Flashback Then A Rest Of Course...

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 20th of Summer, 508 AV
Continued from: First A Walk, Then A Read...

Kavala proved to be a handy companion. Not only did her yvas bags - which was what she called her saddlebags - provide a whole bunch of needed supplies, but the girl knew how to throw a camp together with minimum effort. So after they'd had a brief break from gathering their seaweed, she'd launched into full fledge camp-crafting motion and had found a nice place that provided wind for drying their seaweed but a bit of shelter for them to stay the night. She located camp towards the edge of the beach, with their backs against a stone outcropping which would not only catch the firelight but reflect the heat of their campfire back at them. Kavala claimed the rocks would warm from the fire and the radiant heat would keep them cozy all night. A bonus was a tiny freshwater stream that ran down to the sea a few dozen steps from them where they could get fresh water.

Kavala claimed they'd need it.

The next thing she did after actually locating the camp was to find long pieces of driftwood and drive them into the sand. From there she took a spool of string from her yvas bag and stretched the tough cat-gut string from one upright driftwood to another, making as many of these long drying racks as they needed for the amount of seaweed they harvested.

She had two rather decent portable buckets with her as well. They were made of waterproof cows stomachs that collapsed down to nothing in the bottom of her yvas bags. The stomachs were suspended by ropes that formed handles into the reinforced mouths of the buckets. It was there she stuffed most of the seaweed and then filled the buckets with fresh water, hanging them to soak until she could return.

Then, of course, she rode back to the city briefly. Matthew was welcome to come with her and get anything he needed for the overnight stay or to linger at the camp. Kavala's plan was simple. Return with some bedding because one yvas blanket for Windsong wasn't going to keep them both warm even with the fire, and some utensils and pots for cooking - and a plan for a meal or two. She purchased some wine after grabbing the things she needed in another backpack, and was back in a half bell.

She also had her course notes from her herbalism and philtering class, so they could get started making a few things. She brought jars, a good whiskey to drink and make tinctures from, and her assignments for the following day so she wouldn't get behind in class.

When she returned, the Konti spread out the bedroll, extra blankets, and laid out the gear next to the fire that they could use for the philtering assignments. Matthew might have his own projects too, and Kavala welcomed them. But she wasn't going to shirk her classes just because she met a human man that was a delicious distraction. She was fully intending to keep her academic place if at all possible.

"I thought we could catch crabs and bake them with clams for dinner. They are excellent wrapped in seaweed and steamed on the edge of a fire. Unless you have a better idea. We can eat some of the seaweed too while we are at it." Kavala suggested and laid out a waterskin filled with actual water, a whiskey bottle, and a little clam rake.

"Then, I need to go through the process of harvesting, drying, and making one or two medicinals with the seaweed for class tomorrow afternoon. And in addition to that I need to make a black walnut tincture out of green undropped walnuts of which there is a tree a few hundred yards back from the beach we passed on the way here. I also need to find wormwood because we are talking about parasitism in herbalism class and we need to come up with at least one medicine that will combat intestinal or stomach worms in people. So... four or five hours before daylight... I think we can get most of this done and anything you want to do as well. And throw in some other study as well... whatever you have on your agenda." Kavala said, smiling slightly, her look suggestive without seemingly over needy.

It was true she could entertain herself and had planned to do all this anyhow... but with Matthew it was a lot more fun having someone to help with. She wondered what else he wanted to do and what she could help him with if anything. If he had no assignments for this trip, she'd certainly jump in on the next one.

"I'm going to have a test of some sort on the medicinal uses of seaweed and black walnut too so I need to be ready for it. So we should go over that as well. I brought my classroom notes. I know you aren't in my class, but it's not bad knowledge to have. My class teacher is Drae Sommers. She's more of a botanist if anything, but I love her side tangents on plants and how much they assist us." Kavala said, smiling gently. "I would really like to become her friend. She radiates a warmth that appeals to me and makes me think in a different way... as if I were a plant not a Konti." The healing student said, her tone sincere.

[Matthew]

