Private Tales Graceless and Divine

[Kilien Basmarc]

The question he'd asked her being when the last time was she'd visited his grave.

To him, to his people, paying homage to late family members was as normal as afternoon tea. Rovani kept the likeness of their loved ones in the form of sketches or paintings in their possession. Whenever their caravans stopped and made home, those images were set out within the wagons so that their late loved ones could be there, too.

Do you ever just go to talk to him? he'd asked.

She must have misheard.

One moment she seemed lost in thought, the next she was on her feet and nearly set the cups of the table toppling with the brusqueness of her movements. Kilien had mostly finished his tea - there might've been some left in the pot but he could only drink so much. Eyes wide and lips parted, he gave a quick glance around, "Uhh - sure, yeah. Walk. Let's go."

He was out of his seat shortly and following her out of the teahouse the next moment. Though he had long legs and held no compunction for a walk to ... well, anywhere really, Vittoria seemed to be ushered along by some unseen purpose or force that made him expend effort to keep up.

He clipped his pace and trotted to catch up to her as they stepped out into the open street where the crowds had grown rather significantly. Where had all these people come from? The town didn't seem big enough for them all.

"Wow," he remarked absently, "got busy out here. Where uh - where we headed next?"

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria tried to at least not storm off, but with his long legs keeping up with her own, her boots fell with heavier steps as she lead him to the outskirts of the small town. Towards the trees, where a lone pebble path turned into a road that lead to a nice home. It was made of stone, dark and beautiful, with gardens that put any country estate to shame.

"Better, is it not? Less crowded and more quiet." They had only walked a few minutes before starting on the path to the home. The river ran behind it, and Vittoria let loose a deep sigh.

She fetched a key tied to a leather strip, looped around her belt. "Did you want to come in? I intend on staying a short while, and find a book in my library here..."

This was the home she had spent her summers in, the home most of her belongings were taken from since her father's passing. The home in Vel Luin was closed, a spiteful thing on her part to drive her step mother and her son to live at their original address, nothing of which was to the standard of anything noble.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

"Sure, I guess," Kilien replied as he walked alongside her, "I don't much mind crowds."

It was at least a bit easier to keep up with her now they were beyond the growing population of people in town. He wondered where it was she was leading him, though he'd learned years ago that silence and patience answered more questions than it didn't. So he contented himself to remain quiet and observant, admiring the countryside views their walk granted and the open, fresh evening air.

It smelled different here than at the Academy. There wasn't a pervading odor of hormones, angst, and fear - for one.

A house manifested along the road, grander than anything he'd ever called home. His eyes traced the lines that defined it to all who stood before: it spoke of wealth and power, but with taste and tact. Vittoria had never come across as one who lauded her status aside from challenging anyone who would let her.

And so the Lady invited the dog into her home. He didn't answer her, but gave her an easy smile and followed her in. He could have stayed outside, smoked his pipe and enjoyed the arrival of the nighttime sky but he also enjoyed being in places he probably shouldn't. This house definitely felt like one of those places.

"So you live... lived here?" Kilien asked as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, eyes skating about curiously.

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

"Only in the summer when my father was deployed on long missions. My uncle, his best friend, owns it now. He and his wife have always made this a home away from home... in which I am grateful for."

She need not bother the staff by rapping on the door, not when she preferred to enter at her own leisure. That was what a key was for, was it not?

The interiors were homely rather than stately, suited more to a commoner family, but the wealth of a First Level Dreadlord could be seen in some aspects. Upon admitting Kilien in, Vittoria shut the door behind them and turned. At the end of the hall appeared an older woman, dressed in a way that denoted her position her. The housekeeper, Tessa, saw the young Initiates and huffed, hands on her hips as she stared at Vittoria. "Don't they feed you at that school of yours? Honestly V, you need to be eating more. You look paler than you did two days ago!"

"Kilien, this is Tessa, the housekeeper. Tessa, my friend, Kilien." Vittoria exchanged pleasantries without fuss, but lingered beside Kilien. The housekeeper knew of Vittoria's strangeness, and waved off the Lady, but the novelty of Vittoria claiming a friend did not seem to strike the older woman with intrigue as the lady from the tea house.

