brave_kreyu | OOM All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness -Part Three

Once she's climbed fully off of him, he pushes himself up from the silks and sits up fully, allowing his wings to fully stretch to their full span. He grunts happily once he achieves the full spread, because that feels good.

"Very worth it."

There is very little in his body that actually hurts anymore, which he is finding unusual each time he wakes after spending another night in bed with her. He feels as if his body should protest more...much more. (Didn't it used to, when he woke up each day?)

Kreyu bends over to fetch the amphora from where it was strewn on the floor. She might be making SURE he gets the chance to watch her do it. (She hasn't forgotten his reaction to her bending over to get that burn treatment in the trunk!)

Perhaps her desire to heal him is at work on his body when they have sex or when she is curled up with him in sleep?

She comes back over to him with the amphora and some rags.

If Skellig had any ounce of energy left for anything other than the basics right now, he'd probably have made a move on her while she was fetching the rags and the amphora. As it is, he manages to stand up, move off the silks, and holds his hand out for a rag.

His eyes say plenty, however, when he looks at her.

Temptress.

"Is there anything else we need to look for, among the things here?"

Kreyu gives him her best innocent eyes with a WICKED smile when she notices.

"My plan was to scoop up all the jewelry and gems, leave the armor. Then coins, gold over silver. There might be something more interesting INSIDE the coin piles, so we should probably go through all of them."

She hands him a rag, opens the amphora.

Edited 2024-04-17 00:24 (UTC)

The scent makes his nose crinkle slightly when she opens it, but it is less jarring than it was when she first opened it while he had been sleeping. Once he's wet the rag, he starts to wipe off his body, while wandering towards the nearest pile.

"Jewelry, gems," he echoes her words. "Gold over silver, dig through it all just in case."

A plan! Skellig does (rarely) appreciate a good plan of attack, rather than his usual attitude of 'just wing it and see what happens'.

Kreyu wipes herself off thoroughly before she starts digging. There are a lot of coins, after all, it's not like Skellig is going to finish before she's done.

She starts arranging jewelry in her pack, then starts shifting through the coin mounds. She DOES find some gemstones, so the effort is worth it.

Once he's cleaned himself off well enough, he busies himself with digging through mounds of coins (there are so many - he has never even considered this much wealth in his existence) and finds a few items of interest:

A small, hand-carved amulet of a hippo's head, made of dark hematite, which he carefully tucks away into his pack - a gift for Taweret, once they return back to the village. A well-crafted but basic knife made of solid bronze, leather wrapped around the handle and a sheath to match - easy enough to conceal within the folds of a kilt if needed, for protection. Another small item, a bright blue feather formed from faience (which he intends to give to Kreyu) is tucked away safely, before something else catches his attention.

It is not something particularly outlandish or shiny, but a simple beaded bracelet, brown stone flecked with white crystals - porphyry - on a cord, laying haphazardly amongst the gold and silver. It gives him pause, and he studies it carefully, tilting his head with curiosity, before he crouches down to look at it closer. There is an odd pull that he feels as he 'listens' to it - there is no true echo, but it is...familiar, almost. (It is the color of his feathers, and he could easily wear it without attracting too much attention to himself.) Without hesitation he picks it up, holds it in his palm, looks at it closer. It feels right, in his hand, like a piece of himself he did not know he was missing has now been reunited.

His heartrate ticks higher as he is unsure of exactly what it is that he is feeling, but he is not scared, simply adjusting. (It is like when he was able to feel the Lines for the first time, sitting on the dirt floor of the other empty house. Some other piece of this world makes sense all of a sudden.)

He looks very much the bird, the way he is looking at the jewelry, tilting his head. "Something catch your eye?"

His attention takes an extra split-second to return to the part of his brain that knows how to process words and human speech; he blinks rapidly before he looks at her, rising from his crouch with the bracelet in his hand.

"I...cannot explain exactly what it is, about these stones, but I...I need this."

