[His touch falters as he picks up on her unease, the way she bites her lip, and he decides to slow it down for now, his eyes continuing to study her. They have-- not all the time in the world, exactly, but whatever's left that Kenos can afford. With Hayame unaccustomed to intimacy, to his knowledge, it would be better to start gradually. Fingers brush along her dun coat and settle on the small of her back where it joins to equine.]
Hey... Do you still need somewhere to stay? My place is still open to you, you know. I know it's not the most convenient for a jinba, but...
[It beats staying in a stall boxed in with four walls and not much else.]
[Even after her desire-driven attempts at ridding herself of the purity her stable master had guarded for so long, after the shameful things she has done when spiked drinks and Discord have mixed with her season... That was heat. Heat was an excuse. Heat made it easy to just... just blame her body, just do what it wanted...
But without heat... She swallows her fears down. Her withers twitch and shiver beneath the slide of his hands until they find a resting point, and then... she is just standing there blushing.]
I have duties in Alenroux...
[She did, it wasn't even just hesitation, but... Her eye darts to the side for a moment, then back. Her fingers smooth out his clothing, from where she's rumpled it with her clutch.]
... But on the days I have to return to Springstar to report to the general...
[The way she twitches and shivers even under the smallest of touches is enough to drive him to distraction, but he'll leave her be for now. This, just being close to her, is enough, and his smile brightens when she offers her suggestion.]
It's a date, then. [Multiple dates, even. What that entails, he doesn't elaborate, but he leaves the implication there: that he'd like to spend more time with her, beyond just necessities like providing her comfort and shelter. The routine still gives her space too, while she adjusts.]
And on days when you're in Alenroux and I'm around to tend to Naira, I'll come say hi, too. When you're not busy, of course.
[How is she supposed to not twitch or shiver? For all that she has stumbled into under the influence of her heat... This is not that. This is something else entirely that she is still afraid to fully believe in, despite how she has silently expressed her intent to try. Claude (Khalid) is touching her, even though he is not a potential buyer or a groomsman, he is... He is a potential... lover.
Who wants to "date". She has heard about... "dating". (It sounded confusing.)]
... Only when I am not busy.
[She frowns, the expression seemingly almost exaggerated again, like it's less a real look and more an attempt to maintain some sort of dignity in the midst of her fluster.]
I have a reputation...
[She can't have the soldiers thinking she's gone soft, or was distracted by some sort of affair- ?!]
[He laughs.] You do realise everyone else in Alenroux has relationships of their own, right? Partners, friends, families... None of them have their reputation ruined just for something as ordinary as that.
[Or at least he doesn't think so, not that he spends as much time among them as she does day to day.]
I think for those who care about you, they'd be happy for you. To everyone else, they'll figure it's none of their business.
[Gossipy types aside, but those are everywhere. He leans in to catch her lips in a brief kiss again, as if to head off another of her reflexive protests before they can happen. Then he adds, more softly:] But... we can take it slow. Nobody has to know until you're happy with it, and you know how long I can keep a secret.
[He says it like it's such an obvious thing, and even though a part of her does recognize that, for the people of Kenos, perhaps it was true... It has always been difficult for Hayame to let go of the shackles she has worn her entire life. Even now, after over a year apart from the only world she had ever known... She still often acts on instinct based on the rules and morals of her culture. Even though it is a culture she had always secretly raged against, resented for what it did to jinba, to women...
It somehow is not easy to let go of. Perhaps she had simply clung to it in order to keep her sanity in Horos, in Kenos, where things were so overwhelming and wrong...
He was right to think a protest might be coming. It is stalled by his kiss, and she finds herself lingering on his lips just because she doesn't know what words to use. Should she chastise him for reminding her how long he had lied about something as simple as his name? Should she try to claim that he was a man, and of course a man need not ever worry for damage to his reputation like a woman must? She nuzzles against his forehead for a moment, her eye drifting closed, and what finally comes out is an equally quiet, half-reluctant admission that,]
... It is not easy for me.
[She has fiercely protected her reputation and her status as a warrior ever since she'd understood how the world worked. To change it now...
... So. She is grateful. That he seems willing to be a secret until she says otherwise.]
[Khalid closes his eyes too, as she nuzzles against him, and he wonders if he melt like this every time she shows him these small, precious pieces of affection.]
I know. But it'll get easier, I promise.
[He once never would have dreamed of being this close with anyone, and yet here he is. A little at a time he's lowered his guard, bared his soul, until there's none of his secrets left between them. If he can do it, anyone can, even someone who has experienced as many of life's cruelties as Hayame has.]
I'll be with you every step of the way. And eventually... you'll be able to look at life in a whole new way, without fear or shame. --No, [he pauses to reconsider, pulling back just enough to see her face once more,] you're already starting on that journey.
She has already decided that she will believe in a far more outrageous promise from this man, so perhaps it is not much of a trial to believe in this one. But it is still somewhat difficult, and she cannot so easily just nod and agree. Her fangs dig in to the plush skin of her bottom lip again, swallowing her protest... and occupying herself more presently with finishing smoothing out his clothing.
There. Fixed.]
You needn't be so sappy...