"Are we staying long, or would you like me to arrange something for the late afternoon?"

"I am looking for a few things, and perhaps I will show my friend around a little..." It had not been part of her plan to stay in Orren too long, but there was a comfort in this tranquil part of the town. Despite it's proximity to the main heart of the town, the small estate was a quiet haven. Best savour this before they headed back to the Academy, as they would have to walk through the festivities before returning.

"Well, pleasure to meet a friend of the Lady's. She's only ever brought home one friend and I am happy to see her making more." Tessa's face now held some warmth, directed to Kilien. "Give us a shout when you need something or on your way out! Your aunt and uncle are not home presently, but you can find me in the dining room reframing the portraits."

And with that, Vittoria and Kilien were left alone.

"Come along now." She prompted, walking down the hall and further into the home. Rounding a couple of corners, Vittoria comes to a stop before a door. Made from a dark oak, she opened it to reveal the sizeable room. There was a bed, vanity, wardrobe and dresser, and the most eye catching display of books upon books. There were the shelves built into one wall, and then there were stacks littering the floor before it... although there were others stacked in smaller piles on other flat surfaces of the room. Perhaps it may take a while before she found the copies of books she was after.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

Equipped with the wits to know when to smirk and when to smile, the dog of the Dreadlord Academy held his manners in check as he was permitted inside and greeted unceremoniously by the Housekeep, Tessa. A respectable nod was offered in return for her unusual warmth, though he might've liked to thank her he also held his tongue. Congeniality was his gift to Vittoria for bringing him into what he assumed to be something of a sacred place to her.

Instead he let his gaze wander about, inspecting the home and its contents, caught briefly flat-footed at the summons issued to follow. Now he smirked, bristle and beard bending over it as he gaze fell back to the retreating figure of Larrainth.

She was nice to watch while walking away.

"Yes ma'am," he drawled after her, boots pressing him across floor and woven runner to do as bid.

Unwittingly, he found himself in her bedchambers of all places and he stepped inside with a hairsbreadth of casual wariness. This was not where he had expected her to bring him, then again he never expected to be where he was in general, as her friend of all things.

"Nice place," Kilien offered while standing at the center of the room, "tidy."

He wandered a bit, listlessly trying not to be intrusive while incapable of fully sloughing his own curiosities. A ring glinted as he rapped his knuckles across the surface of a wooden dresser, polished and clean as if Tessa had just finished dusting in here.

"You uh... bring friends here often?"

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria spared him a glance, the smallest of twitches at the corners of her mouth could be seen before she turned back around to the stack of books she was perusing. "Only King has been here, but I have not brought him round in near two years. He was supposed to be with me when... my father passed." But Vittoria had decided against it. Had wanted to be alone when she came here to say her goodbyes.

"Feel free to look at the books. Anything you find interesting, I may be persuaded to allow you to borrow them." She moved towards the shelves now, sighing as her eyes flicked past the gilded writing on the leather and cloth spines, reaching a knee to the bottom shelf and used that to help elevate her a few inches taller to reach a book with a satisfied smile. It was on magical theory of languages foreign to Vel Anir, but the readings were fascinating. Now she stood back and scanned the shelves again. "It is a lovely town, Orean. The festival actually is quite enjoyable, but... perhaps it is best to miss out on it. We have a poison study report to draft up, after all."

And from the shelf, she pried a book free and held it towards him, a small smirk on her lips. "Any others you are allergic to?" The book stated The Complete List of Poisons but looked aged enough that perhaps some items were left off the list.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

"Persuaded..." her word echoed from his tongue, a look swept slowly across the stacks, lingered over their owner and master, then moved on to the book in her hand as it was proffered.

Amusement deflated immediately from his face as he read the title embossed on the cover, upside-down and backwards as it was in her hand to his eyes. Kilien's boots sidled closer, his head tilting on his neck as a dog might tilt at a serpent on the ground, sizing up the threat. Staring at it and the looming sense of reality it cemented upon them; an academy project standing as one more feat to be overcome but to what end?

