Private Tales Read between the lines

[Talus]

Talus pressed soft lips against her collar, up her neck, and over her jaw. His hands played over her thighs, slowly drawing up and down across them as he simply allowed himself to enjoy the feel of her within the water for a few seconds.

"I suppose I'll forgive it." The younger Dreadlord said finally as he took in a deep breath, and then suddenly plunged beneath the water.

For a brief second she would see him shift, his hands clutching at her legs as his lips suddenly pressed just beneath her chest. She would feel his lips trail softly over her skin, drawing over sensitive and supple flesh in a slow trailing path down her abdomen.

His fingers pressed against her, allowing him to slowly drift lower and lower until his lips were just below her navel.

 

[Zana]

"Talus wha-" for a moment she was confused as he ducked beneath the waves.

He was young and playful, she had expected something but not necessarily where his lips were now travelling. Heat coloured her cheeks for a brief moment and her arms slowly raised out of the water to run along the edge of the copper lip. There was a brief moment of concern about him holding his breath but there was nothing but excitement coming down the bond so she settled back and closed her eyes.

Her teeth dragged across her bottom lip as her whole body quivered in anticipation.

 

[Talus]

His fingers slowly played over her skin, a smile forming on his face at the question.

Most people would answer such a thing with a family name, something connected to a mother or father...but Talus didn't have any of that. He tried to think for a few moments instead of names that he had heard and always liked the sound of.

After a few seconds he answered. "Sophia, for a girl."

He could not for the life of him remember where had first heard it, but he had always liked the way the name sounded when spoken in common.

"Kurt, for a boy." Talus added a few seconds, that one he'd learned of in the Tundra. "I just like the sound of them."

He said with a slight redness to his cheek. A childs name was supposed to have deeper meaning but...well Talus didn't know enough really.

 

[Zana]

Zana scrunched her nose up at the latter name. Kurt? An image came to mind of her shouting the name down the fields and valley they would one day call home and then she shook her head.

"Veto Kurk," she nipped his bottom lip with a smile. "Sophie is pretty though," but there was still a hint of it not being right. The problem with foresight was that she had seen glimpses of who their children might or might not be and it was playing with the name. Would Sophie be the right name for the one most destined to be a battle commander or the little girl who brought home injured squirrels?

She would know when she held them in her arms.

"You like the Norden names, hm?" her head tilted slightly to the side and she guessed it made sense; all the places he had been were more likely to influence him rather than family. Her fingers played lazily over his skin beneath the water, trailing over his sides and down to his hips.

 

[Talus]

He opened his mouth as if to argue for a few seconds, but he decided it was probably best not to. She was already indulging him in this...and it might be best to keep thoughts like that to himself. Instead he simply let his fingers play over her sides.

"I do." Talus said as he glanced down, noting that the level of the water had now dropped rather dramatically.

Their...playfulness had seen half of it empty onto the floor, and he could see that even some of the carpet had gotten wet. He was pretty sure they were going to have to pay a fee of some sort...but it couldn't be helped. Passion had simply consumed them. "What are your ideas?"

He prompted with a quick nuzzle.

"Zana Junior?" A smile broke out on his lips.

 

[Zana]

"No."

Zana's nose crinkled at both his suggestion and the nuzzling, though the latter she returned with a contented noise. His hands at her sides made her shiver but then she too realised it was also in part down to the fact she was lacking in warm water. Guilt and cold made her stand up and grab one of the towels that had been heating near the fire and wrapped herself up in the fluffy white sheet. Then she stepped from the bath and sat about brushing her long hair out.

"I like Esmeralda, Danior for a boy," when she said the names it was with the hint of an accent far removed from Vel'Anir. It spoke of a people she had never known and yet somehow carried with her.

"I think... I think I will know who they are meant to be when I hold them," Zana had a sort of far away look in her eyes as she spoke. Her hand had frozen in her hair and she considered the fire as though it were going to tell her something. Her other hand came to rest over her belly.

 

[Talus]

Talus smiled, watching her for a few seconds outside of the bath before he slowly stood and joined her. Oddly enough, Talus didn't move for a towel. Instead his entire body seemed to flicker for a second, shifting to it's ghostly form before snapping back into reality.

