Blooming (Guy/Marian)
Nov. 8th, 2009 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dollsomeTitle: Blooming
Pairing: Guy/Marian
Word Count: 693
Rating: G
Spoilers: set pre-series
Summary: At last, spring comes; when Sir Guy asks her to accompany him on a walk, she can come up with no good excuse not to.
Author's Note: I know, right? Guy/Marian what the what? Hello, randomness! I think the idea for this scene actually occurred to me, like, over a year ago -- back when they still ruled my life! -- and for some reason (hahaha, and that reason is probably reading![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sir_gizzy, which, btw, EVERYONE SHOULD), it came back into my head again and I figured, 'Hey, why didn't I ever write that?'
Also, I have like six papers I should be writing right now. So. The reasoning behind random fanfic becomes suddenly and incredibly obvious.
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At last, spring comes; when Sir Guy asks her to accompany him on a walk, she can come up with no good excuse not to. It goes without saying that his company has not improved. He is awkward and looming as ever. Still, there is dirt and grass beneath her feet instead of the crunching of snow. The air is brisk, but there is the promise of eventual warmth to it. They run out of things to say after the routine, unimaginative exchange of words has occurred. She does not strain herself to fill the silence; she wants nothing of him, after all, and so this seems fair. Marian knows how to be coy and lovely when the matter calls for it, but she sees no reason why this one ought to. She is the former sheriff’s daughter, pretty and bright, just outspoken enough that it must seem an attractive notion to tame her. There is nothing complicated or flattering about his interest. It makes perfect sense, and, really, has nothing to do with her at all.
If he weren’t so grotesque, she thinks sometimes that she would pity Sir Guy. How dreadful it must be to be like him, forever unquestioning, forever cruel, wanting things only because he has been taught that getting them is all that matters in the world.
Still, when she quickens her pace, he matches her step. For some reason, she had not expected it. He seems so much more the type to try to slow her down.
They come across a flower – the first flower, maybe – creeping out of a patch of still-brown grass. It is a pathetic thing, all wisp and whiteness, petals bent in drooping supplication to a sun that will not give more than harsh disinterested light for another fortnight at least. Warmth is a long way off yet. Marian likes the flower at once; it summons in her a simple, soft, girlish feeling that she’d all but forgotten.
“Oh, look,” she says, unthinking.
She glances at Sir Guy without much interest, only because he is there beside her and it’s natural to do it. One of his gloved hands makes the slightest movement forward. There is a particular something in his expression, a quality very thoughtful and almost childish.
He means, Marian realizes, to pick the flower and give it to her.
She thinks (not meaning to, not wanting to, for she has cut him cleanly out of her heart) of Robin. Robin of Locksley has picked her so many flowers in her life that one could fill rooms with them, fill whole houses. Always it was such easy business, with his laughing eyes and trickster’s grin, his movements sly and joyful as water. He could pull a flower from the ground and tuck it behind her ear before she so much as blinked. For his every maddening quality, Robin had – at the heart of things – always charmed her effortlessly, utterly.
Guy’s hand twitches once, and falls back to his side.
“Yes?” His voice is even gruffer than usual. Marian understands; it is a surprising feeling. “What of it?”
“I hadn’t expected,” she replies, keeping her own tones light and neutral, “to see something in bloom so soon.”
He does not answer in words – only offers a grunt, a nothing.
They move along, leaving the flower to fend for itself, imploring to the vast and unfeeling sun. Guy looks back once, distractedly, over his shoulder. Marian wonders what he is thinking of: she imagines herself as he must see her, quieter and more easily charmed, without the hard edges that have begun lately to feel so much more like the essence of her than anything else. Perhaps in his head, he hands her the flower with some unimportant remark spoken softly, smilingly (could he be capable of smiling?); perhaps, in taking it, their fingers brush.
Out of the corner of her eye, she considers one of his gloved hands. Tension looks to live even in his fingers. For the very first time, for the briefest of flickers, there is a feeling in her heart toward him; an accidental misguided thing, not unlike melting.
Pairing: Guy/Marian
Word Count: 693
Rating: G
Spoilers: set pre-series
Summary: At last, spring comes; when Sir Guy asks her to accompany him on a walk, she can come up with no good excuse not to.
Author's Note: I know, right? Guy/Marian what the what? Hello, randomness! I think the idea for this scene actually occurred to me, like, over a year ago -- back when they still ruled my life! -- and for some reason (hahaha, and that reason is probably reading
sir_gizzy, which, btw, EVERYONE SHOULD), it came back into my head again and I figured, 'Hey, why didn't I ever write that?'Also, I have like six papers I should be writing right now. So. The reasoning behind random fanfic becomes suddenly and incredibly obvious.
