Lakeside Benches

[Shannon Murphy]

So there had yet to be a lass that made Banshee wander through fields with visions of flowers, she supposed that should surprise her; considering his charming nature and handsome face it would be hard to imagine there hadn't been a lass or two that worked their way in. But Banshee was a different sort of man Shannon was learning, a gentler soul than one might expect and she could already tell that he was one who felt deeply and with meaning when he did. "Aye, I imagine she would be a rare sort of lass to catch yer eye," Shannon agreed, her eyes not leaving his. It occurred t0 her that the lass who might be lucky enough to win his affection wouldn't have stumbled on it merely by accident - and she wondered briefly if perhaps there was space for her in that sort of game.

It was perhaps a silly notion, Shannon wasn't prone to entertaining fantasies or drawing out situations that might never occur, but with each smile he granted her she couldn't help but feel a tug somewhere deep in her soul. It was a startling realization, that perhaps those romantic notions she'd just scoffed at might have a real life place and purpose in her life. He looked away from her towards the sky and Shannon took the moment to nibble on her bottom lip thoughtfully, trying to sort out the rush of confused emotions that seemed to be washing over her at nearly every turn.

She was brought back from the maze of her thoughts as he shifted beside her and gathered his papers and she wondered if he felt the regret of moving on as much as she did. A smile traced along her features as he suggested as much, his tone back to the teasing, light sort that she was used to from the nights he had dropped into McGinty's. There was an ease in that sort of banter and she couldn't help but respond, a twinkle settling back into her own eye as she rose herself and pulled her shawl more snugly around her shoulders. "Ach, so I make a good excuse do I?" Shannon said with a laugh, shaking her head and clucking her tongue as though she were disappointed. "Is that all I'm good for laddie?"

She slipped her arm through his when he offered it, curling her fingers along his bicep and glancing up at him. "What sort of lass would refuse an offer such as that from a handsome laddie such as yourself?" And a handsome lad he was indeed, Shannon found her eyes tracing the line of his profile against the morning sky and she smiled a little even as she looked away down the path towards the edge of the park. "A foolish one perhaps, of which I am not," She noted winking up at him as they took the first steps towards the entrance to the park and where they would inevitably, and regretfully, have to part ways.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee nodded briefly at her statement, his thoughts whirling as he tried to make sense of them. A rare lass to be sure, and one he had yet to meet until….now? That Shannon was different, there was no denying. Everything that he had previously relied on to get time with a girl didn’t seem right to him, as he found that he didn’t want her for the usual reasons. He respected her and valued her friendship, which was rare, and that reason alone was enough to make him rethink the way he viewed her. But at the same time, she was beautiful, though for once it wasn’t just her outward features that he found pleasing. In the time that he’d known her, he had found her to be warm, caring, and smart, all of which were traits he’d never looked for in a lass before and yet, in her, seemed to be the defining reasons for his admiration.

And that was the difference, he realized with a start. The feelings he had for Shannon Murphy weren’t based on attraction or desire, though they were present too, but instead were based on the high regard with which he held her. He wondered, as he looked out over the water, why it was that this specific lass had caught so much more than his eye and it came to him with a sudden flash of clarity. He had never set out to attain her, and that fact alone was the very reason he found himself wanting to now. He had known from the start the she was too canny to fall for his usual charms, and therefore never bothered to try. However, by keeping things light between them, he had left the door open for their friendship to grow, which in turn had evolved into his current preoccupation with her.

Even more startling was the realization of the lengths he was prepared to go to just to please her. Winning a smile or a laugh from her seemed a far greater prize than anything he had charmed out of a lass in the past. With her, he had an unfamiliar desire to please that had nothing to do with what he might gain from her should he succeed. That he hoped that she might return his affection, there was no denying, but he also knew without a doubt that even if faced with the certainty that all he’d ever have was her friendship, he would be no less inclined than he was now to do whatever his relationship to her would allow him to do in regards to her happiness.

All that being realized, while certainly giving him insight to his own intentions, did nothing to aid him in the understanding of her own, and still left him with the uncertainty of how to proceed. As the easy banter they shared seemed the most familiar, it was the natural choice to fall into, though he noticed that it was getting harder to maintain, especially when some of their banter touched ever so lightly on more serious currents as it did now. Keeping an easy smile on his face, he nodded. “That ya do…. In fact, I’m no’ too sure I could find a better,” he admitted, joining in with her laughter. Her teasing question caused his smile to falter momentarily as he bit back the instant denial that sprang to his lips even as he knew she was teasing. Shaking his head at his own behavior as much as in answer to her question he gave her a wink. “Ah, no, love…. Sure, ya pour a decent pint as well, an’ that’s the truth o’ it.”