As soon as he did all of the water seemed to be gone, his hair completely dry as he ran a hand through it. He offered Zana a wink, and then walked over to where she sat.

"If that's the case." He told her softly, running a hand through her hair. "I won't worry about it."

Talus trusted her, even with the names of their children. He figured that any future she might see involved his input anyway, so why worry or argue about it? "But."

He injected quietly, watching her as she slid a hand over her belly.

"I get to name some of Grey's puppies at least." The Wolf suddenly looked at them both, cocking his head...suspiciously.

 

[Zana]

Zana seemed to snap out of her daydream at his words, blinking up at him for a moment as they silvery white thread retreated from her eyes and left her pale green ones behind instead. It took a moment for her to remember what he said and then a smile was sweet as a summers day filtered across her face. She leaned into his touch as he ran his fingers through her wet hair.

"You will get a choice to name your children my darling, I more mean I will know which one is right," it would be a pull in the right direction when they spoke the right name, like a key into a lock. Her eyes flickered to the wolf as he looked at them both and began to laugh. "But you can also name the puppies, though I suspect our children will name some over the years too," she leaned up to plant a kiss on his lips. They would grow up together.

"Is it time for bed?"

Zana had left the manacles at home. She did not trust their surroundings here enough for that, not in the least, even if they were a million miles from any threat they could think of. So her sleep would be troubled but she hoped they would follow the pattern they had taken when she was awake and grant her flashes of a future she wanted to see.

 

[Talus]

He nodded his head. "I think so."

Another kiss was planted on the top of her head, and internally he hoped she would at least get a semblance of the rest she had been granted the past two nights. A part of him had hoped she would take the manacles, but he had already known why she would not.

Talus likely would have felt the same.

"Tomorrow we'll see something new." There was an excitement to his voice, a gleefulness at what the day might bring. "A city built into the edge of a volcano."

Talus wasn't entirely sure what a volcano even was, but that was how he'd seen Thallin described as in the book he'd originally read. Or tried to read anyway. "There's no one I'd rather do this with."

He said as he drew her slowly into his arms, pressing his lips against her cheek.

 

[Zana]

Zana slid into his arms like she had been made for them, her arms coming to lace about his neck and she brushed her nose against his with a smile.

"Me neither," a soft kiss on the nose and then she backed herself step by step towards the bed, pulling him with her. Once they were off of the carpet it rose into the air and wrung itself over the bath. The spare towels swept the floor as best they could and wrung themselves out over the bath, repeating until as much of the damp as gone from the floor as possible. Zana hoped the rest of the fire would dry the floorboards.

When her bum hit the bed she sat down and scooched herself back, drawing him down on top of her.

"I've read they have these desserts called smores and they sound heavenly, some people go and roast them over the volcano itself," her eyes were bright.

 

[Talus]

"That sounds dangerous." Talus commented quietly as he kissed her nose gently, wondering for a brief moment what the volcano actually looked like.

From afar the thing didn't really look all that different than a regular mountain, but Talus had long ago learned that things were not often what they seemed. He considered a moment more, and then shook his head.

Fingers gently played over her sides as he lay atop her, a smile lingering on his face.

"What else have you read?" Knowing her, she'd probably been sneaking books behind his back just out of pure excitement. "Any Dragons to tame?"

Another soft kiss.

 

[Zana]

"Mm," his kisses drove the sentence that had been on her lips from her mind and her fingers played across his skin in slow circles. She tried to remember what she had been about to say as their kiss continued, deepened, and a soft sigh of his name escaped her lips. When she opened her eyes to look up at him they were half lidded with sleep and peace.

"No dragons, but they have things called phoenixes," despite her sleepy expression the light danced in her eyes. "I think a flaming bird is what we're missing from our current set up," a slow smile curved her lips upwards and her eyes dropped to follow the way her fingers ran over his shoulder and chest.

 

[Talus]

"Hm." He said quietly. "That's interesting."

