Take a break (Gwyn)

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

The events of the ill-fated duel had been more than a little traumatic, and even having the whole story explained to her hadn't really helped make it any better. Everything in the past few days had left her exhausted and confused and she really didn't know how to deal with it, so it was nice to focus on something a bit more normal for a change.
On a fairly regular basis, Gwyn and Meredith (and occasionally other friends) would pack up a lunch and take their horses for a ride around some of the wilder parts of Trenale, stopping at a pleasant looking meadow or forest clearing in order to eat and talk about things, usually things they didn't want to talk about around anyone else, and then they'd head back again, maybe with a bit of galloping or a race or a stop off to practice archery or swordplay, it was just a nice girl's day out with a difference.

Today, Meredith was particular eager to escape into the wild and not have to worry about it for a few hours, so she was waiting at their usual spot with a backpack containing her lunch and Dis' reins in hand on the dot of their usual meeting time, instead of rushing up five or ten minutes late.

[Gwyn Locksley]

Between the tests to study for, the papers to write, the general homework assignments, and all of her usual training and sports commitments, Gwyn was surprised she even had time to breathe lately. She was trying, she really was, but that didn't mean she didn't make time for other things; if she kept going flat out like this she risked burning out, something Gwyn Locksley would never admit to. She could handle it, she could handle anything. The only reason she was going to meet Meredith was because her parents insisted social time was important as well, and they had a longstanding date, and Meredith probably needed a friend right now. It certainly wasn't because she needed this distraction.

With her lunch, her bow, and her quiver, Gwyn rode up to their usual meeting spot, surprised to find her friend already waiting. Usually it was Gwyn who was early and Meredith not even on time but tardy. Guess she needed some time away too. “You're early,” she stated unnecessarily. “Well, let's be off then.” No point wasting time, after all.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"I know, just... looking forward to it today," Meredith shrugged, glad that Gwyn was so matter of fact and didn't really delve too deeply into it. She probably could have gotten away without saying anything at all, but it felt like it warranted at least a cursory explanation.

She nodded in agreement, swinging herself up into the saddle and nudging Dis into a walk. She didn't have to ask Gwyn where she wanted to go, they had a fairly standard route and the horse knew it almost as well as Meredith did, meaning that she was free to pay a little less attention and talk to her friend instead of focusing on where they were going.

"How are you?" She started, she didn't really want to get into it since Gwyn would be polite and ask the question in return, but she'd also been so wrapped up in her own drama lately she didn't know much about what was going on in Gwyn's life.

[Gwyn Locksley]

Maybe Gwyn should have picked up on Meredith perhaps not being entirely straight with her, but Gwyn had always been one to take things at face value. She didn't see the point of being coy, so if her friend said she was looking forward to the ride then she believed it. She was looking forward to it too, and the break it provided her from her studies.

Riding silently alongside Meredith, she breathed in the fresh air and allowed herself to relax. It was the perfect day for this, and while Gwyn usually got along better with boys, growing up with Meredith had made the girl used to her and therefore less likely to be offended or annoyed.

The question was no out of the ordinary, but she was unsure how much she wanted to share at this point. “I am well, thank you,” she replied, as physically this was true. Perhaps a bit too blunt though. “Though I have been more immersed in my studies lately than I would have liked.” Remember your manners. “And you?”

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Oh?" Meredith asked, genuinely interested but also pushing more than she normally would "Any particular reason? Do you have a test coming up or have you just been working on something particularly complicated at the moment?"

On the one hand, it would be nice to take her mind off things if whatever was bothering Gwyn was something she could help with, but on the other hand her main reason for asking was simply the dogged refusal to answer the question. It was time to focus on her friend and not herself, even if her reasons for doing so were inherently selfish.

"Is that all? You know what they say about all work and no play," she added with a teasing smile that only felt a little bit forced.

[Gwyn Locksley]

“Dee. All of the above,” Gwyn replied in a rare joke. “I missed a month of classes so am still catching up. I was able to work on some assignments at home, but they do not allow for tests to be taken outside of the classroom.”

Meredith did seem rather more interested than normal, and it didn't entirely escape Gwyn's notice that she oddly ignored the question as to her own health and well being. Of course the text she had sent them all probably had a good deal to do with it. “I would think all work and no play would be greatly beneficial, though hardly practical.” Even Gwyn needed some downtime sometimes. “So I am here. Does this not count as play?”

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Oh, that sucks," Meredith frowned sympathetically "If you like you can borrow some of my notes for any of the classes we share? There might be something you can use... might be easier than trawling through the books anyway." not that her notes were the greatest in the world, but she wanted to be helpful if she could be.

"This does count, but are you telling me this is the first time you've rested since you got back?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. That couldn't be the case, surely? Although this was Gwyn, she liked to keep herself busy... Meredith just hoped it wasn't only on studying that she'd spent her time, she didn't want Gwyn to burn herself out.

[Gwyn Locksley]

Gwyn offered a warm smile. "Thank you for the offer. I have hired a tutor, but the extra notes certainly couldn't hurt." Actual notes from class should be more useful than just the textbook, Meredith was right, though Lorelei might have other ideas. There were schedules and outlines and various other study tools already into effect. Gwyn wasn't sure what introducing other notes would do to it all but she would take any shortcut she could get.