Matthew had proved to be a difficult companion. It wasn't that he was hard to be around, he was just completely clueless on most of what they were doing. He tried to make it easy for her to both answer his questions and do her own work. He thought about them before he asked, making sure he couldn't come up with the answers himself. When they were answered, he immediately and effectively applied the new knowledge. He had harvested herbs alongside her, not near as fast when it came to collecting the seaweed they needed, but still doing what he could. He was methodical and efficent, making sure that he was doing the task exactly right before even thinking about speeding up at all. When they had managed to collect an ample amount of herbs, then he had gone right along with helping her set up the drying racks. These didn't require any questioning at all, just a bit of thinking before he understood what was going on. Lug the driftwood to the camp, put them into the sand until they were sturdy enough to stand on their own. Arrange them alongside her own, and then let her rope together the drying racks. It made sense to him. Elevating and draping out the seaweed on these racks would allow them to drip-dry, and would also expose quite a bit of their surface to the elements. Even the wood would do some work, soaking up some of the water on the underside of the aquatic plants. He had watched as she set up camp, understanding the use of the rock but a bit unsure on the function of the freshwater stream. Perhaps it was there to allow them a drink if they grew thirsty? He hadn't packed for a overnight trip, so that was probably a good thing. With that in mind, he should have probably gone with her back to the city. But instead Matthew declined the trip, eager to practice his newfound skills on his own. He quickly went about the task of harvesting his own collection of seaweed, wading out in the shallow water near the rocky parts of the shore to find what he needed. When he had gathered a small bunch, then he formed his own drying rack with what driftwood was left (if any). If he was able to do this, he'd just make sure to ask her for a small piece of rope when she had returned, and would use that to secure his own drying rack. The seaweed would be draped on it, and then it would be back to whatever task was at hand. The clam rake was a familiar sight to him. He had been out harvesting crabs with his father no more than a season ago, the man being a fisherman who never grew tired of feasts from the sea. He had taught Matthew what little (if any) he remembered about fishing. His father had been jealous when he had heard that Matthew was going to Mura for a season, though judging by the looks from his wife, they hadn't been for any of the right reasons. "That sounds good and filling to me. Cooking is another one of those skills that I am not at all good with. I will trust your own judgement when it comes to that." He nodded slowly as she explained what tasks she had in mind for the two of them. Some of the terms he knew, some of the terms he didn't know. It was amazing to him that he had studied medicine for as long as he had and still didn't know some of these things. He knew all the medical terms, such as the references to a parasitism and a tincture. Who would have knew that such things could be made with walnuts, though? "Well, we can start on whichever task you want. I suppose it depends on if you are hungry or not. We can catch the crabs first, though I am not so sure if we have a place to hold them until we are ready to eat them. Or we can collect your walnuts. Perhaps we could take those buckets you have and use them to gather a good supply? How many are needed? As for wormwood, I honestly have no idea what that is. I would say it is wood with worms in it, but then I would think it might be easier just to gather wood and then worms and somehow mix the two. With that in mind, I doubt it is actually what it sounds like." He led her through his thought process, showing how literal the young student could be at times. Matthew was perhaps a distraction without intending to be one. He hadn't at one point decided that he needed to return to his clothes. They were at the campsite, neatly folded. Instead he walked around with that trademark level of grace, completely at home with his sun-kissed body on total display. It was marked with a few little scratches and marks here and there from where the wood had scraped him, but otherwise he seemed completely at home in the bare. He was very comfortable with nudity, and wished at times that he existed in a society where nudity wasn't a taboo. No clothes was much more comfortable than some of the outfits he wore. "As for classes, I actually haven't enrolled in any yet. I wanted to find a basic knowledge myself so I could better decide which classes to put myself in. I didn't want to enroll in one only to find out it didn't actually pertain that much to what I was looking for." He paused a moment and then glanced sideways at her, crossing his arms over his chest as he mulled over his next question. "She helps you think as if you were a plant? Can some plants think? Or is it more of a..." His voice trailed off as he tried to find a different explanation but was unable to. Sometimes his all-too-logical mind worked against him, evidently. He abruptly spoke again, not giving her a chance to answer right away. "I apologize for leaving many of the decisions to you. When it comes to adventures such as this, I like to be able to lead just as much as I am led. It seems more fair that way. This is all very new to me though. I have never actually been camping before." He glanced around, eyes surveying the unfamiliar scenery that they had constructed together.

[Kavala]

He might not have thought himself the best of companions, but he was exactly (if inadvertently) exactly what Kavala needed. She had grown up around men that were perfect or nearly so. Her brother Vanator having always had an answer for everything and a desire to be the best at what he did. She found Matthew’s ignorance of the world outside of walls comforting. She was finally, in that way, a bit better at something than someone else was. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t have his own strengths. He soaked up knowledge like a sponge. She didn’t have to repeat instructions over and over again until he got things right. And he didn’t do the typical Denusk family thing… the MY WAY IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOUR WAY… regardless if it was or not.

He wasn’t competitive with her, trying to harvest more or better or deeper than she did. He might have seen the way he was as awkward, but to Kavala it was a whole lot better than she was used too. And it made her feel a bit more equal to him, because she knew already from personal experience he could touch her and make her body sing out whether she wanted it too or not. If he was good at everything including that, then she’d just throw in the towel and bag him as not being much good for her confidence and ego.

But as he was, he filled in gaps she didn’t know she had… like the one for leadership. Kavala would let him take the lead on their body play, but in some of this until he was more experienced out in the wild, she got to take the lead on harvests and some small part of her needed that practice.

And more importantly he didn’t fill the silence between them with banter or aimless chatter. He was a quiet intense companion that seemed to enjoy the silence of hard work as much as she did, asking questions when necessary but not sharing his inner dialog with her randomly.

So they rinsed and rinsed the seaweed to get some of the salt off it, then carefully hung the strands over the strings. Kavala was careful to pick off any shells or clinging sea creatures that had made the trip with them from the ocean. Some she returned to the water with a sense of preservation she wondered if Matthew found silly. Others she set aside to go into their meal for later. A pair of somewhat large crabs didn’t make the release cut, but instead were tossed into one of the now empty portable buckets that housed such things.

She amused herself watching Matthew move as she hung up the seaweed like so much laundry. He was busy thinking, she supposed, by the frown between his brows and the careful way he paused to study the wind. Was he actually calculating how much surface area of the seaweed was exposed? The Konti narrowed her eyes as she watched him adjust the plant he’d just hung so more of it was hit by the wind directly. A smile flitted across her face as she ducked her head to continue what she was doing.

He was so odd.

When he was done, he simply wandered around and looked at things, noting the stream and the camp as she set flint and steel to the fire and lit up the driftwood that would keep them warm. She took some time to gather more so that they wouldn’t have to do so later after it was dark. Kavala wasn’t afraid of the dark, not that she would admit to herself, but she’d learned early on predators were alive and well in the lack of light and one never knew when a Night Lion was going to lurk outside the protections of a campfire. So she never went out in the dark, not at all, not if she could help it.

Her trip had been fast, though she’d paused to gather first wormwood and then green walnuts. She’d needed Windsong’s help with the latter because they were still up in the tree and Kavala was no climber. So standing on her horse’s rump she was able to bring down enough for both of them to make tinctures of black walnut to add to the wormwood paste she’d also try and craft.

When she got back, Matthew had erected his own string drying rack, having had no issues finding her large spool of string lying at the base of one of the driftwood posts. Kavala grinned when she saw it, nodding her approval and immediately divided her cache of green walnuts and wormwood, giving him half of her harvest.