"Mm..." a thoughtful rumble from his chest, "all the ones that will kill me, I suspect." A look glanced at her from beneath heavy brows and behind unruly locks, disinterest evident but amusement still flickering like a candle flame that refused to go out.

"What's that one?" the ruff of his jawline twitched in a nod toward the target of his gaze: it was the book in her other hand that caught his attention. From where he stood he caught the word theory. Theory was of interest to him, the project wasn't.

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

The look in his eyes made the smirk fall flat, her eyes widening slightly as she watched him with an apprehension she did not think would strike within her. His close proximity, his gaze, even his voice had made her think of the moment earlier that day they tested the poison on him. Did he not pull her closer by the desk she had sat on, gazed at her like this?

"It is a book... about language being important to some magical practices." She had wanted to take a step back, but half a step would have her against the stacks. She wanted some distance, for the control of this moment when something foreign swelled up inside her the moment Kilien had come near. "Foreign magical practices... I though Proctor Krixus would enjoy the read."

Vittoria dared to look away, only so that she could swap the books in hand and offer him the Theory book with her own narrowed eyes of attentiveness.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

Language theory in relation to magic was indeed less a theory and more a known element of power. Even Kilien knew of this - college magic was rife with it. This book must be quite old, he thought, and there was certainly nothing wrong with that. Modern magic often overlooked older wisdom, but he'd found those aged pieces of knowledge to be without fault more than not.

A brow larked at her, not so much in response to her words but in response to the quickening of her heartbeat, which he could sense in more ways than one while standing so close. To the tune of anxiety, but from what he could not easily say. She did not fear him, of this he was as certain as the sun did rise in the east and set in the west every damn day.

The line of his mouth curled down faintly as he forced his attention away from that staccato rhythm and to the book once more. A hand calmly took it from her own, "Krixus huh?"

Kilien eyed her, wresting a smirk back upon his face, "How do I persuade you to let me borrow it first?"

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Strangeness consumed her, for Vittoria then pressed the book to his chest, her own hand holding it up as she met his gaze steadily. "Tell me of an ancient magical theory I may not know of, and I will take my hand from this book."

There was something about him that made her want to challenge him, to make him stay near just that little longer. As torturous as Vittoria could be challenging her classmates, her taunts had no effect on Basmarc. In fact, he made Vittoria want to step up her game, to play alongside him to a game she did not know if they were playing or not.

"If you want to read more theory books, the entire shelf just behind me, above my reach... books imported from all over Arethil. You are welcome to those but this book... I would like to enjoy seeing you persuade me."

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

Kilien Basmarc's gaze slowly dropped from her own intense stare to the hand that pressed the book against his sternum and there he felt the inkling of the beast's desirous tang ping along his ribs, playing the first notes of carnal want that he'd not felt for some time. It may have been weeks away from a full moon, but there were certain things that could stir his curse within.

Silver.

Mugwort.

Wolf's blood.

And pretty girls with interesting books. Apparently.

When he looked back up at her there was a strain to his jawline and an ethereal gleam to his gaze that flashed like a reflection of firelight. For a moment he didn't want to tell her anything. There were plenty of things he could think of that might pass the test but briefly he could think of nothing else other than yanking the book from her grip and throwing it across the room to make better use of their closeness and the bookshelves.

"Skywhales," he said rather suddenly before gently clearing his throat and regaining his senses.

Myths. Legends. Told as folk tales much like anything regarding the fae.

"They are the source of power behind the lost dwarven skyships. We can't replicate them because they hunted the skywhales to extinction for that very power eons ago."

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

It was as if she had been called into a spell, one of bewitchment and... an element she could not identify, but it almost drew her near to him. A beckoning in his gaze, and she had almost been too powerless to ignore it.

Until a single word broke them both from reverie, and Vittoria blinked at him.

"Skywhales?" She questioned him so suddenly, there was no time to filter her inquiry and give away that she had not been familiar. Her brows raised as he went on with the explanation, and perhaps there was a morsel of disappointment that he truly did as she had asked.

