(1614) Golden Afternoon: Rufus/Prudence

Though he was willing to wait at first, the time stretched on... and on... and on... and on. And Rufus waited, switching from lounging in his tree, to sitting, to pacing across the length of the branch, before he finally became frustrated and jumped down to the ground. Pacing back and forth in front of the tree for another length of time, he threw his hands up in the air when he had had enough. Where was that girl? The sun had moved from its place near the top of the sky, sliding down towards the horizon. It wasn't quite sunset yet, but soon enough, it would be. What, did she expect him to wait until tomorrow? He hadn't agreed to that!

Fuming, he kicked at the dirt before yanking his cape around himself and marching into the forest. At first, his plan had been to simply whisk himself away. But he found himself hesitant to do so, so he delayed it by saying he would leave the same way he had shown up - in the cornfield.

However, once he had walked far enough through the trees he could see the swaying of the field through the trunks surrounding him, he slowed his pace, prolonging the inevitable. What had happened to Prudence...? Had she simply gone to bed? Looking towards the farm house she resided in with her family in the distance, he could see the faint glimmering of lights in some of the windows, but it was clearly much less illuminated than it would be if everyone was still up and about. Before he knew it, he discovered he was walking towards her home instead, the cornfield to his back. Okay, he'd return to his own world, definitely. He was just... going to make sure she had made it home safe first, that was all.

Standing under her window (he had visited enough times by now to know), he debated what to do. Should he shimmy up a tree and take a peek inside? What if she was in a... compromising state of undress? He felt his cheeks sting slightly at the thought, shaking his head to be rid of it. He settled for picking up a small stone, expertly tossing it at her window. It successfully hit with a small 'tap', before falling back to the ground. He waited, seeing no movement from his position on the ground. Picking up the same rock, he tossed it again, and was rewarded with the same results. By the bounty of the harvest, he would keep this up until it was confirmed or denied she was in there! He pulled his arm back again, ready to throw the rock for yet another attempt when there was rustling movement behind the window at last.

Seeing the curtain be pulled aside, Rufus hastily dropped the rock in his hand and tried to look innocent. For added measure, he held up his hands while nudging and kicking the rock away with his foot, putting it as far away from his as he could without throwing it into the distance. It probably would look bad to be caught throwing the rock (technically, again) after he had just been almost-caught hastily flinging it against a maiden's window repeatedly. It definitely seemed as though he had woken someone - hopefully Prudence - up. Otherwise, the confused person occupying her room would look outside and see nothing out of the ordinary, unable to see the spirit in their yard.

Finally, and thankfully, though, Prudence not only appeared at her window, but opened it, and he smiled in relief to see her again. Though it was dark, his eyes remained keen, and he saw her gesture for his silence before she disappeared again. It wasn't like he had planned on being loud anyway - not that anyone could hear much of him besides a certain few, like her. Shrugging his shoulders, he shuffled his feet in the silence of the evening, waiting patiently for her to appear.

His ears perked up at the sound of soft footsteps, and he raised his head of unruly hair in the direction of the noise to spot Prudence coming around the corner of her house towards him. In only a few articles of clothing, his mind registered with alarm. His face started heating up immediately, and his eyes slid away guiltily.

'Don't stare, don't stare, don't stare, don't stare...'

"Oh. Uh-uhm, yes, absolutely. Completely! Definitely." He muttered hurriedly, stumbling over himself verbally. "I certainly did that thing you think I did, uh-huh. I see you were at home, in bed." He made the mistake of looking at her, passing off his embarrassment with a nod, as if acknowledging his own correct statement, and then finishing with a bow that had his cape flowing out behind him. "I returned to make sure you had made it home safe and sound, and were in good health."

Taking a deep breath as he stood back up, his confidence returned as he straightened himself.

"You were, of course, most definitely not in the company of good spirits, without me here to keep you company." He rumbled, low and warm as he sidled closer to her. Concentrating, he unclasped his cape, and yanked it off of his own shoulders before pulling it dramatically around hers with a flourish, slipping his hands around the back of her neck as he gently moved her hair so it wasn't gathered under the fabric.

"Wouldn't want you to catch your death of cold." He explained as he moved away to give her some space, his hands sliding through the curls of her long brown hair as he did.

He kept a little bit of a grip on the edge of the collar of his cape, least it become intangible and fall right through her and onto the ground. It was surprisingly difficult, he had to admit. Like holding onto handfuls of sand, the threat of it slipping through his fingers at any moment. He had to keep enough force behind the ability to make the garment have physical properties in this plane of existence, or else. It also didn't help the sensation of her soft curls gliding over his fingers kept ghosting over his thoughts, making it a great deal harder to focus on the task at hand than he'd realized it would be.