“No need to get walnuts. I just got them on my way back along with the wormwood. It’s easy to spot and I’ll show you how on the ride back to the city. For now, I got enough for both of us. The green walnuts you just pick from the tree.. the wormwood is a bush that grows in rocky soil, so you just take off branches because you just use the above ground stuff, never the roots.” Kavala said, indicating what she’d brought.

Other stuff was laid out, and then she glanced at the sun. They had hours and truthfully she wasn’t too hungry yet. She was feeling lazy after the ride to town, setting up camp, and harvesting all the seaweed. The Konti gave him a chance to look over both hauls and then gave him her thoughts.

“Truth be told the crabs come out thick at twilight, so I think we can get them then. We can rake up clams when the tide goes out, which its doing now, but I still think we have an hour or so before its fully out. There’s nothing that really needs to be done right now but a bit of a break. I was thinking we could work on more Aletrid. That is… if you are in the mood for it.” Kavala was clothed again, but that was a necessity of heading back to town. However, her clothing wasn’t much. No Konti’s bothered with anything too cumbersome in the summer. She had on a light skirt that knotted together at her waist and a bandana that wrapped around her breasts and tied behind her neck. It was a cool outfit, one that was made of lightweight fabric and didn’t overheat her.

Matthew was beautiful, completely easy on the eyes, and she was glad he walked around without a stitch of clothing on. It gave her something to admire shamelessly – which he didn’t seem to mind – and made her more and more comfortable with his form.

Kavala laughed at Matthew’s comment. She shook her head and raised her arms. “I have no idea if they think or not. I would imagine since they are alive they have likes and dislikes much like we do. I’ve heard witches, the followers of Caiyha, can talk to them so maybe its true. Just in case I take no precautions and treat them as close to the way I’d want to be treated as possible. You should take some classes from Drae Sommers. You’d like her I think. She makes your mind ask questions.” Kavala said, looking thoughtful.

“Classes are set up in blocks. So right now I’m taking anatomy blocks… learning about the body and the systems like blood, breathing, and muscles. The current blocks are almost over. Then you can sign up for new ones. Each block isn’t always offered each time, but they will come up again. I’m going to take reproduction next and for my medicine blocks I’m going to take one on skin issues… like burns, rashes, dryness, skin diseases. You can take anywhere from one to four blocks, but four blocks is a lot. I’ve only taken two so far, but depending on what you are interested in, I could easily do three now that I know what doing two is like for a few seasons.” Kavala said, looking thoughtful. She’d settled down on the bedroll and was stretching her legs out, enjoying the sun now that it wasn’t directly overhead, but broken up by the treelines around them.

“Don’t worry about it, Matthew. As per our agreement, your going to be taking the lead plenty. I’m just glad… you don’t know everything. That would be intimidating to me.” She said, offering him a slight smile and then picking up the waterskin and taking a brief drink from it.

“So.. our choices are… dinner, which I’d like to wait on. Making tinctures from the green walnuts which wont take long. Working with the wormwood, which might be involved… or more Aletrid. Which do you prefer?” She asked, knowing that the Konti had already told him her preference. But she wouldn’t mind jumping into any of the tasks she’d outlined or some she might not have thought of.

[Matthew]

He personally appreciated silence. He could care less if it was a comfortable silence or not, for really, almost all silences were comfortable for him. It wasn't that he didn't like socializing, it was just that it was hard for him. It required a lot of thought and effort. While he didn't normally mind a certain amount of thoughtful effort, it could still take a lot out of him when he had to constantly put forth the effort. The silence was a place where he could focus and meditate, where he could clear his head of all the constant questions, the clicking and buzzing of his mind in permanent motion. That was always why he went about his tasks with an almost golem-like preciseness and monotony. He found some level of comfort in it, something that was just as distant as any other feeling. Every now and then he would pass by the drying seaweed and brush his fingers across it, checking to see how well it was drying. Kavala might notice that he would pause when he felt something inconsistant, like a particular patch that was wetter than the rest of the hanging seaweed. This would lead to a pause, an then a slowly arched eyebrow. It would soon be known as an obvious sign that Matthew was about to think very hard. He would then circle the hanging seawood, analyzing it from a multitude of angles, testing the wind on the tip of a wet finger and the warmth of the sun from a variety of different angles. Then he would sometimes adjust the hanging seaweed, even if the adjustment was only about an inch or less. It probably wouldn't look like it made any difference. It would seem to satisfy Matthew though, who would quickly get back to whatever task he was currently working on. He had noticed her gathering more wood for the fire, so he had silently helped with that. When she came back from her trip to the city, she would notice that he had arranged the extra firewood in a very neat and orderly little pile. He had also taken another random step, digging bare feet into the sand around their campground and loosening it. It was a small detail and perhaps not one that mattered at all, but he had simply noticed that the packed sand was a bit firm to the touch. Loosening it up made it softer, easier to both walk and lay on. When he was given his walnuts and wormwood, each were studied for a brief moment and then set to the side in an orderly fashion. When he was near the walnuts, he would actually practice simple mathematics without even really paying that much attention. She might notice how he would set aside four walnuts, then fifteen walnuts, and then a little pile of nineteen walnuts beside of that. Extremely simple mathematics, but still something of a mental exercise that he could perform while focusing on other tasks. He filed away the small details she had given him about the walnuts and the wormwood, nodding to show that he had absorbed it and added it to his Herbalism well of knowledge. He noticed that she had collected some crabs. He had fished up some crabs with the seaweed, but his twitch reflexes had caused him to toss the ornery creatures away. He would have to learn to keep that in check. When she explained how the blocks worked, his little mathematical exercises paused for a moment. He focused fully, definitely wanting to store this away where he could immediately and effortlessly access it. He would need to focus on the medical ones, and ideally ones that would also be able to apply to a variety of races. He closed his eyes for a moment to think, and then quickly spoke out about a few he would be interested in. "Reproduction, most definitely. Philtering, Herbalism, and hopefully how they relate to Reproduction. I also need a primer on the Konti and their history, but I am not so sure if that is a class that would really be offered to the Konti themselves. I can likely find that elsewhere." He mulled this over for a bit and then glanced over at her as she moved, settling down onto the bedroll. She asked him what to do next, and he remembered that she had stated an ideal preference. He paused, mind clicking, and then slowly stepped over to where she had set down her class notes on Philtering and Herbalism. Not quite answering her yet, he took a few chimes to skim through what she had written down. Then he set it down and approached her, head tilted. The student gracefully settled upon her, casual with his motions, not asking permission out of rudeness, but out of the fact that it had been established that such formalities were not needed. He was therefor very natural with it, not at all awkward or bashful. She might even notice that he had briefly checked the positioning of her body as compared to his and then placed himself accordingly. His hips were firm against hers, the definition of his stomach light against her waist. His chest was barely touching hers, just enough to skim and brush the sensitive peaks. His hands were bold in how they cupped under her thighs to spread her legs just enough to allow him a comfortable closeness, and then they slid up to confidently take her hips. His head lowered, eyes on her own, lips so very close to pressing against her own once more. Then, at the very last second, when he was close enough for her to feel the warmth of his breath, he softly spoke. "Philtering is considered to be a very diverse skill. There are a wide range of applications for this skill. List five of them." He was quizzing her, not to mention also learning a bit himself. However, if she played along and her answer was correctly given, she would be rewarded with a light kiss. It was a small and gentle thing compared to what she had been given earlier, though. "While Philtering uses mostly organic elements, it is possible that even religious faith can be contained and quantified. True or false?" While it was an impressive show of memory, Matthew testing her on her own notes, the real allure would soon be revealed. Another correct answer would be rewarded with a much firmer kiss. A third correct answer would be rewarded with a kiss that parted lips. If she ever got an answer wrong though, the intensity of the kisses would fall back to the beginning. More Aletrid indeed.

