Seated on the shores of Lake Lovalus, Rharne serves as the home of the Lighting Knights, the Thunder Priestesses, and the Merchant's guild. This beautiful trade city is filled with a happy and contented people who rarely need an excuse to party.
When they had stumbled in the doorway, wet from the drizzling rain that had started when they had been playing cards, Rei had stripped her wine colored pleated skirt and pale yellow blouse off. She set them out individually in front of the fire, which she stoked with a poker and added and extra log or two that was sitting in the corner on a piled wood stack. Rei was rubbing her arms as she walked around in her slightly dampened slip and underwear. The fire would heat up the small house quickly, luckily for them.
She got out a cast iron skillet and looked through her stores for something to cook. They were up rather late, it was probably almost morning, so they would need something to eat, especially if they had any hopes of sobering up from the wine they had enjoyed that evening. Rei quickly found two prime slices of meat along with some potatoes and carrots. She peeled and sliced up the vegetables and put them in with a pinch of salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. The cooking meat juices would also give a bit of flavor to the vegetables. She stuck the pan over the fire.
“Well, that was an interesting game, don’t you think?” Rei smiled at him and unbuttoned his shirt and undid his trousers, laying them out to dry by the fire as well. “Beginner’s luck, it must be. He beat two seasoned poker players.” She chuckled and got the heavy red blanket she had folded up and set in a chair. Wrapping it around her shoulders, she moved over to Wendell, opening her arms to welcome him into the folds of the blanket. “Will you stay with me tonight? I might need you to keep me warm.” She smiled and leaned in, pressing her face against his neck and taking in his scent. It was intoxicating to her.
Her lips brushed against the skin of his neck, leaving soft kisses in her wake. Rei sighed against his flesh and slipped her hands around his midsection. She could feel the taut muscles there and ran her fingertips across them softly. She was caressing his skin like a tender lover. The smell of cooking meat began permeating the air in the house. She slipped the blanket over his shoulders and walked away a moment to check the meat in the skillet and flip it over.
“Beginners luck ?” the man echoed. “Knowing Patrick, he's having us all on, who works at a bar like that and can't play cards?” he grinned.
Rei took up a blanket and moved to stand near him in nothing but her undergarments. Wendell had pulled his shorts back on but would wait for his other items of clothing to dry before he dressed. Enveloped by the blankets, he wrapped his arms around Rei’s middle, squinting his eyes as if to ponder her offer to have him stay the rest of the night. “If you want me,” he teased, the right side of his mouth turned up in a wicked little smirk.
The blonde left him with the blanket to go over to the fireplace and check the food, and Wendell followed, reaching into the pocket of his drying pants while Rei wasn't looking. He had dropped the blanket over the back of her chair and moved to stand behind her, waiting until she was upright before he raised his hands and lay a gold necklace across her neck. He fastened the chain with care and swept her hair aside to see that the gem sat right before letting her hair fall against her shoulders once more.
It was a teardrop stone that looked relatively clear at the top with a mix of blood reds, ambers, and gold at the bottom, all of the colours dancing together in the firelight, akin to a real flame. “I picked this up for you the other night, it's probably not the best time to give it to you, I've never really been any good at this stuff, Rei, but you make me want to be” he admitted, “it did make me think of you and that fiery spirit of yours,” Wendell pressed a kiss to Rei’s check. “You can always sell it if you don't like, it or it's not your colour,” he shrugged. Wendell was becoming quite the expert at ruining the moment, he knew nothing about jewelry or what was in fashion these days.
Rei hadn’t thought of the possible fact that Patrick might have been playing them. She smiled at the notion. It was rather peculiar that a bartender at a semi-rough tavern had never played cards. “Of course I want you. That never seems to change.” She purred into his ear, the tip of her tongue tracing across the flesh, over the peak of his ear, and down to the soft flesh of the lobe. Her pink tongue ran across her lips before she turned to the sizzling pan. It wouldn’t be long before the very late dinner was done.
