OOM: All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness?

[brave_kreyu]

(OOC: Warning for explicit adult content, mention of noncon/rape, slavery)

Is it a dream? A glimpse of a universe that might have been? A story untold?

Something called Skellig out here, to a road scratched in the earth between the desert and the land irrigated by the river. The sun overhead is like a hammer, the heat murderous. His coat...he can't remember WHAT happened to his coat. In this heat the coat would be as strange as his wings to human eyes in any case.

There are two small mud-brick houses up ahead, then more road, and a mud-brick wall encircling a small village of mud-brick houses.

He needs a drink, desperately.

He hears footsteps coming toward him, the heat haze breaks to reveal a woman. (Except she can't be a woman, no one human has that much Light inside them, that much power.)

"Even one touched by the gods should not be walking about this time of day," her voice is all concern, all worry. She's wearing a white linen kilt around her waist, and nothing at all above it except a necklace of blue clay beads. She's lovely. (And she feels familiar? Why?)

She offers a hand to him, seemingly not concerned in the slightest about his wings.

Comments

[27_53]

"In front of me will be fine," he reassures her, though his tone is also teasing. "You will be inspiring, but I will save the thoughts I have for...later."

And he kisses her, because he can and she also looks lovely in this light, so why not take advantage of the opportunity?

"And then I will deal with the fire."

[brave_kreyu]

"I will look forward to finding out those thoughts of yours."

After the kiss, she 'walks' his hands through the steps of putting the kilt on for the second time. Oh how much has changed in less than a day!

"And there," she tucks the last piece into place. She picks up the water jug, large and heavy thing that it is, with relative ease. "I'll be back in a bit."

[27_53]

"I'll behave while you are away," he 'promises'. Which, he will, once she has taken the water jug and gone to fetch the water they will need.

In the first light of this day, and alone for the first time in less than a day (but yet it feels as if he has already been here so very long, beside her) Skellig takes a moment to simply stand and take stock of himself, his senses.

He is trying to figure out just where he is. There is no desire to leave at any near point, but his habits are not easily broken. Especially in a strange, unfamiliar land...

Without any luck, he moves to add some fuel to the fire's coals, then busies himself with tidying the bed, removing the feathers easily enough (he is used to hiding the 'evidence' of his presence) and piling the largest ones that remain on one corner of the table. The linens and light blanket are shook out, her pillows rearranged into some semblance of order.

When she returns, she will likely find him busy with tidying other things, expending nervous energy. He will not rifle through her things, but he has gathered the bread and eggs onto the table, along with a knife he's found.

[brave_kreyu]

The eggs are larger than he's probably used to, being the eggs of geese rather than chickens. Kreyu comes back in with the now much heavier jug, moving carefully so as to not spill it.

She smiles brightly when she sees how he's tidied. "Thank you, Skellig. That's very thoughtful of you."

She sets the water jar down carefully. "And I suppose I'd best drink what Taweret left for me, before I forget."

She takes her first sip of the drink in the jar, makes a face at the bitterness of it, but keeps drinking. It even SMELLS bitter to Skellig, if he's close enough.

[27_53]

Skellig shrugs a shoulder at her 'thanks'. "You have shared your nest. Your home," he corrects himself. "With me. It is just...what is done."

At some point he is close enough, and he makes a similar face at the bitter scent of the drink.

"That..."

(It triggers a flash of a memory in his mind, the feeling of the gritty texture of white pills as he grinds them between his back teeth, bitterness and acid on his tongue as he tries to swallow. One brown, two or three - or four, who's counting? - white, mix them together to dull the ache in his hands.)

Skellig visibly shudders and shakes his head, obviously still bothered. "I am sorry you have to drink that, I know it will help, but..." he makes a noise of disgust, and moves back towards the fire.

[brave_kreyu]

"Bad experience?" she asks quietly. Kreyu decides to just CHUG the rest of it, both to get it over with and to get the smell of the stuff away from Skellig.

She pours herself an entire mug of beer, downs it, and then pours herself another. "Ugh. Still need to wash the taste out of my mouth before I can tell how well this batch of beer came out."

[27_53]

"It is very similar to...something I have taken much of, in another...time, place."

He sighs, still unsure of just how he should classify this. The 'here and now' that they are inhabiting. But his mood perks quickly, as she mentions the prospect of beer. Once he's satisfied with the fire for the time being (and the scent has faded from his nostrils) he moves back over to her.

"Tawaret will be glad you have chosen to listen to her. I am glad I will not have to explain to her why I was unable to convince you," he says, smirking slightly before he drops casually into a chair, reaching for an empty mug and nudging it nearer to her. "You make this, yourself?"

[brave_kreyu]

She touches his arm in an attempt at comfort. Then she pours the both of them some beer,

"I do," she explains. "The village is too small to support one person dedicated to brewing beer, so most everyone brews their own. I've gotten better at it over time, thankfully."

[27_53]

"My inclination to stay grows stronger with each thing I learn about you," he lifts the mug in a hint of a 'toast' - whether the gesture translates across times and universes, who knows - before he drinks.

