"[color=#2ecc40]They look pretty no matter what they're called,[/color]" she told him, as she sank about down into the water and got all the soap out of her hair before coming back up and leaving it over the edge of the tub to drip down into the bucket below. She listened to him moving on the other side of the screen, nearly leaving the tub to check as she heard him start to choke on his food. "[color=#2ecc40]Didn't know letting a man know she wants to be ate like a meal could kill him.[/color]"
"[color=#2ecc40]So if I had been trying to plan a way to get you to drop your trousers and let me suck you like I draw life from the idea of having you spill down the back of my throat all evenin since you lifted me off that table, you'd still sat, only cuddles?[/color]" She reached over to the partition and moved it some so she could look at his face better. She didn't like not being able to see him. And its not like the water wasn't now obscured with soap that he'd be able to see anything. Just her head and hands on the edges of the tub, her knuckles might be white as she death gripped the edge to not cave into her compulsions, but...
"[color=#2ecc40]I like hearing you talk too. You've spoke more words to me in one evening than you have in the entire past year you've been coming by. You and Ruth, only men I like to see swaggering in through my door anymore.[/color]" She didn't specify anything more specific, so it would be left to interpretation of what that meant, she wasn't going to tell at the moment. "[color=#2ecc40]It's almost like your voice is a bit of comfort[/color]."
She shifted in the water, letting her head hang now, truly hang, her neck muscles loose as she quits trying to hold herself upright, her hands going to lay on her belly under the water, eyes drifting closed as she let the water and his voice ease her into actually feeling comfortable, feeling safe. No one else would try and hold her down to a table tonight, and for probably at least a few months, until someone grew bold again. Being a tavern whore had it's dangers, one being not being paid for taken wares. She'd cut a few faces before. People with cut faces typically got a sharp looking at when they came round, until Mina or the old man confirmed if it was a scar from something other than the little dagger she used when things got out of hand. Ruth and Colt had become her favorites, quickly.
One because he used her body oh so well, the other, because he didn't. Stark differences too, height, coloring... there was a reason she had dreamed of being sandwiched between them on many, many occasions. But she was a whore. First and foremost, there wasn't time for love, just, fucking, sex, and if it was all he would give her, cuddles. "[color=#2ecc40]So it seems right that you'd be the one to hold me tonight, look at some stars. Drink some wine, and then I'll be greedy and say you have to hold me the entire time you sleep. I have to get something out of putting you up here tonight, if I'm not going to be gripping the headboard and being told to take it like a good girl, then I at least want to be held all night.[/color]"
She breathed in gently, and then cracked an eye open to sneak a glance at his face, it difficult, because habit made her want to check his posture, body language, his face, after each exchange of words. To make sure she hadn't pressed too far, said too much.
Or if maybe she hadn't said enough. "[color=#2ecc40]I'll take cuddles if it's all you got. Count me in.[/color]"
There was truth in her words, but he waited till the telltale laps of the water subsided before answering. [color=#c10300]“Some got stories. Like, there’s one about the mabari. Them Ferelden dogs. Smart fu-. Eh. Beasties.”[/color] Maybe he should get a dog?
Colt laughed, it growing awkward as she added to the images already flickering through his vision. Then when she informed him so casually of her plan, it struck him so off guard he dropped the sandwich back on the plate. Nope. Suddenly everything felt very tight, and a hand reached to tug the neckline of his shirt. His skin was on fire and there was no doubt his ears were matching. Hands reached to rub his face, or rather hide the deepening hue of his cheeks.
The sound of the screen shifting had Colt peeking an eye open, then blinked both open with the sight. His gaze lingered only a moment before they swept up to the ceiling. Even with that brief look, Colt would grin, carefully committing the details to memory. [color=#c10300]“I’m not… Well, I’m not much a talker.”[/color] Liar. He would talk Danny’s ear off about Mina for days after a Back Water visit. [color=#c10300]“Don’t like interfering in folks work when they at it, so…”[/color] he’d shrug, shaking his head. [color=#c10300]“I ain’t like Ruth. He’s a decent healer, sure, but we ain’t the same.” [/color]
[color=#008e02]“It’s almost like your voice is a bit of comfort..”[/color]
His eyes shifted to find hers then.[color=#c10300] “...Same for me,”[/color] then he sucked in a breath and went back to looking at his plate. He could feel his foot tapping with anxiety, taking a breath and rubbing his thigh in an effort to actively tell it to ‘knock it the fuck off.’ He continued to eat, not really paying attention to what was going into his mouth, just grateful for the minor distraction between taste and texture rolling around while Mina continued to talk.
Brows rose steadily though as she described the rest of the night. Their night. He laughed as she proclaimed her greed, it was a fair exchange and one he’d grant, nodding.[color=#c10300] “I can do that, aye.”[/color] Catching her peeking at him, Colt tossed her a wink back, grinning as he took another bite.
"[color=#2ecc40]Ferelden dogs? Never heard of em, then again, I've not heard of much past the boundaries of the Back Water. Sure, stories when people bring em, but I've never been fifty paces off the old man's land. I don't have his name or anything tattooed on me, like I hear they do in other places, but he keeps me close by. So if you ever see one of these beasties, you catch it and bring it here so I can see it, please?[/color]" She turned up on her side in the tub, towards the partition, hand reaching over to move it aside some more, she didn't like not seeing his face. He was animated when he did talk, and she liked to look.
