking all these questions whatever. It was better for him to say it aloud.

He asked if she’d angered the dragon and then went through his reasoning for the question. She paused for a bit and thought about how to respond. “I was the one that was tasked with catching her, the one that caught her last month. Thing is, I’ve loved the stories about the stunts she’s pulled and…I wanted to try and undo the damage and get her not to dislike me.”

“Of course it was a stupid move,” Kenna was letting it out a bit, showing her anger at herself, “she’d already got a bias against me and so when she got her chance to pull this stunt on me she took it, even though I’d done so much to try and pay her back. I’m sure she enjoyed destroying her ‘Meddler’s’ stuff.”

[Sven & Hermes]

Kenna answered his question, half nodding in comprehension of Scratchet's rampage. He kept quiet as the blacksmith vented slightly, still trying to remain control of her emotions in front of him. He couldn't help but tweak a smile at her words though.

He then figured it out - and let escape a small chuckle, but he caught himself and quickly ceased before he got on Kenna's wrong side - she was obviously in an emotionally volatile mood and he wasn't too keen on finding out what that'd mean for him. He still grinned though.

Kenna quickly caught on him though, so he had to reply. "You're thinking about training that dragon, aren't you?" He guessed with certainty. Why else would someone make amends to a dragon that had caused so much trouble? Sven was amused as to why Kenna would choose such a specific dragon to attempt to train. A dragon like Scratchet would definitely not be an easy feat.

Why not? He grinned again. Seeing the stuff Kenna has made, she was obviously up for a challenge. He felt like he should of offer his services, but at the same time, unlike other places he had been to, this village had dragons as part of their daily lives, and he was sure Kenna already knew all there was about Nadders anyway. There were everywhere around these parts, after all.

But Scratchet was a wild card though. She wasn't like the other Wild Nadders. There was something up her literal sleeve that made her so... different from the others. Sven wasn't surprised that Kenna's curiosity would lead her to trying to unlock the dragon's secrets...

[Kenna & Fenrir]

[Note: Kenna is in a bad mood and the obscenities she is saying cannot merely be described as such but be actually written. Therefore this is a forewarning about swearing in this post. And yes this is one of the poshest disclaimers ever.]

She didn’t hear him chuckle, which was fortunate for Sven cause she might have punched him had she. She did hear the smile twang in his question, and she looked at him to see him smiling. It hurt quite a bit.

“I’m not that stupid,” Kenna muttered, “I always knew training would be next to imposible. Impress? Befriend? I mean yes, they’re generally the first steps towards training, but they were all I wanted to try and do.” As she’d been saying that she’d stopped sorting and was just trying to keep in the water works.

But finally, some started slipping past, “Who am I fucking kidding, I was being just as stupid, wasn’t I? Those simple, stupid aims were just as impossible as actually trying to train the bitch to be some tame and dopey dragon that was no fucking fun at all.” She was properly crying now, not even bothering anymore to hold it back.

She stopped talking and started trying to wipe all her tears away, knew she wasn’t going to get herself back into composure now. She’d needed to let all this out to someone, but she didn’t know who to turn to. She didn’t want to go to any of her girlfriends cause they wouldn’t understand. They were good for gossip, not for something like Scratchet.

She didn’t really have a guy to turn to either. Sure she was friends with a lot of them, but no one to turn to. Even Pickle, her best friend, wasn’t someone she could let out to. He’d have no idea how to respond to it at all. So it seemed she just telling spilling it all to her outsider friend.

[Sven & Hermes]

Sven realised he had hit a sweetspot in Kenna's emotional armour, and her sudden, half-controlled outburst wiped away that smile of his. His stomach cringed as he felt he might have poked a little too many holes. He hoped Kenna wasn't mad at him. "Yeah, I thought training was a silly term for dragons too..." He muttered, trying to evade any oncoming storm at him, instead of being help.

But the waterworks started along with the cussing, which threw Sven off a bit, never really seeing Kenna as a person who'd swear. His stomach cringed more with sympathy. "Hey, hey hey.." He said softly and scooted over to put a comforting arm around her. There wasn't anyone else around so it seemed he'd have to step in as that shoulder to cry on.

Kenna was in need of encouragement. "You're not stupid... You have to start somewhere with a dragon... Right? Especially the feisty ones." He tried to subtly catch the upset woman's glance, to throw in a comforting smile, to show he was there, she wasn't alone. "Do you know what you've done though? You've caught her attention." He paused, to let the words sink in a little, as well as try to structure his next words carefully.

"I'm sure she's been wronged by many a Viking before... Have they recieved the same sort of visit as she had to you? I think she's very curious about you..." He trailed off as Kenna was still letting the emotions flow out. It made him feel really sorry for her.

Sven gave a sympathetic sigh. "Come here..." He said quietly, prompting to pull Kenna into a supportive hug. He let her cry herself out, without saying much, unless she said anything through the sobs. "It's just like your inventions, hmm?" He said after a moment, rubbing a hand soothingly along her back. "Don't give up, I think you'll do fine." He finished, encouragingly. He hoped his words would mean something for Kenna.

[Kenna & Fenrir]

Sven pulled her in and tried to comfort her. She didn’t resist him, but Kenna was more feeling sorry for herself than care this was happening. She did listen to what he was saying though. He was trying to comfort her, motivate her. It wasn’t really working for her, he wasn’t really saying the right things.

But she liked he was at least trying. Looking up at his face she saw that sweet smile again. She turned to looking behind him as she continued to cry, she was still quite proud about showing her feelings even if it was too late to hold the back. As he continued with his speech, Kenna wondered if she’d have gotten this from anyone else she knew.

