Private Tales Here We Go Again

[Smiling One]

"Oh come on Ari!" Willis said giving his fiancé a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Don't tell me you've forgotten all the times that we've danced. You couldn't be that blackout drunk!" He crossed his arms as Ari retreated to the dark areas near the brook. "Oh wait......" he muttered to himself his remembering the times Ari stumbled around like Troll who spun around one too many times. "You were blackout drunk......"

By the time Ari came back, Willis' heart skipped a beat Ari did clean up nicely with the moonlight causing the small crystals of her dress to shimmer. Her bare feet sinking into the ground as she gave Willis a wink telling him not to die on her. "Ari....." Willis slowly approached her gently placing his hands over hers looking deeply into her dark brown eyes.

"That's never going to happen not when I finally have someone to fight for."

It was then he wrapped his arms around her waist and began to hug her gently staring at the stars while he did so.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa inhaled deeply, savoring the familiar smell that was Willis. Her heart pounded in her chest, tears stinging at the back of her eyes. She wanted to cry, but not from heartbreak or sadness. For the first time in years, she wanted to rejoice. Yet here they were, in the middle of a forest, headed to a village of toad sages that needed saving. Worse, she was wearing uncomfortable and ill-fitting clothing, with little to no chance of recovering her things. There were worst things though: she could be dead.

Burying her face against his neck, she nuzzled his skin with her nose as she clung to him. There was a desperate need in the way Arisa embraced Willis, the way she stepped with him beneath the moonlight. Her mouth pressed against his throat softly as she nipped at him.

“Good,” Arisa murmured with relief. Her eyes drifted shut. “Because I can’t stand to keep losing everyone, Willis. I’m tired of so much loss, of so much struggle, so much fighting, and all for nothing. I’m tired of being miserable. Some days, I wish the worst.”

 

[Smiling One]

Willis saw Ari's eyes shimmer though it was more tears of happiness than of anger or sadness the usual combination whenever he and Ari argued and went their separate ways. For a moment the young man felt at ease, the years of getting back, Willis rescuing Ari from whoever she pissed off, a night of passion and then instant regret admittedly took its toll on both of them. It was either now or never, tie the knot and be bounded by fate or sever the bond and never see each other again.

But with the way that Willis and Ari craved each other's touch, there was no way that a bond that was forged by pain and loneliness would be severed this easily. Willis began stroking Ari's hair as a tingle surged through his body when Ari nipped him in the neck. "I know Ari," Willis said hugging her twice. "You and have only stuck together because no one else has helped us over the years."

He brushed the tears from Ari's eyes with his thumb as he kissed her on the lips. "I will not die Ari," Willis whispered. "Not with my wife needing me."

And he needed her.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa found comfort in those words, the relief spreading through her features and warming them. She returned his kisses, stopping only to allow a yawn to travel past her lips. She could use sleep, and she was hungry. The thief glanced back toward the camp the others were setting up, a sudden burst of guilt darkening her features. Honestly, they ought to be helping the others. Arisa looked at Willis again, tilting her head in the direction she looked before.

“I s’pose we ought to go help, don’t you think? And maybe get some rest? We’ve got a lot ahead of us, and honestly I just want to enjoy the night in your arms,” the woman murmured quietly. “Your future wife isn’t a morning person on the best of days.”

It was a playful taunt, punctuated with an attempt to stifle a second yawn.

 

[Smiling One]

"Fuck it," Willis said kissing Ari passionately his hands rubbing against her exposed back. "Forget tradition Ari," he said. "Before we go to bed why don't we say our vows now? You know me I'm not one to wait until something happens. I'll be honest anything could happen tomorrow and I don't want any uncertainty. So....."

The young man placed his hands over hers gently leaning against her forehead. "Do you take me as your husband Arisa Lovelace?" he asked.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

The sudden change of pace started Arisa, but she did not draw back from Willis. Something about the urgency in his desire to exchange the vows unsettled her, a gut feeling that perhaps something might be wrong. Or that something would be wrong. She did not want to think about it, of all the ways things could go wrong. She hated the doubt that suddenly darkened her mind with uncertainty as he pressed his forehead to hers.