The soapy water was white now, as she laid in the warmth it offered, cleaner than she had been for the entire day. "[color=#2ecc40]No, you're not Ruth, and I'm happy you're not. Never said I wanted you to be him, just,[/color]" she paused, looking for her next words. "[color=#2ecc40]I look forward to you coming by. Helps me not put a dagger through some people's hands when they annoy me, knowing you might stop by to and from Kirkwall[/color]." She left out the other, feeling like she should.
She reached over and set her hand on his knee, not to stop him from tapping it, but to give him something other to focus on. Her hand didn't move, she didn't try and do anything funny -- there was the unspoken between them now, only cuddles. Some touches, but, when he winked at her, she felt her cheeks go bright red, and she sunk down into the tub just a bit more, watching him over the edge. She was in trouble -- more accurately, he was trouble, but she was in the mood to have a bit of mischief in her life. "[color=#2ecc40]Good. I think I'll like having a night of cuddles. I don't normally get held all night. I'm back in my cramped little nook under the stairs before false dawn, and then up at the rooster crowing. Or the pig creating a fuss in the yard. Damn thing keeps getting out.[/color]"
Mina felt herself relaxing again, hand rested on his leg as she closed her eyes back. Grounded -- she felt grounded in that moment, him there, a touch, and warmth. Maker, she liked being warm. "[color=#2ecc40]Lemme have a bite of the melon?[/color]"
Her eyes found his again, she wanted a bite of something to nibble on, so she could stop the growling in her belly that had just made itself known. The smell of the food, and being clean was doing a world for her, working kinks out of muscles she hadn't realized she had been carrying stress in for the past few days. "[color=#2ecc40]I promise no funny business, thought I won't lie and say the idea of suckle your fingers tips if you offered it to me with fingers didn't cross my mind. You have very, very nice hands Colt. One of these days I'll convince you to run them all over me, but for now I'll play by your rules, rogue.[/color]"
Colt’s eyes shifted, not paying anything in particular attention besides her voice. Thinking about it, he’d nod to himself.[color=#c10300] “Alright, we’ll start with that one then. Once you’re all squeaky, dried and dressed we’ll camp out on the balcony a bit. We can bring the food too.”[/color] Chuckling a little, [color=#c10300]“I’m surprised ones no been by with one, honestly. You seriously ain’t been more than fifty paces?”[/color] The surprise was palpable in his voice, Colt couldn’t imagine going nowhere, but then he was in the Coterie. Brows wrinkled along with him nibbling at his lower lip in thought, [color=#c10300]“Maybe one time I pay the man for a day's work and we take you somewhere for the day, see something you ain’t seen before.” [/color]
A warm feeling passed through him as she admitted that she was happy the two weren’t the same.[color=#c10300] “Oh…. Well, good.”[/color] He couldn’t help the little smile to himself, it felt good knowing that, but then she went quiet and Colt passed her a quick cursory glance, noticing the familiar look of thought before she continued. Her last sentence caused him to chuckle some, nodding along with her words. [color=#c10300]“Ah, I see. You miss the Towering Inferno,” [/color]he’d snicker, then explain a little. [color=#c10300]“Danny. He’s a shit, but that’s what he calls my mean face.”[/color] He’d shrug, sniffing and turning his gaze away, [color=#c10300]“I don’t like it, being the bad guy, but sometimes it’s the only way geezer’s like Frank understand the world.” [/color]
His leg stilled after a final bounce against her palm, even his breath caught for a second in his throat, gently exhaled when it didn’t travel. Colt would catch the flush after winking, chuckling and cocking a brow curious about it, but refrained from pushing it. What they had going was nice and he didn’t want to spoil it by hunting after a possible goose chase. The lads, and every other sane fucker told him the same damn thing. She was a whore, but he’d witnessed the forced smiles, the emptiness of her eyes in the mornings after. This was more genuine.
It brokered a little more confidence in the dexterous thief. [color=#c10300]“I can make Frank chase her down if she gets out in the morning. And I’ll get his lackey’s to fix the fence before we go. You just focus on relaxing, and, uh, the cuddles later.”[/color] Yeah, and he'd probably have to strap his dick to his thigh come the morning. It was going to be a long night if his head didn't panic the entire night, worried he might roll over and crush the poor lass.
Cutting her a piece, Colt paused as he went to pick up the melon, head swivelling between plate, Willie and Willie’s hand. She wasn’t going to move her hand, which meant… [color=#c10300]“Um, I,”[/color] fuck it, [color=#c10300]“... Uh, Open wide, I guess.”[/color] He’d swallow and after retrieving it, was just about to let it touch her lips as she began speaking again. Colt could feel the blood rising once again to his cheeks, [color=#c10300]“Aye… no. No funny business, but,”[/color] he’d boop her nose with the wet melon, smearing the juices over her clean face with a hearty laugh, before plopping it into her mouth. [color=#c10300]“That’s for your cheek and my hands deal with a lot of locks and mechs for keeping folks out. I gotta take care of them.” [/color]
Thinking about it, he hadn’t checked if smacking Frank’s gobshite face had nicked anything, bringing his hand up to get a closer inspection. A slight bruise, but it was hardly noticeable among the various patterns inked into him.