Vittoria put down the book on poisons down on a pile of miscellaneous books, her now free hand reaching for one of Kilien's and guided it to the book she still held at his chest. "Well done. I did not know of that..." Her hand patted his hand, which had been placed partially over her other. "A good boy can have his prize now. No grubby hands when you read it, and you better keep it in the condition I have given it to you in, otherwise I will have to exact a reckoning upon you, Kilien Basmarc."

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

Huh. That actually worked.

Well shit. A part of him hoped she'd dismiss that as nonsense, like most Initiates would have.

Kilien's eyes didn't leave her own now, not even when she took his free hand to place it on the book. The additional touch engendered further pinging within his chest that swelled with an audible, low rumbling not unlike his sound of thought from before.

The novelty of being called good boy was not lost on him. Nor was her threat, but it was the threat he was more interested in.

Leaning in just a bit closer, pressing just a bit more against her hands, he offered her his best mischievous smile, "Promise?"

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

For the first time, Vittoria experience a fluttering sensation throughout her chest. It had started in her middle, but that step forward had made Vittoria step back with his movements on instinct, and found herself against the bookshelves she had spent years as a child collecting many books to create her own collection in her personal library.

With the wisdom and knowledge of the world at her back, none of the topic in those books could help her understand what it was she was feeling as Kilien smiled at her like that.

"Of course."

Her brows furrowed furiously. Her voice had come out in a whisper, and sounded like every bit of the promise she was willing to uphold, all of which lacked the threat she should have been to him. Her hand betrayed her then, pressing against that slight lean he had against her, and could feel just how much closer he indeed could be had he wished.

But Vittoria did not make a move to free herself either.

"I am beginning to think you crave danger, Kilien." Still, her voice was nothing above a whisper. She knew he would hear her, for how could he miss a thing about her standing this close. Vittoria's eyes searched his, flicking between his eyes as she continued. "But what does that say about me too? That I want to see you..."

Crave. The word died on her lips as her heart practically skipped a beat and surprised her with the feeling.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

Crave danger? Him?

The statement gave him pause if only to reflect on it. Reflect on himself. He'd disagree with her at face value. Kilien craved food, rest, and peace. He craved freedom. He craved a return to his home and his family. He craved happiness and warmth. Closeness and intimacy. Trust.

Did he crave danger?

Being so close to Vittoria allowed him to swim in his senses about her. How she smelled, the sound of her hushed words and her beating heart. The look of her eyes like a dark and stormy sea made him nearly homesick. He wondered if he'd taste the salt of the ocean on her lips or in her olive skin.

Perhaps what he really craved, in that very moment, was Vittoria herself. If that wasn't craving danger he didn't know what was.

"Maybe I do," Kilien admitted in return, his voice equally hushed as he leaned into a step back that gave in to her pressure at his chest like the good boy that he was, "I think it just means you have good taste."

His smirk returned as he tipped the book toward her in thanks, "I will do my best to keep it pristine." He stepped away in full, giving her back the precious personal space, and moved to take a seat on the foot of her bed where he folded the book open and gave its pages a cursory perusal.

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria stiffened as Kilien's face went through many looks, but none of which she could identify easily, only that it captivated her enough to render her silent and waiting... expecting him to...

As he pulled away, she loosed every breath she harboured in her lungs, watching him wander to her bed and made himself comfortable at it's edge. She whirled around so that her back was to him, scowling furiously at herself for what happened in those moments. Of course, Vittoria knew what she felt for him, but denial was easier to grasp than the reality that someone could disarm her so easily within a day.

To appear busy, she began to scan the shelves again, practicing her breathing to calm her sudden nerves.

"Would you be interested at all to attend the festival before we leave for the Academy?" She asked, feigning nonchalance. Vittoria looked to him as she reached for a book, peering over her outstretched arm. "They have plenty of treats on offer..." He did like to eat, and was an easier excuse to.... to what? Vittoria had no real idea of why she had thought to ask him this, but the longer she thought about it, the more obvious it became that she was not ready to leave him presence so soon.

Extending their visit to Orean meant perhaps she could... figure out why she felt this way around him.