Talus did not look towards the bag in the corner of the room. He had worked too damn long to ruin the surprise now. He was close, so close. Talus knew exactly when he would do it, especially now that they were on their trip.

Fingers tightened on her sides for just a few seconds, his nose nuzzling against her skin for just a brief second. "I think I'd prefer one of those Tigers I hear so much about."

He drew her a bit closer.

"You know, a big cat to give Grey a run for his money." That earned Talus another suspicious look.

 

[Zana]

Zana laughed. She couldn't see Grey from where Talus was lounging on top of her but she could feel the wolfs stare.

"A tiger huh?" she had only ever seen pictures in books and knew that they lived out in the illusive wilds. If they built their home close to the Spine Zana had no doubt she wound find herself frequently visiting the area in order to investigate this creature or that. "I wouldn't mind a few cats around the house," a soft yawn escaped her as he pulled her in close. The towel strained to stay in its knot as she moved her leg up to frame his hip with her thigh.

"It might start factions amongst the children," the wolves and tigers. A sleep smile dimpled her cheek.

 

[Talus]

Talus let his fingers slip beneath the reach of her towel, drawing his fingers up and down her thighs in a soft and tracing touch. "Well, we'll just have to see."

The young Dreadlord said with a yawn.

If Zana wanted a thousand pets she could have them, though it would mean their home would be getting larger and larger all the time. By the end of it he would have to construct a whole village just to actually fit everyone.

He supposed the kids would help with that.

"Good, my love." Talus said as he began to drift off, his head lulling back into the pillow behind him.

 

[Zana]

"Goodnight, my darling," Zana whispered in return and watched as he fell into sleep. She knew he hadn't slept well whilst she had worn the manacles and that he had felt an overriding need to protect her in her most vulnerable state. So she waited for him to fall asleep whilst she hummed a soft lullaby. She didn't actually know if it had come to her in a dream or whether it was a memory but it helped her to drift off when she struggled to sleep.

Her fingers brushed over his cheek and into his hair as she lay in his arms and simply wondered at her luck. At the feelings inside of her that she never thought she would feel. After a while Grey came to hop up on the bed and there was a slight creak to the frame before the great wolf put his head on Zana's hip and gave a soft whine, demanding some of the attention she had been lavishing on Talus.

"I love you too, don't worry," she murmured and the wolf gave a soft thump of his tail before drifting off to sleep. Surrounded by the warmth of the wolf and Talus and the love they both showed her she drifted off a while later.

 

[Talus]

Talus did not know how long they slept, though he woke up with the sun on his face and his body half splayed out over the bed.

"I miss our bed at home." Talus commented quietly, feeling the weight of both Zana and Grey squished against him. He didn't know if his love was already awake, but he did know that this bed wasn't near big enough for the three of them.

Four wooden posts was all well and good, but what was the point if the mattress was tiny and consumed with ten thousand pillows?

Better to have a bigger mattress.

 

[Zana]

The wolf seemed to give Talus an agreeing look before yawning.

Zana had rolled onto her back at some point in the night and one of her hands was draped across her face, the smear of blood just evident on her cheeks, whilst her other hand was buried in the great wolfs fur. Her breathing was soft and even despite the great weight of the wolf who was practically lying on top of her, indicating that she was still asleep.

Grey nosed her cheek where the blood was with a small whine, before resting his giant head on her chest. He gave Talus another, worried and troubled look, before glancing back to Zana's sleeping face.

 

[Talus]

Talus nodded his head, slowly extracting himself from the bed and rubbing Grey's head.

With careful steps the young Dreadlord stepped over to one of the clean basins of water in the corner of the room. Grabbing a small towel he wet it, wringing it out before slowly walking back over towards Zana. A spell was whispered beneath his breath, and a heat filled his palms.

The cold towel in his hands warmed, and then as gently as he could Talus dabbed away the blood on Zana's cheek. He did his best to not wake her as he did so, his touch gentle as could be.

His other hand petted Grey softly, ensuring the wolf did not stir too much.

Talus knew the small effort might not have been much. It wasn't like he could take the fact she she'd had a vision away, but at least he would save her the embarrassment of having to clean the blood herself. He well remembered her reaction last time.