She shook her head no, no, she had never been more than fifty paces outside of the Back Water. The Old man didn't own her, as it was, but he had raised her, as best he could. Gruff old man that had no idea how to raise a son, let alone a daughter, and a daughter that some elf couple had saddled him with by leaving the toddler in his stable to find. "[color=#2ecc40]You know he doesn't own me, he's told me I'm free to come and go as I please... I mean most people think he owns me, and we've never tried to convince people otherwise, it offers me a little safety if they think the old man would raise a fuss over someone messing up his property. But I keep half my pay, I give the rest to him for helping to keep the Inn open.[/color]"
Besides Ruth, she didn't think anyone else knew she wasn't owned, in a way it worked, but, "[color=#2ecc40]I think I'd like that. Somewhere off the property, but I don't think I'd trust anyone but you to take me, not.. that other's wouldn't keep me safe but.. when it comes down to it, I don't trust but four people in my entire life, and two of em are in this room right now.[/color]" She grinned as he started talking about making Frank chase the pig. Ornery old thing, she was, wanted to roam anywhere she wanted, but Mina had a time keeping her out of the garden where she grew most of the vegetables they served there at the inn. It made her smile, widely, as she stifled a giggle behind her hand. It was nice, Colt.. Colt didn't treat her like she was property, she realized, in that moment. Others there in the Inn, they did, they treated her like property and she knew it. But Colt... "[color=#2ecc40]Sometimes the world is hard to understand, how it is, yeah. The older they are the more... set in their ways they are?[/color]"
She lingered in the touch, after the took the melon from his fingers, and chewed thoughtfully, allowing the lull around the offered food to give her time to come back to his words, to let them sit in her brain for a little bit. He was safe, to her, she was safe with him. She could talk to him, and he wouldn't thing it was just to get more money out of him when she finally bedded him. This was proof enough for her. But it also meant that she needed to be careful not to lead him on. She was who she was, and she didn't want him hurt. She'd see what happened to men when they got hurt by women, some of them were never the same again. They could take a blade to the gut and "walk it off", but woman saying no could turn deadly in an instant. She didn't think Colt would be one to do anything brash, but she'd seen day light and the bottom of too many cups with another before, after a broken heart.
Could she really risk losing him, if, if something happened? She swallowed the mouthful down, finally, licking her lips and then bring the wash cloth up out of the water to wash her nose off, a fresh round of giggles peeling from her, "[color=#2ecc40]That's what I get for promising something I didn't make you promise too![/color]" She stuck a hand down into the water and then tilting it just right, she squeezed, sending a small jet at his side. "[color=#2ecc40]Guess I'll just have to set a lock about myself and see if you can deal with it then, huh?[/color]" She couldn't lose him. As much as she wanted him to pluck her out of the tub and bend her over the table, she knew her life would be less without one of her favorites. She couldn't take the risk, couldn't... let what ever lusty compulsion she felt to bed him, ruin what might be the best thing she ever had in her life. And trying to reign back in her desires, to quench the building ember between her legs, hurt; physically hurt. She could massage the pain away later, like always, but she was thankful for the water, and his presence to help her through that.
Mina took the moment to quickly finish washing herself, before standing up out of the water, making sure that the cloth and her hair covered her sufficiently to not cause either of them a blush, before she went pawing for the towel and wrapping it around herself and stepping out of the tub to the floor. She made sure to move quickly so that she could work at pulling his spare clean shirt over her head and down to almost her knees, all the larger it was on her. "[color=#2ecc40]Tree! It's a dress on me![/color]" It wasn't love, she decided, as she flushed, bringing the edge of the collar of the shirt up to her nose and breathing in his scent. It wasn't love, but it could be, she decided as she smoothed the soft fabric down over her skin, breath catching as she remembered that it had sat against his own sometime recently. It could be, she told herself, as she reminded herself to keep breathing.
She came out from behind the screen, and turned one way and then the other, modeling how long the shirt was on her. "[color=#2ecc40]You make it look fitted, and it's a dress for me. Going to have to find something to cinch it around my waist.[/color]"
Colt’s eyes widened, an incredulous look coming over his features before his brow furrowed in thought. [color=#c10300]“Gonna change that then,”[/color] and his lips pursed to one side. This was a lot to think about, and now wasn’t the time given what else she had said. [color=#c10300]“Prob for the best idea they think that though. Doesn’t set my head at ease any, the old man is…well ‘old’, but it’s good you can leave if you like to.”[/color] Fifty paces though? Fuck. And while she was used to the varying degrees of busy and the dead quiet traffic of the Back Water, taking her straight to Kirkwall was a bit of a stretch. Colt didn’t want to spook her, have her first time be anywhere too overwhelming.
Her follow up only reinforced his thinking, nodding along with her words while his head made a list of places, quieter ones with the landscape speaking for itself than folks doing the talking for it.[color=#c10300] “Seein’ a place is a lot different to just hearin’ about it. Can’t understand the world from just this wee place. Some folks say complete shite, others.. Downplay it too much, stuffs better being seen by your own eyes.” [/color]
The grin he made when Mina said she trusted him nearly split his face, eventually growing shy as he realised. He’d chuckle, head dipping a little with the praise… he was a thief and he worked alongside a guild of smugglers and a rough crowd, trust was important. [color=#c10300]“Well that’s good and… I ain’t ever about to break that. So… you saying would go with me somewhere? If I asked you?”[/color] He tried not to let the possibility fan excitement at being able to see and hear her laugh and gibber another time take over, but the hopeful prospect had him itching for something to fiddle with.