When she straightened up to turn around, Rei was surprised to feel the coldness of a tiny string of metal drape gently across her neck and collarbone. She felt one hand brush away his hair and the other work the clasp of the necklace. With one glance down to the stone resting around her neck, her breath caught in her throat in a gasp. It was absolutely beautiful. It was a precious teardrop stone that looked like it held liquid fire within it, constantly swirling and changing as the light of the fireplace hit it. Her fingers delicately brushed the stone as her hair fell back around her shoulders.
He was downgrading himself, saying that he hadn’t given it to her at the right time. Wendell was right that he wasn’t any sort of expert at romance, his talents lying more in the realm of seduction and sex. This, though, seemed like the perfect time. They were alone, basking in the glow of a full hearth, about to enjoy a nice meal, and were together in the dark. “Wendell, it’s absolutely beautiful! I don’t know what to say.” His lips pressed to her flesh and it left it tingling. “Thank you, love. I’ll cherish it forever.”
She spun on her heel and pressed her hands against his sides, pressing her skin against his. “Why would I ever sell it! I’ll probably never take it off.” The weight was comfortable, and in the glint of the firelight there was the sheen of tears to her eyes. “I think you can be good at this. Just stop doubting yourself so much.” Rei leaned in and pressed a kiss to his neck and then the scruffiness of his cheek. “Just take what you feel and… go with it.” It was strange advice for someone who wasn’t taking her own advice. I love you, she wanted to say, but she couldn’t. Though she wondered if it reflected in her gaze.
“I should… get the pan.” With another brief touch to the new necklace around her neck, she grabbed a thick holder and took the skillet off, dividing the meet and vegetables neatly onto two plates. “I think I have a bottle of wine somewhere. Could you get it and pour us some?”
“None of that,” he grumbled playfully, having noticed the tears burning in her eyes. “Wear it, don't wear, you do whatever you like with it, it's yours,” he was firm about that, things were made for use, not keeping pristine and unused. Things could be replaced, people couldn't.
“I'll get the wine,” he agreed and wandered over to the kitchen cupboards, going through a couple before he found a bottle of wine and two glasses on a high shelf. Wendell took them down and filled the glasses generously before moving them over to the table. There was about half a glass left in the bottle, so instead of leaving it, he drank straight from the bottle, topping up the enjoyable buzz he had gained in the bar. They always seemed to be drinking, not that he had an issue with such.
Wendell took a seat at the table while Rei served up the meal, nothing special, and yet, the more he came home to things like this, the more he had grown to enjoy them. He tucked into the meat, carving it up on his plate with the knife and fork. “I should buy you cooking lessons,” Wendell said, and moments later, after glancing across at Rei’s face, realised that his comment could have been taken the wrong way, “because you seem quite good at it,” he added, “could be a bit of a professional in the making.”
“Well my choice is to wear it.” The fingertip of her index finger traced along his rugged jaw and touched on the tip of his nose playfully. “And never take it off. So that I might think of you whenever I see it.” It was cheesy and romanticized, but that’s how she was. She and Wendell were opposites in that way. He was mostly devoid of romantic notions and ideas, though this was a big step for him. A romantic gift even if he had no pomp and circumstance in delivering it.
Wendell found them wine and glasses, filling them generously and polishing off what little was left in the bottle. “Help yourself!” She teased, grabbing the plates and setting them on the table with a knife and a fork. There was a napkin she set between them to share. Rei took careful sips of the wine, having already developed a buzz from the wine they had drunk playing cards. Too much more and Wendell might have to carry her to her bed. Unlike the native Rharnians, she wasn’t so tolerant of alcohol even if she did enjoy a good glass of wine.
Rei took to her meat first and cut it into bite-sized pieces and popped one in her mouth before following it up with a bit of potato. She nodded, mostly to herself, noting that she thought it had a decent flavor for something she had just put together. Her face fell when he mentioned cooking lessons and her fork clinked softly against the plate. Did he not like it? But he quickly corrected the miscommunication, complimenting her food. “Oh I don’t know about professional. I don’t know if I’m that taken away with it. But I do enjoy cooking for you.” Her eyes drifted up as if to suggest that he would always be well taken care of.