[Kavala]

There was something wrong with him. Kavala could almost feel it, almost name it, but she had no experience to label it. He checked things, over and over again, with a methodical strangeness that left her wondering if he ever relaxed his mind or found true pleasure in the moment. It wasn’t… disturbing to her. It was more like she knew that with the same awareness a horse was going lame even though nothing was truly off about its stride that there was a problem. But she didn’t know how to stop Matthew, pick up his foot, and dig the offending stone out that was slowly causing the lameness. There was no tools in her mental toolbox to assist her in making a diagnosis or taking action. And she wasn’t sure if that’s truthfully what was needed. In a way, his energy being directed and focused so intently was a refreshing change from the normal day to day traits she saw in the Konti. Plus he was Zeltivan. Maybe it was a trait in his bloodline as much as magic was a trait in her Sapphire Clan.

The counting of the nuts caused her to blink, and at first she didn’t know if he was sorting them by size, color variation, or quality… or if he was just counting. He was always counting.

But talking about school was safe. It was easier than the silence that had Kavala trying to dissect Matthew’s behavior. He seemed so normal, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen something like him before… somewhere, or even some when. She often felt that way, but had no tools to relate and recognize symptoms that eluded her conscious thinking. But her subconscious was a huge nag, and it was nagging her hard about Matthew.

She didn’t want to think about it. Kavala wanted to have fun, excel in her classes, and be challenged in ways that seemed more fair than she’d been challenged before. For one, she wondered if she could get better marks than Matthew if they took the same blocks. Doing so would mean she did so because of her mind, not because another student could navigate buildings like the library or chapters in a book better than she could. Kavala didn’t know a single person in her clan that even owned a book. The only reason she could read common was because her mother had insisted. And half the books in Mura were in Kontinese. Most of her textbooks were, though they had common versions for folks like her.

It was frustrating.

But watching him, she saw an opportunity to pit her intelligence against someone who was notably smart. It might be setting herself up for failure, but surely if he took blocks in Reproduction and Herbalism… even Philtering… she could find out. The Konti smiled, already having a bit of a jump on those two topics. She’d taken the basic blocks on Herbalism and Philtering. But there were even more of them she needed. Kavala was used to getting beaten by men, coming from male dominated society. She wasn’t the best rider, fighter, or even hunter in her clan. All her brothers were better. This might be the same thing, but it would be surely interesting to find out. Maybe, just maybe, she could reclaim some of her dignity on Mura… not exactly through Matthew, but through the whole educational process.

Her handwriting was small, precise, and had no fancy curves or flares to it. In a way, Kavala wrote like some scholars printed and copied books. She wasted no paper and her diagrams were carefully crafted. Matthew would see that in her notes, the small journals she had on both topics that housed her thoughts, her impressions, and her notes from lectures and assignments. The Konti was an excellent note taker, perhaps adding in more information than was needed. She did so because having ready access to writing materials was a luxury and she loved to indulge in it.

When he finished his study and settled his body on hers, Kavala took liberties of her own and nuzzled his chin and jawline. She wouldn’t realize it was his attention to detail that fitted their bodies together so nicely. Kavala just thought it was normal. His scent was familiar now and so too was his warmth and the shape of his body. Their actions earlier had pushed her past any shyness barrier and into a new realm of familiarity that she knew her family wouldn’t approve of. Kavala smiled. Her attention was interrupted by his questions though.

His question took her off guard and caused a smile to curve her lips briefly. She leaned forward and brought their bodies fully together, sliding a leg up his hip and wrapping it partially around him. Bright blue eyes went pale with arousal as she let the question settle into her distracted brain.