His laughter would die down and Colt took a piece of melon for himself, enjoying the refreshing sweet contrast against the harsh vinegar of the pickles.[color=#c10300] “Ay-Hey!”[/color] he’d flinch back a little, his reflexes quickly picking up another piece of fruit to threaten her with, arm reeling back a little. [color=#c10300]“Cheeky little..” [/color]he’d grin, shaking his head with a chuckle and lowering his throwing arm to point at her playfully wiggling. [color=#c10300]“Lucky I’m off duty, could’a been something else.”[/color] Though the sudden image of a chastity belt sent his wits elsewhere. His gaze even wandered as he thought about how it would even work, the key would be a fiddly thing to figure out, but he had the tools.
He was so deep into the thought that he’d barely heard her leave the bath until she was tugging the shirt over from his side to put on and her exclaim at the length of it. A laugh quietly rumbled from his throat and the thief would just shrug at her comment. [color=#c10300]“Hey now, just cos you're jealous, don’t mean you get to call me a tree. Eh, Sprite.”[/color] He’d call her a fairy, because that’s what she reminded him of. Those innocent, but crafty things in, well, fairy tales.
Truthfully he should have prepared himself for when she came out around the screen, but there was nothing that could have seeing her wrapped up in his clothes.
Shit.
Colt opened his mouth to speak but nothing, only a shaky exhale came out his dumbstruck mouth as she turned for him. For what seemed like the hundredth time his head would try and shake himself into a response. [color=#c10300]“Um. Yeah. I. Something to cin- Oh. Afraid I only got the one belt and I think that’ll wrap around you two.. Or even threefold.”[/color]
[color=#2ecc40]"You asking me out, on like a date, Colton Young?[/color]" She asked as she watched him, a brow raised as she moved her arms behind her back, standing in his shirt, teeth chewing the inside her of her lip in nerves. "[color=#2ecc40]Cause if you are, I'll say yes to leaving off the property with you, for a day or two. Can't leave the old man alone for too long with this lot and no Mina to smile at them.[/color]" She like the look on his face, like he hadn't ever really appreciated how small she was, or how much he would like seeing her with his clothing draped on her frame. What was the surprise to her was that she liked the fact she could read him well enough to know that he had gotten himself into deep water, putting her in his clothing.
She came over to the table after her turns and pulled the other chair around so that it was right beside him, where she could sit side ways and put her legs back over his lap as she went to eat some things off the board she had brought up. It didn't take her long to move and to get her legs back over his lap as she shrugged. "[color=#2ecc40]I've got something I can use as a belt, when I need it. Right now there's no need for me to go hunt something down, tonight's about being comfortable right?[/color]"
This was different though, now, like this, in his shirt, with nothing underneath, not that she wore small clothes to begin with, it made whoring easier to just lift her skirts and let someone have their way with which ever hole they paid for, but she was incredibly aware of it now, as she took a square of cheese off the board, and another piece of melon and popped them both into her mouth, incredibly aware that there was only two layers of clothing between their bare skin, thin cotton the only thing covering her from his hands. And she had just the mind to remind him of how little she wore.
"[color=#2ecc40]Probably only the two times, I'm not that much thinner than you Colt, just because I'm over a foot shorter doesn't mean you're that much wider than me, feel,[/color]" she took one of his hands and rested it on her hip. "[color=#2ecc40]See, hip bone isn't that much smaller than yours. Well. Not three times the wrap of a belt smaller[/color]." She grinned, before leaning over and pulling the bowl of stew closer, dunking a chunk of the bread in and taking time to eat that carefully. It wasn't often she got more than a mouthful here and there in the evening hours, so she was used to eating much, much later at night.
"[color=#2ecc40]So where you gonna take cheeky, little sprite me on this date, hmm?[/color]" Her free hand went to toy on the sleeve of his shirt, the one on him, not the one she wore and was planning on perhaps keeping at this point, since it did smell of him, and that made her lower regions curl up tight with need.
There was a fight breaking out in his mind, two side of himself whispering, arguing between themselves over the scene before him. This little waif, wearing his shirt like it belonged to her even as it drowned her frame he couldn’t get past just how perfectly it looked on her. Beautiful. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, almost like a fish to answer her, but the words wouldn’t quite form at first. He’d stammer out his reply, even if his heart rate raised a notch with her calling it a date. The rational part of his mind reminded him, whores didn’t date, but this wasn’t a brothel and Mina wasn’t… well, she wasn’t like any other girl, not to him. [color=#c10300]“I. I’ll em. We can. That’s fine. Maybe do a day thing first, baby steps, seein’ as you never been anywhere.” [/color]Colt swallowed, eyes drifting off and awkwardly rolling his shoulder as he thought about the list.