+
At last, spring comes; when Sir Guy asks her to accompany him on a walk, she can come up with no good excuse not to. It goes without saying that his company has not improved. He is awkward and looming as ever. Still, there is dirt and grass beneath her feet instead of the crunching of snow. The air is brisk, but there is the promise of eventual warmth to it. They run out of things to say after the routine, unimaginative exchange of words has occurred. She does not strain herself to fill the silence; she wants nothing of him, after all, and so this seems fair. Marian knows how to be coy and lovely when the matter calls for it, but she sees no reason why this one ought to. She is the former sheriff’s daughter, pretty and bright, just outspoken enough that it must seem an attractive notion to tame her. There is nothing complicated or flattering about his interest. It makes perfect sense, and, really, has nothing to do with her at all.
If he weren’t so grotesque, she thinks sometimes that she would pity Sir Guy. How dreadful it must be to be like him, forever unquestioning, forever cruel, wanting things only because he has been taught that getting them is all that matters in the world.
Still, when she quickens her pace, he matches her step. For some reason, she had not expected it. He seems so much more the type to try to slow her down.
They come across a flower – the first flower, maybe – creeping out of a patch of still-brown grass. It is a pathetic thing, all wisp and whiteness, petals bent in drooping supplication to a sun that will not give more than harsh disinterested light for another fortnight at least. Warmth is a long way off yet. Marian likes the flower at once; it summons in her a simple, soft, girlish feeling that she’d all but forgotten.
“Oh, look,” she says, unthinking.
She glances at Sir Guy without much interest, only because he is there beside her and it’s natural to do it. One of his gloved hands makes the slightest movement forward. There is a particular something in his expression, a quality very thoughtful and almost childish.
He means, Marian realizes, to pick the flower and give it to her.
She thinks (not meaning to, not wanting to, for she has cut him cleanly out of her heart) of Robin. Robin of Locksley has picked her so many flowers in her life that one could fill rooms with them, fill whole houses. Always it was such easy business, with his laughing eyes and trickster’s grin, his movements sly and joyful as water. He could pull a flower from the ground and tuck it behind her ear before she so much as blinked. For his every maddening quality, Robin had – at the heart of things – always charmed her effortlessly, utterly.
Guy’s hand twitches once, and falls back to his side.
“Yes?” His voice is even gruffer than usual. Marian understands; it is a surprising feeling. “What of it?”
“I hadn’t expected,” she replies, keeping her own tones light and neutral, “to see something in bloom so soon.”
He does not answer in words – only offers a grunt, a nothing.
They move along, leaving the flower to fend for itself, imploring to the vast and unfeeling sun. Guy looks back once, distractedly, over his shoulder. Marian wonders what he is thinking of: she imagines herself as he must see her, quieter and more easily charmed, without the hard edges that have begun lately to feel so much more like the essence of her than anything else. Perhaps in his head, he hands her the flower with some unimportant remark spoken softly, smilingly (could he be capable of smiling?); perhaps, in taking it, their fingers brush.
Out of the corner of her eye, she considers one of his gloved hands. Tension looks to live even in his fingers. For the very first time, for the briefest of flickers, there is a feeling in her heart toward him; an accidental misguided thing, not unlike melting.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2009-11-08 11:47 pm (UTC)I miss them. Stupid, stupid show.
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Date: 2009-11-08 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-08 11:56 pm (UTC)(And now I just kind of want to watch season two again because as much as it broke my heart, you know... damn Guy and Marian.)
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Date: 2009-11-09 12:06 am (UTC)Still: ha ha ha, show, you sucked without Marian! Way to go with your STUPID DECISIONS.
And, er, stuff.
Anyway: thanks for reading, girly. :D
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Date: 2009-11-09 12:20 am (UTC)(!!!!! YOU WROTE GUY/MARIAN!)
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Date: 2009-11-10 12:59 am (UTC)Thanks always, she-bro. :D
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Date: 2009-11-09 12:43 am (UTC)2. While I'm at it, may I also tell you that Absolution is one of my favorite G/M stories ever? and that your G/M shippy analysis of the S2 finale is one of the best pieces of RH ep commentary evah and I've got it bookmarked for showing G/M skeptics?
