Completed A Slow Burn V

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 2nd of Winter, 520 A.V.

Continued From: A Slow Burn IV

She came awake slowly, stretching, not knowing where she was. Tazrae felt incredibly warm, seemingly laying on a bed of sand with a blanket between her and the sand. A warm body snuggled up against her, a rough hand stroking her hip. She inhaled and smelled the sea and stone, a hint of cinnamon, and thought suddenly of Duncan. All the days events came back to her and she tensed a moment thinking she’d been gone from home a good while today. But she realized she had no guests to tend and if the locals dropped by for a meal or snack, they could help themselves to what was about the kitchen since she would not be cooking today.

The hand traced across her breasts and she felt her core heat as she slowly opened her eyes. Duncan was watching her in the way those who cannot see do. He was facing her, an ear tilted in her direction, and an expression not unlike that of a cat who had stolen cream wore. But there were other expressions on his face; fierce pride, satisfaction, satiation, and protectiveness that startled her. His hands dipped lower, caressing her intimately, and she reached out to touch his shoulder, to trace a scar that had just missed ruining one of his tattoos by a hair's width.

“You aren’t flinching away from my touch. That’s good. I was afraid you’d wake angry.” He confessed softly, the statement almost a question but not quite. His lips curved into a smile as he grew more and more sure she was awake and watching him. “I would properly love you, Tazrae, but I want you to rest your body more before anything else. Today was a lot to take in.” He said, bending over her and brushing her lips with a kiss then trailing them up to kiss first each eyelid and then her brow.

“I wonder if you wouldn’t want to visit The Outpost with me. We could get food and maybe those tattoos I talked about. You haven’t been there, have you? I would like to show it to you, through my eyes, if you’d come. I don’t go there often, but since the dovecote appeared, I have explored.” He said thoughtfully, then paused to let her react.

“I… no I haven’t been there. I’ve heard tales of it, and one man left Syka early to go home and took the path through the Dovecote. I didn’t understand how that would take him home if he sailed all the way to Syka from Avaladas.” She answered, stretching out, feeling Duncan’s nakedness beside her. She should have been embarrassed, but something had changed between them. There was an intimacy she’d somehow been given permission to acknowledge. So she looked her fill as she did so, studying the tattoos on his body, the scars, and even his maleness.

It had been inside her not so long ago, and that too was a shock. His words lead her to believe that he planned to have it be so again, often, if she were agreeable. Her blue eyes trailed back up to his face. “Are we… a couple now?” She asked him bluntly, unsure, and more than a bit wary. She felt like a child asking him, but she was so painfully naïve in the ways of men and women. Was there some sort of unspoken contract between them now? At least… at least with the Akalaks, it was all spelled out on paper.

[Tazrae]

“Our relationship is more complicated than that. We are a family. We have been lovers. I would like that to continue. If we get along and can work together, if there are more feelings than mutual pleasure and respect, then we become a couple. We’d have to spend time together to know this. I will force nothing on you and you are not obligated to lay with me again. But I am very open to becoming a couple. I am very open to loving you, Tazrae. I... I might have given you a child today. If I have, I will be there for that child. I want children. I think I would be a good father. And if I have not rooted one deep in you today, there might be other times and other possibilities that I could if you are willing to accept more pleasure from me. There should be no more pain, ever, after today.” He said gently, again that note of apology in his voice. He asked her for nothing in what he said, instead, he simply laid out what was on his mind and how he felt.

Tazrae wanted to be honest with him as well. “I… I didn’t hate it. It was very good, incredible even, though I wasn’t sure what was happening when you actually ….” She trailed off at that, her breath coming harsher now as the memory of her initiation held her a moment. Duncan nodded, understandingly, even as she continued. “I am open to the idea. I find you very appealing. Even now, your touch is doing things to me that you said we should wait on. You’ve been very honest with me, with yourself even, and I think I should be honest with you too. I don’t know you. I want to get to know you. I am not opposed to more… time with you.” Her implication was as clear. More time with him, under him, being touched by him. “I am not a broodmare though. I left Riverfall so I didn’t have to become one. If I have children, I want them to be planned and very welcome. If your whole angle here is to make your own pod, that’s not what I want.” She added, pausing to breathe, even as he laughed.