They’d shift to her legs, following their path to the table and joining him. He tried to pick something else up to eat, but paused as she spoke about being comfortable. A quiet chuckle fell from him, since he wasn’t sure how with his own damn suggestion she could wear his clothes. Then there was another thought which caused his eyes to narrow briefly, [color=#c10300]“Plus, the boys see you in that, I’mma have to beat them off you… I could have used a better word there.”[/color] Cheeks flushed a little, but then she was climbing back into his lap again and he’d shift to accommodate, giving her every bit of room she needed. Which wasn’t much given just how tiny she was. The shirt really put it into perspective for him.
She’d take his hand to feel and while his hand didn’t shake, the thief’s toes curled, shifting his hand once she’d released it to wrap around her instead. [color=#c10300]“Yeah, but you can’t blame a guy for being a lil off. You look… pretty cute. Nearly mistook you for a dwarf.” [/color]The grin behind her was cheek, tongue catching between his teeth with mischief. Colt’s nose breathed in the scent of fresh soap, cooling the heat in his cheeks before he leaned into the chairs back. Idly his fingers would play with the fold of the fabric, a nervous rubbing of the fibres between his fingers to keep him in some sort of check.
Gaze drifting off from watching her eat, Colt mulled over her question. He couldn’t keep it a surprise, not completely, [color=#c10300]“A few places come to mind, the coast ain’t far, there’s a few villages, some old ruins… but… ain’t you got somewhere in mind?” [/color]
She listened to him talk, resting into his side as that arm came around her, her eyes closing some as she liked the idea of more than one trip with him. And the fact that it sounded like he was offering more than one trip away from the Back Water, the two of them, well, that was something she very much wanted to explore. And he didn't outright dismiss the idea of it being an actual date, so, she was happy for that. "[color=#2ecc40]Do a day maybe to the middle of no where even, just the two of us, I can pack us a mid-day meal, and some snacks, a bottle of this stuff,[/color]" she lifted one o the mugs off the table and took a long quaff of the ale. Her private stock that she was going to keep working out to be a signature of the Back Water. Some day.
"[color=#2ecc40]Well, ain't none of them up here to look at me, and I like it that way. If I'm gonna be comfortable, and in your shirt, I want it to be for your eyes only. Unless you want me to go bouncing down the stairs and give them all something to talk about. I don't kiss an' tell you know[/color]." And that was truth, everyone had seen her, or had experienced her, but she never talked about any one with enough details for someone to figure out another persons identity. She was careful like that, and her discretion earned her extra monies sometimes.
Mina lifted the mug to her lips again, sipping deeply again, "[color=#2ecc40]I got a bit of catching up to do, eh?[/color]" She tilted back some as she watched his face, tucked there into him like she was. "[color=#2ecc40]I've never see the sea. Or a river. A beach, I can see the mountains in the distance, and I know there's a I think it's called a plateau? That heads down into the sandy areas, a couple miles south. Not but ten or fifteen miles, I've heard others talk of it, and sometimes when the wind is right, I can smell and taste the salt on the air. I know sometimes people will bring sand in on their boots. Makes a right mess trying to get it out of the floorboards at times. Ruins might be fun to explore. Have you been to the sea though? Have you seen it, I mean? Is it as they say it is, as far as the eye can see, nothing but water in any direction?[/color]"
She finally set the mug, now nearly empty, back over on the table, the now free hand going to rest on his chest, toying with the fabric as she relaxed herself again. His arm was around her, and she knew he wouldn't drop her, she was safe to let the muscles of her body to loose, to let her weight down into him. She didn't want to move yet, but she knew that he was going to explain the stars to her, and if they didn't move out there soon, she was going to fall asleep there in his arms. He was warm, under her touch, warm, and he made it easy to want to just stay there. From the light touch of his fingers, to the way he stayed engaged in her, there was nothing to be unhappy about. Nothing to make her want to lose the connection he was offering in that moment.
"[color=#2ecc40]We should move outside, before it gets too much later, I want to make sure we're set up well for when the old man closes the main doors and no one else will be coming in for the night. That way we don't have to worry about and light spilling out over the are when someone opens a door and ruining our night vision. Not even my eyes can accommodate the change back and forth easily.[/color]" As before, she very gently pressed a tiny kiss into the tender flesh of his jaw line, this time, lingering a moment longer than downstairs. And since she had promised no funny business, she left it at that, just a small kiss, a press of her lips to his pulse point, feeling his heart beat through them. Steady, strong, she noted, as she leaned back, reluctantly, and went to move to grab one of the blankets and the pillows from the bed, to take outside to the balcony with them.
[color=#c10300]“If you’re bringing snacks, what am I bringing? Flowers?”[/color] He’d bring her flowers. Colt hadn’t a clue about flowers, but he’d bring her some, even if she laughed and said no. Yet this was happening. She’d agreed to going out with him and in the moment he struggled to keep his grin in check, [color=#c10300]“Alright, it’s a date.”[/color] And to move it on, he’s pick back up his mug, fighting tooth and nail not to let on how fast his heart was beating in that few minutes.
The chat around the boys downstairs was a sobering dose of reality and Colt would roll his eyes with a slight scoff. [color=#c10300]“They’ll be chattin’ shit anyways. I’ll be hearing it from Danny all the way back to Kirkwall, but thanks. And no, I don’t want you going anywhere. Kinda like having you in my sights, means I can keep trouble out.”[/color] Relaxing into the chair, he’d wink before taking another sip of his mug.
