I'm Such A Tease

I've actually been told this before. It was pretty much news to me. I don't see myself as a tease, or one who would desire to be a tease. Anyways, that's not the subject of this blog.

It's Teaser Tuesday! Horray! *throws confetti*

The subject of this Teaser is going to be one of my recent favorite characters, a young man called Rigel. Rigel lives in the Grand City of Icarthia, and someone I find to be a rather interesting character. Writing him is a task, it really is. This blog may be a bit long, as I'm going to include several excerpts that include him.

Background on Teaser One: Natura has ventured to the Grand City of Icarthia to compete in the Ascensian Academy Trials for Acceptance. Long story short: she was forced by Grena and Ina because of stuff. I know, wonderfully descriptive. It's not very important for this, though. Natura is currently under the alias of Liana Halle, for reasons that don't really matter.

She stood in the entrance to the stable, squinting to see inside. The day was bright, and now her eyes were having trouble adjusting to the dimmer light in the stable. Once she could see clearly, she saw Rigel standing in front of a stall towards the other end of the stable. Arian’s head stuck out over the stall’s low door. Rigel was talking softly to him and feeding him an apple. He glanced toward Natura, smiled slyly, and spoke louder.

“You lady is nearly as beautiful as your coat, sir,” he said as he stroked Arian’s neck. “Surely it is a fine quality in you both.”

“Charming,” Natura said as she walked to where Rigel stood. “You probably say that to all the horses though, don’t you?”

Rigel laughed. “Well I can’t be treating them differently, now can I? They may plan a revolt.” He flashed a smile at Natura. She had to remember to breathe, his smile catching her off guard again.

She laughed to calm herself down, but it came out awkwardly. She looked away from Rigel, and ran her fingers through Arian’s mane. He rubbed his nose on her shoulder and whinnied in appreciation. Natura smiled and buried her face in his mane, almost forgetting Rigel was still standing beside her.

“You have a fine horse, Miss…?”

Natura blushed, realizing he was watching her still. “Liana Halle,” she said. The name felt wrong on her tongue, but she tried not to let it show.

“Well, Miss Halle, I would love to stay and continue to compliment your horse but-”

“Rigel!” an agitated yell echoed through the stable.

“Duty calls,” he said. He smiled once more, nodding to Natura and Arian, before running out of the stable.

Background on Teaser Two: Natura has been knocked to the ground outside of the city's library. Grena has accompanied Natura to the trials (though Grena is not competing) to ensure Natura goes through with it. I'm really only posting this part because Grena comes so close to ass-kicking it's not even funny. Actually, it's hilarious. Grena is awesome.

“Are you alright?” she was asked again. Natura looked up further to see Rigel – though quite a different Rigel than the one she had met in the stable – standing in front of her. She blushed and looked back to the ground.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled.

“Let me help you,” he said.

Natura lifted a hand and he pulled her to her feet. She adjusted her clothes and dusted herself off once she was back on stable footing.

“I’m so sorry,” Rigel said. “We were playing and my friend has terrible aim.” He bent over to pick a ball up from the ground.

“It’s fine. I-”

“Liana!” Grena’s panicked voice interrupted. “What happened? I saw you fall! Are you okay?”

Natura looked over to see Grena running over to her. Natura opened her mouth to calm her down, but Grena didn’t give her time to say anything.

“Did he push you?” she demanded, glaring at Rigel.

“What? No! Of course not!” he insisted. “My friend has terrible aim!”

Hah, sure Rigel. Terrible aim. (Actually, the friend - Ashton - has godawful aim.)
Background on Teaser Three: Rigel is a failure, his team lost a nameless game to Natura and Grena. This is short, but it amuses me.

“I demand a rematch,” Rigel said.

Natura opened her eyes and looked at him. He sat with his arms crossed and the ball in his lap.

“For the seventh time, Rigel, shut up,” Braden said, smacking him on the head with his wooden hoop.

“Yes, Rigel, just accept that the women win,” Grena said, giving him an impish smile.

He frowned and continued to grumble to himself.

“It seems we may have injured his pride,” Natura said to Ashton.

“Trust me, Icarthia is a better place with a more humble Rigel,” Ashton said.

Background on Teaser Four: Another short one. Rigel is quite the looker, as many of the young women of Icarthia have noticed. In this scene, a gaggle of young women was gathered around Rigel. Until he started talking.

“What happened?” Natura asked, trying to suppress a laugh as she watched Rigel looking around himself for the rest of the women who had just been there.

“The last one to leave had asked a very simple question about the Icarthian Castle. Rigel explained everything, in great detail, from the building process to every slight repair that had ever been made to it,” Ashton explained.

Natura watched a dejected Rigel wander over to where she stood with Ashton. He collapsed onto the ground and groaned, “Women.”

“No luck?” Ashton asked.

Rigel sat up and shrugged. “Some women just can’t handle a real man.”

Background on Teaser Five: Last one, I swear. Natura, Ashton, and Rigel have all passed the trials and are at a celebration for anyone who progressed to the final trial. Natura was sitting with Ashton, but encouraged him to go ask a young lady to dance. Rigel has been dancing and flirting, as is his usual.

“What’re you sitting all alone over here for, Liana?” he asked, leaning forward on the table to grab a roll from a basket. He took a bite from it, and continued talking. “This is a celebration and you’re over here brooding.”

“I’m not brooding,” Natura said, crossing her arms defensively. “Ashton was just here.”

Rigel looked around at the empty benches. He even glanced under the table. “Well I don’t see him,” he said with an exasperated sigh.

Dramatic fool, Natura thought. Christiana would appreciate him.

“He was here,” she said.

Finishing off his roll, Rigel brushed the crumbs from his hands and stood. He held out a hand to Natura. “Come on, Miss Liana,” he said.

“What for?” Natura asked, staring at his hand like it would kill her.

Rigel groaned and grabbed her arm, pulling her from the table. “To dance,” he said as he led her closer to the fire and the other dancers. “Jeez, you sure can kill a moment.”

“I don’t dance,” Natura said, pulling her arm away. She hadn’t danced in a public place since she was seven years and Alger Penn stepped on her foot and knocked her into the fountain at a gathering back in Parcel. No boy had asked her after that, either, since Christiana took it upon herself to repay poor Alger with a black eye.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rigel said. He grabbed her hand with one of his, and wrapped his other arm around her waist. He pulled her close to him and swung them into the dance with the other young Icarthians.

------------
Alright, I'm done. There are definitely a few others that come after this but this blog post is long enough. Some of these parts aren't as well written as they could be. Most of them haven't been edited at all yet. First drafts are fun, huh?

Happy Tuesday

-Lauren-