Private Tales There and Back Again

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
As Faurosk's arm wound its way about her shoulders, Rainie's smile carefully froze in place. Damn him for turning their proximity against her. So, she may have miscalculated, but it was nothing she couldn't handle! She was a master seductress after all, and-

And then he started speaking. Worse, actually, because he was whispering directly into her ear. Once he started doing that, her mind went completely blank.

Oh, this was not how this was supposed to go. It was supposed to be his heart racing in his chest, not hers! He was supposed to be the one turning bright red, not her! Damn her treacherous heart, how dare it betray her so. This was usually so easy!

She missed quite a bit of what he was saying in her distracted state. Something about a wall of snow, freezing the troll, and a witch healing him. Unfortunately, she spent a good bit of that time staring blankly down at her wine glass, doing an excellent impression of a doll as her eyes glazed over. She blinked rapidly to get herself back to reality in time to hear him explain the scar that his beard now hid.

"O-oh!" And damn her voice for cracking, too. She cleared her throat and tried for her standard smooth tone. "Can I see, then?" She asked, voice once again steady and curious lavender eyes now turned towards him, flicking over his face. Oh, gracious. They were very close. This was a bad idea.
 
When she turned his way, Faurosk's heart tried to skip a beat or send this arrogant fool into cardiac arrest. It would have succeeded, too, if not for one fact; She was breaking before he was. Had her voice just cracked...?

The wizard put his shoulder back against his chair, but his arm didn't retreat from its comfortable perch around Rainie. The distance between them grew, if only slightly, and he inclined his chin to point a cheek her way. "You can get just as close as you like, captain, but I won't be shaving my beard for you." Despite the gap between them, his voice didn't raise from a whisper. Bastard.
 
At that, her curiosity managed to overcome her nerves. Lips parting unconsciously, Rainie advanced where Faurosk retreated, leaning forward and searching his skin with keen eyes for the aformentioned imperfection. She did not find it immediately, even after being given a hint to it's whereabouts. So her fingers withdrew from where they'd been idly stroking up and down her wineglass' stem to touch his face. Dragging callused fingertips through the bristly hair of her wizard's beard, she searched with single-minded determination.

"Ah-ha!" She soon declared, but her exclamation was a whisper. "Found it," she informed him unnecessarily with a satisfied smile. She allowed herself to stroke once down the length of the subtle, silvery scar before sitting back. His arm was a warm weight across her shoulders, and for a moment, just a moment, she reveled in it.

"I've a new scar, too. 'Doesn't even require me to disrobe to see it," She teased him, voice low, her easy confidence returning. "Want to try and find it?" She asked invitingly. Emboldened, she crossed her arms across her torso, effectively lifting certain assets to their full potential. The new scar was nowhere near her chest, of course... But misdirection was her middle name.

"Also, I've decided I like the beard. I wouldn't ask you to shave it."
 
Although a furrow between his eyebrows might have hinted at how surprised he'd been with her initiative, his breathing continued evenly as she probed across his cheek. Her determination paid off quickly- gods be praised -and there was half a second of disappointment that rose across his face. It turned out the beard was good for concealing many things. Scars, freckles, guilt; But it couldn't quite hide the redness that crept towards its upper reaches.

"You don't need to disrobe?" He glanced downward, looking thoughtful. A single nod was given toward her chest- "Show me your hands. I have to imagine you're hiding them for a reason." As to the real reason, he couldn't begin to guess.

"I'm glad you like it," he continued, proffering his free hand. "If you'd pressed me to get rid of it, I probably would've folded."
 
Rainie chuckled low in her throat before giving up her ruse and offering her hands. She had to rotate a little in her chair to do so, and decided to draw her elbows together a little whilst she did it. The action was just for a bit of fun, and had about the same effect of her crossing her arms, as she had just done earlier. The more distracting she was, the better.

Dutifully, she placed both of her hands palm-up in his awaiting hand. After he'd thoroughly inspected her palms, she helpfully flipped them over.