After a few seconds he dabbed away the last of the red, tossing the rag into the nearby waste bin so Zana would not see.

 

[Zana]

Zana didn't stir as Talus gifted her such a sweet and tender kindness and Grey stayed absolutely still as the man worked, though he watched intently. When he was done the great mutt let out a small huff and closed his eyes.

It was a while later that Zana woke herself. There was a string and soreness to her eyes which came with the visions but when she raised her hands quickly to her cheeks she was relieved to find no blood there, not knowing of course that was Talus' doing. She didn't want him to be upset that she hadn't slept well.

"Hey you," her voice cracked with sleep as the wolf opened his eyes at her stirring. He wriggled closer, wet nose touching to hers and when she smiled he eagerly licked across her face. Her laughter chased away the tiredness. "I miss our bed," she echoed with a yawn and stretch, beginning to feel just how heavy her pup was getting with his full weight on her.

 

[Talus]

"I do too." Talus said as he pulled on the last strap of his armor, the leather moulding to his chest as her turned around and faced where Zana lay in bed.

There was a clear eagerness to him. Already dressed and fully prepared to head out towards Thallin and the Spa's that they had been so eager to see. With three quick steps he closed the distance between himself and the bed.

He fell to his knees besides it, hand reaching out to softly stroke over her cheek, Grey nuzzle his palm as it passed by his face. "Our House will probably need an even bigger one."

Talus said with a smile.

"Are you hungry?" He had already ordered food from the kitchens, though it had yet to arrive.

 

[Zana]

"Yes," to both his statement about their house needing a bigger one and the desire for food. Her smile was a sleepy thing that coiled its way across her lips and she leaned into his hand, eyes drifting shut. She gave a small yawn and then opened her eyes. Finally she seemed to take in what he was wearing and her fingers rose to trace over the leather armour.

"Are you expecting an attack?" her fingers lingered for a moment before raising to brush the back of her knuckles across his cheek. Her eyes raised to meet his and they were tinged faintly with red, dark smudged under her eyes though not anywhere near as harsh as they had been at any point he had known her.

"Did I scare you with my talk of phoenixes?" a small tease.

 

[Talus]

He frowned a moment, noting her eyes and wishing once again that she had taken the Manacles with him. He knew she would not have worn them, but the fact that she had woken up in the middle of her rest still bothered him immensely.

"Yes." Talus admitted as he leaned over the bed and kissed her nose. "I must protect my Lady from both monster and man."

He said with a smile. "I think this is best accomplished by leaning into my new roguish style."

A smirk touched his lips now.

"I even brought some daggers to complete the look." His hand brushed softly over her cheek just as a knock rang at the door.

 

[Zana]

Zana's nose wrinkled a little with her smile and she was about to push Grey rudely off her to bring Talus down on top of her when the door went. Her lips twisted somewhat in annoyance.

"Hold that thought," she murmured against his lips and gave him a small nip before wriggling her way out of bed. She was conscious she was still only in sheets and Grey's fur as a way of being modest but she quickly threw on her riding gear from the day before. "Come in!" she brushed a hand down her clothes.

It was the same maids at the one the previous night and they tittered a little as they walked in, setting the tray of food down on the low table once more and then curtseying and leaving. There were plates of fruits, pastries, bacon and eggs. Zana flopped onto the cushion and Grey slunk over, paws tapping as he waited for his turn.

"So when we get there, she said it wouldn't take long, we find an inn first or we just straight away hit the springs?"

 

[Talus]

He considered the question, walking over towards the table and tapping his chin. "We find the nicest Inn possible."

Going to the springs first was tempting, but he wanted to ensure that they could relax fully after getting back. Finding an Inn first would be important in that.

"Big bed." Talus said as he sat himself down. "Maybe a suite."

He had been squirreling away some money just in case they were going to go on another trip. He'd even convinced the Generals that he should get a small 'contractors' raise. In truth he hadn't quite expected that to work, but somehow he'd managed.

"The works." He told her with a smile as he picked up a fork and began to stuff his face.