“Philtering is used for everything. Medicine. Cosmetics. Sciences and arts like making dyes and paints. Poisoncrafting. Cooking definitely and most commonly. Even candle and soapmaking. Herbalism, of course. Perfumery. Even in hunting when you tan hides. And I’ve heard rumors of magic, things that link some of what I’ve already listed.” Her voice was a low whisper of broken sentences where she attempted to concentrate on the study but was hugely distracted by the body and weight he lightly rested on her. She loved the feeling of it and wanted more. She shifted her hips so they settled more closely together and reached a hand around to trace his left shoulder. The Konti softened even more beneath him, relaxing against his warmth and weight.

She was obviously greedy for kisses.

“Of course it can…” She said, curling around him even more. “Healers, especially those marked by Rak’keli, can transfer their gnosis into philters when they have gained enough skill at it, and thus make potions and pills that deliver their gnosis long after the mark has been tapped. I do not know of many other types of gnosis, but I suspect others can be used in a similar way.” She said, dipping her head to lick his adam’s apple and nibble where his neck and shoulder met. Just by settling down with her like he had, Kavala was feeling her body warming already. Tingles ran up and down her spine, heating her body and bringing a flush to her face. He’d know it by the signs she exhibited, all classic, and even how her gills slightly flared as if she couldn’t get enough oxygen through her lungs.

She lifted her head, her blue eyes icy, and asked him her own question. She had no reward in mind, but wanted to play his game finding it fascinating all in its own right.

“There is a critical philtering triangle. It’s also sometimes called the fire triangle. To make a perfect philter, you need an element from each of these three things - the three sides of the triangle - besides your ingredients. If I have heat and air, what else do I need to make the Philter happen?” She said, stretching like a cat under him and then reaching up to rub his shoulders. She liked this game. This was learning on a whole new level, this Aletrid of theirs.

[Matthew]

He was always counting. He never noticed and would have to have it pointed out to him to realize how true it was. At the very least he was always counting the amount of thoughts currently going on in his mind. He was counting how many there were, determining if they needed solutions or answers and then determining if he could apply the solutions or answers. If he couldn't, how long would it take? He wished he could think of this in exact seconds. It would help him organize everything so much better. If this took three chimes, then that took five chimes, then this was how he could use his time to best accomplish both things. It all moved in a blur, a buzzing, a sound of static that was always rippling in his brain. It didn't bother him though. It was how he was, even with the most simple of actions. He had no idea that not many other people were like that. The student appreciated her handwriting. His was extremely neat, but only because he took quite a bit of time to make sure it was such. He wasn't that good of a note taker, though his memory was good enough that he was one of those students to pay rapt attention throughout the entire lecture and then go home and write the key points down off the top of his head. While there were indeed a lot of thoughts that he had to struggle with, they were all very clear thoughts. He never had a hard time recalling any of the thoughts, not when it really mattered. If he ever forgot something, he just assumed that it must not have been that important anyway. That was probably something that would come back to bite him in the future. When Kavala nuzzled him, he took special note of the way that their skin collided. A small detail, but an important one. Too much of his freshly-shaven stubble and it would itch or hurt. Too little and it wouldn't give the desired effect. It required a delicate touch, and a different touch. Her scales were a different experience than the completely (usually) smooth skin of the average human, or at least the ones he was familiar with. His jaw lightly clenched against her touch, allowing her to have something more substantial to softly brush against. At the same time his body tightened, the definition of all his different muscles popping just a bit more, silently reminding her own curves about the delight that they were snugly pressed against. He was warm and firm, pleasant to the nose. Beyond everything, he was the basics of what a primal man was. He was strength and comfort, something that appealed to a basic instinct. While the student believed he wasn't a bit masculine, when it really came down to it, he had perhaps unknowingly found the essence of masculinity. A hand dipped to catch under her bare leg as she lifted it and snaked it around him loosely, his fingers holding the thigh right below the curves of her rear just to help support. Once again the pressure of his fingernails were just enough to be felt, to tease at the senses, adding to all the other small sensations that he worked at once. He watched her closely, his gaze intense and unwavering. His shoulder rolled under her touch, giving her yet another sort of texture to experience. Each answer was rewarded with firm kisses, the first one a gentle kiss that was almost that of a passionate and romantic lover. The second was firm and gentle as well, but playful, hinting at the idea that there could be more. It was a simple thing, just a flick of the tip of his tongue, a nip with the very edges of his teeth. When she suddenly posed him a question, he paused, not expecting the game to be played in such a way by them both. He didn't hesitate for long though, easily and smoothly rolling over and bringing her with him, arms and hands supporting her so that she ended up on top and him below. He lounged beneath her, stretching out like a cat, smooth and elegant with his motions, moving with the ease of a man who wasn't ashamed to show off and wasn't afraid to let his partner take complete and utter control. His eyes were moving though. There was motion behind them, thought. Normally there were so many things going on at once, but when given one thing to focus on, everything started to sharpen. His mind began to focus even more, his eyes began to burn. His body even reacted, a bare arousal twitching to firmer life. He stared up at her and then parted his lips, seemingly unaware that he had started to whisper under his breath. "Heat. Air. Fire. No, not fire. Incomplete. Two of three, broken trinity, heat and fire. No, not fire. Incomplete. Incomplete. Unaware of Philtering, no knowledge. No, notes. Read the notes. Review. AlembicAssationUnfocusedSalvesPoisonsHerbalTea. Basics. Heat, air, fire. No, not fire. Incomplete. Why? HeatAir-" He blinked suddenly, incredibly bright blue eyes betraying that the quick calculations behind him had now come to a stop. "Fuel?" His offered answer was light in tone and endlessly curious, the young man obviously more than eager to suck in whatever knowledge she could offer.