He couldn’t stop the grin that quirked his lips as her arm slipped through his and she rested her fingers lightly on his bicep. He found himself wishing his other hand was free as he would have like nothing more than to cover her hand with his own the way he had seen some of the gentleman do as they strolled in the park with their steady lasses. He shrugged with a laugh as he glanced down at her. “I’m sure there’s a lass or two out there that might no’ find me so pleasin’,” he said, though her words had his grin widening as he focused on the path before them. He glanced back down in time to catch her wink and returned it. “Clearly ya are, love, if ya fancy wastin’ your time with a rogue like m’self,” he teased even as he knew there was some truth to his words, and though he knew his actions in the past had been far from honorable, he resolved that any time she granted him would not be wasted.

[Shannon Murphy]

"Oh back to pints are we?" Shannon said with a laugh as she settled into walk beside him, letting him lead the way down the winding path that would take them to the edge of the park and subsequently to the rest of their days. "And here I had me hopes set on the idea ye might be swingin' by to see me," Shannon shook her head as a light settled in her eyes as she lifted her free hand to cover her heart. "Perhaps I will convince ye yet, aye?" Though her tone was teasing and Shannon meant the words with that intent, she couldn't help but lace some meaning in them as well. As they had talked, lingering on the bench and finding a quiet moment among the frantic world, Shannon had come to hope, perhaps even believe, that he might have been frequenting McGinty's for more than the drink that was constantly flowing. No, she was hoping that shared smiles and glances, flirty teases exchanged might hold more weight than perhaps they did - because his presence was something that she enjoyed.

It was something she was unlikely to admit, particularly because when she looked over at him and up into his laughing eyes, she was left not knowing how he might feel. Where were his thoughts as they walked along the path sharing a laugh and a kind word, did his linger as hers did over the possibilities of what might be? Her practical side told her that it wasn't something to be sorted now, if at all at the risk of losing the friendship she had come to treasure, but there was a need and a desire that Shannon wasn't sure would be washed away or ignored with the passage of time.

"Are there such lasses?" Shannon asked, finding it hard to believe in truth that there might be a lass that would find him undesirable. Who wouldn't want to spend every moment in his company that they could, or be graced with the smile that made his eyes danced when ever the moment presented. "Then I suspect they be the fools, not I, laddie," Shannon said, keeping her eyes on the path and the approaching edge of the park as they walked. "For I find myself in the presence of a rare treasure, aye?"

The last bit was said softly, slipped out on words before she could call it back. She believed them to be sure and the saying of them was done, and the truth was she didn't much mind him knowing she cared. Even if he just believed it to be a little as friends, he was a treasure as far as she was concerned, a gentle romantic hidden behind that tough edged wall that so many were forced behind due to circumstance. He'd let her see bits and pieces of what lay behind his and she wasn't liable to forget what she had seen, nor did she especially want too.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee's gaze cut to hers as he took in her playful words. There was just enough honesty in her tone to have him wondering, even as the tiny flicker of hope burned a little brighter. “I daresay if anyone could convince me, it would be yourself,” he allowed, his tone light and slightly cautious as his gaze lingered a moment longer before returning to the muddy path. He hadn’t failed to notice the gesture her hand had made, and his own heart quickened just a fraction as he tried not to read into her playful implication. It was hard, however, as now that he had arrived at his own realization, he couldn’t help but look for meaning in every light word and playful gesture. Had she been any other lass, he wouldn’t have hesitated to make known his intent, but Shannon was first and foremost a friend, and he was painfully aware of the fine line he walked with his newfound feelings.

The slight hint of disbelief in her question made him smile a little, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “More than ye would apparently think, love,” he admitted honestly. While he’d never physically mistreated a lass, he couldn’t say the same from an emotional standpoint. He had always been one to take what he could from them without much regard for how they felt after he had quickly forgotten them. The possibility that his pretty words and charming smiles had left any of them with even a fraction of the feelings he now felt himself had never occurred to him, and he found that his actions no longer sat quite as well as they had before. That quite a few of them would be quick to count themselves in the rank of lasses that Shannon seemed to think unlikely, he had no doubt, and he vowed to himself that if she ever gave him a chance, he would see that she never joined them.

Her soft words were so completely unexpected that Banshee almost missed them and it took him a moment to register what she had said. He opened his mouth to speak, only to shut it again as his mind spun with a thousand things he wanted to say to her, all of which were either too much or too little for the moment. In his life, nobody had ever claimed that he was of any real value to them, nor had many left him with the impression that said opinion, while not voiced, might at least be felt. That she, of all people, was the first to ever voice such a sentiment…. The smile that lit his face was unguarded and full of wonder as he glanced at the girl beside him. He had no way of knowing in what capacity she meant it, be it as a friend or potentially more, but that she meant it at all was enough for the moment. “Thank ya, Shannon,” he said finally, meeting her eyes with an earnest gaze. “I’ll no’ be givin’ ya a reason t’ regret sayin’ that.”