“I will get something from Uta that will prevent your pregnancy if the first time did not catch. You can take it or not as you will and be safeguarded from such a thing if you are not ready or I am not the right man. I don’t have an angle. I’ve just never imagined my life without children.” He said thoughtfully. “You are in love with that Svefra, aren’t you?” He asked quietly, his voice gentle again and watchful.

She saw him school is face into neutrality and started to shake her head. Then she sighed and relaxed as he traced lazy circles on her belly, listening without judgment on his face. “Yes, I think I was falling for him. He’s a very easy man to love and I really wanted to. But he hasn’t been around. I need someone who will be here. I need a partner. When he stayed away for a whole season – no not just a season but much longer – without contact, I knew we weren’t right for each other. He never even told me he would be gone or why. I don’t want to be perpetually waiting for someone that will never come home.” She said sincerely. It was her honest truth.

[Tazrae]

Duncan nodded, looking thoughtful. “I can understand that.” He said gently. “I’ve always thought of love as so much more than just a feeling one wants to feel.” He told her, watchful now of her reaction.

Tazrae answered him quietly. "Sometimes you meet people – well more collide with them – and you get the feeling they might become important to you. Maybe it’s from a look or an act of kindness. Or maybe you just like the way your world feels when they are in it. You are one of those people for me.” She told him, half to cushion the truths she’d just told him about another man, but mostly so he would understand she didn’t see him as a replacement. He was something different; something other.

Duncan reacted almost instantly. He rolled over her, took her mouth with his, and kissed her deeply. For an instant, she felt pinned beneath him and felt the hardness of his male body pressing against hers dominantly. But when she rolled her hips, bucking beneath him and slid a leg up to hook his waist, he moved with her, not holding her in place at all. Her body heated immediately as desire lit her spine and caused her to gasp giving the mage deeper fuller access to her mouth. Duncan kissed her thoroughly, taking his time and exploring her mouth. He took his time before he moved on broadening his attention to the rest of her.

He bit at her jawline and left a trail of kisses down her throat. She arched under him, giving him full access to the line of flesh from her chin, exposing her throat, and down to her breasts. He kissed every inch of her, seemingly feasting on her body. Tazrae felt his body harden and her eyes went wide even as her body reacted to his attention instinctually and grew slick with desire.

Duncan tried to pause by dragging in a ragged breath. But when her body involuntarily bucked beneath him, the mage cursed slightly and as if he lost his own internal battle and thrust into her; seating himself deeply within her body. She hissed at the invasion due to the soreness, but with his second or third thrust that was gone and she was all but mindless with the pleasure.

The mage had wanted to wait, let her heal, but she was so reactive and responsive. Tazrae held nothing back and gave to him as good as he gave to her as they frantically coupled beneath the trees at the edge of the jungle. If the sea witnessed anything, it did not pause in its endless lapping on the sand enough to speak of what it saw. Duncan did pause though, long enough to pull the girl from her back and flip her to her knees, spreading her legs apart and pushing her down on her elbows.

It was a very vulnerable position, but she loved it and arched her back in anticipation. He took her from behind, more firmly and more deeply this time, reaching around to touch her hardened nub and work it until she screamed in pleasure and tried to collapse beneath him. He would not let her, supporting her until he found his own release and seeded her body again.

[Tazrae]

It was much later before they rose, walked back and washed in The Common Pool together, then dressed in all their discarded clothing. Duncan took Tazrae to The Dovecote, took her hand, and together they walked in, closed the door, and opened it again to step out into The Outpost. A man who introduced himself then greeted her with a map and a warm welcome. He nodded to Duncan as if he knew the man, and left them to their own devices outside the tall structure.