[Kavala]

Kavala would have given a lot to understand what was going on behind Matthews eyes. It wasn’t because she had an emotional connection to him. No, they’d just met. But she had a insatiable curiosity – much like Matthews – to know the unknown. He watched her as she gave him affections, studying the way she did it as if he were taking data points in one of the Opal Temple’s calculations classes. Kavala wasn’t thinking like that though. She was thinking how good Matthew smelled. She was thinking how good he felt against her. And she was letting herself express her inward pleasure outwardly. The Konti was a hands-on learner. She could read from books for hours, but she would never gather enough knowledge as she would five minutes shadowing someone who knew what they were doing and let her do and experience herself under their guidance.

Each nuzzle each arch of her back or stroke of her hand was an extension of her emotions expressed upon Matthew. While he was studying, she was enjoying, and in turn spreading it to him even if he was only capable of understanding that in a limited capacity.

When she curled her leg up around him and he caught it she smiled against his lips, sharing his breath like she did with her horses. There was a joining she noticed in two people who fell into sync. It was the same thing with animals who worked closely together. She was watching and waiting for it… for the moment they began to breath together because they had become tuned to each other.

Kavala loved his nudity against her clothed body. Sure she simply wore a wrapped skirt with nothing under it and a bandana to cover her chest. She loved his torso, and the slight roughness of his leg against the scaled softness of her inner thighs. His hand holding up her leg, supporting her, left her open to him, slightly vulnerable, and she really gravitated towards that feeling. Strength. Comfort. Maleness. She experienced it all with his weight against her.

While her expression was soft and slightly hungry, Kavala noted his eyes were set, intense, and only came fully alive when she asked him a question. He mentally jumped on the question, mulling it around, and she could almost hear the loudness of his thoughts. Until she did realize he was speaking aloud, whispering. His strangeness struck her again. But before she could worry too much about it and dwell on it, he had her answer and she had her reward.

If she’d loved his dominance before, she exploded with excitement at this new twist. He’d rolled her when she was distracted, until she was settled on top of him. He’d given her kisses… soft and firm. She could still taste him on her lips. And it made her hungry for more. His tongue was teasing her, causing her to part her lips as if his touch was an invitation. He didn’t push closer. He didn’t take it further. Instead he simply teased. She loved his teeth nipping gently. She wanted him to bite, and she wanted to sink her teeth into him as well, gently, but enough to leave a mark.

Her tongue found his neck once she was perched on him. She shifted so her legs splayed on either side of him and she rolled her hips as she tasted the salt that ran under his jawline.

“Yes.. fuel. Always fuel. You need Heat. Air. Fuel.” Kavala repeated. Her body slide further down, past his hips until her legs closed in on his knees and she kissed a trail down his body until she got to his firm flesh. Heat. Air. Fuel. Kavala rested gently over his legs, her smile bearing down on the object of her current obsession. She gave him his reward then, making no bones about it that right answers warranted a moment of her exploring him. That exploration involved her bending over him and gently taking him into her mouth, tasting the whole of him in one firm pull before releasing him.

Kavala spoke softly when she’d gently released his shaft from her lips. “When you philter often you take a substance from one state to another. Name all the states of being a substance can have…. You need to know what states things can have. Why?” She said, letting the power of pinning him down go to her head as she changed the game, asking him questions since he’d asked her no new ones other than if he’d gotten her question right.

She was eager. If he gave her another right answer, she’d take another taste of him, fully. Until then she studied him, both his face as he thought about the question, and his body pinned beneath her. She wanted to see his reaction, to note how his body changed, and she wanted to see what happened if he lost control.

[Matthew]

She was really the perfect partner for him to learn this sort of thing with. She was so very openly expressive with her body that he could observe, learn, and react. There wasn't as much guesswork as there could have been. Both men and women could be shy and reserved with their reactions or try to give an impression of something they really weren't. Neither Matthew nor Kavala were any of these things.

He watched as she took her place upon him. She rolled her hips and tasted his neck, and he smoothly positioned both for the easiest access. His neck was arched and tilted, allowing her an open expanse of skin to feast upon. The defined V of his hips angled so that once again she could rub her core to his shaft, even if the makeshift skirt would sometimes get inbetween. The new sensation would just add to it all, allowing more pleasure for the pair. His hands were quick to slide up her legs, taking her curved hips in his grip, fingers firm as they held her. He tugged at the skirt, only the lightest of bits to give her the thrill of being undressed, simply tugging the article of clothing down on one side to expose one bare hip. He kept his hands on her as she adjusted, slowly writhing down his form, straddling his knees. Only when he couldn't reach her any longer would he let his hands fall, fingers digging into the sand as he arched just the slightest bit. When her mouth took him in, his body instinctively arched even more. Pleasure flooded through him, a moan cutting through his lips. It was an odd contrast. Somewhere inside, he viewed all of this as if observing from a distance. Then there was here, where his body was very clearly feeling the pleasure. It was interesting that such a simple act could cause such a reaction.

Then again, his shaft was an abundance of nerve endings. He had never really considered it in such a scientific manner. If nerve endings were the reason behind the pleasure... he blinked a few times, a realization suddenly coming to him. Still though, she would be able to see what she had done. She would see the twisting of his face in a display of pure pleasure, of carnal desire.

He laid beneath her, blue eyes shimmering. Something shifted in him, and then suddenly he was even more confident than before. He tried something different, letting a specific type of smile play out across his handsome face. Even with her on top, even with her taking a moment to focus on his pleasure, even while laying in the submissive role he suddenly gave off the impression that he was very much in control. There was a confidence, an assurance. Even from here he knew how he could please her. Meanwhile he answered, knowing one answer right off the bat, having no clue about the other answer but quite alright with admitting it. "Gas, solids, liquids. However, I do not know the need for this information when it comes to philtering, unless you must take certain steps to make sure you create a philter that is of the desired state."