"Perhaps the report can be written later... it is not often we get to leave the Academy to enjoy something like this."

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

The pages rippled loose from his thumb, his eyes keenly scanning words through a faint squint. Didn't have his reading glasses readily handy and he didn't feel like fishing them out right now, nor did he believe that his heavily distracted mind could focus enough to read. So instead he allowed himself to fall back upon the mattress and that is how she would find him upon looking over her shoulder.

Sprawled, book once more flat on his chest, thoughts of book cases and lips and hands forming images in his mind he had no doubts would infiltrate his dreams in the nights to come.

Perhaps his next solo mission would take him far enough away to find a flophouse where he could clear such things from his musings.

"Would you be interested at all to attend the festival before we leave for the Academy?"

By the Gods, even her voice now stirred him. Was he so certain the full moon was weeks away? This was how he felt in the week leading up-to. Maybe this month was a blood moon... Kilien started at the ceiling while she mentioned treats and clamped his jaw shut to refrain from making a lewd comment on just what a nice little treat he had right here.

But fresh air did sound like a good idea. Food and drink always worked well to sort him out and it had been several hours since he'd last eaten. Just pancakes and blueberries and tea. Not had meat today. That's what it was.

"Perhaps the report can be written later... it is not often we get to leave the Academy to enjoy something like this."

His head lifted from the down comforter of her bed to look at her from where he lay, eyes narrowed faintly in consideration while the mischief returned once again to his face like a bird returning to its nest. Natural and so very at-home there. Shirking academics for fun - now she was speaking his language.

"I think that is the best idea you've had all day," Kilien looked her over as he rolled to prop himself up on one elbow, "how many more books do you need?"

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

He looked something out from a painting by the way he had rested on her bed, the book opened across his chest and the hint of sun rays filtering through the window had gilded him to the scene. Kilien looked... peaceful, but not quite. There was a complication to the image, an emotion unseen but evoked something from her as she stared. She had been still staring the moment he moved, propping himself up and Vittoria was glad for the distance as her heart quickened again seeing him warm in the sunlight.

"I can... ask for some titles to be sent my way." She answered quickly, some tomes already tucked into the crook of her other arm as she turned to face him.

Vittoria began to approach, slowly peering down at Kilien. "We can leave the books here to collect before be return to the Academy." She leaned one knee onto the edge and angled herself to reach for the book he would borrow. Vittoria did this slowly, perhaps curious if touching his chest would ignite something, and for a brief moment she rested her fingertips there before curling around the top of the book and lifting it to close on his chest. "You can read this one in the carriage by wand light."

She had no real clue if such a thing existed, but Vittoria had witnessed himself healing his reaction earlier that day, so perhaps a reading light was not so farfetched.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

She sure did like to take her time moving around him, though he couldn't rightly raise a complaint as it gave him all the time it took to watch her. Watch her he did, hazel eyes following the Initiate as she approached, set her weight on the mattress, and reached to reclaim the book from his chest.

But she lingered, and he'd been fine with everything up until the lingering. He liked to think he knew how to read women fairly well - had plenty of experience doing just that. Learned from making plenty of mistakes, too. If Vittoria were any other woman, he could have sworn without a hint of doubt that she was silently showing her own interest in the very thoughts and visions currently swimming through his head.

But she was Vittoria and something instinctual told him that wasn't the case. This felt more like two predators sniffing and pawing at one another, sussing out one another's intentions and deciding if they were aligned. He felt now that this was exactly what was happening and his instincts knew better than to act on his carnal wants.

For now.

The intensity of his gaze softened as he peeled it away from her face to look at the hand reclaiming the book, still settled over its binding where it lay on his chest. The desire to grab hold of her wrist and yank her onto the bed was strong enough to set the beat of his own heart a bit more strongly. His own hand shifted back over the book and over the back of hers, fingertips brushing past wrist until the metal of his rings settled over her knuckles.

Tempting. So tempting.

"How do you know about wand light?" Kilien looked back to her, playing skeptical of her knowledge.