Listening to her confession, Colt’s chest began to hurt for her. Even if she wasn’t a caged bird, it seemed she’d created one for herself. It made him sad that she hadn’t seen… well anything. His mind was working, making more lists, some of the places even ones where he hadn’t been. [color=#c10300]“I’mma take you anywhere, and everywhere you want to.” [/color]Eyes staring off into the distance the thief seemed to make a resolution about something, head nodding once with a firm determination before his gaze found hers. [color=#c10300]“Promise. Anywhere you want, we’ll go.”[/color]
She curled into his chest and Colt’s other arm came around to hold her gently. [color=#c10300]“I’ve been on the sea, been a few places honestly, but I mainly stick around the Marshes. It’s home, Kirkwall I mean, but I grew up not far from here, honestly.”[/color] Not that he’d ever come this way as a lad, the nearest village to his parents farm was still a day or two journey from the Back Water, but Colt had never been back after leaving.
She made to move, but before he let her go, Colt pulled her back to plant a kiss on her head. If she was kissing him, he’d get his own one in, no sense in him receiving it and giving her nothing in return but cuddles. [color=#c10300]“Na na. I’ll grab the stuff, you eat some more or take some with. Making dens is my shit.”[/color] A wide grin burst across his face and after she’d moved Colt would gather the various pillows and blankets bringing them out to the balcony. He’d noted the set of deck chairs earlier and began setting out the pillows, which were mostly for him given he’d be her personal cushion and furnace. The final test was his body flopping into the plush bedding, blanket left draped over the back of a chair close at hand which he’d draw behind him after sitting back up. His free hand patted his thigh once she came through, the other pulling the blanket up like a wing, [color=#c10300]“Right, C’mere and I’ll do my little show and tell about the mabari.” [/color]
When he asks if he would be bringing flowers, she stops for a moment, breath caught before she reminds herself to breathe. A gift, more specifically, a gift from him, made her pulse quicken and her lips curl into a soft smile. A gift from him, even something as impermanent as flowers, well now, that was something to be cherished. She instantly was thinking about where the nails were in the shed out behind the stable, where the hammer would be, where she could add a peg in her cubby to hang them upside down from when they started to wilt, so she could dry them out and keep them for .. well, ever.
She'd never gotten a gift before, nothing that wasn't just, payment passing hands. A true gift. And then he was agreeing it would be a date, and her pulse picked up the pace even more, her heart beat loud in her ears, the blood flushing across her cheeks and down her neck even, red enough that it made the dual semi-circles that are nearly scars on her neck stand out even more than normal. "[color=#2ecc40]Anywhere, and I'll go, anywhere, as long as its with you. I can't trust anyone else with something so important, you know. Not my first date. Not my first time off the property. Has to be someone important, to be my first.[/color]"
She didn't have much to give, to anyone, not in the traditional sense. She couldn't give a husband her maidenhead, or even her first sexual experience period. She'd had most everything one could think of done to her, or participated in at this point. She didn't have a lot left to give -- but a date, her first. Her first time off the property, these things she could give to him. They would always be his. "[color=#2ecc40]Really? You've been on boats? Like boats on the sea, where there's nothing but water?[/color]"
She hadn't known that. She had a mild obsession with water, she liked baths as much as she did, and the creek on the property got up to her waist, so it was nice to float in on a hot summer's day. "[color=#2ecc40]Local boy, and local lass, down to the coast and back, broaden the horizon, adventures for a day or two, if I were a bard it would turn into a nice little tune to sing here, local legend.[/color]" And then he kissed the top of her head.
Her heart stopped.
Her breath stopped.
And she felt the creep of redness cross over her face again, nearly vibrating there in his lap at how pleased she was. She couldn't hide it, not a bit, her first inhale back in sharp, quick, stuttered with a gasp and then a giggle, her hands moving to gather up some of the finger foods left on the table. Something easy to enjoy, as she watched him move pillows and blankets. And then when he didn't come back for more, and the invite came, she hooked their mugs, and stepped out onto the balcony, blowing out the candle that sat beside the door, a little less light to help them see better, and she pulled the curtains behind her, drenching them in the darkness of night. "[color=#2ecc40]I like to pretend sometimes, when it's dark like this that I'm somewhere else. People who come through the inn, they say that the sky looks the same, no matter where they are, so.. I can pretend, you know? That I'm somewhere else.[/color]"
She waited a moment for her eyes to adjust before she bent over and set the mugs down next to the chair, and then she eased her way onto his lap, not paying much attention to smoothing the shirt down over her thighs, so when she got comfortable there on his thigh, the fabric had rode up some, leaving most of her thigh exposed to the night air. She grinned as she set herself back into that wing, and put her head on his shoulder, unable to keep the grin off her face. "[color=#2ecc40]The mabari, these intelligent dogs, yes?[/color]"
He didn’t think the mention of bringing some posies would render her almost speechless. Had he managed to catch her off guard? A soft smile spread across his face, a glance lingering over her as she seemed far away for a moment. Girls liked flowers, or at least the ones he’d met and seen while on the road. It wasn’t often though that she had nothing to say about something.
