Private Tales Read between the lines

[Zana]

Zana's eyes slide slowly to the wolf too at Talus' words. The wolf trotted his front paws in front of him impatiently and then gave a low whine as he looked up at her. The two shared something. It wasn't quite just a look but it wasn't a full conversation. It was just a... understanding. Something Zana just seemed gifted with when it came to animals.

Suddenly the wolf edged round the table and lay his head in Zana's lap and accepted little tidbits with surprising gentleness. The maids looked shocked but Zana carried on as if there wasn't a wolf eating from her hands like a sedated lamb.

"I think it suits us all," she said it rather proudly. Their family. She poured some of the wine they had been given and slid him a glass then poured less than a thimble for herself. The maids suddenly cleared their throat, announced the bath was ready then left.

 

[Talus]

"I think so." He replied with a smirk, giving Grey the sideye.

Talus scarfed down the last of the food in front of him, deciding to at least leave a little bit of it for Zana should she decide to...well probably feed the rest to Grey. He smiled at her from across the table, sliding slightly to the left as he noticed his foot had gone to sleep.

As the ladies stepped out of the room Talus rolled his shoulders. "I don't like that."

He frowned for a second, gesturing towards the doors where the maids had just gone through.

Talus knew that they were being paid, but the idea of someone waiting on him was...strange. He didn't like it. Talus was fully capable of doing most everything himself, especially filling a tub with hot water. Hell he could have conjured it from thin air with the right spell.

"Don't think I'd ever be comfortable having servants." Even the title 'servant' made him frown, he didn't like using it.

 

[Zana]

As predicted, Talus' doting lover fed their loyal hound the rest. The wolf licked her fingers clean then yawned and went trotting over to the fire to claim his spot. Zana smiled as she watched him go, lost in a tiny little vision that barely clouded her eyes, when Talus snapped her out of it.

Both eyebrows rose in surprise.

Luana were an incredibly rich house and servants were so common Zana barely looked twice at them now. She was used to having smaller tasks done for her now; baths being run, meals being prepared. Dreadlords were often too busy to do such jobs when they stayed at the barracks coming and going at all hours.

"I see," her tone was playful and she stood as she began to take off her riding jerkin. "You just want my belly round with child, cooking, cleaning, waiting on you hand and foot," she dropped the shirt to the floor next and worked on her breeches as she walked towards the bath.

 

[Talus]

Before Zana could make it all the way to the bath she would feel two hands landing on her hips. Fingers held her in place, not allowing her another step forward. "No no, my Love."

He mused wueitly, thumbs slowly stroking over her skin.

"You have it entirely wrong." Well...not entirely. Talus could never once deny her cooking. If she ever offered, he knew that he was far too weak of will to say no. That would always be true, but in the future he'd seen, in the one he dreamed of, Zana was not some corralled littles housewife.

No.

He leaned in and kissed her neck.

"I want you to enjoy our life together." If taking care of him brought her joy, then so be it, but if it didn't. "I want to build you a house. Bring you breakfast in bed. Massage and caress you every night before you sleep."

His hands slowly slipped around her belly. "I want to treat you like a Queen."

Talus drew her into himself, breathing her in.

"Every day I live." A soft kiss found its way against her cheek.

 

[Zana]

Zana wondered if there would ever be a time where she didn't shiver at his touch in such a way. She leaned back instinctively into the heat that came from him with a smile feeling loved and cherished despite the sensual tone of his voice. The vision he painted made the small smile turn into a radiating one that eclipsed the stars that we beginning to shine outside their window.

"I can get behind this," she mused. His pancakes were definitely her favourite so far, more so because he looked so proud every time he presented them to her. "And you'll walk all the puppies, work Zandor for me...?" She rested her hands over his and glanced down at her belly where unbeknownst to them both the start of their future even now began to grow.

"Play with the children outside whilst I read on the porch?"

 

[Talus]

He nodded his head. "Of course."

It was the life he wanted, the one he craved far and above everything else. Even without plucking at her visions Talus could see it now, everything laid out before them as clear the day. Images would float across the bond as he held her, thoughts and dreams of what might come to pass.