Was a vow spoken between two people in the presence of only the gods and their critters genuine? This was not the fairytale wedding she once dreamed of; it was as far from it as she ever could have imagined, and yet it still came to the same end. She bit the proverbial bullet, her fingers squeezing his tightly.

“I do,” she murmured quietly. Those dark eyes remained on his, crystal clear and transparent windows into her soul. “Do you take me as your wife? Forever and always? Faithful and true, in sickness and in health, Willis?”

 

[Smiling One]

Willis wasn't one to be bound by marriage vows finding them cheesy and part of him felt a little embarrassed for doing these vows. Yet Ari was always smitten with these types of vows. She dreamed of being married and moving out of the outer city one day. Willis was far from a prince charming nor did he have any intentions of being one but for Ari it is nice for her to realize her dream.

Even against the rage of his mother saying that he was a nobody that he will always be breaking women's hearts, Willis found a woman that he can be with for eternity. Of all the women whom Willis was with and the people he truly loved, it ended in heartbreak. Willis began to think that his mother was right until tonight where it wasn't throe of lust but pure, genuine love.

"I, Willis Reede , take you, Arisa Lovelace, to be my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to the God's holy ordinance."

Was this really happening? Was Willis actually going to be married? It all felt like a dream.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

It was cheesy. In a nearly cringeworthy way if Arisa were to be on the outside looking in. She wasn’t though; instead she stood before Willis barefoot in a dress she loathed wearing, exchanging vows with no witnesses other than whatever gods may or may not exist. Arisa was not a particularly religious woman though. Meeting his gaze beneath the moonlight dappled canopy, the thief spoke softly:

“I, Arisa Lovelace, take you, Willis Reede, to be my wedded Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do us part, according to the God’s holy ordinance.”

The words flowed effortlessly from her lips, imbued with the strength and ferocity of the thief’s love. Leaning upward, Arisa rose onto the balls of her feet and kissed him deeply.

 

[Smiling One]

Well now what?

So they said their cheesy vows which something Willis saw multiple times in the outer city of Alliria when he was a child. There was one thing missing from all this embarrassing ordeal. "Of course!" Willis thought staring into Ari's brown eyes. "Kiss the fucking bride! Well shit I can just do that without saying all that-"

Ari pressed his lips against Willis' kissing her passionately. "Looks like she had the same thoughts as me," He thought kissing back wrapping his arms around her slender waist. "By the power invested me and all that shit," Willis said trying to power through this silly vow. "I'm gonna pronounce us man and wife. I guess from here on out, you're now known as Arisa Reede."

The young man smiled as he kissed her again with ferocity. "Who the fuck knows what tomorrow might bring," he whispered. "But just know you are my wife Arisa Reede and we will get through this together."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

“I have faith in that,” Arisa remarked with a grin. “So, you gonna help me out of this dress or not?”

She winked playfully at Willis, determined not to let her thoughts wonder too much too deeply. She did not to dampen her spirits with what could or would not be, and overthinking was the bane of any one’s existence, especially when one used alcohol as a crutch to deal with the symptoms of still being alive. Perhaps things could change now. Perhaps… Perhaps she could find a reason, by this time choosing him instead of trying to make him choose her.

Time and time again, Arisa’s livelihood was taken from her. By her closest friends, by those she dared to love. Maybe her misery was entirely self-inflicted. Her eyes closed for a moment, a genuine smile surfacing on her features again moments later as she regarded her husband. A chortle bubbled from her throat, proceeding a rather grim promise:

“I won’t live without you.”

 

[Smiling One]

Willis chuckled. "Don't mind if I do Mrs. Reede," he said slowly taking off her the straps of her dress revealing her bare breasts. "You saved my life Ari," Willis whispered. "When my mother abandoned me, you were the one who wiped away my tears, you were the one who gave me hope that there is life beyond the squalor that we lived in. You gave me my name and gave me a new life."

