omnicrafter | Avalon IC Inbox

"That-- That isn't the problem!" she finds herself saying as she shakes her head violently and stops in her tracks. At this point, the words are just tumbling out without a filter. "I'm telling you you should stick with him and not me because it's just going to hurt all the more when you lose us. Didn't you feel anything at all for your Garlean family? Wouldn't this just be the same situation, minus the royalty and kids?"

Why is she so upset about this, anyway? Irhya can't seem to lift her gaze from the ground. "It's... Isn't that all I can do? Gods, can't you just... bloody sodding..."

She drags her free hand over her face. The situation is difficult, it's true, but she's beginning to ask herself who's hurting more in the process of this. At least if she goes for the pushing him away method, it'll be over on her own terms... but somehow, that thought doesn't reassure her in the slightest.

He halts as well, her words pricking at an old pain he had thought buried deep. He had felt nothing for the wife he had taken as Solus; only their son, whose death had buried any glimmer of hope he had for mortalkind then.

"You forget that I am already dead," he says stiffly. Does he sound too cold? He can't muster up the will to soften it. "You and all the others have already outlived me. In that sense, should it not be I asking you whether or not you wish to continue this relationship? Even knowing that when this waking dream ends, I shall be but aether borne upon the currents of the Lifestream?"

He stares at the back of her head, feeling his throat constrict. "Even Hythlodaeus will be sent back without me. He knows our time is limited. You may as well tell me not to love at all."

She turns very carefully, looks at him with a pained expression. "Is that what it is...? A relationship?" It's hard to be sure what to call it; always has been, at least to her. But maybe he's been sure about it from the beginning, something she hadn't considered. Just because she can't seem to take any relationship seriously doesn't mean he doesn't.

Her eyes find the ground again. "I just thought... if you choose not to go back, perhaps, and stayed here with him..." When she looks back, her eyes have rounded out again, pupils dilated; her next question is said in a meek tone, like she isn't sure. "But you still love me...?"

He snorts softly and looks aside, expression pained. "Certainly we shall make the most of our time together here. However, I told him to return and confess his love to the Hades who yet lives in his time. As I am now, I burden him with my deeds by proxy and he deserves a better partner than the broken, dull man that I have become."

He looks back to her, meeting her eyes squarely. "I still love you. I would not be here trying to bridge this distance if I did not. I have...precious little time remaining and I've no guarantee that I will have my life prolonged any further."

Irhya wilts, slowly dropping her guard and bridging the few steps between them to rest her forehead against his arm. "I'm sorry," she says, "I guess that was kind of stupid of me..."

It's hard enough to admit to, though, even moreso when he has yet to address her questioning the nature of their relationship. Is that what it is? If so, what does that mean for her, and for his other two lovers? She brings her head back, then thumps it against his arm again.

"Is it a relationship?" she asks again, hesitant. "I... I don't know what to think. I just chose to not think about it most of the time."

"Is it not?" he asks, equally confused. He reaches around to rest his unburdened arm upon her shoulders and hold her gently. "I know I tried to warn you off falling in love with me when we first slept together and I...I apologise for that. I had been through too many heartbreaks to want yet another. Mayhap what we have won't be the sort of romantic saga played out upon a stage, but that does not mean we cannot care for each other."

His fingers idly rub the length of one of her ears as he continues, "Make no mistake, Hythlodaeus occupies the closest place to my heart next to who you all were before. But I think you are both too quick to hand me back to him. Our people had many words for love: from sexual to the romantic to the simple affection between parent and child. The love I feel for him is different to the love I feel for you and Felih."

Bowing his head, he moves to cradle the back of her head and rests his cheek against her hair. With their disparate heights, she seems so small...

"But if you would rather we distance ourselves," he says reluctantly, "then I will let you go."

That... She already knew all of that, about how he seemed so much more willing to find an actual romantic partner in Hythlodaeus. And indeed, from the outside looking in, it seems like a much smoother arrangement. But she doesn't budge from his embrace, even though a part of her is telling him he was right the first time. This would've been so much less complicated if she'd just listened...

Too late for that, though. As ever.

"No," she says, and sighs. "I'm sorry. I guess I was trying to quantify it in a way that doesn't fit. If this is really all the time we have, then... I shouldn't spend it waffling over whether I should or shouldn't."