He sighed and then gently pulled her unto a full on hug. She paused for a moment, then returned the hug, squeezing him tight. She was interested in how he took Scratchet’s reaction to me. Kenna did now doubt that she was in a position that she’d ever be able to get on good terms with Scratchet. But at least he was trying.

When he compared the situation to her inventions, Kenna laughed slightly, though it was slightly effected by her tears. Overly complicated and broken on the floor, Kenna thought to herself. But she knew he meant it differently. A puzzle that, while damaged, could be fixed.

Kenna repositioned herself so her legs more balanced her and she was generally closer to Sven. The movement meant her head was now over Sven’s shoulder and she could hug him better, though she did use one hand to wipe her eyes dry, which were crying a bit less now. “Thanks Sven,” she muttered, realising this was probably the biggest amount of contact time with a guy she’d had for a long time.

Kenna had had feelings for Sven since he’d started teaching her Dragonese, though it had always only been just one of her general crushes. It was probably just because she was so emotional right now, but she wondered if there was anything more…Or if there could be anything reciprocated.

So, she gently kissed him on the neck.

[Sven & Hermes]

There Sven held Kenna for a moment, and soon enough it seemed her crying was calming down. He allowed himself a small smile, he was glad that she was starting to feel a little better.

But then something went wrong. Sven almost froze as he felt Kenna move her head to kiss him. He quickly regained composure, it could mean anything. "Is that a way or saying thank you or..." He trailed off as Kenna pulled away slightly, only to press her forehead and nose against his.

"You tell me." She said playfully.

Oh no. This is the last thing Sven wanted... Especially with a friend like Kenna. He had to work fast, no hesitations. He looked into her blue eyes... She was attractive... Sven was in a position now where his thoughts were no longer clouded by the past.

No. Wait. He couldn't. Hermes was still around. Without this nomadic dragon, his career wouldnt have been as sucessful as it had been. The ability to travel everywhere has led him to discover many dragon species and he was ultimately grateful for that. His studies weren't finished.

Sven broke the gaze first, looking down regretfully. "I can't." He pulled away more so he could see her face. He felt very guilty for doing this, even more so that she was already upset about something else. The double whammy wasn't going to go down well for him. More so now he was obviously single.

"I can't. I'm sorry." He repeated quietly again, frowning as he wiped a stray tear from her face. His excuse was going to be a sucky one, but it had a varying degree of truth. "I have my job... Hermes will leave at the slightest thing, and she wouldn't wait for me if I wasn't finished with what I was doing. I hope you understand..." Sven was finding this a lot harder than he remembered... But now he didn't have any ties with anything so that was probably why.

He finally drew away his hands from her side and sighed, averting his gaze to the pile of rubbish. Now he was feeling pretty crappy too.

[Kenna & Fenrir]

Sven asked her what the kiss meant, and in a way that Kenna didn’t read as a negative response. She smiled slightly and moved her face right in front of his. "You tell me." she said cutely smiling at him.

At first it looked like he was going to treat it as meaning something more, but then he seemed to have reasons to say no. Finally his averted his eyes and Kenna knew she’d been stupid for making a move then. She pulled away from him as he declined.

He looked quite sad for doing that, though Kenna couldn’t quite tell which of the many possible reasons she could think of it was because of. He then started blathering out an excuse which, had she not known about Hermes and her nomadic nature, Kenna would have taken as a straight ‘I lying through my teeth so I don’t have to go out with you’.

And while it could still be because of the latter half ofthat, Kenna knew it wasn’t the former half, Hermes would leave him behind if he wasn’t able to go with her when she wanted to go. Kenna didn’t want to be the cause of him losing his dragon because she’d decided to be selfish.

There was something about the absolute rubishness of his delivery of his excuse though that was…funny. Something Sven found out from Kenna’s reaction cause after there had been a few seconds of silence she’d burst into laughter. Maybe it was just she was still in an emotional mood and it was now being released this way rather than crying, but Kenna did find it quite funny.

She smiled at him kindly when she stopped, “It’s fine Sven, I understand and I’m sorry for trying to make a move on you then, it was just a thank you and I shouldn’t have tried to play with you when you’re being so good to me.”

She looked back at the pile of stuff and started to sort things again, “I’d practise how you say it for next time if I were you…cause that was shit.”

[Sven & Hermes]

Sven hoped desperately that the rejection would go smoothly, that their friendship would no longer be running after this awkward mishap. She briefly looked a bit down, which was normal. But it was as Kenna burst into laughter that surprised and confused Sven, raising his eyebrows. That wasn't supposed to happen... was it? He couldn't fathom at all what was making her laugh.

He was about to ask before the blacksmith calmed down and apologised for her rather brash move. He gave a weak smile, on the inside utterly relieved that it hadn't gone all wrong, even if the circumstances of the laugh was rather bizarre for the Dragonologist. He couldn't recall a time someone laughed at a rejection. Ever. He briefly wondered if it was actually genuine.

At least she appeared a little better than before. He gave a weak smile, Kenna might not be showing any form of discomfort, but Sven certainly was still feeling awkward. She reached forwards to continue sorting. There wasn't really much left now.

Kenna then gave him a hint for the future, and the Dragonologist couldn't help but give out a small laugh at that. Running through the dialogue in his head, he did realise it sounded pretty bad. Kennas sudden perky attitude was making Sven feel less awkward. ”Haha, yeah, I think you're right! It's been so long since the last time I had to do that... I've obviously lost the technique.”