When they had finished their dinner, she washed and tucked away the dishes and utensils. Only their glasses of wine and an empty wine bottle sat on the table. She slipped between him sitting in his chair and the edge of the table. The heat from the fireplace drifted through the house and kept it warm. The sound of rain was still pouring outside. “My love,” she whispered, her nose pressing into the side of his face as her lips teased the corner of his mouth. “My love,” she repeated, but this time in the tongue of the Sev’ryn. She knew the phrase because her father had often referred to her mother in this manner. “My father called my mother that for as long as I can remember.”
“Miu àìdá,” he tested the words on his tongue, “more like miu tìt’nari köv anou easea,” Wendell laughed, calling himself a pain in her backside. He put his arms around Rei and held her close, lifting his right hand to thread his fingers through her hair. “Don't waste your love on me, gorgeous,” he cautioned in a low, husky tone of voice. “I'm not a good man,” Wendell admitted, closed his fingers in her hair and kissed Rei. “I'll break your heart” he mouthed. It shouldn't had aroused him like it did, but the truth was oddly freeing, and that he felt confident enough to be honest around Rei had lifted a weight from his shoulders.
The desire to tell Rei about his night job was suddenly stronger than ever, and to fill the silence, and perhaps convince himself that it was a terrible idea, Wendell pushed his chair out and away from the table before getting to his feet. He left his clothes hung over the back of another chair to dry in front of the fire and went to the bathroom to try and clean his teeth as best he could. Wendell smirked, reminded of Rei’s little attack on Sugar in the doorway, and couldn't help but laugh, she really was like a flame, unpredictable and fiery. He drank a glass of water to chase the wine down, and left the small room to drag Rei into the bedroom with him, making no attempt to undress the woman, only to lie next to her on the bed.
“I'll be busy with work for the next few days,” he admitted. “I don't know when I'll next be able to come round.”
He tucked his arm under Rei, lying on his back, and pulled her against his side. There was no light in the room, but beyond the door the firelight cast moving shadows against the wall in the form of their clothing. Wendell closed his eyes, his fingers dancing slowly over the bare skin of Rei’s right side. “You should make me go…”
He was testing the words, and the fact that he didn’t take his clothes and run screaming from the house was a positive sign. Perhaps he was getting more accustomed to the idea. He spoke some other words in Xanthea, her brows knitting together as she tried to decipher what it was he was saying. ‘Pain’ and ‘backside’ were the only two words she picked up, but she could surmise the rest based on his mirthful tone. “Well you have been a pain in my ass,” she commented slyly, referring to times he had pleased her in unusual ways.
Silence hung among them and was soon filled with the scrape of the chair as Wendell headed for the bathroom. She heard the sound of water and relaxed against the side of the table, her fingers running over the teardrop stone around her neck that glinted and danced in the firelight. She smiled down at it and dropped it back against her chest when she heard his soft footfalls reenter the room. Wendell’s strong hands took her and pulled her away from the kitchen and the blanket of silence that covered words they couldn’t seem to form to one another.
She found herself in the bedroom, but instead of trying to strip her now dry slip and underwear from her, he instead pulled her into the comfort of the bed with him. They lay there tangled in covers, her back pressed against his chest and his arms encircling her like a protective lover. He whispered for her to tell him to go. He was always saying that he wasn’t a good man, that he would break her heart. But Rei saw something different in him- something he didn’t see when he looked at himself in the mirror. There was something there lingering beneath the surface.
“No. I want you to stay.” She sighed and pressed her body closer into the nook where she fit so perfectly. It was as if they had been perfectly crafted to fit one another. “I see something in you, miu àìdá.” She smiled in the darkness only to herself because she knew Wendell couldn’t see her. “You may break my heart, but you already have it.” She turned and pressed her lips against the scruffiness of his cheek. “I want you to have it. I’m not afraid.” She shifted her body in the bed so that she was facing him, still caught up in his arms, with her chin resting on his shoulder. “She likes you,” she commented quietly. She was referring the ethereal familiar that contentedly stretched out on the floor in her bedroom, relaxing. “She is content when you are here. Quiet.”