The idea of ‘firsts’ had him nodding. Trust was important. The idea of someone else taking her somewhere and alone had his chest grow tight, not in a good way either. He’d maybe trust Ruth, to a point, with taking her somewhere, but Colt wasn’t about to tell her who she could and couldn’t go with. He’d be content with her own judgement considering Ruth was likely one of the four besides the two of them and the old man like she’d mentioned. [color=#c10300]“... Really addin’ to the pressure now, eh? Geeze,” [/color]he’d chuckle, his smile gentle and teasing, but he wouldn’t admit the cogs were beginning to work overtime on the details.[color=#c10300] “I’m gonna take you on every cheesy date imaginable.” [/color]
The Coterie had ties everywhere, or at least a contact or allied group in other cities. Smugglers needed buyers, and products always needed to be moved and sold. While Colt had paid his debt to the group, he’d remained in touch with them out of a sense of shared bond. Kirkwall was home, but after the explosion he’d needed some distance, taking jobs far and wide. [color=#c10300]“Been across the water to Ferelden, up to Antiva and Rivain… it’s fine when it’s calm, endless blue and sometimes you’ll catch a glimpse of the sea life, but a storm? Yeah, only the hardy boys manage to keep their stomachs. It ain’t for everyone.” [/color]
A rogue image of them skinny dipping came to mind, jumping off cliffs into the water below. Dookin’. He’d think she’d like it, given how she lounged in the bathtub. She’d shudder under the kiss though, and with a quiet laugh, [color=#c10300]“Well, I ain’t no bard, but maybe we come up with lyrics or whatever while on the road. Give you a song to remember the day by.”[/color] Again, the reaction drew a curious look, being a witness to how she handled people… was this some unspoken thing?
He’d gather the cushions, slightly smirking to himself that Ruth could say that. It is one of a few things the elf didn’t have the luxury of flaunting over Colt. The hum of the bar lingered in the background of the night’s air, banter being flung and laughter intermingled with it. He didn’t pay much attention to it, focusing on hers alone. [color=#c10300]“They haven’t been far up north then. Sky’s not different, just expanded… some different patterns come out, so the lad from the Anderfels tells me. We’ll sit out somewhere else and do this, yeah?”[/color] He hadn’t been that far, but it wasn’t the first time he’d heard about seeing other stuff besides the stars. [color=#c10300]“He said they’ve got these lights, aurora bore-something…-alis? I dunno, but he said it’s like the sky’s on magic.” [/color]
She’d slip into his side, the wing of the blanket wrapping around her tightly, his other arm pulling the opposite end along to take her in full hug, deep into his chest with a playful growl.[color=#c10300] “Got you,”[/color] Colt declared gently, head tucked in behind her ear. Shifting so the two were more comfortable, his head looked up in search for the right constellation to start.
[color=#c10300]“Okies, here,”[/color] leaning them back Colt would find her hand to guide her view,[color=#c10300] “So, Sirius, is the brightest star..” [/color]
She couldn't help the grinning that happened ear to ear as he said he would take her on every cheesy date imaginable -- that was something she would be thankful for, in her own way, the giggle that followed making her feel light, happy. She realized that she was happy with these ideas, these plans that they were making with one another there in that room. In the years that will follow, she'd come to know that it was the dates they had that had her so completely, utterly, helplessly in love with him, but for now, it was the fluttering feeling in her abdomen, the happiness that she had something to look forward too suddenly, the near stop of her heart at his words that kept her floating ten feet above the ground, a high that wouldn't -- couldn't be parted with. Not tonight at least, not when she was so lost in hearing more words in a few short hours from his lips, than she had heard in nearly a whole year before hand.
It was some sort of magic, the way he kept her there, enthralled with just the words, the smiles, the winks... the warmth of his skin as she shivered at the growl of his voice. She would soak his lap nearly immediately if he kept up, his breath along her ear, the words.
[color=#e82a1f]"Got you."[/color]
Oh and he did, she realized as she followed his gaze upward, her knees turning together to try and spare herself the embarrassment of soaking the shirt, and then his pants on what was supposed to be something nice. She could feel every beat of her heart as it pounded in her chest, harder and harder as his hand took hers, lifted them both to the sky and showed her where to look. Mina felt like time could stop right in that moment and she'd be completely fine with her next breath being her last. This, she realized, this is why men paid so much for the attention she gave, and here she was receiving it, for free. It was a hard shift for her, as she tried everything in her power not to throw caution to the wind, to straddle his hips and try and tempt him to partake of her, in her, to hold her tight to him and growl like that over and over.
She'd soak the chair by the time she was done with him. "[color=#2ecc40]Gimme a second, eyes still adjusting a little.[/color]" her voice wavered just a little, she was able to lie at a moment's notice when it came to a client, it was easy for her to pretend that what she said was truth, and it should have been an easy lie to cover that she didn't want to look away from his face for the moment, as she tried to focus on the wonder there, the sincerity of his actions, everything about him was... him. But she had caught the wobble before she had said any more words. It was a white lie, no harm, so why should it feel so wrong in the moment -- it had to be that feel, the high she had there with him. The little lie tarnished it, and she didn't want that. So as she rested back into him, she decided that would be the only time she'd lie to him. If, if they were going to do this, she would be completely honest with him. Not saying what she thought he wanted to hear like she would a client. For him, honesty.