She would be denied the treat that she wanted, if Matthew was allowed. His hand would slip through her hair to massage her scalp, taking a firm hold of the locks there to try and gently tug her towards him. It wasn't at all a painful tug, merely one that tried to guide her to him and allowed her the choice. If she struggled against it, he would not make it a fight. Otherwise though, he would guide her with a firm hand, bringing back memories of how he had held her hair back when they had collided in the water.

If she did come up his body like she asked, she would suddenly find that his hands were quick and calculating in their touch.

Now he pleasured her with medical precision. First was her perineum, fingertips rubbing briefly at the little patch of flesh between her core and the rectum. There was the Mons, the area right barely above her core, his fingers having to briefly slip between her waist and the waistband of her skirt. Then there was a brush of the posterior, the large muscles where the slope of her rear met with the slope of her lower back. They were all secret bundles of nerves, places that most people didn't seem to even really consider. Each only needed a touch, a firm massage, a scrape of a nail. When that was given, they would hopefully light up in pleasure, assaulting Kavala with all new sensations. That little smile remained on his lips as he brought her up to him and he sat up to her, lips parting to breath in her own breaths. "Please. Teach me?" If he had done it right, she might find it difficult to speak.

[Kavala]

Indeed she watched his face. Kavala had up until this point been curious about how and when what she did caused reactions in him. Now she was hungry for them because he seemed to have a natural ability to repress his emotional side. He simply didn’t get… too excited, too expressive, too passionate. He was responsive to arousal, but she was looking deeper, the smiles that did not reach his eyes. Curiosity did. Puzzlement did. It was like his own reactions startled him and he repressed them after the smallest indulgence of letting himself FEEL what she did to him. He excelled at problem solving and going from point a through point b to get to c in effective efficient manners. But there was a lack of joy in his life. And Kavala felt the absence of it keenly. The Drykas were impassioned people. They were quick to laugh, and sometimes the men cried along with the women if things hurt too much; especially death.

But she didn’t think Matthew cried. Sure, he seemed like he could feel physical pain. But was he ever sad? Did he ever feel lonely? Did he miss people or family? Where was his family….Kavala wondered suddenly. Did he have a tragic story in his past or were his parents painfully normal?

Kavala licked her lips, the taste of him in her mouth now. She knew what she was doing was right. Kavala grew up in a Drykas Pavilion where there was no privacy and an abundance of children. She knew how those children had formed and why they came to be. While it was considered impolite to watch ones parents or family – all the children did until they knew what transpired. Sex was an open part of family life and because things in the Sea of Grass happened fast and in short bursts – including life – girls were married early and boys knew how to start families immediately after vows were exchanged. That’s why Kavala was in Mura so early in her life. And that’s why she knew her mouth on him was a thing of pleasure, acceptable, and encouraged. And she enjoyed the empowerment of his reaction.

The Konti was a giving soul and to her seeing him react was a reward enough. She wanted to pull at him until he was mindless and lost control. There was power in such exchanges. And Kavala was just discovering the power of being a woman.

His answer to her question, seemingly out of the blue, startled her though. He knew. Well, she shouldn’t be surprised really, as she was slowly beginning to understand the depths of Matthews’s intelligence. Even as he captured her hair gently and tried to urge her to move up him again, she watched his expression. His fingers in her hair, gently manipulating her away from her control and recapturing her in his power made her body heat. He could have used more force and she would have liked it. Strength made her body hum. She started feeling like he didn’t like revealing emotion and hadn’t wanted her to continue the course she’d chosen. Was he truly afraid of it or just that disconnected? The Konti started to ask him even he seized her hair.

Kavavla wanted to capture him again, spend time on him, and watch him come to the natural conclusion she knew would be there. He restrained and denied her that. Instead he gently tugged her upwards. She shook her head lightly, protesting, but in the end moved back up within his reach. There was too much male authority in her background and too many years of obeying without question. His insistence earned him a sharp bite on the collarbone though, as punishment, before she was instantly distracted by his touch.

The Konti tucked her chin to her chest, staring back down between them as she watched him work. All he would see would be a cascade of her translucent white hair as she shuddered slightly above him. Part of her arousal was watching him work, his hands slide over her, exploring, touching, pressing. He knew his fingers were doing things right because she spoke not a single word nor uttered a sound. Her body grew slick and hot. Her skin deepened to a dark pink. When he rose up, forcing her to look away, he’d see the flush and the burning in her icy gaze. There was dampness all over his fingers again, and she was trembling with a mixture of anticipation and pleasure.

“You are going to kill me.” She said, with no real tone but a soft breathless whisper behind the words. Her arms came down on either side of him, supporting her upright position, and she settled her hips against his once more, making contact but without penetration. She rolled her pelvis unconsciously, first one way then another as she stared at him a long moment before blinking.

Kavala resisted though, starting to sweat, wanting him in so many ways she was unable to think.

“It’s because…. “ She swallowed, her words almost a froggish croak. Then she took a breath, licked her lips, and started again. “You see… different compounds are…..” She blinked trying to think, but his hands on her, his body against her were distracting. He was always distracting.

“Something… might not be toxic in a solid, but in a gaseous form it might be lethal.” She finally spit out, dragging in a breath and finding that her rib cage could expand and retract again. She was doing it again, what she’d done before,. Her body had found itself fitted to his length once more, her flesh parted, and her core rubbing his hardness without consuming it. The steady motion was unconscious on her part, though it mimicked the actual act itself. Had his hands guided her there, pressing her against him as he stroked the small of her back. Her eyes burned into his and there was something smug about his gaze, a pride in his action that seemed focused on what she was doing. Kavala glanced down between them again, realized what was happening, and pulled away. There was a firestorm in her belly, one that wanted to explode all over him, but she didn’t want it, not right now… not until he had his own.