And the way that he says it - I need this - she will understand better than he can, what exactly he has just found in the midst of all the piles. The cord will need to be knotted by her hands, to secure it on his wrist, but that he will not mind.

She walks over to him, and as she gets closer her senses confirm what she suspected. "Ah, you've found a karmic item, like my necklace!" She's clearly DELIGHTED with his discovery. She takes the cord, carefully knots the bracelet around his wrist. "It has become a magnet for karma, will recharge itself over time. Draw too often and you will spend everything it has, but if you are careful, you will have an emergency supply of karma forever."

"The NEED you feel, that is why we dragons hoard items that Karma clings to." Has she given him a dragon's appetites, somehow?

It's very possible, with everything they've been up to over the past few weeks - and especially the last few days. Skellig listens intently to her explanation, and then eyes the bracelet once she's tied it onto his wrist.

"That...explains, better. This," he motions at the piles, the hoard of items that surrounds them. "I mean, I understood, but now...this makes much more sense." He nods, looking around briefly before he refocuses on her, leaning closer to press his hand to her chest above her heart, his lips to hers.

"I am glad to understand you better. To learn."

She leans into his touch, echoes it with her own hand. "It is a NEED with us, like thirst, hunger, or sleep. I do not think we can DIE from the lack, but it's uncomfortable."

"I do not deserve you," she whispers against his lips. "So kind, so loving, wanting to understand all of me."

"I will strive to keep you comfortable," he says. And if that means occasionally bringing her another item to add to her 'hoard' - then he will do so, to ensure that there is something being added, to increase the level of charge in their home.

He allows his forehead to fall against hers gently.

"Nor do I deserve you. But we have each other, now," he reaches for her hand on his chest, intertwines their fingers against his skin. "And we will make the most of it."

"Yes, we will," she replies. She brushes her lips against his, gentle. "I suspect you have found the greatest treasure among the coins, but best to be thorough."

They bag what they can of the loot, including all the gems and a fair amount of gold and silver coins.

"If we put anymore in the bags, they'll split," she says to Skellig.

"Here," he says, once they have sufficiently (and then some) packed the bags full. He puts a hand on each of them in turn, cocks his head to the side, and mutters a few words under his breath, a language she will not recognize.

"They will be lighter now," he says. "And they should hold stronger, somewhat." As explanation: "It has worked before...for my coat." The specifics of the spell are hazy, but his coat has seen a lot. Wherever it has ended up.

Once they are ready (and redressed), Skellig shoulders one of the packs, plus the one that holds their 'regular' supplies.

"So very clever," she tells him when he applies the spell. She smiles at the erotic art on the door as they close it behind them.

The way OUT of the city is quicker than their explorations on the way in. The lions are still gone when they step outside again. Kreyu takes off her kilt.

"Will definitely need to be in dragon shape again to reach the city with all of this in a reasonable time frame."

It is the time of day when late afternoon fades into early evening - the dusky hints of twilight beginning to threaten the horizon - and Skellig is somewhat grateful for this, as it does not totally jar his senses as much as emerging into the blazing sunlight of the midday would. Once he's readjusted, he takes her kilt from her and folds it, tucks it away safely - the motion already becoming well-practiced and automatic.

"Should still be less of a burden than the whale," he offers, cheekily.

Even WITH his ability to lighten that load, it still was not LIGHT by any means.

Once she has shifted to her dragon form, he carefully loads the 3 packs onto her body, then climbs up to 'his spot' on her neck, ensuring that their loot is secure for a flight of distance. As a bonus, the one that contains the carefully folded silks will make a most-excellent pillow, should he choose to nap.

But he will likely choose to enjoy the view this time - at least while the sun still lights the sky.

"Much easier," Kreyu agrees, amused at his cheekiness. The spells she casts on them are becoming familiar by now.

She surges into the sky, leaving the lost city behind, at least for now. The delta is green below them, even in the dry season. Tiny dots on the river must be boats, moving up and down the river, beneath them as they fly.

The sun sets, and the stars come out, a whole cloak of brilliant sparks set in the sky.