A breath filled Talus' lungs as he shared his desires, fingers softly splaying over her belly as he spoke.

"Everything you desire." He assured her. "Because it's what you deserve."

She has brought him a new life, given him what no one else ever had. Talus loved her with every fiber of his being.

 

[Zana]

Zana turned her face towards his and gently placed a kiss to his cheek. For a moment she lingered there, eyes closed and a smile dancing across her lips. She sent him the vision she had had a moment ago of an older Grey with a young pair of pups nipping at his tail and ear. The wolf looked none to pleased but suffered it well. The vision faded and she sent him another of two pups curled around a blonde haired babe fast asleep.

"Where would you want to live?" They could build their own home anywhere they wanted. They had the mansion in Karak of course but Zana needed the sun as did Zandor and Grey. She slipped from his arms and finished stripping before lowering herself into the bath.

 

[Talus]

Talus had not truly considered an actual location, though he remembered well what he had dreamed of.

"A valley somewhere." As he spoke the younger Dreadlord slowly slipped his own clothes off, idly continuing to speak as breeches and shirt were tossed onto the ground along with leather armor. "Nestled between two high peaks, fields of flowers surrounding us. Long grass raising in the distance."

Briefly he remembered his grave, where Zana had buried him in the vision he'd had. "Rolling hills that get covered in snow during the winter."

He came to stand besides the bath a moment, fingers reaching out and softly running through her hair.

"Only one path winding through to our home." Though where it might lead Talus had no idea.

 

[Zana]

Zana caught flashes of the image through the bond though she had a sense she was missing a part of it. As he ran his hand through her hair she grabbed a hold of it and gently pulled him into the tub with her. There was a general sloshing of water before they got their desired position. Zana's legs were braced either side of him as he leaned back into her.

She grabbed a sponge and began rubbing over his back.

"I think I know where you mean," she pushed the vision she had had down the bond which was becoming a lot easier now. It was several years before Talus' with a toddler and an older girl playing wrapped up in the snow. "I think it's near the Spine."

 

[Talus]

Talus sunk into Zana. "Mm."

He offered in quiet agreemen, closing his eyes for a few seconds and allowing the sight of the vision to play over his mind. It made his heart ache to see the future and not be able to reach out and touch it. The core of him wanted it so bad, wanted to see his children and call out to them. The fact that he couldn't was almost painful in it's own way.

His head slowly leaned back, draping over her shoulder as a day's worth of stubble gently scratched at her skin.

"It'll be a good life." Talus said softly. "All of us...together."

Lips pressed against her cheek. A smile broke out on his face a second later. "Hopefully one of them is a decent woodworker. Wouldn't want the business to fail with no one to take it up after me."

He chuckled quietly, smiling like a fool.

 

[Zana]

Zana wrapped her arms around him and laughed into the side of his neck as he spoke of what their children would be.

"I'm afraid they're all going to be vets my love," she pressed a kiss to his jaw then released him and went back to gently moved the sponge over his body in soft small circles. It was such a simple task but Zana loved to do it. She dipped the sponge under the water and then wrung it out over his hair to get it wet before soaping it up and rinsing it again. Her hand rested on his forehead as she did it so that the soap didn't go in his eyes.

"Given how the first one may be raised I wouldn't be surprised if we had one fighter amongst our children," perhaps even more. Talus and Zana were both strong and capable swordsmen and women. There would be trials ahead especially with their first child no doubt and they would probably grow to know the way of the blade whether they wanted them to or not.

"Maybe a dragon rider or two," she pressed a kiss to his temple.

 

[Talus]

A smirk played over his lips as she spoke of them becoming Vets, his fingers gently reaching down to softly brush over her thigh.

"They'll all be fighters, my Love." Talus said softly, his eyes still closed as he thought about their children.

He did not need them to be great warriors. He did not need them to be sorcerers of great power. All he needed them to be was...happy. That was all he wanted for his children. Should they choose the sword he would teach them, should they want magics he would guide them to Elbion or teach them himself.

Should they want for anything else he would guide them along that path as best he could. "In their own ways."