Her face flushed in pleasure and frustration as she pulled away, denying him his ability to finish her and her own body’s release. And she opened her mouth to apologize before she realized there was nothing to apologize for. She pushed back, so she could settle just below his hips on his upper thigh and think about what she was trying to say in regards to the filtering. She liked feeling him hard against her belly, his maleness evidenced against the softness of her mound.

“You are distracting me. I just wanted to watch you close up…spill your seed. I don’t know the technical term. You will let me soon, whether you make it happen or I do.” She said, firmly, bending to meet his gaze squarely, wanting him to know she was serious. Then she blinked and just like that moved on in the lesson. “I will ask you more questions…. “ She said in a voice that was almost silk. “But if you get them wrong I get to taste you. If you get them right… you get more control.” The Konti whispered.

Her breath was calmer and she seemed more focused. But her eyes were huge, their blue intense, as she met his gaze. She was a Drykas in a Konti body, nothing like the gentle playful women on the isles. She was fierce and wanted to win, so she dug deeper thinking of philtering and what she knew.

“When you add one liquid to another and heat it…. Sometimes you form a third substance that is a solid among all the liquids. What is that substance that forms and falls out of the liquid called?” She asked, rolling her hips again, covering his upper thighs with her slickness and teasing his length against her scaled belly. Gods she wanted to feel him inside her. She knew the first time there would be pain, but she truthfully wanted to feel his length joined and almost shook from the need. It made her voice hoarse as she spoke.

“These things… are important because often it is the whole point of the philtering. Once strained from the liquid you can take this powder or crystal or whichever type of this thing it is and either make more substances from it in other reactions. This thing can be medicine, poison, or something altogether different.” Kavala said, running her hands across his hard stomach and up his chest to trace his pectoral muscles. He was a beautiful man and his body was solid, not stacked, but fit enough to make her react favorably to it. Kavala wondered if she could talk him into working out with her.

[Matthew]

In some ways, his natural ability to somehow stifle most of his emotion was an advantage. People liked what they could not have. People strained to accomplish what was hard to accomplish. Challenges were exciting for most; a fun thrill to push them to their limits. To some it just made them curious, wondering what was beyond the wall that was so hard to climb. For Matthew, it could be a variety of things. Perhaps it was because he was so different from most other men, men who were eager for sex but often not very eager to please. Perhaps it was the unfiltered innocence mixed with the unashamed confidence to indulge in the erotic. Really though, it all boiled down to how his mind worked and how that affected the rest of him. He was thankful for his mind, for his intellect. He was much too young to see how it would affect him in other ways, though. The student would eventually learn.

She was quite right in most of her assumptions, even if he did not know this, or that she had even assumed them in the first place. He had not cried in quite a long time. Crying was usually something done to relieve some sort of emotional ache. If he killed the ache before it truly blossomed though, what use was there in the annoyingly hot tears? A waste of effort and energy, that was all. They did not hold the same meaning for him as they did almost everyone else. It was the exact opposite as well. Humor usually escaped him and he laughed just about as much as he cried. Some men would find it a blessing to have the ability to handle emotion the way he did. Some would find it a curse. He just viewed it as a part of who he was and that was all there was to it.

The pleasure was forced to be distant, but it still raged through his body. The inside of his thighs trembled and his hips arched in delight as she tasted, a certain sort of look to her eye. He allowed his body to ride the wave, allowed his reaction. Some parts of it he doubted he could stop if he even wanted to. His face twisted, his body shivered, his delight gasped from his lips. She would earn another gasp though it was mixed with a growl this time, her teeth sinking into his flesh drawing yet another one of the reactions she seemed to enjoy so much.

The young student nodded, impossibly bright blue eyes glimmering with more of that intellect. "Yes. I may. If your body can not handle everything that I can do to it, then you very well may cease to be Kavala. I will have remade you into a being of pure pleasure. You will have lost your mind and body to me." Slowly but surely, Matthew took the concept of dominance to a whole new level. Some were happy to just dominate the physical, to please the physical. His attack on Kavala was nothing so simple, though. To truly addict, to truly own, it would need to be much much more. His hands slide down her back, stroking at the slick scales and coming down to boldly take ahold of her rear, fingertips digging boldly to each cheek. Even the unconscious swirl of her hips were now aided, allowing his bare arousal to stroke at her own throbbing core with sensual precision. More lessons of anatomy twisted through his mind. His shaft throbbed and moved, skillfully placed to tease at everything but where it would make her shake the most.

She was gone then, a look in her eyes, a mixture of two things he had a hard time understanding. He did not protest though, merely arched an eyebrow as she spoke with fire in her voice. His head slowly tilted to the side as he considered her words, the gears moving once again behind his stare. She had thrown something complex into his puzzle. An oddly-shaped piece, so to speak. What was he to do with this? He watched as she sat there, noticing the change to her voice. She had more control of her voice. And now she wished to have a level of control over him?

Matthew nodded, accepting her terms silently. He would play her game.

His answer to her first question was surprisingly slow. He leaned back, taking his time, his body on display once more. He let her touch his muscles, let the muscles push back against her to tease her with their firmness. A hand even wandered down to lightly brush along his shaft, though he did not pleasure it too much, not at all intending to take her potential prize from her. Instead he merely did it to add another layer, to further pile upon the want that she was experiencing. Now he let her see him pleasure himself, if only for just a moment, eyes locked on her curves for inspiration. He was touching himself to her. His eyes eventually rose up though, head tilting at that familiar angle. His eyes were alive again, a sure-fire way to tell that he was seemingly up to something. He wasn't throwing the game, not at all. He still soaked up every little bit of her information, his lips even barely moving to repeat the words back to himself before finally answering. "I do not know."

His hand removed itself from his shaft, his eyes watched her curiously. "Teach me."