He dipped in to Ari's face pressing his lips as though he wanted to breathe his very soul into her. One of the few times in his life, Willis was genuinely happy and based on the bright features on Ari's face it was though that this was the best time in her life. "I love you Ari," Willis said removing the last of bits of her dress while gently placing onto the grass.

"I will live for you."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa found comfort in his words, and pleasure in their consummation. When they were finished, with hot and heavy breath, the thief curled up against Willis, just as she had so many times before.

“Do you think they’ve fallen asleep yet?” she murmured quietly, referring to their companions back at the camp. She lifted her head slightly, peering past him toward the way they came from initially.

Her mind was still on his words, that he would live for her. It was a loaded statement, one full of all sorts of meanings. Some could be good, some bad. She liked to think he meant it in the good way, as in that was what he wanted, too.

 

[Smiling One]

Once again Willis and Ari lay naked with Ari's head resting against Willis' chest. They were in the middle of the grassy field with Willis lazily staring at the stars wondering what had transpired. He and Ari were married right it was hard to believe it right now. They didn't marry through the traditional way but Willis assumed that they'll have to get a marriage certificate soon perhaps from Alliria though neither person wanted to go back to that place.

"I think so it's very late," Willis murmured kissing Ari on her forehead as he wrapped his body around hers. "You know consummation is taken very seriously among the nobility in some places." Willis said beginning to stroke Ari's hair. "It's good thing we've practiced a lot to prepare for it." the young man grinned kissing Ari on the cheek.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

“Of course. When you have all the wealth you could dream of and life is grand,” the thief mused bitterly, “it’s your duty to have children. The sooner you get on it, the better.”

And yet, it was the kind of life most people dreamed of. Few things were better than bathing in the lap of luxury, and Arisa had more than her fair share of tasting that sort of life. When you were hired to steal expensive things, you learned to fit into whatever mold necessary.

Arisa emitted a soft yawn, grumbling tiredly. “I suppose we ought to head back before they start looking for us.”

 

[Smiling One]

Willis sighed he's seen how the nobility lived, sure they were rich and had privileges that people could dream of but they tended to be out of touch of what the common folk desired and ended up serving themselves. Besides it wasn't a life Willis wanted, to sit down and not experience the world sounded dreadfully boring.

"Nah," Willis shrugged placing Ari next to his chest. "I let Kikwi know where we are no need to worry them looks focus on us and where we going to go after this mess with the Toads is finished. I'm sure you still dream of having children."

Even though Willis didn't want any, he was willing to hear whether or not Ari wanted to still have a family.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

A dry chuckle left Arisa’s lips. Children. Gods, she did still want at least one of those little brats. Yet no matter what the future held for her; she was not sure it was a wish she wanted to see fulfilled. Arisa sighed deeply.

“I do,” she murmured, almost inaudibly. “But I’m not so sure that’s feasible. Not in my line of work. Perhaps I ought to find something a bit more honest.”

As she spoke, the thief tapped a finger against his chest, watching it rise and fall under the moonlight. The simple act of watching Willis breathe comforted Arisa beyond measure. Half-joking, she mused aloud, “Is it bad that if I had the spine for it, I’d steal a ship and take to the sea?

 

[Smiling One]

Willis sighed Ari knew that Willis didn't want any children and he knew that he probably fathered a few somewhere in Arethril. But considering that they were going to go where ever the wind takes them, it's going to be tough to have a child travelling around. Besides with Willis' line of work being a Monster Hunter and all it makes things even more challenging.

"Living dangerously is what we do," the young man said stroking her hair. "But perhaps we should wait awhile and maybe settle down before doing so. There's so much of the world that still hasn't been explored. So many things yet to be uncovered." Willis' began to gently rub Ari's stomach. "Hell," he said. "With all the fucking we do I'm pretty sure there's a kid forming in your gut right now."