3. Oh, and by the way, this story is ... exquisite. Just, exquisite. Such a small, pre-series moment, and you have captured them so well, in all their frustratingness and poignancy and tension and tragic beauty. *melts completely*
4. I understand about the wounds of the S2 finale; it's a bit different for me because I got into the fandom late (after the S3 finale aired in the UK and I saw parts of it on YouTube, to be precise). I don't know if you've seen S3, but I actually thought it did right by the G/M ship (much more so than R/M, by the way ... one word: Kate). Marian still lives in Guy's poor battered heart. (OK, sort of in Robin's heart too, when he's not snogging icky Kate, but really, Guy's S3 arc is all about Marian.) But of course I'm all for AUs! Like Fallout *waits very patiently for update*. And Most Unwanted by
5. Did I say that I'm ecstatic to see you writing G/M again? THE G/M SHIP SAILS FOREVER!
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Date: 2009-11-10 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 01:18 am (UTC)Soooo, moah G/M plz? *bats eyes*'
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Date: 2009-11-10 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 01:27 am (UTC)And this was lovely! Suddenly she intuits everything that's behind his awkwardness, and it makes Robin seem slick in retrospect, even though she's never say it to herself.Love it, love it, love it! MOAR!
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Date: 2009-11-10 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 01:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 02:32 am (UTC)Still, when she quickens her pace, he matches her step. For some reason, she had not expected it. He seems so much more the type to try to slow her down.
♥ ♥ ♥ I'LL NEVER LET GO.
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Date: 2009-11-10 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 09:16 am (UTC)This was absolutely wonderful! A balm to the soul!
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Date: 2009-11-10 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 03:38 pm (UTC)And just to say:
Guy’s hand twitches once, and falls back to his side.
Dawwwww. He's such a woobie. *pets*
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Date: 2009-11-10 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-11-10 06:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 06:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 03:12 pm (UTC)And Marian, I always love your characterisation of Marian, who is watchful and wary (of herself as well as Guy) and cynical at the same time as she's an idealist and is not without compassion or understanding of Guy, just remembers who and what he is as well. she imagines herself as he must see her, quieter and more easily charmed, without the hard edges that have begun lately to feel so much more like the essence of her than anything else OH MARIAN.
I need a Marian icon.
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Date: 2009-11-11 01:55 am (UTC)written with such a light touch, not belabouring the point or trying to take it too far, but simply a jewel in itself.
Aw, gosh, thank you, that's such a lovely response. Especially since I caught myself being way more deliberately symbolic with this piece than I tend to be with anything ever, all, GUY IS A FLIMSY UGLY FLOWER AND MARIAN IS THE UNFEELING SUN BUT SHE WON'T GIVE HIM NO WARMTH, OH HALE NO. So, er, haha, I'm glad that wasn't, like, monstrously anvillicious.
I love, love, love writing Marian! I am just crazy about Marian as a character in general -- what a unique heroine the show found in her (probably by accident? I am so bad at giving this show credit for anything anymore!) -- and it's been so long since I properly thought about Robin Hood that I almost forgot her awesomeness. But she is just the bomb. To be, y'know, eloquent.
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Date: 2009-11-11 12:59 pm (UTC)And yes yes yes Marian is awesome. Really.
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Date: 2009-11-12 12:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-11 11:44 pm (UTC)I didn't get the symbolism that you referred to above either (except in Marian's "blooming" comment), but my feeling was that it's a bit like Guy holding the Sheriff's bird -- he doesn't want to hurt it, even while he resents having those feelings. And that has something to do with empathy for the thing in question, but also a general sense of awkwardness in his own skin. It's hard to be someone you're not, and years of pretending don't necessarily make the awkward feeling go away.
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Date: 2009-11-12 12:17 am (UTC)my feeling was that it's a bit like Guy holding the Sheriff's bird -- he doesn't want to hurt it, even while he resents having those feelings. And that has something to do with empathy for the thing in question, but also a general sense of awkwardness in his own skin. It's hard to be someone you're not, and years of pretending don't necessarily make the awkward feeling go away.
Augh, GUY, wrench my soul! That is so spot-on. I think that one of the best characteristics of Guy was that absolute soul-wrenching sense of awkwardness; he devoted himself so thoroughly to playing the part of Really Malevolent Baddie, but he never could quite do it with any kind of inherent grace, and Armitage made that so darn weirdly poignant.
Gosh darnit, I am starting to feel profound amounts of missage for this show! Or, well, Guy and Marian. Guy and Mariannnn ...
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Date: 2009-11-12 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
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