Now that he is not delirious from heat exhaustion and wavering towards darkness and dehydration, he actually has time to taste the beer as it crosses his tongue. The flavor profile is entirely different than what he is used to, but it is still good. He nods.

"You may end up stuck with me, at this rate."

[brave_kreyu]

She copies the gesture, guessing at its meaning from context.

"Was that supposed to deter me from trying to get you to stay?" she asks, leaning toward him from across the table. She laughs, low, and her smile is slightly wicked. She's so very close, it would be so easy to kiss her. "Because if it was, it isn't working," she purrs.

[27_53]

"You will not have to try," he replies, leaning up and pressing his mouth to hers in a kiss. It is not a deep kiss, but it is still passionate. "I will stay, so long as the fates allow it."

Regardless if it is another hour, day, week, or years.

"And as long as you would have me."

[brave_kreyu]

She flushes, and her soul overflows with joy at his words. "Thank you, Skellig. I could ask for no greater gift."

"How do you like your eggs?"

The bread is starting to stale a little, no preservatives or dough conditioners HERE, but the eggs are fresh and there are some dried herbs and salt to give them some seasoning. There's also honey, for someone with a sweet tooth. Oh, and beer. Beer is the breakfast drink of champions, right?

[27_53]

"I would take them however you feel fit to prepare them."

The bread being slightly stale is of no concern to him (after all, what does one usually do with bread that has gone stale - tear it into pieces and feed it to the birds) but he will gladly drizzle it with honey and salt. And drink the beer.

"I prefer it if they are at least cooked through a bit."

[brave_kreyu]

She nods. "How about you keep an eye on them while I'm cooking and you let me know when they look 'right' to you?"

Kreyu hadn't realized how hungry she was until she started eating. She also put honey on her bread, though it didn't go as neatly as planned, and it got all over her fingers. She starts to lick it off of her hand, put her fingers in her mouth to get it off, because this is what she has always done.

[27_53]

"That will work," he says.

But first, a bit of bread and beer, an 'appetizer' before she gets started on the eggs with any real intent. He is mostly focused on his own piece until he catches her...licking honey off of her fingers...

Skellig coughs, mouth suddenly dry, and reaches for his beer. A quick swig, and then he shifts to lean over the table, catching her wrist - sticky honey and all - in his grasp. Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he pulls her hand to his mouth and takes over, licking a drip of honey from her skin.

"Let me help you."

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu makes a noise low in her throat when he licks the honey off her skin. It's pretty close to the noises she made last night.

"Well." She laughs, soft. "I would like your help, Skellig," Her eyes are dark with want. She leans toward him, lets him pull her wrist how he pleases.

[27_53]

Carefully, methodically, he works to clear the honey from her skin, ensuring no sticky residue remains.

"I have half a mind to clear this table and take you right here and now."

He exhales a breath. He hasn't ruled that idea out, but he is also quite hungry, and still a bit tired from their previous antics. Plus, they have plans...

"Perhaps after...breakfast."

[brave_kreyu]

Her heart is going very fast, by the time he finishes.

She swallows, twice. "After our errands this morning," she suggests. "We'll have hours in the worst heat of the day when everyone will be resting to spend time together. Give us time to eat and time to recover a bit more from last night."

[27_53]

"After our errands."

Skellig nods, and with her skin cleared, he leans back in his chair and picks his mug up once more, using the beer to wash down the sticky feeling from his lips - and her taste from his tongue.

"And recovery." He motions at the eggs. "Can I help further than just watch, or...?"

With this being her kitchen and her hearth, it makes more sense for her to cook for them.

[brave_kreyu]

"I'm sure you'll be able to help more, in time, but for now it would be best for you to watch."

The idea of him being here, of it becoming HIS space too, makes her heart flutter a little. Or maybe that's just the after effects of him helping her clean up.

The eggs get cooked without much further excitement, washed down with beer.

[27_53]

After they have finished cooking, eating, and most things are tidied and put away, Skellig allows himself to think more about their upcoming venture outside.

"What errands do we need to run, this morning? I know Tawaret said you were acting as her apprentice. Are there women you need to check in upon, or is it just other things? I can make myself scarce, if needed."

Or just sit outside somewhere and wait.

[brave_kreyu]

'I shouldn't need to check on anyone today. I checked on them all yesterday, before I saw you on the road."

"I wanted to show you my dragon shape, start showing you the process for creating a place like this, and visit Tawaret. You should be able to come with me anywhere today without trouble."

[27_53]

"Alright."

He glances down at his hands, to confirm that yes, the amulet is working as intended, then looks up at her. Looks her over. Asks a question he has been wondering since his arrival.

"This may seem...uneducated...but is it common practice for women in your village to not protect more of their skin from the sun?"

[brave_kreyu]

"Only during the worst of the dry, like right now. It's too hot for anyone to be about during the worst of the sun in any case, so it's better to stay cool. In another month or so it will be cooler, and everyone will start wearing clothing above the waist again."

[27_53]

"Makes sense, well enough."

He drains the last of his beer from the mug, then stands, offering her a hand out of habit.

"I would see you," he says. "My dragon, where it is safe to do so."

Which means they will have to walk a distance, and it is already growing warm outside - so no time like the present.