"Just curious, is there anything you wouldn't do, if I asked?" She wondered inquisitively, tilting her chin down and batting her eyelashes as she tried to meet his gaze. Her voice was but a murmur between them. "Because, ah, I was thinking... Well, I suppose I have a question for you, first." A smug smile had overtaken her face as she attentively observed the flush across his cheekbones.

Sure, her heart was racing in her own chest. Yes, that was unusual for her. Blame that aforementioned treacherous heart. Anyway, back to flirting. She had a wizard to fluster.

Her hands, while callused, were curiously unscarred.
 
By this point, he'd been forced to retract his arm from her shoulders. His gaze raked across her palms with an attention characteristic to his trade, yet not so much as a cat's scratch stood out to his scrutiny. "I wouldn't badly thump anyone, unless I agreed with you that they needed it," he answered distractedly.

The world about them had fuzzed in his peripheral, and his focus was drawn to a pinpoint. No act of man, god, or elbows could hope to distract him, but doubt crept in anyways. "Then again, you might be able to persuade me on that front. Suppose I'll have to think on it."

He turned his gaze up from the fruitless search to meet her eyes. Reaching out, he took her chin delicately in his hand. "If you have a question-" His thumb gently traced along her jaw. "Ask."

It's at that point he began to manipulate her head from side to side, looking across her cheeks and nose for any traces of wounds long past. It's an ignoble fate to be inspected like that, but Rainie had set him to a task. For better or worse, he was going to see it through.
 
"Nothing of the sort," She assured him in a hasty murmur after he mentioned 'thumping' someone. She couldn't help but wonder exactly how she looked in his eyes. Was she some villain, here to sway him away from the path of good? Something to be avoided, for the sake of his own morality? A temptress to be steered clear from, at all cost?

And then he took hold of her chin, and the rest of his words took hold. His eyes locked with hers, she smiled and laughed low in her throat even as her cheeks flushed brighter. Faurosk may even be able to feel the vibrations of her vocal chords as she laughed while he stroked her jaw. He would find no new blemishes about her cheeks and nose, aside from the smattering of new freckles. During his search, which she easily submitted to, a small hand crept upwards and found his elbow, trailing up along the length of his forearm to clasp itself about one wrist.

Allowing herself to be manhandled this way and that, she asked her question with repressed mirth in her voice: "So, you know that trick you do with your clothes?" She wondered, pitching her voice down lower and quieter, expression intentionally innocent as he attentively looked her over. "Changing them, and what-not?"

There was a scar along her pulse point, just under her jaw. It was long, but it looked over a decade old. Silvery and healed well, barely noticeable. It was unlikely that Faurosk had missed such a grievous scar during their friendship, and Rainie had claimed her scar to be new. Was this it, and he had simply missed it all this time? Or was she referring to something else?

"Well, I was wondering if it could spell the clothes off as well," Rainie wondered aloud, keeping her voice blessedly quiet. Her smirk was smug, though. "Since I'm learning magic, that could be a handy trick... I'd have to see it a few times, first, of course. To ensure I got it right."
 
He eyed Rainie's throat, poking the tip of his tongue from the corner of his mouth as he considered carotid artery. He hadn't had a reason to look so closely in the past, so this scar could have very well evaded his notice throughout their friendship of years past. Then again, those who could heal through magic sometimes left scars such as this, making it appear as though the wound were older rather than unmaking the injury entirely.

Faurosk blinked once at her question, and his thoughtful expression returned in force. "No, that would be a different 'trick'," he answered once her words had registered. "Sure, I could split the seams, or rethread a garment as though it had never been stitched to begin with, but that would be a trial and a half to re-make once the showmanship was through. Besides, you're thinking of something flashier."

Shaking his head, the wizard returned to the task at hand, breaking away from her gaze to run his index finger along that scar. "You can either discover a method I've neglected, or you'll just have to watch me strip the old fashioned way," he continued casually, nodding toward her neck. "Is this the one?"
 
