brave_kreyu | OOM All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness -Part 10

She ponders this for a moment. "Yes, I think so. It will be much easier to reach where Koschei was last spotted by air than by road. Quicker too. He was hunting monsters in the area, strange and dangerous beasts."

Wry, he snickers under his breath.

"Never a dull moment upon our travels," he teases lightly, leaning down to press a kiss against her cheek before he shoulders his bag - and hers also, because she is a Lady and appearances matter, even if there are not likely to be many guests awake at this relatively early hour as they make their way downstairs.

She chuckles. "Thank you, love."

"With luck, he will have killed the beasts already and be...celebrating in a village somewhere." Kreyu flushes slightly. She understands some innuendo NOW that she didn't the last time she met Koschei.

Skellig spots Thia - Ajax is nowhere to be found this morning, but he does not sense any trouble (or the offending heartbeat of his brother which he was keeping track of last night) so he is not concerned. "One moment," he tells Kreyu. "I would leave our friend something, a symbol of our promise."

Might the meaning behind it be construed differently by Ajax? Possibly. Skellig moves over to Thia, and procures one of his feathers from somewhere - it is a large primary flight feather, patterned. (But there is no need to ask where exactly he was carrying it up until the moment he has it in hand.) 'Sokratis' leaves it, with a few quiet words and a coin for Thia to pass along the message.

He returns to Kreyu's side promptly, dropping his voice as they walk outside. "It was one I dropped last night," he mutters. "Molted several. I am...going through a change, I feel." He will need preening, soon...

"I would much rather join Koschei in celebration versus the alternative."

She smiles at his explanation. "I think Ajax will appreciate that."

"I'll be happy to help you preen, later," she whispers in his ear.

She flushes MUCH darker when Skellig mentions joining Koschei in celebration. "Better than in mourning or defeat, to be sure."

"I didn't understand the...innuendo, when I last met Koschei. That his appetites, ALL of his appetites, are prodigious, especially after a fight."

Skellig is not looking directly at her when she flushes, but he can sense the shift in her energy and glances in her direction as they walk, as she speaks and explains the bit regarding the innuendo.

"...all his appetites...oh." Now it is Skellig's turn to flush. "I understand. Perhaps...he will have had some time since conquering the monsters, before we come across him."

"Likely. He would not press us if we were not interested, but if his appetites are unmet he is likely to be busy finding those willing to help him sate them."

She chuckles. "Rumor has it that a great number of princesses have expressed their gratitude toward Koschei in ways that upset their kingly fathers. I know he told me when we last met that he was off to abduct a princess at HER request. Something about an unwanted arranged marriage."

"I mean, that is a generous offer of 'rescue', and one I could also support. No one should be forced to wed another who they do not care for. I understand that it is just...the way some of these kingdoms have gone on for hundreds of years, but it does not make it right."

He reaches for her hand, intertwines their fingers. He is very glad that he has a wife that WANTS to be with him!

"I would too," Kreyu replies. "The nobility in many nations rarely marry for love. Marriage is a matter of alliances, of diplomacy, the consolidation of power."

She squeezes his hand. "Luckily, I do not HAVE parents to arrange a marriage for me," she quips, tone slightly teasing. "So I may have who my heart desires."

"Lucky indeed," he teases right back. "Whoever it is who ends up by your side will benefit greatly from your kindness, your wit and cunning, your fierce loyalty to the one you call mate."

A smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth. "And will also benefit from your desires and wants, very much so."

"So certain, you sound. Almost as if you had some experience to back up your opinion." Still clearly teasing.

She puffs up a little in pride at his praise.

"I may have a small bit of experience in the matter. Maybe a rumor or two made it to my ear."

There is a stray wildflower growing in a crack near a low wall that they pass; he contemplates plucking it and handing it to her, but knowing that they are soon to be headed skyward and further on their travels, he leaves it for another to find. Perhaps a child, or a young suitor for their lover to be...

She kisses him on the cheek, smiles widely.

"And I may have heard a few rumors about a lovely man with magical hands and an owl's wings. A gentle soul made for me."

Soon enough they are outside the city, in a hidden place where she can change shape. "Time for me to take these off, I suppose," she says, gesturing to her clothes. "Unless you'd like to get more practice in with the pins?"

"It would do well for me to practice," he admits. "You are still so much faster than I am."

He steps closer to her, brings his hands to her left shoulder, allows his fingers to fall to the pin that holds the fabric in place. With their bodies this close together, it is not purely an accident that his chest brushes softly against her side as he works, or that his glances to meet her eyes is faintly loaded with other intentions.