The way Meredith posed her question made it sound like that was a bad thing, and Gwyn felt like she had to defend herself. "No," she stated a little too quickly. "I visited Costin. And I went hunting." Plenty of play time.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Oh, somebody's helping you? That's good. Who did you hire, anyone I know?" she asked. She was more than willing to pass on her notes, even if it wasn't all that helpful. Maybe the tutor would be able to make something of them, but even if she couldn't Meredith would rather try to help than shrug her shoulders and say she couldn't do anything.

"I'm not sure hunting counts, but you do enjoy it so I suppose I'll give you that," she said, her tone a little teasing "And Costin, huh? How are things between you two?" Meredith definitely had Suspicions about Gwyn and Costin, she may not be as good at that kind of thing as Tristian, or even Gaston, but you didn't spend that much time around Gwen without learning a thing or two.

[Gwyn Locksley]

"She said her name was Lorelei. She already knew who I was so I didn't ask further." Plus it hadn't seemed important at the time who the girl was, just if she could help as she claimed she could. Gwyn was looking for a tutor, not a friend.

When Meredith teased her about her hunting Gwyn rolled her eyes, but one corner of her lips curved just the slightest bit upwards. "I enjoy a lot of things that most people consider more work than play," she replied, and it was true. Training, to her, was as much fun as it was work. She pushed herself because she wanted to be the best, but she also enjoyed the adrenaline, and how she felt afterwards.

"We get along well," she spoke, and her smile grew a little wider. "He is going to let me teach him sword fighting!" This was an exciting prospect to Gwyn, being able to teach anyone anything of the sort.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Lorelei Summer-Lac?" Meredith asked, surprised - she probably shouldn't be, she was pretty sure Gwen's kids and the other assorted Camelot children made up a good half of the school, but it was still quite a coincidence that Lorelei had ended up tutoring Gwyn, at least to her. "She's Gwen and Lancelot's daughter, she's really nice, a little bit odd sometimes, but nice. And she's pretty smart too, she'll be a good tutor." she added, wanting to reassure Gwyn.

"I suppose that's true, but I guess that's what makes you so good at all those things, because you enjoy doing them," Meredith conceded, even if she did still want Gwyn to take it easy every now and then.

"Oh, is he?" she smiled, just a hint of innuendo in her tone that she didn't expect Gwyn to pick up on "Well I'm sure that'll be a lot of fun..."

[Gwyn Locksley]

“Summer-Lac?” Gwyn repeated, just as surprised as Meredith. She thought she knew all of her namesake's children, but this one seemed to have escaped her notice. Honestly, it wasn't too shocking, as she assumed Lorelei spent much of her time with her nose in a book while Gwyn was outside playing and training. There were so many children around Camelot she couldn't be expected to remember them all, right? “I suppose so, yes. I admit I did not recognize her, but she seemed to know much about me.”

Turning her attention to the path ahead of them, she nodded at Meredith's assessment. “I suppose that is part of it,” she replied, “but you can be good at even the things you hate if you try hard enough.” Except maybe science, she wasn't so sure about that. It all sounded rather silly and useless to her and she had trouble wrapping her head around it, not that she would admit to that much of a deficiency. In anything.

As suspected, the innuendo went entirely unnoticed. “I think so. I do enjoy teaching skills to others, and he seems keen to learn.”

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"That doesn't surprise me," Meredith nodded "Lorelei's very... observant, she seems to pay attention to everything. I think she gets it from Gwen, she was always very good at watching people." and seemingly reading their minds, although Lorelei had yet to pick up that particular skill, at least as far as Meredith knew. And hoped.

"You can," Meredith conceded thoughtfully "But it would be a lot more difficult to because you wouldn't want to try if you hated it, but if it was something you enjoyed, you'd want to spend more time doing it, and you'd get a lot of practice."

"I'm sure he's very keen," Meredith couldn't help but grin a little.

[Gwyn Locksley]

“Well, not everything,”Gwyn pointed out with a roll of her eyes, but didn't elaborate. Lorelei had, after all, mistaken her for the 'middle child' of her family, so clearly she wasn't that observant, though she did know about Richard, so not entirely in the dark either. She was very helpful on the tutoring front, though, so Gwyn had let it go.

Meredith did have a point about skills, though. It was certainly much easier to be good at everything that she enjoyed and ignore the stuff she didn't. “Besides, who wants to spend their lives doing things they don't enjoy if they don't have to?” she agreed. Some people didn't get a choice, and back home Gwyn certainly has less choice than she did here.

Back on the subject of Costin, she nodded. “I think he will be a good pupil, but I won't ride him too hard. He can be a bit on the... dramatic side.” She was getting to understand him more, what made him how he was, but that didn't mean she was going to coddle him. She could ease him into the training, though, that was usually the better method then going full bore from the beginning.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"I suppose not," Meredith agreed, she could be a little excitable sometimes. Or a lot of the time. So sometimes she missed things.

"Exactly! Sure sometimes people have a duty to do certain things, but I think it's important to focus on living life the way you want to." and that had nothing at all to do with the fact that the two of them were more fond of riding and fighting than they were of embroidery and.... embroidery. Noble medieval ladies didn't get to do a lot.

Meredith had to bite her lip to stop herself from sniggering. Honestly, she blamed Tristian, it was clearly his fault that she was knowledgable enough about certain things to see the accidental innuendo Gwyn had come out with. Ride him too hard indeed.
"Dramatic is... a fairly accurate word to use, yes," Meredith agreed carefully. She didn't know Costin very well, but what she did know about him... well, dramatic was probably an understatement.