At his answer, she had to lean away and cover her mouth at the laugh that blustered forth. Her melodic laugh echoed beyond their quiet bubble, loud and without abandon. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes as she clasped a hand over her mouth, her entire body being taken over by her merriment. It took a moment for her to return to from her amusement, eventually finding his hand in her own and pressing it easily to her throat, right over the scar he'd identified. Hand clasped there, he may even be able to feel her elevated pulse beyond his gloves, as well as the chuckles that she refused to allow to escape.

"Yes, that's the one," She congratulated him, lowering her volume again. The damage was done, however. Eyes had turned towards them both at her outburst. Including that of one server, who Rainie distractedly warded off with a pointed look. The young man turned and addressed another table instead.

Carefully, she removed her hand and leaned a fraction of an inch away. Keeping Faurosk's gaze, she grappled blindly for her wine glass and found it deftly, before raising it to her lips and draining the rest of it.

"Shall we find somewhere more private?" She whispered. "I can tell you the tale of this scar, and you can show me your... trick?" She tried, but utterly ruined the flirtation by wiggling her eyebrows ridiculously.
 
It was a poor joke, and Faurosk was quick to dismiss it as such. He slumped back in his chair, smiling in amusement. That's what they'd been reduced to, was it? Across the whole of her body, he'd somehow found the newest scar in her chronicle of adventurers only for that rubbish pun to take away any fanfare.

He glanced down, then blinked. She had drained her glass, hadn't she? Didn't go for another, either. He sniffed. Then squinted. An empty glass was one less thing to keep them there.

Rainie's gaze was met, her wizard's brow furrowed in grim determination. "I won't be doing any magic tricks," he protested, feigning offense. He raised his own glass and emptied it in one, long draw. With a breath, he returned it to the table. "But I've wanted to kiss you for longer than you know. We'll start with that."
 
At his casual declaration, all the air in Rainie's chest left at once. She turned her wide eyes to Faurosk, who managed to look incredibly unruffled, save for a flush across his face where his beard didn't reach. The silver-tongued bard found herself speechless for a beat too long as she mentally wrested away the desire to say, Really?! in a high-pitched voice.

Instead, she managed to take a breath and retort back, "Yes, yes, I suppose that would be a good starting point," in an exaggerated drawl. She held her chin theatrically, as if in thought, and stroked her fingertip over her bottom lip. "And where would you like to have this...conversation?"
 
Faurosk tried his best to look pensive and thoughtful, but he couldn't restrain a grin that threatened to crack his stoic facade. Internally, he thought and re-thought a forward path at least twice over. Planning had never been his forte, not with so little information to go off of. Improvisation is the better half of enterprise, he'd always thought.

"In a city with so many private quarters, there's usually some for sale," he murmured thoughtfully, brow furrowed. "Take this place for example." His knuckle tapped two beats on the table. "The Raven's Rest. A purveyor of fine drinks, and a finer place to sleep them off."

The wizard's head inclined just enough for him to glance down his nose at her, expression amused. "We've half a bottle left, and I'm terribly interested in that scar's story... A few silver for an evening's rent would be a small price to pay." A pitance, really. He raised his eyebrow.
 
Rainie mirrored his raised brow with one of her own, and tilted her head this way and that as if considering multiple options. Her facade of hemming and hawing could be clearly seen through, however, as she couldn't quell her giddy grin. Internally, she marveled at Faurosk's audacity, finding that she quite liked this version of him. If it were anybody else, she might find it off-putting. But, well, mark her down as slightly biased.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" She asked rhetorically. Mind apparently made up, she stood from her seat and picked up the half-full bottle of wine. Looking down at her wizard, she wordlessly tilted her head towards the bar taking up a great deal of the room, silently urging him to get up, and get the hell on with it.

Rainie was not exactly a patient woman, by any definition. And while she could wax poetic about certain things, this particular topic was something she'd been thinking about for far too long to feign restraint. She'd deny it until her dying day, but she was practically vibrating with excitement as his words from before bounced about in her mind ad nauseam.
 
Her wizard's composure held out well, but it couldn't last forever. At her wordless tilt towards the bar, his eyebrows furrowed, then raised. A curse passed his lips in a murmur of disbelief, and he too rose to his feet.