Tazrae could only stare. She looked around in wonder while Duncan smiled a quiet indulgent smile of someone who had once felt this same way but had long grown accustomed to the sensation. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as they turned a slow circle so she could look. The young Innkeeper was stunned at how beautiful he was, standing casually in the brilliant sunlight of the stone courtyard, his pale blue eyes gazing into the distance unfocused. She glanced down, noting that her hand was still in his, and smiled, gripping it slightly as if to convey that smile to him.

“What wonders… we stepped through a door into a whole different city.” She said softly, and let the rest of her thoughts trail off. People were coming and going, dressed in all manner of ways, and speaking all manner of languages. There wasn’t enough time in the day or indulgence in Duncan’s patience that would allow her to get enough time to look and see everything. So, she turned to him and whispered quietly. “What now? Do we get the ink?” She asked, feeling somehow tougher saying it that way… like the rough side of Riverfall would.

Duncan’s lips twitched in the semblance of a smile. He tugged on her hand gently, steering her in a specific direction. “I can hear your stomach rumbling a mile away. Magic takes it out of you, Tazrae. You’ve had a long nap, but I pushed you even further after that. You need food… good food. Let’s go find out what they have for sale in the vendors along the Fountain Walk.” He suggested. Tazrae hadn’t thought about eating for hours and hours so at Duncan’s suggestion, her stomach rumbled violently. His twitch of a smile bloomed into a full-grown grin. “I thought so…” He said, tucking her arm into the crook of his, and walking with her towards the vendors.

The Svefra might not have had the ability to see, but his nose led the man straight to food for them both. And before Tazrae knew what happened, Duncan had negotiated two sizzling meat sandwiches that were wrapped in fry bread and smothered in cheese. He handed one to Tazrae and went to another booth that sold them ice-cold lemonade to wash it down with. Tazrae found a bench for them both and they ate quietly, Tazrae too busy looking around like a wide-eyed tourist.

“How did you find this place?” Taz asked quietly. “Why is this place even here?” She asked the man with her between bites. Duncan actually ate as ravenously and was finished with his food and drink long before Tazrae was. In fact, halfway through her wrapped food, she handed the rest to Duncan who polished it off neatly with only a grin.

[Tazrae]

“Xyna is all about commerce. This is a trade hub for the world. I found this place for two reasons. First, was because I needed some information and that’s one thing commerce can trade in. Secondly, they have amazing healers here. I visited ones about my eyes.” He paused then, stiffening, as if waiting for her to ask more questions. Taz didn’t though. Duncan’s lack of sight didn’t stop him and she didn’t want to pressure him with questions about it. The girl could tell he gave up the information without thought, and that gave her a warm feeling because it meant he trusted her. She wasn’t going to betray that trust.

Full, she leaned back and drank the rest of her lemonade. Her companion seemed content to let her take in The Outpost for a few minutes before he rose, offered his hand. Tazrae took it, rising beside him, and let him lead her down the stone pathway. The road lead straight into the Open Sky Market and the pair lost themselves in the crowd, winding between booths. “What are we looking for?” The Innkeeper asked the Mage beside her.

Duncan simply smiled. “Our ink man.” He replied, using the same exact tone Tazrae had used to only chimes before. They seemed to walk for bells, Duncan pausing to listen periodically, then moving on. It was an odd feeling to Tazrae, having her arm tucked into this man’s arm matching him stride for stride. It was hot, though not Syka humid, and the dry weather made her thirsty long before she should have been. As if Duncan sensed her thirst, he stopped at a booth and purchased her a wineskin of cool tea – half made of ice – that they shared as they continued their walk.

He occasionally stopped and visited with others, introducing her to enough people that the names blended before long. Then, finally, he came to a place that caused him to pause. He listened intently then slipped through some curtains to a business that was completely hung in gossamer curtains.

They came out into a waiting room of sorts with a secondary room off the main room of the tent that seemed to hold a table and a man who was working on someone’s arm – filling in an already inked out scene. Duncan slipped back in the second room and spoke quietly with the man working the needles, bouncing what looked like a rather painful device up and down on the guys arm. He would periodically re-dip it into color and continue filling in the scene.

