"Clover and Tezz" is a Season 2 thread posted November 16, 2014. It leads directly into "Trusting Tezz".
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Tezzeret Verdile: The weird part, is that he is me.Tezz was thinking hard as he wandered back inside from his spar with Tree.
I think I’ll actually go and try to find some food…
Clover Rose: Clover wandered into the main hall, carrying the child with her now. She knew she would have to ask the King about adopting her, but for now, she knew that they both needed to eat, so she didn’t particularity care what the King had to say about it.
She grabbed some food for the both them and sat down at the table, watching the toddler eat to make sure she didn’t need any help.
Tezzeret Verdile: "Hey Clover." Tezz sat down next to her, eating some pickled pork. "And hello little one. I’m guessing from the look on your face you haven’t told Haddock about her yet…" Tezz spoke with a grimace to Clover.
Clover Rose: Clover sighed deeply, looking at Tezz. “No, I haven’t. And I get the feeling he isn’t going to take it well. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he doesn’t . . I really don’t know what I’m going to do at all.” She admits, frowning as she picks at the food that she got for herself.
Tezzeret Verdile: Tezz put his arm around Clover. “It will all go alright. We can always just use this time to try and get people on your side.” He spoke, letting a smile creep onto his face. He gave her a half hug and put his arm back.
Clover Rose: Clover sighed again, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder. Although she was fairly happy with this situation, her hair, having a mind of its own, like always, decided to go everywhere. She tried to move it a bit so it wasn’t really getting into Tezz’s face, with varying amounts of success.
Tezzeret Verdile: "Oh." Tezz was a little taken aback from the contact. He put his arm back up around Clover, and let it rest on her shoulder. "I’m sure it will all work out in the end." Tezz caught himself smiling.
Clover Rose: Clover smiled faintly as she remembered their last conversation. “So . . last time we talked, you were trying to ask me something.” She murmurs, glancing over at the child to make sure that she isn’t doing anything mischievous.
Tezzeret Verdile: Tezz started choking on the pickled pork he was working on. “OH, oh that. Well… Thor… Um… I think it’s obvious, but I just wanted to double check. You know, just in case. But… Is anyone, I mean are you… seeing anyone?” Tezz was obviously flustered, his cheeks were almost alight with his embarrassment.
Clover Rose: Clover laughed softly, vaguely amused by his embarrassment. “No, I’m not.” She answers simply, lifting her head from his shoulder slightly and looking at him. “You’re blushing.” She tells him, keeping her face as straight as she can.
Tezzeret Verdile: "Yeah… I guess I am. But.. that’s good. Now that I know anyway." He smiled and went back to eating, mostly just to hide his face away.
Clover Rose: Clover turns away, smiling faintly as she continues to eat her food. That was, until the child decided it would be funny to start climbing on the table. “No no no no … ” She made an effort to stop her, before just giving up and putting her head in her hands.
Tezzeret Verdile: "Hey now." Tezz stood, grabbing the toddler by the back of the shirt and set her back on the bench. "Do you need help with the kid?" He was looking down at his friend. She had a look of solemn desperation.
Clover Rose: "Yes please.” Clover looked up at him, her eyes a little wide. “I’ve barely been taking care of her for a day and she’s already being difficult.” She sighs, looking between the child and Tezz.
Tezzeret Verdile: "Well,she was clever enough to survive the attack." Tezz scuffled the hair on top of the little girl’s head. "But I’ll be willing to help with her, maybe we can get someone to teach her swordplay or something to burn off her energy."
Clover Rose: "Let’s go with‘or something’. Teaching her swordplay seems a little dangerous." Clover looks at the child, who had already proven herself to be quite mischievous. "She’ll have to learn at some point, but not right now." She doesn’t mention the fact that she never learned swordplay either, although she frowns as the thought crosses her mind.
Tezzeret Verdile: "I just don’t really know of any other outlets for energy around here, but, like everything else, we can ask around. Right?" Tezz had finished his breakfast. "I’ll go see if anybody has any ideas, if you’d like to accompany me." Tezz gets up from the table and begins to head outside again.
Clover Rose: "Sure, I’ll come." Clover picks up the toddler and follows after him, despite not having finished her own breakfast. Not that she really cared, she wasn’t all that hungry to begin with. "I still haven’t been able to find any clues about her name, and I don’t know what I should call her. Any thoughts?" She asks as they walk.
Tezzeret Verdile: "She looks like a Melira to me, or maybe an Elspeth." Tezz smiled back to Clover. "Do either of those sound right?" He was now speaking to the little girl.
Clover Rose: Clover laughed as the girl seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding. “Which one? Elspeth?” The little girl shook her head, scrunching up her nose a little. “Okay, okay. Melira it is then.”
Tezzeret Verdile: "Melira, that’s a good strong name. Strong-willed, like her." Tezz smiled at the little girl. "I wonder if anybody else is awake yet, the only other person I’ve seen is Treepelt…" He directed to Clover.
Clover Rose: "I haven’t seen anyone else yet. It’s still fairly early, though." Clover looked over at Tezz. "Out of curiosity, when did you see Tree?" She tried to recall the last time she had seen Tree around, her eyes widening when she realizes it was the night of the party.
Tezzeret Verdile: "I saw her this morning, neither of us could sleep very well, so we sparred to pass the time. I’m sure she’s probably still outside, though."
Clover Rose: Clover shrugs, setting down Melira so she can run around. “She might have gone inside, it’s pretty cold out.” She smirks as she gets an idea, before gathering up a snowball and tossing it at Tezz’s head.