"I'm surprised that worked," Faurosk noted dryly, smiling as though they'd just shared parts in a conspiracy against their emotions. "The way you fled when I suggested we mean what we say, I expected it'd be three years more before either of us came clean... So be kind, and grant me a few minutes more."

With a wink farewell, he departed to the bar. The conversation there was quick, a tab opened and paid. A bottle of wine, a pair of bowls, and a room for the evening amounted to a fee he wouldn't turn his nose up at, but the man didn't barter. Time, it seemed, was of the essence.

Silver changed hands, and he returned to Rainie with a key in hand and an arm extended her way. "Upstairs, second to last room. Shall we?"
 
Laughing to herself as he left, she watched Faurosk go with thinly veiled interest. As he spoke to the barkeep, she pondered over his words. Leaning against the table, she smiled and observed him as her mind raced. Her stomach had been keeping up a routine bout of spontaneous acrobatics for the past two days since she'd returned to her hometown. Sure, Faurosk made her nervous. It was why she'd left in the first place.

As Faurosk passed over his coin, Rainie's gaze wandered to the front door of the tavern. There was still that little voice in the back of her head, warning her that she would just end up hurt again. That they were better off as friends. She could leave, say her goodbyes to her father, and be half way across the continent before he found her again. If he'd even look for her. That would make it two times. Even she didn't believe Faurosk had that kind of patience.

These thoughts were quickly squashed with a dose of reality. Countless nights spent with the company of her own thoughts had given her her resolve. And this time around, she knew herself a little bit better. She just hoped her wizard felt the same way... or was, at the very least, willing to compromise.

Rainie looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching, and her face lit up from her dour expression. Noting the key in his hand, she smiled and nodded. "We shall!" She declared with amusement before taking his arm. There was a level of silliness to this entire exchange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on the cause. Perhaps it was due to the fact they both looked a bit like interlopers, sneaking away for a hurried encounter? It was a bit hilarious, considering her and Faurosk's history.

The room was simple, to-the-point, and serviceable. Rainie released Faurosk's arm and strode in like she owned the place. Humming to herself, she set the wine bottle on the bedside table and kicked off her shoes. There was a lantern on the dresser, which she lit from several feet away, with four hummed notes and a flick of her fingers. Looking thoroughly pleased with herself, she found herself a comfortable perch on the bed and sent a smile Faurosk's way.

"So, which topic did you wish to begin with? The scar, or the kissing?" Still smirking, she found a lock of long red hair to twirl around her finger casually. "Because, I have to admit, I cannot help but find one more compelling than the other."
 
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Faurosk took the steps in contented silence, and a quick glance about the modest quarters he'd rented did little to dull his satisfaction. Certainly, he'd encountered better rooms at kinder prices, but for a private conversation, he could abide in the Rest awhile yet.

Rainie's spellcraft with the lantern earns an impressed grin from her expert on such things. With a polite bit of applause, he crossed over to the dresser and carefully removed his gloves. Folding one over the other, both were set beside the room's flickering light to be reclaimed another time.

"I'm sure the scar seems less compelling because you've already lived that tale," he chides, turning about and planting his rear against the dresser. He crossed one arm over the other and raised his chin in a facetious show of defiance. "I'd like to know who to thank. You know, for keeping your head on straight..."

A moment's thought crossed his face, and he cast a glance toward the lantern she'd lit only a moment before. "And if you say it's you who healed that wound, well- I'll be thoroughly impressed."
 
Rainie couldn't help but laugh and preen at the applause Faurosk gave her in response to her magic trick. It was a simple one to him, most assuredly. But, the mere fact that he found it entertaining was enough for her for now.

At the same time, she was a bit disappointed. And impatient. He may have chosen to not kiss her immediately, but she knew Faurosk. There was likely to be some beating around the proverbial bush before things actually got to moving along in the romantic department. She could only hope that his questions didn't kill the mood they'd managed to develop. Sighing dramatically, she raised one knee and propped her elbow on it to hold her chin, looking as blasé as you please, as she answered his queries.