He was sure of that.

With the two of them for parents it would be hard for any child not to fight for what they desired.

 

[Zana]

The thought made her happy and she gave a soft contented sigh.

"I really want..." she bit her bottom lip and then ran the sponge slowly down his torso. "You know at Michaelmas when... all the families are curled up inside and it's snowing outside and the children all go to bed super early because they want the Winter King to leave them gifts not turn them to snow and ice? I just... want a big family," her eyes closed and she let the dream wash over her. "Everyone laughing and joking, telling stories or playing games with one another," it wasn't a vision she had had but she could see it like it was a possible future.

"I'd cook a massive meal for us all sitting around your table... our friends would come over and the children would go to bed so we could all talk over a bottle of wine," Zana sighed and then brushed the sponge back down along his leg before running back up his stomach and up over his shoulder.

"Thror and Vorak would come and visit..."

 

[Talus]

"We can do that." There was no hesitation, no waiting, not even a moment of thought as she made her dream known.

Talus didn't even have to wonder if such a thing could happen, he just knew that he would make it happen. They were both short on friends, but...that could change after they did what they had to back in Vel Anir. Hell, they could even invite Blackforge if they felt like it.

The thought of the giant man at a dinner table made Talus break out into a grin. "Anything you want, you'll have."

Talus said softly.

"I'll even make you a dinner table that folds." He'd thought about such a project for a while now. "Small when collapse, but big enough for a regiment when pulled apart."

He kissed her cheek. "We'll have Michaelmas, invite the dwarves over for Durin's Day. Maybe even create our own little holiday."

 

[Zana]

"You will?!" For some reason the idea absolutely thrilled Zana and she looked at him with wide eyes. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip and she wriggled just a little bit before dotting his face in kisses. Of course Talus would give her the world if she asked for it but the folding table was far more precious to Zana and her dreams of their future together. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said after every single kiss and with pure glee in her voice. Anyone would have thought he had just said he would buy her a diamond necklace.

"I really do love you," Zana sighed as she rubbed her cheek against the day old stubble on his jaw and shut her eyes.

 

[Talus]

The reaction she gave him was not one he'd exactly expected. A folding table seemed to inconsequential compared to all the other things that he had offered her, but seeing the expression on her face light up Talus near instantly melted.

A smile touched his face, and he slowly reached up to stroke his knuckles over her cheek. "And I love you."

He declared quietly. There was no question of that.

"Our house will be perfect." Talus assured her with a smile. "A library, bedrooms for the kids, kitchen bigger than the living room."

His lips pressed against her cheek. "Perfect."

 

[Zana]

A small bubble of a laugh escaped her when he spoke of children's bedrooms.

"Given how intent you are for ... a big family," Zana struggled not to smirk. "You best get used to expanding and adding levels on the house," she giggled and then turned his face towards her a little more and kissed him sweetly. For a while she just enjoyed the moment, sinking a little further into the water as their lips and tongues moved to their own rhythmic dance. She moved the sponge up his torso, over his shoulder, then down his back to pull him closer to her. When necessity called for it she pulled back to draw in a sharp breath.

"So is there anything else you'd like to do here besides the hot springs?" she gently nibbled on his lower lip.

 

[Talus]

She took his breath away.

It wasn't just the water...well it might have been a bit, but most of it was her. His eyes closed, and for a few moments he allowed himself to simply sit in the water as their lips embraced and small sweet passions drifted between the two of them.

His breathing slowed, and by the time Zana drew back and spoke to him he found his mind nearly lost. Fingers tightened on the rim of the tub, thoughts only brought back as he felt her teeth softly sink into his lower lip.

"I want to explore." Talus told her softly. "See Thallin. Learn a bit of it's history."

He'd done that in the Tundra, in Karak. "I want to know what the Fire-Giants were like."

 

[Zana]

"We can do that," she gently brushed her nose against his. "We should have about three days in the city itself and then a day to get back unless you want to stop off here again and break it up," Zana ran her hands up his back then looped her legs about his waist. It would still leave them with a day then back at the cabin before she would have to return to the city and report in with Ashur. The thought was only a fleeting one before she thought of nicer things like what they were going to see. History was interesting but she sensed it was more Talus' wheelhouse than her own.