Her arms come up to curl around him, and it's comfortable like that. She hadn't outright opposed his idea to save Amaurot in part because she didn't have the heart to squash it, but if he knows somewhere deep down that it's an unlikely hope, perhaps it won't be a problem after all.

"Do you want to go back with me?" she asks as she breaks away, picking up her bags. "I was about to make dinner. I could make some for you, too."

"I wouldn't say no to a free meal," he says with faint humour, letting her pull away. "Especially not if you are the one making it."

He will follow her back to her room, still carrying the remainder of her shopping. He feels...somewhat lighter now. Like he's free to choose how he loves her. It's a strange feeling. An old feeling.

"I had hoped to commission you to make a sword for me, by the by," he comments as they're putting things away. "For the upcoming tournament. I doubt they will have the sort of weapons as found in our world."

"Sure," she says, smiling mildly up at him. "I imagine you want a gunblade, right? For old times' sake?"

Might require some improvisation since she's only made and done maintenance on a handful in her life, but she can make it work. They step into the elevator, and she sidles closer to him, hooking an arm into his.

"So since you're going to be around anyway... I don't suppose you'd still be receptive to me dragging you aside and seducing you every now and then? You know, unless you want to take my breath away when we get into the room again instead."

He nods. "Yes, if you can manage it." He won't complain even if it's merely the blade and not the rest of the armament that comes with it. It's what he's most familiar with swinging right now.

At her playful antic though, he rolls his eyes and shoots a smirk down her way.

"I didn't realise you were also on the menu, Irhya. But yes, you are free to seduce and have your way with me. Just not in public - I don't believe the locals here would look as kindly upon that as those in Duplicity did."

"Yes, yes, I understand," she says quickly as she lets him into the room, patting his arse not unlike what Y'shtola had done quite brazenly with Urianger that time in Rak'tika. "I promise not to embarrass you in public in a way that will get us tossed in a gaol cell."

No promises on anything else. But first, she's at least got the mind to put the things that require cold to keep longer away. So she stuffs her arms full in the interests of not making a second trip, putting things into the small fridge and eventually stacking them up when she runs out of space.

"There. Now... the rest can wait." Wherever he's decided to wait, Irhya saunters up to him and presses into him, looping her arms around his neck as best she can as she smiles up at him, tail twitching.

He's honestly not sure whether to be affronted or flattered by that pat on the arse. He certainly lets out a small noise that one wouldn't hear any other time. But any offence he might feel is quickly put aside in favour of paying attention to her.

"You really are quite insatiable when given permission to be," he huffs. He leans down a little so she isn't on the tips of her toes and kisses her - chastely, to begin with. His arms loop casually about her waist. "Mm, I do believe this would be our first time sharing a bed here. What are you in the mood for?"

A laugh; she starts backing him up, only to twirl him around and lead him into the bedroom area. "Weeeell, if you're leaving it up to me... Sit. I want to taste you."

Apparently it's not her on the menu so much as him. Knowing what she knows now, she can't help but be a little torn about the casual lover-like behavior, but it's such an easy routine to fall into.

"I need a little time to warm up, and I feel like a blowjob would be perfect for that. I trust you've no objections."

"I've yet to hear a single man object to being given one," he says with some amusement, allowing her to draw him to the bed. He takes a seat of his own volition, lazily loosening his collar. "You don't need me to reciprocate this time?"

"Not if you don't want to." She leans over his lap, kneeling down and scooting herself as far forward as she can while going for the fastenings of his pants. "Though a little attention afterward would be lovely, if not with your mouth."

Her hands dart under his belt as she finishes unbuckling it, pulling his waistband down and setting cold palms upon his skin. Fortunately, she has the foresight to put them under his shirt first, knowing that being outside in the winter air will have chilled her hands. Only after the initial bite of cold is done with does she move down to take him out of his pants, making a few gentle strokes as she does.

He cannot stop a shiver running through him at the cold from her hands. He doesn't complain - his own are the same. If anything, it adds a strangely pleasant bite to when she reaches right in and begins to stroke.

Spreading his knees for her, he watches the gentle movement of her hands on him. It's then that he abruptly remembers--

"Ah, I brought protection with me," he murmurs. "Remind me to get it later."

He had never thought he would ever be the type to carry a condom around 'just in case' but Duplicity certainly has changed him. Meeting them has changed him.