Smirking to herself, she nodded in his direction. "Fine... Your instincts are good, but we knew that," she laughed breathlessly. Belatedly, she remembered that she ought to hold down her skirt between her knees. She did so with her other hand. Her fingers idly caressed her other knee, drawing her fingertips up and down the exposed skin.

"It may have been me, actually. I cannot exactly recall, as I was quite out of it at the time," She recollected without a care, gaze trained up to the ceiling. There was a crack in it. "T'was during a raid that I thought was handled, but I was captured. Someone held me still and drew a blade cross'd my throat whilst holding me hostage. Nobody else touched me after, because they thought me dead... But I woke up a few days later with a week-old scar and my first mate shouting at me." She shrugged with a smile. There were water stains about the ceiling-crack.

Rainie wished to move onto the next subject, to be completely honest. She already felt that the mood had be thoroughly lost. But she couldn't deny Faurosk an honest question... But she could leave out some details.

There was no need for Faurosk to know she lain there, on her back, drenched with pattering rain on the deck of an enemy ship. Clasping her hands to her throat as she pleaded over and over, to anyone who would listen, to take pity on her. He didn't need to picture her begging any God that would pay attention to spare her, as blood spurted from her throat, eventually choking her words as darkness overtook her vision.

"I haven't been able to recreate the effect," Rainie admitted, avoiding his gaze by gazing at the lantern instead. "But it seemed as if my words, at the time, caused some magic to burst forth."

The pirate pasted on a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. The hand that had been holding down her skirt paused in it's pattern drawing, before coming up with another and resuming.

There was a brief beat of silence.

"So, are you going to thank me, or....?" Her lavender eyes flicked up to his, amused.
 
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Faurosk fell into a deep and thoughtful mood as her story was spun through its course. It was a stark change of mood from their back-and-forth flirtation, but there were a number of facets to her tale that caught his interest. Namely that the story lacked an apparent 'savior'-- Save, of course, for Rainie herself.

Raising a hand to his lips, the wizard slipped his thumbnail across his teeth and drew his eyebrows together. Using magic to heal mortal wounds was one aspect of the craft that he'd never come to grips with, but it had always fascinated him. Most arcanists agree that intention is the better half of spell-craft, with method being the worse. And who's to say that desperation in the face of death isn't the greatest purpose of all?

Rainie's words reach him, then, before he can start spiraling down that particular train of thought. "Are you going to thank me?" Faurosk blinked twice, then turned his focus back to her. The confused grimace on his face lasted all of a second before he gathered what she was getting at. It seems the stuffy academic she traveled with is still in there, somewhere, coaxed out by the conundrum her story put forward.

Dragging his feet in exaggerated exhaustion, the wizard made his way to the bedside. "Very clever. I'm thoroughly impressed," he offered earnestly. Dropping down onto the mattress, he reached out to take one of her hands in his. "Thank you, Freckles, for keeping your own head on straight. I would have been terribly, outrageously heartbroken if you hadn't."

The edges of his eyes crinkle in an otherwise invisible smile.
 
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Rainie's eyes tightened and her mirthful smile went stiff about the corners at the truly dreadful nickname. A wave of childish offense rose within her, and she valiantly resisted the urge to smack Faurosk with a pillow. Instead, she closed her eyes, let out a sigh, and looked down at their clasped hands.

She knew what he was doing, of course. He was attempting to lighten the mood by poking fun at her. They were alike, in that way. Making light of dark and dour situations. Protecting others via good humour and jokes. Ruefully, she realizes that was one of the many things that attracted her to Faurosk in the first place. In her musings, her borderline grimace had turned into a soft smile. After a beat, she finally glanced up and regarded the wizard with a fond look.

"But, of course. You are very welcome, Sir Big Head," she tried to reply imperiously, but her voice was far too soft. Frowning in chagrin, she gave it up as a bad job and huffed a short, disappointed sigh at herself. She was in no state for quips, apparently. Someone may as well have cut out her tongue. Oh, well, she thought to herself. Best to move on.

Returning her focus entirely to the wizard beside her, she turned beseeching lavender eyes on him and held his gaze. At some point during all of this, she had unconsciously gravitated towards him a bit. Just leaning ever-so-slightly closer than before. She decided to ignore it.