“Miu jere,” he rumbled lowly, my fire, the words meant. Wendell cast his gaze in the footprint of light formed at the base of the door on the floor, and smiled. This feeling wasn't new to him, that warm, contented buzz he felt lying with his arms wrapped around a woman, and yet, he knew Rei meant more to him than any of the other girls who had found themselves held against his form.
He coached her mouth playfully, repeating the word until it rolled off her tongue right, rewarding his lover with a lazy kiss. Xanthea could be a tricky language, and with so few other people he knew to practice it with, Wendell had also gotten a little rusty. “Mänyän ies ërö?” he questioned, repeating her words she is quiet, finding that to be a sentence that was all too easy to mistake to mean something else. “Should I wake her up?” he smirked, snaking his hand down over her belly. “Äbu sev snätxärëm lleri ïsë?”
Miu jere. My fire. The words resonated in her mind. She could certainly see why that might become his pet name for her. They were so cozy in the bed together, his warmth bringing a tingle to her skin. Every time he touched her, it was like a little jolt of static electricity that pulsed through her body. Right now it felt like a ripple of sparks dancing across her skin in rhythm. She smiled and sighed into the darkness, pressing further against him. She could be content to spend all her nights like this, but his nights were not always free.
Wendell was a little better than her at pronouncing the Xanthean words, though he coached her until she had that proper roll of the tongue. She laughed lightly and slipped her hand over his, her fingers falling between his perfectly. He spoke something else in Xanthea. She picked up the pronoun ‘she’ and the word ‘quiet’. She guessed that he must have been asking after what she said. Then his hand snaked over her belly as he asked if she wanted her to be woken up. Rei pushed his hand down towards the warmth between her legs.
“I was talking about E’ri. My wolf. My other soul.” She writhed beneath his touch and arms. “She is very attached to you.” She sighed and her neck arched along with the curve of her back. “But I wouldn’t mind being woken up.” Rei smiled and rocked her hips forward, pressing herself against his hand and his hips. Her hand moved up to his face, her fingertips dancing across the flesh of his jaw and his neck. Her lips pressed against his supple lips, devouring them with a sudden intensity. She rolled over onto her back and he moved over her, the night filled with sounds of pleasure.
Cooking: Preparing Vegetables
Cooking: Meat juices add flavour
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: My love
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: Pain in the butt
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: My fire
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: She is quiet
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: Shall I wake her?
Wendell: Gave you a gift
Wendell: Thinks he isn't very good at romance.
Wendell: Sometimes, isn't very good at romance.
Wendell: Thinks you should get cooking lessons. You're that good. Really.
Wendell: Says he'll break your heart
Wendell: Says you should make him go.
Loot:
Gained 1 x necklace
Fame:
+1 (cooked a meal for Wendell)
Devotion:
NA
Magic:
These points may NOT be used for arcana
Wendell
Points!:
Story: 5/5 Collaboration: 5/ 5 Structure: 5/ 5
Knowledge:
Seduction: Shall I compare thee to a beautiful necklace?
Psychology: Thinking before you speak can aid communication
Etiquette: It's good to compliment the chef, bad to tell them they could learn more.
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: My love
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: Pain in the butt
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: My fire
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: She is quiet
Language: Xanthea: Phrase: Shall I wake her?
Rei: Loves the necklace you gave her
Rei: Thinks you should stop doubting yourself
Rei: Wants you to stay
Rei: Sees good in you
Rei: Gives you her heart
Loot:
Thank you for deducting the gold from your ledger. Lost 1x necklace.
Fame:
+2 (gave a gift)
Devotion:
NA
Magic:
These points may NOT be used for arcana
Overview:
General comments. A lovely thread! What a fun couple they are - I really enjoy the interplay between them - and the intensity of their relationship. Story Lovely - really enjoyed it. You both write beautifully. Structure No issues at all!
Please do PM me if you think I've missed anything or you have any questions!