"Aha, thank you. But I admit, it was nice when we didn't need it." She sighs to herself, but does not linger long on her complaint, instead choosing to dip her head and start nice and slow, tonguing around the head without fully enveloping him just yet. Her fingers smooth over the side of his shaft, tracing a prominent vein up and down.

She rises briefly to push her ponytail back, then goes down, making sure that the suction is hard despite her slow pace. The motion is repeated several times, with her pausing for a breath every so often.

"It was," he agrees softly. He starts removing his outer clothing at an unhurried pace, shrugging off his coat then his shirt. Her tongue: at first, a pleasant warmth on the head of his shaft. And her mouth--

He sucks in a short breath and holds it, closing his eyes and leaning back on his hands with a groan. "Harder," he urges. "Irhya..."

She makes an amused noise, staying frustratingly steady. Perhaps he's right by his assertion that that it's a power thing, but hearing him so thoroughly at her mercy gets her riled up like little else.

Pausing for a bit on the head, she keeps it enclosed in her mouth and sucks, teasing the frenulum with firm swipes from the tip of her tongue. She stretches lithely over his lap, making a show of sliding her hands up his stomach as her tail sticks straight out behind her, then drags the pads of her fingers down to rest on his thighs again. All the while, there is a series of hums that come from her throat, so blatantly on purpose that she doesn't even try to pretend otherwise.

Being at someone else's mercy is something he'll never quite get used to. Strange how going down on one's bed partner should look like one is submitting to the other when in truth they hold the power and control the pace, as Irhya does now.

He can't hide his heavier breathing nor the way his shaft swells and grows flush under her care. He itches with the desire to hold her, feel the friction of her slimmer body riding against his. Her hands just aren't enough. His gaze settles on her rigid tail and an idea comes to him. Leaning over carefully, he strokes down her back as one might an actual cat, running from her shoulder blades to the very end of her backbone where spine and tail meet. Should she respond favourably, he will repeat the motion several more times.

The gesture makes her tail point upward, curving towards him, and causes her to shiver involuntarily, rippling outward from her shoulders. He must know she loves that by now, as undignified as it is to admit. She doesn't break from her position, but she does moan into his shaft and let a breath out through her nose as he strokes her.

It encourages her to pick up the pace as she pushes in a little further, taking him as deep as she can and then coming up with a juicy pop, using her hands for added stimulation. True, she could take her time with this, but a part of her also just wants to get it out of her system -- and the other, more impulsive part of her is too disinclined to waiting to even try.

Sucking in a sharp breath, his knees spread a little further and he leans back on one hand. Ripples of heat flush through his skin and his body quivers as though held taut by wire.

"Did you wish to taste me or simply sample me?" he asks breathlessly. A more intense frisson crawls up his spine as her hands take over working his arousal. "Shall I tend to you for a time now?"

"You can't possibly mean to tell me you're tired of a blowjob," she says after letting him go, climbing into his lap to graze her lips against his neck. "But all right, I'll let you off easy this time."

The fine fur at the tips of her ears tickles the skin under his jaw as she starts working on shrugging some layers off without pulling too far away from him. The first to go is her skirt, of course, followed by her blazer. She only gets to the top two buttons on the shirt underneath before she feels overwhelmingly compelled to kiss at his neck, threading both hands into his hair from behind. But he's perfectly capable of finishing the job, she's sure.

"Of course not," he protests. But he helps her disrobe, taking over the buttons on her blazer once she starts nuzzling and kissing his throat. He would have liked her to continue, but being left wanting has its own edge. And if he remembers rightly...she enjoys him wanting her.

He doesn't go immediately for the warmth between her legs though. He helps settle her more securely on his lap, lips brushing over her ear tips, palming her breasts. And then his fingers make their lazy way to her crotch, skirting the outer edges of the vulva and rubbing gently to stimulate her before actually making contact.

"I want you, Irhya," he murmurs. "How would you like to have me...?"

She rumbles deep within her chest, keeping her hands busy with tugging on his hair, just enough to seem wanting. And it's not really an act, either, because hearing that out of his mouth has her feeling the pulse from within, a hard beat of need pressing at her.

"Like this is fine," she decides after a moment, brushing a thumb over a sunken cheek. "I want to see you." Her tail perks with the attention between her thighs, and she opens a little wider, obligingly.

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