It was then Willis gently grabbed Ari's finger and kissed it before returning it to his chest. "Not really," Willis smirked. "I wanted to do the same thing. You're talking to a former Pirate here with nautical experience where did you want to set sail? There's still places yet to be discovered across the seas. Those Easterlings and their Ki sounds interesting given a year ago I've met the Toads who claim to be from the Eastern lands."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa knew, yes. But it didn’t change her own desires, and it was for that reason that she tried so desperately to ensure that their flings were nothing more than that: she was content with being an old flame, if that’s what it took. The only change between then and now was that Arisa knew what she was and was not capable of handling. Raising a child alone was difficult enough without the added threat of a sketchy employment history.

She did not know that he probably had children, and it was better that way. It was easier to dismiss another person’s desire for a child. Even more so when it was a want you did not understand. If he had children, it was knowledge best kept to himself.

“Your life doesn’t have to end just because you have kids,” Arisa said, a dry chuckle leaving her lips. She savored the warmth of his body near hers, the movement of his fingers in her hair soothing. Without thinking, she remarked bitterly, “I think if it was that easy, I’d have kids by now.”

Only it was not that easy. Conception was one of those things that for some women came easily. Usually it was Willis that avoided the subject at hand, but Arisa uncharacteristically slid beyond the scope of that issue to discuss their immediate future. Particularly, the idea of stealing a ship.

“I know you did a pirate stint. That is why you left me behind in the first place,” Arisa remarked, her tone accusatory. She caught her tongue between her teeth, silencing herself for a moment. Her past grievances with Willis were just that: past. She knew better than to bring up things just to make a point.

“I don’t know where we’d go, but with our own ship we wouldn’t need to settle down and stop seeing the world,” she said finally.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis smiled staring at Ari his fingers slowly stroking her hair while she placed her body close against his. He can feel the wind bristling against his skin. It would've caused a shiver but thankfully the warmth of their bodies prevented them from feeling the cold. He never told Ari outright that he wanted children the way he evaded the answer or rolled his eyes every time Ari talked about them told the whole stories the way words can never convey. To Willis children were a hindrance, he didn't hate children quite the opposite but to raise a child meant sacrificing his personal desires which was traveling the world.

"My life won't end," Willis said kissing her forehead. "But it'll come down to a screeching halt, children have needs something I just can't provide Ari. What if you're pregnant right now? The only jobs I can do have a chance of me dying. How Is that fair for you and child?"

Willis sighed maybe if he didn't stop fucking every pretty woman he wouldn't have this dilemma. But alas, his brain gets trumped with his little sword whenever he sees a pretty woman. "I wanted to bring you along Ari," Willis whispered. "I mean hell, I remembered I wanted to propose to you before I left. But after this is done, I promise you that I'm going to by us a small ship and just sail east. To unknown lands. Just you and me and no one else."

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

“What I’m saying is that we don’t have to settle if we’ve got ourselves a ship,” Arisa murmured, her eyes closing. His touch relaxed her, and the warmth of his body and the familiarity of his smell brought back pleasant memories.

A soft sight brushed past her lips. She shook her head gently against him. “We can raise a child on a ship, if I am pregnant… but Willis, I doubt that I am.”

There was a lamenting lilt to the words she spoke, but she made no effort to elaborate as to why she felt that way. She didn’t want to talk about her vampiric lover, and the abuse she suffered at his hands. It was a wonder she was even still alive.

Arisa shifted onto her side, lifting a hand to brush her hair away from her neck. The white, gnarled flesh of her scarred throat was bright and noticeable in the moonlight. She wanted to enjoy this night, especially considering it all felt like a dream.

And Arisa’s nightmares often came from such sweet images. She could wake up tomorrow in her slummy attic loft, entirely alone again. She curled her fingers into him, drawing herself closer. The thief was afraid that if she let go, he’d slip through her fingers again.

There was a lot that Arisa didn’t know about Willis though. She’d accepted the proposal readily, quickly, and without consideration for the fact that she didn’t know how he might have changed in the years when they were apart. She suspected though. He had the swagger of a womanizer, and even Arisa wasn’t immune to it.