Becoming more familiar as well is the act of being the 'passenger' in the air, rather than allowing his own wings to propel himself to their destination.

Skellig asks occasional questions (mostly about navigation; where they are in relation to the village, to other landmarks, the coastline, etc.) and they make light conversation until the sun sets, and once the stars come out he trails off for the majority and works to pick out constellations that are familiar to him. There are still only a few, and there are simply so many stars that he can see it is still tough, but he is learning.

(He never quite falls fully asleep, but he might doze a few times.)

Amikaya sits on the sea, surrounded by vast fields. Surrounded by stone walls, there is SOME light that can be seen, fires lit in various places, torches and braziers. Kreyu mutters a spell to conceal them as she moves lower in the sky.

She lands, VERY carefully, on the wall, which protests her weight. She should probably not stay in this shape up here long.

Ensuring that his amulet is in place (and his wings are hidden), Skellig quickly hops off her body and onto the wall, packs in tow (don't ask how he manages three of them, he just does) to allow her to shift back into her 'human' shape as fast as possible.

Tearing down the wall of the city would NOT be the best way to begin this trip to Amikaya.

Before leaving the lost city, she had pointed out a different outfit she wanted to have ready after they landed; he has it ready and available once she shifts. His senses are extended to watch for any people who may wander close; if they do, he will 'suggest' they go elsewhere.

Edited 2024-04-17 22:52 (UTC)

Kreyu swiftly pulls on the dress and sandals, kissing Skellig after she's done. The dress does cover more of her, but the linen is thin enough that he can see the shape of her body through it. (And some people say what you CAN'T see is more erotic than what you can.)

"Thank you, love. I tried to land us close to where we are going." With wings, getting down off the wall is a simple matter. Amikaya is different from cities as Skellig may remember them, smaller, the buildings of mud brink and stone. There is social stratification here, rich and poor, but as they move through the city Skellig won't feel that edge of desperation, starvation, the stress of not having somewhere to take shelter at night from ANYONE.

"I do not mind to walk," he says, shrugging as they begin to move through the streets. "It is what I am used to."

Skellig keeps himself relatively 'under the radar', so to speak, as they venture into the city. He is not actively hiding himself, just not going out of his way to make himself known or seen. Mostly, he is observing - picking up on words, phrases he overhears, studying mannerisms of people they pass by, noting the general energy of the spaces, listening to the echoes from the doorways.

She is leading, but he stays close to her side.

They reach a complex of buildings around a central garden, the exterior walls painted with blue lotuses.

"This is the place, although we won't be going in the front way." There is a crowd of revelers in the garden already, and people coming in and out. Many of the revelers appear to be wealthy, from their jewelry, although some of the people who are dressed plainly are sticking close to other patrons much as Skellig is staying close to Kreyu. "People usually call it the House of Blue Lotuses."

She leads him around the side of the building into an alley. Up on the second floor, there is a door leading out onto an empty, open, space on the roof. "If I knock on that door there in a particular way, they'll know it's me." There's no ladder or steps to get up that high, and the walls are quite smooth. Enough to make one wonder why the door exists at all.

Skellig takes note first of the crowd of revelers, cocking his head curiously at the energy that he is sensing throughout the people who are coming and going from the establishment as they walk around into the alley.

(Throughout his lifetime - lifetimes? - he has found himself often in places that some might consider 'less than reputable'. People tend to ask less questions; they don't care who you are, why you are there, what your plans exactly are. And they are willing to look the other way, when the need arises.)

"A most curious door," he comments, sliding a little closer to her, one arm reaching out, his hand settling against her lower back as he looks up at the rooftop. "They will not question just exactly how you and your...friend...managed to get up there, to enter?"

The energy in the space inside the walls is positive, joyful, devious. Skellig appreciates it, even if he has no need to absorb any of it to replenish his own reserves. Kreyu has done a splendid job of taking care of him in that manner. With his ears, he's already listening around them - footsteps that might enter the alley, see them 'jump'.

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