"I would kiss you, if you'd have me do so," he whispers softly. "Should learn how to do this while distracted."

"I would like that," she says, voice soft.

She tilts her head for easier kissing. The bronze of the pins is textured, easy to grip and a stark contrast to the smooth linen.

They have Plans for travel and other dragons they must seek out, so Skellig is not going to be TOO rowdy with his kissing. But he can manage a little bit of teasing, lingering kisses as he works the bronze pin free from the linen.

"Gets easier every time."

She chuckles at his comment. "That is good to hear. I have grown fond of you helping me dress and undress."

Once her clothes and jewelry are safely packed away, she takes the feathered dragon shape.

It takes another day of flight to reach a city, more northern than any they have reached before. The climate is colder here at this time of year, and they will need more than chitons if they are outside very long!

On the plus side, shopping is also a chance to overhear news, rumors, gossip, and pick up the local languages quickly with magic.

This climate is different, so much of a shift in such a short period of travel is slightly disorienting but he is adapting easily enough as they enter a busy market area.

"Where would you like to start, love?"

He reaches for her hand out of instinct, partially to keep track of her, partially to keep himself focused as there is just so very much that is new...

"Clothing I think," she murmurs. She squeezes his hand gently.

The clothes people are wearing are more like what Skellig might remember from Before. Pants, long dresses, shirts, and coats are all being worn.

They find refuge inside a small building with a sign with clothing painted on it out front. Thanks to magic, they can communicate with the tailor, if only roughly. Their fluency will increase while they talk with him. Wool in many colors is available, leather in fewer shades, sometimes in combination for certain items.

They might as well buy for Winter too, while they're here. She might need some help in making choices.

The fabrics here are much more familiar, in an odd sense because while he doesn't truly REMEMBER objects from Before, there are just fragments here and there that seem to fall into place.

"Feel free to look about, touch anything you'd like," pipes up a voice from beyond a shelf of folded woolen pants, stacked neatly. "I can make adjustments on some things, others have to be custom cut..."

Skellig runs his fingertips across a fine-woven wool shirt, then spots what it is the tailor is currently pinning into shape...it is a coat. A true coat, one that would fall to mid-thigh on his frame (he prefers mid-calf, it hides the tips of his wings) and Kreyu will be able to sense his surge of WANT as it floods his mind.

"Could we get something like that piece you are working on?" Kreyu asks, feeling Skellig's surge of want.

"Of course," the tailor replies. "Longer, shorter, color?" Skellig will have to tell the man what kind of thing he wants.

"I am a bit backed up at..." Kreyu sets a stack of gold coins on the counter, they make quite a solid thunk. "Ah, yes. Nothing that won't wait a bit. Whatever you need!"

"I do like the shape of that one you have mocked up on your form," Skellig says, moving with confidence to study the coat the tailor is working on. "But as I am taller I typically prefer them to come to at least the knee, or better yet to.fall slightly below it."

"If you would stand here sir," the tailor pulls out a small wooden box for him to stand on. "I will take some measurements. My lady," he says to Kreyu. "My assistant had to run an errand but should be back soon. There is hot water for tea near the hearth, if you'd wish for some while you browse?"

Taking measurements is easy enough; Skellig makes sure to ask for a touch of extra room in the shoulders, as well as a few tweaks to the usual design. Then there is the matter of color. Skellig wanders to Kreyu (who is contemplating which style of pants might look best on her body) with a small stack of wool swatches, dyed different colors.

"Which color, Love? I have typically gone with black, or gray..." But those colors are harder to produce in natural fabrics in this era, so instead he has a few shades of brown, a blue, and a dark greenish one, which is the swatch he holds up near his face, letting her see it next to his eyes. "I was thinking this. It will have a hood."

Edited 2024-09-19 11:57 (UTC)

"Thank you, that would be lovely."

Kreyu helps herself to some tea while pondering pants. She is thinking the ones that fit less tightly to her body. They will fit better under boots, although breaking those boots in is likely to be a pain!

"Oh, I like that green!" she says, seeing the color near his eyes. "It will look very nice in a hooded coat."

"It is the one I think I prefer the most, so I am glad that you agree." Skellig smiles gently, and then nods to the tailor. "We will go with the green."

Now it is his turn to fetch a cup of tea and then he rejoins Kreyu near the pants. "Which ones are you thinking," he asks, looking them over.

"I am thinking of these two," she says, pointing. One pair is a medium brown, the other a green near to the color of Skellig's coat.

"They will work best with the boots, I think. Though THOSE will need to be broken in, I've heard?" Kreyu is used to sandals.

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