“Willis,” Arisa said softly, her eyes opening so that she could look at his face. “Life has a one hundred percent mortality rate. You could die. I might die. We never know what might happen. We must make our choices, and we must live with them. But you can’t live in fear… You just… you can’t…”

The words trailed off, and tears stung at the back of her eyes. A pang rose in her heart, one of those aches she struggled to assuage so many years ago. The things she stifled with drug and drink. Gods, she needed a bottle right now. What she wouldn’t do for that sweet, smooth burn of whiskey on her tongue.

 

[Smiling One]

Willis smirked when he Ari told him that he couldn't live in fear, the young man never feared death. In fact he always loved to take risks. Part of the reason why he became a mercenary and a monster hunter, they offer an adrenaline rush. A brush with death that he enjoyed, a person's sword or a monsters claw so close to his throat and his heart beating profusely, pumping as much blood as it can to give him surge of energy that heroic second wind to get up and take the monster or person's life away.

It was only through killing after being through the ringer that Willis felt alive, he felt nothing about coin, power or even sex. Willis craved battle and the feeling of being on edge, admittedly he didn't tell anyone about this not even Ari. It was something his mother would say to him though, that he was like his father: A monster who cared nothing more than killing. Maybe she was right as much as it did piss Willis off but perhaps it was in his blood. Willis never knew his father but he imagined that he was some cold hearted assassin or something like that. Maybe he got the good sense what a heartless shrew his mother was and left her without a trace.

"Ari," Willis chuckled brushing her tears with his thumb. "I don't fear death necessarily it's just that I have more to lose." the young man rubbed her stomach slowly. "If you are pregnant then that means I may have to look for another job so you won't have to worry about me."

The young man then sighed. "Hey Ari," he said. "Just don't abandon me..... okay?"

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

Arisa would probably never understand what it was like to watch someone die, or worse—to take someone’s life. It was a horrifying though, but she’d known many that had killed during their lives. Theft, lies, small betrayals, those were the kinds of sins that she could live with, but the rest? Not so much. She lacked any sort of yearning for violence, though she could certainly hold her own in a fight and she never backed down. Truthfully, unless she killed someone, she’d never be able to sympathize with the effects of such an experience.

The young man then sighed. "Hey Ari," he said. "Just don't abandon me..... okay?"

The woman snorted at Willis’s query, almost incredulously as she curled her fingers into his side. There was a bitterness in her tone that she couldn’t mask, an irritable accusation shot in his direction.

“I’m not the one with a habit of leaving.”

She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth and immediately buried her face against him. Her cheeks, now clammy from the drying tears, was cool against his skin, and the warmth he put off coaxed an unexpected smile to Arisa’s lips. As his hand moved over her stomach, she lifted her head to kiss the corner of his mouth gently.

“It’s odd that you’re the one focused on talking about children right now, love,” the youth murmured against his skin. “It’s almost like you actually want a family, and you’re trying to talk yourself out of it.”

Arisa let the words linger in the air for a long moment, her mouth trailing to his ear. She nibbled his lobe for a moment before laughing softly into his ear. “We should head back.”

 

[Smiling One]

Willis smirked when Ari nibbled in his ear, she always had a habit of biting him playfully whenever they slept together. He enjoyed it since it added some interesting foreplay, Willis recalled a time that when he did it to Ari when they fucked she moaned loudly encouraging him to do it again. It was their routine something that was special even it wasn't as extreme as the how the Orcs fucked each other. The young man groaned a bit remembering witnessing an Orc couple having sex It was rather..... brutal perhaps it was something that was unique to them?

When Ari said that she wasn't the one who had a habit of leaving, Willis laughed. Yes it was true that Willis was the one who often left Ari in the night except their last encounter two years ago when Ari did it. "As a recall," Willis said continuing to gently rub Ari's stomach. "You were the one who took the initiative of leaving last year. Guess you had to shake it up a bit huh?"

Willis then sighed a bit. "I don't know....." he mumbled. "Let's just say I have a feeling regarding our liaison." His gaze continued to linger on Ari's stomach as he rubbed it softly. "You want a family that much is certain and I'm sure at one point you tried to have one."