"Alright, I'm going to be fully transparent with you for a moment, so brace yourself," Rainie warned her wizard as she mustered up her nerve. To bolster herself, or perhaps distract, she commandeered his hand entirely by interlacing his fingers with hers. Whilst locked together, his hand dwarfed hers quite a bit. She spent a precious moment inspecting the contrast, then swiftly began,

"I missed you." This statement of fact, which had already been stated earlier, was met with unwavering eye contact. "So much so, that in every crowded place, town, or city; I looked for you..." Her gaze dropped for a moment, then returned to his with a self-deprecating smile. "I spent an entire week I didn't have time for in Elbion, hoping to run into you."
 
Those hairline fractures in his exhausted facade spread steadily at Rainie's returned fire of teasing. Sir Big head- Faurosk had never been knighted so far as his memory served, but was this really the time for him to start disbelieving and debating her? He decided, no, it wasn't, and allowed himself to settle comfortably into the present.

In that comfort, transparency was the last turn he expected. After so long apart and however many hours they'd spent dancing around the truth, Rainie's earnest confession threw him off balance. The wizard teetered back, eyed her warily, and then leaned into her with all the tired certainty of a tree succumbing to gravity. Shoulder to shoulder and arm to arm, he didn't tell her that he'd tried avoiding Elbion since their last encounter there. He didn't tell her how often he looked over crowds to catch a glimpse of her red hair, nor did he mention the rarity of his dreams and her frequency in them.

Instead, he blew out a sigh and started softly, not quite meeting her eyes. "I went looking for Seers, soothsayers. Hoping they could push me in your direction." Onto another collision course. "They must have taken me for a lovesick fool," holding onto something that would only bring longing. Taken, he said- not mistaken.

"I missed you, too," he concluded, but the sentiment felt entirely too small to encapsulate his thoughts— let alone his feelings —on the matter. Rainie could see his shoulders deflate as he blew out another wistful sigh. Her gaze was finally met by his own then, his eyes wrinkled by a bittersweet smile. "Fitting that this would be the stars align. Of all places, here. Where we grew up streets apart, and never once crossed paths."
 
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Where Faurosk teetered backwards, Rainie snuck slightly forwards. She felt a bit like they were two bits of magnetic metal, drifting towards each other without sense. But still, she listened. A sad smile crossed over her face at his reply. "I am sorry. I made myself hard to find." Her tattoo was definitely there for a reason. There was a pause as she remembered something from long, long ago; but ultimately decided to keep it to herself. Instead, she swallowed, her heart racing.

There was a moment where neither of them spoke. Just two people leaning into each other, lips angled towards lips, staring into each other's eyes. Neither of them moving. Rainie's free hand left it's grip on the quilt beneath them and instead found it's new home on the front of Faurosk's doublet. Fingers stroking idly, she wondered,

"Are you?" There was a pause. "A lovesick fool?" A soft smile accompanied the question. She leaned forward ever closer, tugging as far as he would allow with the hand in his doublet.

"You could, you know..." She offered, lips a hairsbreadth from his own, eyes half-lidded. "If you wanted." And then she waited. Lips parted, fingers clenching in his doublet, a bit nervous, but hopeful.
 
How close can two lodestones get before their attraction overpowers the forces keeping them apart? Natural law dictates that the answer should vary from one case to another, but there will be an answer. The last distance. The point after which separation becomes an impossibility.
What natural law has always failed to account for is longing.

Longing for years, Faurosk's heart had just about given up hope. Even so, he found joy in the company of others. He'd found purpose in traveling the world. He'd been happy, truly, with himself and with his circumstance. But there, pulled ever closer by the delicate hand on his doublet, he couldn't help but think of the years that had passed since their lives last crossed.

The road can be a lonely place, and he'd found companionship where he could. But nobody he'd met held a candle to that enthralling, infuriating woman he'd let slip away.

"You could, you know... If you wanted." Surely Rainie knew the effect she had on him, she had to know this enchantment she'd woven. Unless- Was it unintentional? An accident? Oh, damn it all!