[It is embarrassing. She does not know how to respond to it. And if she stays here longer then it will become even more obvious, (and the soldiers might notice that she was gone quite long into the woods with a man), so... She gently pushes, as if to urge him off his rock. Even if she looks slightly conflicted and reluctant to do so.]
[His smile is lopsided, and he acquiesces to the nudge, touching her arm briefly as he steps down from the rock. Suddenly, they've gone from seeing eye-to-eye, to Hayame towering over him once again, as his boots touch the dirt. She does raise a good point, and Naira is a creature of routine as much as any animal, so surely his steed will be wondering where he has gone.
He still simply feels... elated. How can he not be sappy, or want to drag the moment out for all it's worth, given everything?]
All right, you win. [He concedes, despite that.] I'll go.
[He turns, moving to the trees to head back the way he came, and pauses just a moment longer. That bird is still singing, somewhere in the distance.]
...Thanks. For coming to find me.
[Or waiting for him, or just happening to strategically run into him, or however she wanted to frame events. None of this would have happened, if not for her. But she told him not to be sappy, so with that said, he gives her one last smile, before disappearing into the trees.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Hey... Do you still need somewhere to stay? My place is still open to you, you know. I know it's not the most convenient for a jinba, but...
[It beats staying in a stall boxed in with four walls and not much else.]
no subject
But without heat... She swallows her fears down. Her withers twitch and shiver beneath the slide of his hands until they find a resting point, and then... she is just standing there blushing.]
I have duties in Alenroux...
[She did, it wasn't even just hesitation, but... Her eye darts to the side for a moment, then back. Her fingers smooth out his clothing, from where she's rumpled it with her clutch.]
... But on the days I have to return to Springstar to report to the general...
no subject
It's a date, then. [Multiple dates, even. What that entails, he doesn't elaborate, but he leaves the implication there: that he'd like to spend more time with her, beyond just necessities like providing her comfort and shelter. The routine still gives her space too, while she adjusts.]
And on days when you're in Alenroux and I'm around to tend to Naira, I'll come say hi, too. When you're not busy, of course.
no subject
Who wants to "date". She has heard about... "dating". (It sounded confusing.)]
... Only when I am not busy.
[She frowns, the expression seemingly almost exaggerated again, like it's less a real look and more an attempt to maintain some sort of dignity in the midst of her fluster.]
I have a reputation...
[She can't have the soldiers thinking she's gone soft, or was distracted by some sort of affair- ?!]
no subject
[Or at least he doesn't think so, not that he spends as much time among them as she does day to day.]
I think for those who care about you, they'd be happy for you. To everyone else, they'll figure it's none of their business.
[Gossipy types aside, but those are everywhere. He leans in to catch her lips in a brief kiss again, as if to head off another of her reflexive protests before they can happen. Then he adds, more softly:] But... we can take it slow. Nobody has to know until you're happy with it, and you know how long I can keep a secret.
no subject
It somehow is not easy to let go of. Perhaps she had simply clung to it in order to keep her sanity in Horos, in Kenos, where things were so overwhelming and wrong...
He was right to think a protest might be coming. It is stalled by his kiss, and she finds herself lingering on his lips just because she doesn't know what words to use. Should she chastise him for reminding her how long he had lied about something as simple as his name? Should she try to claim that he was a man, and of course a man need not ever worry for damage to his reputation like a woman must? She nuzzles against his forehead for a moment, her eye drifting closed, and what finally comes out is an equally quiet, half-reluctant admission that,]
... It is not easy for me.
[She has fiercely protected her reputation and her status as a warrior ever since she'd understood how the world worked. To change it now...
... So. She is grateful. That he seems willing to be a secret until she says otherwise.]
no subject
I know. But it'll get easier, I promise.
[He once never would have dreamed of being this close with anyone, and yet here he is. A little at a time he's lowered his guard, bared his soul, until there's none of his secrets left between them. If he can do it, anyone can, even someone who has experienced as many of life's cruelties as Hayame has.]
I'll be with you every step of the way. And eventually... you'll be able to look at life in a whole new way, without fear or shame. --No, [he pauses to reconsider, pulling back just enough to see her face once more,] you're already starting on that journey.
no subject
She has already decided that she will believe in a far more outrageous promise from this man, so perhaps it is not much of a trial to believe in this one. But it is still somewhat difficult, and she cannot so easily just nod and agree. Her fangs dig in to the plush skin of her bottom lip again, swallowing her protest... and occupying herself more presently with finishing smoothing out his clothing.
There. Fixed.]
You needn't be so sappy...
[It is embarrassing. She does not know how to respond to it. And if she stays here longer then it will become even more obvious, (and the soldiers might notice that she was gone quite long into the woods with a man), so... She gently pushes, as if to urge him off his rock. Even if she looks slightly conflicted and reluctant to do so.]
... Your wyvern is waiting. Remember?
no subject
He still simply feels... elated. How can he not be sappy, or want to drag the moment out for all it's worth, given everything?]
All right, you win. [He concedes, despite that.] I'll go.
[He turns, moving to the trees to head back the way he came, and pauses just a moment longer. That bird is still singing, somewhere in the distance.]
...Thanks. For coming to find me.
[Or waiting for him, or just happening to strategically run into him, or however she wanted to frame events. None of this would have happened, if not for her. But she told him not to be sappy, so with that said, he gives her one last smile, before disappearing into the trees.]