She finally turned her face up to see what he was looking at, reveling in the feel of his fingers on her skin, and tried to grasp at that same wonder, to learn the starts. "[color=#2ecc40]Sirius, like a dog. Oh! That's why the intelligent dogs[/color]?" She felt proud of herself for working that out on her own, the tumblers clicking into place and opening that knowledge up to her. "[color=#2ecc40]Oh that's smart, naming the starts in such a way with stories so people remember them.[/color]"
Now that was an expression which was undeniable. Her eyes lit up in a way he’d never seen before, excitement, but not in the way of the carnal. No. This way, the dates were gifts he could give that filled in what she was already missing, an unrealised craving, beyond the fifty paces and the stream of strangers passing through spreading bullshit, beyond feeding her what she was already well versed in, beyond the thoughtless sex.
Anyone else had an out. They had somewhere, or friends to fall back on, could rely on when shit hit the fan. It didn’t take a genius to know, one bad fight, one customer taking it too far and there would be no Back Water. Colt chewed his lip in thought, he’d put feelers out for mabari pubs, maybe she’d get lucky and one would take to her. Maybe a few pointers on where to really stick it to someone? Anything to keep her safe and out of harm's way. The future was clouded, uncertain, but he’d keep to his promise, even after his future run-in with the white haired mage in Rivain.
With his attention divided between settling comfortably and recalling the tale, Colt hadn’t noticed the slight waver, the slight lie. His chin rested on top of her head, the damp trestles of her hair seeming not an issue for him at all and continued to hold her hand captive, fingers moulding hers into his to point into the sky.[color=#c10300] “Yeah, it takes a minute, there’s a lotta them.”[/color] A lazy smile began spreading across his face, the normalcy of it all. The tranquil quiet, if interrupted now and then with a low murmur or laugh from downstairs. Colt saw no reason to hide himself behind the usual front of his Coterie mask, despite how she had him stumbling over his words, how his mind froze, but his heart raced at the simplest touch of her skin against his.
He’d caught her in the blanket, but she had completely enraptured his heart. It might not be fully realised by the locksmith for some time, though the undeniable pull towards her had always been evident, their dates establishing more rapport and deeper understanding over the course. This one, perhaps really the first true date between the pair, set the stage.
Colt grinned, grunting an answer at first. His index finger rested against her, thumb supporting her wrist shifted them down to another star, then another, mapping the constellation.[color=#c10300] “Yup, exactly. Sirius,”[/color] returning to the brightest and beginning the trail again,[color=#c10300] “is the brightest, it’s the Dog Star. My Ma told me that Andraste had a mabari, a loyal beast who fought with her against the Vints. The Maker, seeing the devotion it had, fighting till its last breath when Maf’rath betrayed Andraste, made him part o’ the heavens, so he could stay close to her and watch over the rest of us. Unwavering love and loyalty. You see? There’s its ears… the tail… legs.”[/color]
"[color=#2ecc40]Funny how a beast can love us more than we love ourselves, and we never really give them the credit of that, being so loyal and well.. unselfish with their love[/color]." She tilted her head over some, the tip of her ear along his neck now, so that at least one side of her face would stay warm for now. Later, she'd shift sides and get her other ear some relief from the cold. A glass broke downstairs and she jumped just a little, more reflex to grab a broom and start cleaning up, before it passed, the laughter and grumbling smoothing back over into rowdy singing and the easy nature of drunk, happy patrons. She had no doubt in her mind that come morning time the old man would have a lot to say at her about spending the entire evening locked in the room with a man, without a bit of coin to show for it.
She wasn't known to take lovers, so there would be the confusion at first, and then later, when she told him about the evening, even he wouldn't be able to fuss at her too terribly much. After all, he had fussed at her recently she couldn't stay at the Back Water her whole life, she had to settle for some dolt eventually and go raise his children, or keep his house. "[color=#2ecc40]So he keeps watch over all of us, the Maker saying since he was such a good dog to Andraste, he had to be a good dog for us all.[/color]" She breathed deeply, her little body filling out with air before she exhaled slowly, keeping her nose from getting too cold, of course when it got too cold, she would turn her head into his neck, to warm it back up, before looking back up again.
"[color=#2ecc40]Is there any up there for Shartan?[/color]" That was the part of the Chant she knew, religion hadn't really been a thing in the Inn, the Old Man of course knew the Chant. "[color=#2ecc40]He rose up beside Andraste, I wonder if he got to meet Sirius, that would have been a thing, wouldn't it? Having that smart dog there, and getting to pet it, all the time.[/color]" She liked the idea of a dog, they had the mouser that often left her dead mice and birds at the door of her cubby in the morning, and then would sleep under the stairs on her mattress all day long as she did chores. Funny little beast, but affectionate.
She let her eyes focus on where he was holding and supporting her wrist up, for her to sight along, and how large his hands were, compared to her little wrist, how easily his fingers would loop around, would gently keep her immobile there with him. She tilted her head back over, so that her forehead was touching his jaw, pulling their arms back down under the covers, and hugging that arm around her middle for a moment. "[color=#2ecc40]Did you grow up with a lot of tales like that?[/color]" She continued to look at the outline of the dog she was seeing in the sky now, happy to know that one, she hadn't know that bright one, brighter than the rest, had a name, and now, she had a name, and a story. And a selfish part of her, wanted more of them. More stories he could tell her, could teach her with. She felt a thirst for knowing things, when he was telling them. He told them in a way she could understand, and Mina appreciated that, more than she could voice.