His hand found its way to her waist, holding on for just a moment, holding her at bay. Then he succame, leaning in that last distance and closing the gap between them.

She'd kissed him plenty in the past; To fluster strangers, to deceive the gullible. For the first time in far too long, he returned the favor.
 
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For a moment, the thought that Faurosk would reject her froze Rainie in place. He wasn't saying anything, and the hand on her waist felt a bit like he was pushing her away. In that split second, shame washed over her, worried that she had misjudged the entire situation. But then, he leaned in and his lips met hers, and the whole world narrowed to that second.

Rainie reacted reflexively, her eyes closing and the hand on his chest drifting up to cradle his bearded jaw, pulling him closer. She tilted her head, kissing him deeply as a small, desperate sound escaped her chest. All she could think was, yes, finally! The relatively-chaste kiss broke as she pulled back, eyelashes fluttering as she regarded the wizard before her. Looking over his face, noting his painfully familiar features, she gave into temptation and kissed him again, deeper this time.

Her heart was racing in her chest, she caressed his lips with her own, burying her fingers in his hair. In a wish to be closer, she shuffled closer on her knees, forcing him to tilt his head up to meet her lips. She resisted the urge to throw her leg over his, even if she really wished to be in his lap at this moment. Instead, she drew back, one hand still clasped in his and the other threaded into the hair at the base of his skull, idly stroking his scalp.

Her lips parted, and in the moment, she almost said something far too telling. Instead, she whispered, "I didn't think you would do it," with a teasing smile on her face. Just because she thought she could get away with it, she ducked down and placed a peck on his lips. Her breath was fast, and her smile was that of the cat that caught the canary.
 
With one hand still caught and ensnared by her fingers, Faurosk sent his other to take Rainie by her waist. He drew her in, guided her to his side until she rose onto her knees to dare ever closer. Part of him wanted to pull her all the way into his lap, and it wasn't a quiet part, either. Even so, he held onto one shred of dignity despite the moment of surrender.

When she broke away for a second time and ended their more impassioned embrace, he was almost too dazed to see that third peck coming. Reciprocating just a split second too late, Rainie's retreat forced him towards her. Where he'd previously enjoyed the luxury of splaying his fingers across the small of her back, his hand then fell clumsily to the mattress at her back where it was leaned on for support.

Thoroughly entangled with the woman at his side with a face flustered as red as a beet, it was all the wizard could do to fight for an inch of composure. "I'm not a fool," he finally answered thirty seconds and three kisses too late. "Do you take me for some sort of coward, too? My bravery's doubled since the last time we met."

Doubling a fraction of a decimal might not have gotten him very far, but progress is progress.
 
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Rainie's smile, already far too satisfied, grew even more smug. The look of superiority, however, was utterly ruined by how dark and besotted her eyes were. Fingertips, toughened from lute-playing, now played idly in his hair with a lazy reverence. Deep in her throat, she hummed a single note of wonder and delight. She admired his reddened face for a moment, and a now-familiar burst of fondness-comfort-pleased-thrill warmed her chest and belly. Heart racing, she disentangled her hand from his own and brought it to cradle his warm face.

Almost without her permission, her reddened lips parted and out came: "So, will I see some of that bravery later?" in a suggestively low, breathy voice. It took a moment for her own mind to register what she'd just said, and her eyes widened a fraction. This wasn't some mark she was necking with, this was her best friend. A bit worried, and a little embarrassed, she added, "I want to take this slow." Fast had never worked out in the long run, for her. Of it's own volition, the thumb of the hand on his face stroked softly across his bristly cheek.

"But I've wanted this... for a long time." Tilting her head, she regarded him curiously with fluttering eyelashes. Her hand dragged across his jaw towards his chin, and her thumb came up to press in the center of his slick lower lip. "Also, you're a vision like this." The pad of her thumb stroked downwards, and she watched it with heavy-lidded interest. Her eyes flickered back up to his after a beat, and she was struck dumb for a moment. Almost like it was just now hitting her:

This is real.
 
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