His smile lingered, even as they neared the end of the path. Just beyond the hedges that bordered the edge of the park, he could hear the early morning bustle that meant another day was well underway, though he was reluctant to join it. Just before the path cut through the tall hedges and onto the sidewalk, Banshee veered off slightly, pausing just a few feet from the entrance and releasing her arm. “Was a grand mornin’, love, an’ I can’t recall havin’ a better one,” he admitted honestly as he gazed down at her, his smile starting to regain a bit of it’s former lightness, though this time it was due to a genuine buoyancy of spirit rather than a desire to hide behind it.

[Shannon Murphy]

"We all have our mistakes," Shannon said, as he admitted to perhaps a lass or two that might not share her opinion and though she didn't doubt that might be the case; she wasn't given to judging him for it. She had skeletons in her own closet, moments that she herself was less than proud of and was certain that there was perhaps a lad or two that had less than a kind word to pass along about her. "But I find I like to make up me own mind, aye? For I be the one passin' time with ye, not them and I like your company very much, Banshee." She smiled up at him as they walked, certain that perhaps those that littered the pathways of his past might not have known the beauty that lay within the man by her side.

Her point was further proven by the smile that blossomed on his face as he caught her words, brightening his features in a way that she had not yet been privileged to see and now that she had she wanted to bask in the glow for as long as she could. She couldn't know for sure what it was that had prompted the smile that she was certain had lit up pieces of her very soul, be it the simple words, the meaning behind them or something more entirely. But whatever the case, Shannon was pleased that she appeared to the source and she smiled back at him, a softer, gentler smile than perhaps one she might have offered before. "Oh aye, Banshee, I've no doubt of that," She assured him when he promised she wouldn't regret her words, for she already knew with a knowledge that was almost frightening in it's certainty that she wouldn't ever regret calling him a treasure.

They were nearing the edge of the park now, Shannon could hear people just beyond the hedges and the noise bleeding through nature's wall was an ever present reminder that they both had days to return too. She couldn't help but feel a bit lighter after their encounter, warmer in the depths of her soul where she hadn't even known she needed the heat and she wasn't sure what to make of it all - only that she didn't want to lose the feeling. He seemed to share her sentiment, if the look in his eye and the lingering smile on his lips were any indication and all she could do was hope that this was perhaps a beginning...of what she couldn't be sure. If the early morning conversation served only to deepen their friendship then Shannon would consider it moments well spent, and no less treasured.

"Nor can I," Shannon agreed when Banshee led them a half step off the path and admitted to it being one of the finer mornings in his recent recollections. "Twas good fortune that had our paths crossin' when we least expected it, aye?" Shannon smiled, turning her head to look back down the path and the direction that they had come. "Seems I owe them a debt for lookin' so kindly on a lass." He was looking down at her in such a way that Shannon knew they would linger if initiative was not taken, and the day was not slowing despite her wishing that it might.

"And so I should be goin'," She said softly, tilting her head as she looked up at him for another long moment before standing on her toes and brushing a kiss against his cheek like he so often did as he left McGinty's. "I thank ye again for the good company," Shannon said as she stepped away from him and back on the path, moving towards the hedges. When she was nearly there she turned and smiled over at him one last time, "Céad míle beannachta, Banshee." And with one final glance she turned and headed out into the increasing crowd and the air that was just beginning to be warmed in the sun.



(Céad míle beannachta = One hundred thousand blessings)

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee's gaze never left her face as she made her claim of owing fortune a debt for its kindness. If, in fact, she owed that debt, then his own was a hundred times greater, for he was the one fortune had truly shown kindness to by allowing him to further his acquaintance with Shannon in such a peaceful, unpretentious setting. At the soft voicing of her intent to depart, he gave her a wistful smile even as he nodded. "Aye," he said, meeting her eyes as she gazed up at him.

A kiss on the cheek had heralded his departure from McGinty's their past several meetings, and though Banshee's first impulse was to carry it over to this one, he paused, wondering if the intimacy of their surroundings would change her reception of it. Making his mind up to try anyway, he had no sooner begun to dip his head than she was up on her toes, her lips brushing his cheek in a light kiss. The grin that played on his lips was both surprised and amused. Once again, the lass was one step ahead of him, and he shook his head with a chuckle. "Tis I should be thankin' ye, Shannon," he countered as he took a step back from her. "Now go on with ya." Or I'll be pullin' ya int' the hedges for a proper goodbye, he thought, his grin widening at the idea.

He watched, still grinning, as she made it almost to the hedge opening and turned with a smile and a parting glance before disappearing from his view. One hundred thousand blessings, was it? Banshee knew he didn't deserve half so many, but he didn't care as he had already received the greatest one he could think of, and he found himself murmuring a prayer of gratitude to a God he had almost forgotten.