He shook his head. "Let's stay for a little while longer," Willis gave Ari a sad smile as he moved his hand to stroke Ari's hair.

 

[Arisa Lovelace]

He wasn’t wrong, but Arisa had more than enough reason for the actions she took. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she considered his request that they remain secluded from their travel companions for a little while longer. To deny him that request tonight of all nights would be a tad bit too cruel for her, and she conceded with a quiet, inaudible murmur of assent.

“I… I don’t think I really want anything anymore, Willis,” she whispered, and there was a hollowness to her words that revealed just how deeply broken the thief was. “Every time I thought I had a leg up in this fucked up world, I’ve been knocked flat on my ass. Why would I dare to think that might change now?

“Joseph and I tried. Gods we tried. He wanted a family just as much as I did, but… It never happened. Djon… What he did to me, I wasn’t supposed to survive that. If Joseph hadn’t been looking for me, I’d either be six feet under, or an abomination...”

Her voice faltered, and her body quivered against his. No secret could be kept forever. Arisa was a fool to think that she could do this, that she could live with not telling him. It was easier to do when he wasn’t a part of her life.

“I shouldn’t have given up our son," she whispered. She breathed inward, holding her breath in fear of the world collapsing around her once and for all. The totality of her poor decisions, the consequences of her actions, the fate laid out for her by the gods—

She closed her eyes, her heart racing and chest aching with anxiety. Her lips quivered, and the tears came quietly before she could even think about stopping them. How many times did Arisa tell herself that she gave their baby away for his own sake? Infants had the best chance in orphanages; no one wanted a bratty child when they could mold an infant to their exact wishes. Leaving him on the steps of an orphanage in one of the wealthier districts in Alliria, she convinced herself he would have a better life than she’d ever give him. It made the reality easier to swallow, making excuses. The truth was, she couldn’t handle the reminder.

Willis was gone. Qieane decided they were leaving. Arisa wanted to start over. Free from the burdens of a broken heart and awful twists of fate. That the boy she loved would refuse to settle down with her, to start something with her, would also give her the child she wanted was a decidedly painful pill to swallow. And it was one that got caught in her throat, only to be expelled the moment the boy took his first screaming breath of air.

“I’m sorry, Willis.”

 

[Smiling One]

"What?"

That was all Willis could muster. He didn't remember immediately getting up and gaping at Ari as though he saw her transforming into a Rutterkin. He didn't remember his mouth opening up slackjawed at Ari's words as the cold wind bristle against his stiffened skin. The only thing that Willis remembers was Ari telling him that she gave their son, their child to God's knows where. Willis wasn't sad, he wasn't even angry about that.

Just stunned.

Yet Willis knew it in his mind that there was something off when he left Ari to join Captain Davis. When he saw the forced smile on a 16 year old Ari, he had a feeling that she wanted to tell him something but she couldn't. Willis had a feeling that Ari was carrying their child but he didn't want to believe it. A child birthed by he and Ari? They could barely take care of themselves much less a child! But his gut told him that Ari was pregnant, his gut told him that perhaps he should stop adventuring and.....

No, there was just too much to explore too much to do. Willis didn't want children and staring into Ari's tear filled eyes, she knew that he didn't either. Ari sacrificed so much for him and he didn't do nearly enough to pay her back. Willis wasn't surprised he probably had more children around Arethril who hates him for abandoning them in their time of need. His mother was right about Willis: He was a piece of shit, a killer, a liar just like the father he never knew.

"Let's just get back to the camp."

His mind tried hard to come up with any words to soothe Ari or fill her mind with questions such as where did she put their son. Did she check up on him? Yet the words failed to leave his mouth. It failed to even materialize. Right now Willis felt has though a Hill Giant had kicked in the ribs, his mind swimming in confusion trying to find something anything to get a spark. But nothing came only a wave of dizziness and voices of doubt.

Willis put on his clothes and immediately helped Ari up trying to avoid her gaze.