Tezzeret Verdile: thump
The snowball poofs on impact on the back of Tezz’s head. “Why you..” Tezz gets a smirk on his face. He brings up his hands and hovers three snowballs around him. He makes a throwing motion and all three move to hit Clover, but he pulls back his hand at the last moment to stop them less than an inch from her head. “Boop.” He allows them to just barely nudge her then fall to the ground. “I don’t know if a snowball fight against me is a good idea.” He lets the grin on his face grow.
Clover Rose: "I don’t care if it’s a good idea, I just care whether or not it’s a fun idea.” Clover tells him, gathering up another snowball and throwing it at him, laughing as she does, despite realizing that this is definitely a bad idea.
Tezzeret Verdile: Tezz raises his hand and directs the snowball to fall to the ground at his feet. “Alright then, it’s your funeral.” He makes a sweeping motion with his body and a small wave of snow starts moving at Clover from her left.
Clover Rose: Clover makes an attempt to get away from the snow ‘wave’, while her feet also drag in the snow. “You have to let me hit you a bit!” She tells him, throwing another snowball.
Tezzeret Verdile: "Fine…" Tezz exaggerates the rolling of his eyes. "I won’t mess with anything you throw at me.” He moves his shoulder forward to let the snowball she threw hit him there. Tezz takes a snowball in each hand and throws one at her midsection and throws the other up as far as he can. The amount of joy radiating from Tezz is palpable.
Clover Rose: Clover ducks, trying to avoid the one he’d thrown higher. Her feet slid a bit as she did, and she fell over into a pile of snow. After a moment of scrambling, she just shifts onto her knees and starts making a bunch of snowballs. She then proceeds to pitch them at Tezz, mostly aiming for his face.
Tezzeret Verdile: Tezz brings up his arms to cover his face from the barrage of snowballs hitting him. He crouches down and sticks one of his feet forward, throwing a mass of snow up from under Clover. “At least you have good aim.” Tezz teases.
Clover Rose: Clover was too busy spluttering and trying to get snow out of her face to answer for a moment. Once she did clear her face, she started making more snowballs and throwing them at him, not even aiming for a specific place anymore. She was just determined to hit him.
Tezzeret Verdile: Tezz was taking each hit, walking forward between the throws. When he got close enough he tackled Clover. “Alright… Alright we’re done.” He was laughing, he hadn’t laughed in a long time.
Clover Rose: Clover laughed loudly in surprise as he tackled her. “Alright.” She stares at him for a moment, taking in the situation. As the situation currently stood, he was kind lying on top of her. With one hand, she tilted his head slightly, and at the same time she moved forward enough to press her lips gently to his.
Tezzeret Verdile: Oh. I…
Tezz went blank, just letting it happen for a few moments longer before drawing his head back. “I… I wasn’t expecting… Well… That.” Tezz’s smile had became a much more gentle one. He rolled over onto his back taking in a deep breath, before letting it slowly roll out of him. “…yeah.” He tacked onto the end of the exhale. His mind was going everywhere, but oddly calm.
Clover Rose: Clover smiles gently, ignoring the flush that had spread across her cheeks. She looked up at the sky, watching a few clouds pass overhead. She was completely relaxed, so it came as a complete shock to her when Melira ran over, with her arms full of snow, which she then dumps on both her face and Tezz’s.
Tezzeret Verdile: The grin is the mischievous Tezz returned to his face. He rolls into a standing position and play-tackles Melira to the snow and messes up her hair. “You little warrior.”
Clover Rose: Clover gets to her feet and watches the two of them as Melira grabs a handful of snow and attempts to form a snowball, before tossing her masterpiece at him. This causes Clover to start laughing at the two of them.
Tezzeret Verdile: Tezz was wrestling and tickling Melira in the snow. “You little trouble-maker you.” He turned to Clover, “I know you’re against it, but I think we should have someone teach her some swordplay. She can have a little wooden sword and everything, it’d be so cute… Pleeeaaasssee?”
Clover Rose: "She’s dangerous enough as it is!" Clover exclaims, her tail bristling at the thought of Melira running around with a sword. "It just seems like a really bad idea.”
Tezzeret Verdile: "But it’d give her something to focus on, and use up all of this energy." He plays with Melira’s hair while saying this. "I see more benefit than loss to this, and you can use it as an excuse to have her behave. If she’s being good, then she can learn. If Melira wants to, that is." He grins back down at the little girl.
Clover Rose: "Oh, I’m sure she wants to." Clover raised an eyebrow as she spoke, looking at Melira and the grin that she was receiving. It appeared innocent enough, but Clover already knew the girl well enough to at least suspect she was plotting something. "I’m blaming you if something goes wrong."
Tezzeret Verdile: "That’s fine, but you, little one, need to be on your best behavior for the next couple of days until I can talk someone into being your instructor, alright?" Tezz turned his head back to Melira. He stood up, picking up the little girl by her arm and setting her on her feet. "Let’s get back inside, I’m getting a little chilly. Maybe someone else is awake by now?"
Clover Rose: "I would hope so, we’ve been out here for a little while now." Clover walks over to Tezz and grabs his hand, smiling at him as she does. As they start walking inside, she swings their joined hands back and forth a little.
Tezzeret Verdile: Tezz smiles, caught between these two new loves in his life. On his left is the little girl Melira, a strong-willed, fierce child. He has a lot of hope for her future. In his right hand, Clover, a bright light to contrast the events from the years past. This whole place was amazing, with all of these colorful people working to live together in the Wilder West. Tezz couldn’t help but have a bright smile on his face as they made their way through the great hall.