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria stared at their hands a moment, before drifting the ocean swells of her eyes to meet his gaze. He had asked her a question, but she did not know if she were able to form an answer when all thoughts were centered on the feel of his palm over the back of her hands. The rings he had there, her eyes went back to them and she wanted to inspect each and every one of them slowly.

But like magnets set to attract, her gaze met his once more.

"I did not... but it is a spell that is not too difficult to perform even with college magic, is it not?"

Her hand twitched, fingers clawing slightly more into the cloth of his shirt beneath his jacket. Pinching the fabric under the book. "I also believe that you could also make flowers bloom with that wand. You could even light a fire that never burns out... as long as you wish it to burn." Vittoria's lips curled slightly. "I could be wrong, very wrong but I would believe wand light is achievable at your level."

And with that, she pushed him back down to the bed and swiped the book from his chest in one quick sequence. "Tell me I am wrong." Vittoria smiled, his mischief speaking to her own.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

Something about the way she talked about magic and how the spark of her imagination flickered in her gaze while she did so. It was intense the way she held his eyes with her own in a way he did not know of in any other. Were she a sorceress, she'd have no problem enchanting others. Maybe she was doing it right now.

He was struck. Whether by her words or her stare or her lips or the grip of her hand on the book, when she shoved him back on the bed she found zero resistance and it knocked the breath square from his lungs.

Wolf lay there, dumbstruck by the calamity of war now erupting within his chest. Kilien surrendered to it, to her, but simply refused to act on any of it. That would certainly get him into trouble - as tempting as that trouble was.

He glanced at her, caught her wry smirk, and gave a light snort in return.

"You're wrong," he said with his own smirk, poking the tiger merely for the fun of it because he could not deny himself that much.

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria's face fell into another quiet and curious expression. With the books, she placed them on the nearby bedside table that was miraculously free. Sitting there just above Kilien's head, she twisted to lean forward onto outstretched arms to peer at him upside down. "No, I cannot be." She countered with a frown.

"Is it that you cannot do it or perhaps you are capable, but choose not to do it?" There he goes, leaving her perplexed when she had been sure she would know his capabilities. "You healed yourself earlier and you mean to tell me you cannot produce a lick of light from that wand?"

But of course, he did not need to read in the carriage on their return back to the Academy. He could have another nap, he could....

Vittoria's eyes glazed over with distracted thoughts, which seemed easy to do when looking into his eyes of mottled colours.

"And here I thought you were capable of many things... but the ability to read at night in a dark carriage, how disappointing. You would not attempt such a thing for me to read either?"

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

He'd never needed a light to read by. Given his night vision, he'd never needed a light for anything where darkness was concerned, but these were things that Vittoria didn't need to know. That no one really needed to know. The less everyone knew, the better - that was what Harkenov told him.

Couldn't help but agree with the crotchety old Proctor there.

Having not moved from where she'd flattened him, Kilien looked up at her as she loomed over him and found the view to be quite amenable. He especially liked the way her long black hair fell in curtains around him, immediately evoking the desire to tangle his fingers through it.

"Maybe," he smiled and stared right back up at her as one hand lifted to gently stroke through the ebony locks once like a harpist drawing their fingers across the strings, "if you asked me nicely."

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

What would those fingers feel like running through her hair at her scalp? Tucking strands behind her ear?

The gentleness that he could offer, Vittoria never thought she would warm to such an idea for it. The grit and dirt she had been trained to crawl over, to rise and dust herself off, she had thought affection for someone would be the same, and much more difficult for her to wrap her head around it. Perhaps she had wanted that as a defense against Kilien and his ability to weave through cracks that were never there in her walls.

But the gentleness that look up at her, that played with the waterfall of hair framing around him...

"Ask you nicely... and you would do as I ask?" A breath caught in her lips, but Vittoria did not shy away from him or his fingers.

 

[Kilien Basmarc]

His hand paused in the hair that fell over her shoulder and then it quietly curled a lock of black around his pointer finger.

Kilien had thought her question to be rather self-evident and this fact made his smile stretch a bit more on one side in slight amusement, "I'm here aren't I?"

He'd been doing what she asked all day long, even when she hadn't asked nicely.