"I want to try more of the food," she sighed against his lips, doubting that that particular exercise would take much convincing. "And find something for our memory room to take back with us - and a cooking book," so she could learn to make dishes from wherever they had travelled to.

 

[Talus]

Talus nodded his head in excitement. The more she talked about what they were going to do, the more she spoke about what they could do, the more he wanted to get going. "We'll find all of that."

If Thallin was at all like Vel Anir then they would have absolutely no trouble in getting any of what she said. At least, he hoped so. He would have hated to see even a second of disappointment on her face. Hell, if they couldn't find one...he'd write his own damned cook book for her.

He pressed his lips against hers briefly.

"I want to do this..." He trailed off as he offered another kiss. "Again and again."

Talus took in a breath. "I want to see the world with you."

With their family.

 

[Zana]

An image of a baby in a sling across Talus' back as they scaled a mountainside filled Zana with a mix of instinctive fear but also amusement. Her lips quirked and she sent him the funny image through the bond. It wasn't the future but they could make it the future.

"The adventure family huh?" she rubbed her nose against his then took his lips again. The warmth of her laughter though it didn't escape her lips was not hard to taste in the kiss. She loved the idea. It had been one of the very first things she had confessed she wanted to do with him - to see the world. Whilst other apprentices had been able to go to far off lands and see the world Zana had been restricted and kept close to home. She was itching to see it now, with him.

"I like it," she said when their kiss parted once more, her voice a soft murmur.

 

[Talus]

Talus smirked wide. He hadn't quite meant carrying a baby up a mountain, but well...now he kind of wanted to try.

His fingers brushed over her skin. "Maybe next time we'll go to the North."

There was so much of the world to see. Even he had only seen a fraction of a fraction. At times he ached to wander the world, to see the far flung reaches of Arethil and explore that which had not been. It was a strange urge, but one he felt most often in his dreams.

"We'll find the perfect place for our home." He said softly. "Together."

That valley between twin peaks. "And even then...the adventures will just be starting."

 

[Zana]

North would definitely be a stark contrast to the fiery landscape they were going to see over the next few days. She wasn't sure cold was exactly the type of climate she was built for but she would give it a go; she wanted to see proper snow. Vel'Anir got its fair share but it wasn't proper snow and in the city it soon turned to sludge and muck anyway. It was more hassle than anything else.

"I would go anywhere with you," she kissed his nose. "But the idea of finding where we are going to live sounds like the most exciting adventure next," she slowly went back to running the sponge over his skin. "There has to be enough room for when my dragon comes to visit," she still wore the band around her bicep. Zana had kept her word and not taken it off in case the scaled king changed his mind about his tomb.

 

[Talus]

Talus let out a breath, either a sight of contentment or playful annoyance at the fact that he now had to fit a Dragon into wherever their home would be. "Your dragon, huh?"

He mused.

"Is he aware of that title or..." Talus teased quietly, reaching his hands down to slowly play over her legs.

Of course, in truth his dream could more than encompass the Dragon. Not in the House of course, that would be...well that would be utterly ludicrous. He couldn't build a house big enough for that Dragon if he had all the trees from the Falwood.

The Valley though...the valley would be plenty big.

 

[Zana]

Zana grinned. It was the wild feral grin of a child who was extremely proud of something they had done.

"No but I don't think he'll mind, I think I'm his human too," the way he had taken her offered gift and enjoyed her song right down to the way he had looked at her. Like an amusing pet. Zana didn't mind and chose to see it as a good thing rather than a condescending one. Her eyes drifted shut for a brief moment as his hands ran down her legs. From where they had shifted he was practically lying face first on her chest now, her legs propped up either side of his hips though one lay currently strew across his back.

Despite the warmth of the water still she shivers at his hands.

"You're just going to have to deal with the fact there are going to be a lot of animals around our house my love," she kissed him sweetly, hoping he would forgive her her small flaw of being unable to say no when it came to animals.