The pair reached some sort of agreement, and Duncan took a seat in a comfortable Eyktolian couch, and beckoned Tazrae to join him. She moved next to him, settled on the couch, and watched the action in the next room cautiously. “That looks… painful.” She admitted to him.

[Tazrae]

Duncan raised an eyebrow. “Are you scared of a needle, Taz? You’ve been through a lot more than a mere needle today.” He teased lightly, pulling her against him and lifting his legs to rest them on a table that held hand-drawn books of images the artist could put on one’s skin.

“No… Yes… You’ve done this a lot of times before haven’t you?” She asked. Most of the Svefra she knew had ink all over them. And she knew for certain she was as tough as they were if not tougher. “I’ll do it. If just for you… for the Djedline you want me to honor. I understand how much of a gift it is.” She said, cupping her hand in front of her and thinking on the Res, calling it to pool in her hand. Duncan tilted his head, listening exactly like another would watch. She used her finger to play with the substance, sending it out and away from her but letting it disperse in the breeze blowing through the tent rather than tasking it to ignite.

Before long the man was calling her name after escorting the previous client out the tent door. She rose with Duncan and then did as the man asked, stretching out on the table on her stomach and letting her Djedfather pull up her loose blouse and indicate where the art should go. She also watched - somewhat appreciatively – as Duncan stripped off his own thin tunic to give the artist something to work from. The man took out an oil stick and began to sketch on the small of her back. When he was done, Duncan approved the drawing and the tattoo artist got started.

To her credit, Taz didn’t cry out. She didn’t whimper. And more to her credit she didn’t slip off the table and run screaming like she wanted too. She laid there holding Duncan’s hand and watching the artist from the corner of her eye tap a needle into her skin for a good long while. The outline of the image in green wasn’t too bad, but the filling in of the image, giving it full color took time and was painful.

When the artist was done, Duncan sat down at the table, reclining this time, and asked the artist to wrap a protea flower around his djedline image. They sketched out the outline, Duncan approved it with Tazrae quietly flattered, as the tattoo artist began the work on the mage. She waited with him, her fingers lightly entwined in his, the small of her back sore but not unbearable.

He glanced at her once, sharply, a question in his blind eyes.

And as the artist finished his ink work, Tazrae simply said. “Change. I was just thinking about how fast change can come… how fast and how unexpected.” She said to him. He nodded slowly, as if acknowledging what she said before he simply said. “Fast for you… for me the wait was killing me.” He said, deliberately turning to study her while releasing her hand and lifting that free arm to her face. He stroked her jawline as the man working on his tattoo sat up, coated the finished image with a salve, and bandaged him up.

They walked the gardens then, exploring The Outpost together first one then another until they had seen all the gardens. Then then slipped back through The Dovecote and returned to Syka finishing off the day together. Duncan returned her to The Protea where Tazrae failed to find Bree at home. She wasn’t too worried… the Ixam wasn’t one to stay home if she grew bored, especially in the dark. However, she’d hoped to introduce the Mage with her sentient mount.

There was one awkward moment when Duncan left her at her door. She started to invite him in but he shook his head. “It’s too soon. We are already moving too fast. I’ll come see you in the morning if you don’t get any new guests and we can talk more. But for now, rest… and thank you for the utterly amazing day.” He said, glancing around then pulling her to him. He kissed her soundly, held her to him briefly, then released her and was gone.

Word Count: 3442

[Tazrae]

Grades

Tazrae

Socialization +3, Seduction +1, Interrogation +2, Reimancy +1

Duncan: Wants A Relationship, Duncan: Wants Children, Duncan: Knows The Outpost, The Outpost: Location & How To Come/Go, The Outpost: Where The Tattoo Artist Is, Tattoo: Getting A Tattoo, Duncan: Has Many Tattoos, Duncan: Has a Tattoo Of A Protea Representing Tazrae, Tazrae: Has a Tattoo of the Zantali Djedline, The Outpost: Layout & What’s Where.

Additional Notes: New Tattoo For Tazrae