Step One: Meet Guy Step Two: ??? [Tag Ricard]

[Darastrix]

It was almost time, Fedora knew. Radomir's hunting party had been gone for hours, and it would be dark soon. Any moment, they would ride in, with or without a kill. She was hoping with; aside from the good, fresh meat that would be divvied up, it would mean the men would return in high spirits and be all the more willing to indulge what they saw as a young girl.

She was nearly sixteen. That was marriageable age. Not that she was particularly interested in marriage yet, but every time she even tried to have a conversation with someone in her eldest brother's group, Radomir would shoo her away, saying something along the lines of her being too young. Too young to chat? Really?

Brothers. Well, that brother, anyway. Nikolai was much more easy-going, but she didn't really fancy lingering around his brother and sister priests. She imagined that the conversations would be nothing but religious talk. She just wanted....

Well. She wasn't sure how to put it in words. She just saw the other girls talking to young men, sometimes bringing them steaming mugs or something to eat if they'd been working. And sometimes they'd go walking together, side by side. Not childish playing, but calm, proper adult poise. They looked so grown up. She wanted to be one of those girls, not one of the girls leaning on the fence watching.

Well, she was going to be one of them, she thought with determination as she smoothed down her skirt. She'd already picked the boy. She didn't know him, exactly. Or at all, really. But he couldn't be more than two years her senior and he was in Radomir's party. Ricard. That was his name. And if her brother thought he could shoo her away again....

Oh! There they were. Fedora hurried back to the kitchen to ladle up some of the thick, creamy soup that had been cooking all afternoon and shouted over her shoulder, "Radomir's home!" as she darted out to meet them.

[Skittlebug]

From the sounds of things, the hunt had gone well. The group had brought down a good sized stag and are in good spirits. Ricard's wolf-dog companion bounces around the group, feeding off of the energy. When he catches sight of Fedora he decides that she simply must join in the fun and bounds toward her.

[Darastrix]

Dogs. She'd forgotten that some of the hunters had dogs. That wasn't usually a problem--she had no issue with dogs in general--but they didn't usually run at her while she was holding a container of hot soup. "No! Get back!" she ordered, trying to sound firm as she raised the soup higher to keep it from being knocked from her hands.

[Skittlebug]

"Woah!" Ricard calls out, jogging after the dog, "Easy!" Luckily for Fedora, Brutus is fairly well behaved even when excited. he skids to a halt and manages to contain himself with just wiggling around on the snow. Ricard shakes his head and tries to look stern, but a grin slips through. "Sorry about that, he's just excited because the rest of us are."

[Darastrix]

Fedora breathed a sigh of relief when Ricard called Brutus off, and smiled up at the hunter. "No harm done," she told him, and offered him the large mug of soup. "You must be hungry after your hunt."

[Skittlebug]

Ricard's eyes light up. Despite being fairly mature, he still has a tendency to get excited about small things, not unlike his companion. "That smells great, thank you!" He beams as he accepts the mug. "Did you make it yourself?"

[Darastrix]

Fedora hesitated only a moment before smiling and nodding. "I did," she told him. Well, she'd supervised. Sort of. That counted, right?

[Skittlebug]

Ricard grins and tastes it, who doesn't love soup after a long day out in the cold? "That really hits the spot." He looks at her again with a small frown, trying to place her. "You're...Radomir's sister, right? I'm Ricard, and that," he kicks a bit of snow at his companion, who's busying himself half tunnelling though some snow, "is Brutus."

[Darastrix]

Fedora’s smile widened. He knew who she was! Not by name, but that was easily remedied. “Radomir’s my brother,” she confirmed. “I’m—“

“Fedora.”

She stiffened at the sound of Radomir’s voice, lips turning downward as she cast a sullen glare over Ricard’s shoulder. Why couldn’t he leave her alone?

“Shouldn’t you be inside?”

“I haven’t anything to do inside, so I came out to talk to one of your friends.” Fedora smiled at Ricard again before cutting her eyes back to her brother. “Shouldn’t you be helping to butcher the kill? Ricard can keep me company, can’t you?”

Go away, Radomir. Go away. Forces, we’re only talking.

[Skittlebug]

Ricard catches Fedora's look before he turns to Radomir with a grin. "I'm sure you lot can handle it without me, it would be rude to refuse keeping a lady company."

[Darastrix]

"The 'lady' isn't even of age yet," Radomir protested, drawing a murderous glare from his sister.

"But I will be in less than a year," she countered. "Not that I can see what it has to do with just having a conversation with someone."

Radomir narrowed his eyes for a moment before throwing up his hands in exasperation. "Fine. Whatever. Do as you like. You." He pointed a finger at Ricard. "Watch yourself with my sister." Warning given, the heir of House Pajari stalked off to help the others with the butchering.

[Skittlebug]

"Of course." Ricard reassures Radomir, finding his protectiveness of his sister amusing. He gives a small shrug and turns back to Fedora with a small grin, "He certainly knows how to make a person feel untrusted, or is that just me?"